We Won’t Go Back: WTF is Normal?

Part 1:

The CDC has declared social distancing and masks unnecessary for vaccinated people, and many states have “re-opened” for capitalist activities. Organizers are under pressure to return to a normal that always excluded disabled people. Disability justice reminds us that access is a choice. What will our movements and your organization choose?

Join with disabled organizers to hear stories from the frontlines of negotiating access during the “reopening” period of COVID-19. What can we collectively do differently to put the “normal” period of disabled exclusion in our movements behind us?

What do we need to do now to stop what is coming and build sustainable movements?

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Part 2:

The CDC has declared social distancing and masks unnecessary for vaccinated people, and many states have “re-opened” for capitalist activities. We are under pressure to return to a “normal” that always excluded disabled people.

How are disabled people navigating and resisting the push to return to the “normal” of exclusion and violent disregard?

Join disabled organizers and artists to explore stories about vaccines, medications, institutions, prisons, and the impact of “returning to normal” on our daily lives.

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Part 1:

Host: Dustin Gibson

Guests: aerik woodams, Sterling Johnson, & JD Davids

Part 2:

Host: Cyrée Jarelle Johnson

Guests: Tom Olin, Deborah Rosenstein, & Elena House-Hay

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This series is ideal for:

Organizers and cultural workers. The second session is particularly important for non-disabled people, especially those with little access to disabled people and communities.

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Circle Outcomes:

Part 1:

Participants will leave with tools and guidance for how to practice access and inclusion in this period of COVID-19 and beyond.

Part 2:

Participants will deepen their understanding of how COVID-19 and the push to reopen is impacting disabled people, and ways they can intervene in the narratives and systems pushing us towards the exclusion, exploitation, and violent disregard of disabled lives.

What do you do to prepare?

Please choose a location with a strong internet connection, where you are able to share and listen comfortably. You’ll need a laptop or desktop computer, with video and headphones.

Also, please familiarize yourself with these resources before Part 1:

• Mia Mingus’ work on Access Intimacy: https://leavingevidence.wordpress.com/2017/04/12/access-intimacy-interdependence-and-disability-justice/
• Kaalyn M’s work on What Disabled People Offered the World This Past Year https://disabilityvisibilityproject.com/2021/03/22/what-the-disabled-community-offered-the-world/
• and To Survive the Trumpocalypse We Need Wild Disability Justice Dreams by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarashina https://truthout.org/articles/to-survive-the-trumpocalypse-we-need-wild-disability-justice-dreams/

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Access:

ASL/English interpreters and live captioning will be provided.

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