July is Disability Pride Month! This year’s theme, which comes from The Arc’s National Council of Self-Advocates, is “We Want a Life Like Yours.”
The Arc states that the theme reflects “the disability community’s dreams for life experiences that are too often denied.”
The American with Disabilities Acts (ADA) was signed into law thirty years ago. As the ADA website states, this historic law, “prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in many areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and many public and private places that are open to the general public.” Ableism remains a prevalent issue in our country. To help advance the civil rights of people with disabilities and the rights of parents with children who have disabilities, follow DREDF, the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund.
There are great local organizations to follow this month, too, for events and more related to disability. Check out the Arc of Spokane and their upcoming panel on intersectionality, where you can “discover how various identities intersect and influence the experiences of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.”
DAC NEW, associated Disability Action Center NW, is a center here in Spokane located on Main Avenue. They “work together to raise the voices of the disability community including those most marginalized – BIPOC, LGBTQIA2S+, immigrants, refugees, and those experiencing poverty. As an organization run by people with disabilities for people with disabilities, DAC NEW provides peer counseling, skills training, support and mentoring.” You can learn more about the center on their website.
DAC NW is hosting a Disability Pride workshop on July 13th from 2-4pm at the Hillyard Library on “Hard Conversations.” You can register for the latter workshop here.
And DAC NW’s big “Multi-Cultural Disability Pride Event” will take place at Riverfront Park on July 27th from 11am-3pm. There will be music, food, a world market, activities for kids, and prizes. The event is free and open to all.
And if you want to know about the meanings of the different colors showcased on the Pride flag, a recent post on DAC NW’s Instagram account will inform you:
- Red = Physical Disabilities
- Yellow = Neurodiversity
- White = Invisible and Undiagnosed Disabilities
- Blue = Emotional and Psychiatric Disabilities
- Green = Sensory Disabilities
Happy Disability Pride Month to all! Here, too, is a list of great recently published titles that celebrate people with disabilities.
Disability Intimacy: Essays On Love Care and Desire edited by Alice Wong
Check It Out: Book
Loving our own Bones: Disability Wisdom and the Spiritual Subversiveness of Knowing Ourselves Whole by Julia Watts Belser
Check It Out: Book
Born Extraordinary: Empowering Children With Differences and Disabilities by Meg Zucker
Check It Out: Book
Sipping Dom Pérignon through a Straw: Reimagining Success as a Disabled Achiever by Eddie Ndopu
Check It Out: Book
Out on a Limb: A Novel by Hannah Bonham-Young
Check It Out: Book
The Hard Parts: A Memoir Of Courage and Triumph by Oksana Masters with Cassidy Randall
Check It Out: Book
The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight by Andrew Leland
Check It Out: Book
Greek Lessons: A Novel by Han Kang ; translated by Deborah Smith and Emily Yae Won
Check It Out: Book
Being Ace: An Anthology of Queer Trans Femme and Disabled Stories of Asexual Love and Connection, edited by Madeline Dyer
Check It Out: Book
Everything No One Tells You About Parenting A Disabled Child Your Guide To The Essential Systems Services And Supports by Kelley Coleman
Check It Out: Book