April is also a time when UMBC highlights awareness about sexual assault - which informs community safety and health at UMBC. ADS and SDS are acutely aware of how this harmful and criminal behavior disproportionately affects people with disabilities. Hannah Gadsby speaks about her experience within the wide-ranging special, Nanette. Information on how to access help and support is available at any time on the OEI website.
Learn more about Disability, Victimization and becoming a survivor here. Become involved with awareness, prevention and safety by participating in Green Dot (prevention) Training and being familiar with UMBC Resources.
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.
Dr. Sami Schalk is presenting on 504 and Beyond: Disability Politics and the Black Panther Party on February 23 at 4p (details and registration are linked) via the Dresher Center and co-sponsorship with ADS and I3B.
Some of the intersection of Crip Camp shows how intersectional being black and disabled can be - beyond the Black Panthers. 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, a reminder that disability is both directly and indirectly linked to many forms of violence.
In the links described below, you may rediscover or learn for the first time about Black history being made in this moment, and there is so much to learn from the past. Research forays have been known to start at Brad Lomax, and end up at the Wild Zappers, a DC-based all black all deaf dance company - what new-to-you ancestral influencers and history-makers will become front-of-mind to you? Within the past month we learned of the research of Dr. Stephanie Keeney Parks via In A Different Key. In 2022 Megan Thee Stallion launched a website to support mental health.
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:
· Enter “Black History” plus any disability (i.e. "autism," "dyslexia," etc.) into a search engine and explore more about the intersectionality of disability.
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
If you are looking for UMBC-based disability resources - use these links:
In-person elections happen on November 8, 2022, but early voting has already begun. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) covers voting, so polling places should be accessible and offer support if needed due to disability. For more information on the ADA and voters with disabilities, please visit the ADA website on voting linked here.
In this linked article, Social Security outlines how to support Voters with Disabilities Participate in the Democratic Process via the Election Assistance Commission.
You can call 866-Our-VOTE - a non-profit Election Protection group - to speak to people about voting questions and get ideas on assistance. State election websites also have a menu item for "accessible voting". For example, here is the state of Maryland's webpage for Voters with Disabilities.
Also, the Center for Democracy and Civic Life has Voter Information posted here for Maryland and all other states. UMBC has a ballot collection box on our accessible campus in The Commons (available until 8p on Election Day 11/8) - check your Official Election Mailing, or online for the polling place/option that works best for you.
Voting in Maryland - How to register, find your polling location, etc.
Want to know more about candidates in the context of disability - RespectAbility.Org sends out a detailed questionnaire to candidates - the 2022 RespectAbility.org Maryland Voter Guide is linked here. Other states/responses are also within their website.
Voting in Virginia
https://www.elections.virginia.gov/
The
ARC of Northern Virginia had a forum with Congressional candidates to
discern where they stand on disability issues in August which can be
viewed at https://thearcofnova.org/events/2022-meet-the-candidates-forums/.
Additional campus-based resources for people with disabilities and their allies include: