Please see these important dates, Deaf History Month and Women's History Month events, the Bender Career Fair, and awareness month info.

DATES TO REMEMBER

On March 14, we switch to Daylight Savings Time. Set your clocks forward one hour.

The 14^th is also Pi Day! More info at this link: https://nationaltoday.com/national-pi-day/ Or, check this out for the kids, or the kid inside you: https://mathgeekmama.com/math-resources/pi-day-goodness/

Spring Break is March 15 – 22. The SDS office will close on Friday afternoon, March 12 at 4:30 pm, and re-open Monday, March 22 at 8:30 am. All UMBC offices will be closed during Spring Break.

March 23, Bender Consulting hosts their yearly virtual career fair for people with disabilities. Here’s the info: https://www.benderconsult.com/our%20services/bender-virtual-career-fair-people-disabilities

March 26, Delta Alpha Pi (DAPi), the International Honor Society for Students with Disabilities, meets from 4 pm to 5pm online. More at this link: https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/accessibility/events/92735

HISTORY MONTHS

For Women’s History Month events all month long, and really interesting blogs, check out the following link: https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/womenscenter/posts/99513

March 13 through April 15 is National Deaf History Month. Learn more here: https://www.insightintodiversity.com/national-deaf-history-month/

 AWARENESS

Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week March 7-13: https:/www.nationalmssociety.org/Get-Involved/Raise-Awareness

National Bleeding Disorders Awareness Month – learn more at these links: https://hemaware.org/fighting-you/6-ways-celebrate-bleeding-disorders-awareness-month and https://redtiecampaign.org/

National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month - https://www.ccalliance.org/about/awareness-month

International Endometriosis Awareness Month – One in ten women are affected by endometriosis - https://www.endofound.org/endometriosis-awareness-month-2021-events-around-the-world

This month, February 2021, UMBC SDS is highlighting Black History Month.

Rediscover how some members of the Black Civil Rights Movement also played essential roles as activists in the US Disability Rights Movement, and paved the way for disability rights activists to influence social change and legislation. Many people with disabilities were part of both movements and continue to be today. Further back in history, learn new things about the famous Black figures who also had disabilities. For instance, Harriet Tubman lived with epilepsy and narcolepsy.

In the links described below, we hope you may find information you will be happy to rediscover or learn for the first time. Black history is being made this moment, and there is an endless amount to learn from the past. A little time spent exploring Black history this month may lead you in enlightening directions. While researching this post, I started at (link)Brad Lomax, and ended up at the (link)Wild Zappers, a DC-based all black all deaf dance company.

Test your knowledge by taking this quiz with the National Black Disability Coalition (NBDC): (link)http://www.blackdisability.org/content/black-disabled-trivia

Important figures in Black History:

·       National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) has a Black History Bio for each day of February: (link)https://www.ndrn.org/resource/disability-rights-in-black/

·       On the website for Respect Ability, an advocacy organization, you can find an article featuring the experiences and voices of current African-American celebrities who have disabilities. (link)https://www.respectability.org/2018/02/highlighting-african-americans-disabilities-honor-black-history-month/

·       Learn about Black History heroes who are or were deaf or blind: (link)https://dcmp.org/learn/203-black-history-month

·       Google “Black History” plus any disability (i.e. "autism," "dyslexia," etc.) and find something to share. Add it to the comments at the end of this post.

Explore Black History and Disability Rights:

·       The National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) has a great article about the integral role Black disability rights activists played in securing rights for all US citizens with disabilities.  (link)https://www.ncld.org/news/honoring-black-history-month-unsung-heroes-of-the-disability-rights-movement/ For more on Brad Lomax, a leader in the 1977 protests that led to the implementation of section 504 of the rehabilitation act, see this NYT obituary (link)https:/www.nytimes.com/2020/07/08/obituaries/brad-lomax-overlooked.html

·        Black Disabled and Proud: College Students with Disabilities is a website by the HBCU Disability Consortium. Their page titled “Black Lives Matter and Disability” speaks to the recent and daily making of Black history as it intersects with disability. (link)https://www.blackdisabledandproud.org/black-lives-matter.html The page includes links to thoughtful articles as well as self-care info.

·       The Disability Visibility Project’s Black Lives Matter page has podcasts (with transcripts) that explore the individual experiences of people who are actively contributing individually and/or organizing to raise awareness about being Black and having a disability. (link)https://disabilityvisibilityproject.com/tag/black-lives-matter/  Click through on the posts and find things like Jen White Johnson’s Black Disability Lives Matter mural (link)https://jenwhitejohnson.com/Black-Disabled-Lives-Matter-Mural-Project

More UMBC posts and events are going up over the course of the month. Please keep looking. Here are a few to check out at UMBC:

LSAMP at UMBC has a great post that spans Black History, education history and today. (link)https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/lsamp/posts/99034

The UMBC Women’s Center posted on “Black Women in History from A to Z.” Their first on the list is Audre Lorde, a black poet, activist and scholar who lived with the effects of breast cancer from 1978 until her death in 1992. Her writings about identity have influenced most social justice movements in the US and beyond, including the disability rights movement and scholarly critical disability studies. (link)https:/my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/womenscenter/posts/98941

UMBC’s own Dr. George Derek Musgrove launched a website on February 1, 2021 that documents the history of Black Power in Washington DC. The department will host a discussion event with Dr. Musgrove on February 25^th, at noon. (link)https:/my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/history/posts/98905

SDS Winter/Spring 2021 Reminders:

 SDS students with accommodations please read!

• Please complete your Semester Request in Accommodate to notify your instructors of your accommodations. Remember, you can only use your accommodations (i.e. have your letters sent to faculty) if you have submitted your semester request. If you haven't done your Winter request, please complete it immediately. We are now sending out Spring 2021 requests. *If you have already done your request/s, no action needed, and thanks!

• If you have testing accommodations, please remind your faculty member at least two business days prior to EACH test/exam to ensure they are setting the Blackboard (or other platform) extended time accordingly.

• Contact SDS if you have new disability and/or accommodation-related challenges impacting your classes, so we can assist you in identifying support needs and solutions. SDS also has new virtual office drop-in hours available for asking general questions or visiting with a staff person.

Disability:IN is hosting an information session to provide more information on the NextGen Leaders program, our six-month mentorship and career development program for college students and recent graduates, including veterans, with disabilities. 

Disability:IN’s NextGen Leaders Program Info Session

Date: Thursday, November 12, 2020

Time: 4:00pm – 5:00pm ET

Location: Join Zoom Meeting or join by phone options below.

Accommodations: At Disability:IN we strive to create an accessible and inclusive experience for all events. ASL and CART will be provided for this event. If you need a reasonable accommodation to successfully and fully participate in our session, please email Teresa@DisabilityIN.org.

Meeting ID: 860 8192 4672

Passcode: 392889

One tap mobile

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+19292056099,,86081924672#,,,,,,0#,,392889# US (New York)

Dial by your location

        +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)

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        +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)

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Meeting ID: 860 8192 4672

Passcode: 392889

Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kQvci2TAn

Teresa Danso-Danquah (she/her)

NextGen Initiatives Manager

Disability:IN

Direct: 347-920-1513 | Eastern Time 

Teresa@DisabilityIN.org | DisabilityIN.org

Applications are now open for the 2021 NextGen Leaders Program!

Students / recent graduates with disabilities: apply to be a NextGen Leader

Corporate partner employees: apply to be a mentor

Deadline to apply is November 20, 2020

Visit our website to learn more and share our mentor and NextGen Leader flyers!

OurCS@AccessComputing+CREATE

OurCS@AccessComputing+CREATE is a research-focused workshop for undergraduates with disabilities in computing fields to be held virtually on Wednesday, January 13 through Friday, January 15, 2021, 9 am – 12 pm Pacific Standard Time (PST).

Students with disabilities nationwide in computing fields are eligible to apply. Students will participate in research explorations designed to inspire participants to consider research careers and meet mentors with disabilities.

Students who participate in the entire program will receive a $50 stipend. Funding for this workshop is provided by Google Explore CSR with additional support from AccessComputing and the Center for Research and Education on Accessible Technology and Experiences at UW (CREATE).

For full consideration, please complete the OurCS@AccessComputing+CREATE application by December 1. Find more information on the AccessComputing website.