Disability Inclusion: Required - Episode 30 - Parenting While Disabled

This episode of “Disability Inclusion Required” examines how contemporary attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are reshaping funding, policy, and everyday life for Black and disabled communities, while also exploring pleasure as a political and survival practice.Our podcast theme music is by Andre Louis and Precious Perez. Thank you to Recording Artists And Music Professionals With Disabilities (RAMPD) for connecting these talented disabled musicians with the Disability & Philanthropy Forum.

Did you miss us? This episode of “Disability Inclusion: Required” centers on the experiences of disabled parents, featuring blind foster/adoptive parent and employment services director Melissa Lomax and autistic scholar-activist and adoptive parent Dr. Morénike Giwa Onaiwu.Our podcast theme music is by Andre Louis and Precious Perez. Thank you to Recording Artists And Music Professionals With Disabilities (RAMPD) for connecting these talented disabled musicians with the Disability & Philanthropy Forum.

In honor of the 100-year commemoration of Negro History Week, now celebrated as Black History Month, Disability Inclusion: Required is passing the mic over to Black Disabled leaders. This episode features Marq Mitchell, Heather Watkins, Natasha Nelson, and Mel Brown. Each of them share a 5-minute story about the power of your work, or a 5-minute reflection on what it means to lead liberatory projects while Black and disabled.  Our podcast theme music is by Andre Louis and Precious Perez. Thank you to Recording Artists And Music Professionals With Disabilities (RAMPD) for connecting these talented disabled musicians with the Disability & Philanthropy Forum.

This episode of Disability Inclusion: Required features Grammy-nominated artist and disability culture champion Lachi in conversation with host Justice Shorter. Lachi is an award-winning music executive, host of PBS series Renegades, Recording Academy national trustee, and producer of a Grammy-nominated album. Born legally blind, she created the UN-recognized organization RAMPD (Recording Artists and Music Professionals with Disabilities), a consultancy group that collaborates on disability-inclusive solutions with major companies like Netflix and Live Nation while providing opportunities to professionals with disabilities. Her cultural activism has garnered national recognition through appearances on major media platforms including NPR, the BBC, People Magazine, Time Magazine, Good Morning America, and the New York Times.Our podcast theme music is by Andre Louis and Precious Perez. Thank you to Recording Artists And Music Professionals With Disabilities (RAMPD) for connecting these talented disabled musicians with the Disability & Philanthropy Forum.

Sandy Ho, the Executive Director of the Disability and Philanthropy Forum, is interviewed about the disability community's collective victories in 2025 and her hopes for the future.Our podcast theme music is by Andre Louis and Precious Perez. Thank you to Recording Artists And Music Professionals With Disabilities (RAMPD) for connecting these talented disabled musicians with the Disability & Philanthropy Forum.

This conversation explores the principles of healing justice and its connections to disability justice, highlighting the importance of collective care and the need to challenge individualistic and curative models of care that perpetuate harm and oppression. The speakers discuss how care practices observed by communities of color have been criminalized, and they provide examples of how funders can intervene to support collective trauma transformation. They also address the challenges of adopting an anti-capitalist practice within the philanthropic sector and the deep connections between anti-blackness, the medical industrial complex, and the prison industrial complex. The speakers dream of a future where healing can find interdependence, focus on freedom, transform oppression, and free our hearts and minds.Our podcast theme music is by Andre Louis and Precious Perez. Thank you to Recording Artists And Music Professionals With Disabilities (RAMPD) for connecting these talented disabled musicians with the Disability & Philanthropy Forum.

This conversation explores the power of creative and poetic image descriptions to ensure accessibility for people with vision disabilities. Guests Leona Godin and Olivia Dreisinger discuss the concept of "Alt Text as Poetry" and "Alt Text Selfies" as ways to translate visual information into concise yet expressive language. They emphasize the importance of including details like race, disability, and other marginalized identities in descriptions, rather than aiming for an unrealistic "colorblind" objectivity. The discussion also touches on the need to fund and elevate disabled storytellers, creators, and curators to shift narratives away from harmful tropes. Overall, the speakers advocate for a more sensory, multidimensional approach to accessibility and cultural production that celebrates disability as a creative force.Our podcast theme music is by Andre Louis and Precious Perez. Thank you to Recording Artists And Music Professionals With Disabilities (RAMPD) for connecting these talented disabled musicians with the Disability & Philanthropy Forum.

Sandy Ho, the executive director of the Disability and Philanthropy Forum, and Marcus Walton, the president and CEO of Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, discuss the importance of solidarity and collective power in the disability community and social justice movements. They share personal stories and examples that illustrate how solidarity involves vulnerability, mutual support, and a long-term commitment to racial and disability justice even in the face of fear and discouragement. They conclude by naming several solidarity superstars - activists, philanthropists, and community leaders who have modeled the values of collective care and long-term, unconditional support.Our podcast theme music is by Andre Louis and Precious Perez. Thank you to Recording Artists And Music Professionals With Disabilities (RAMPD) for connecting these talented disabled musicians with the Disability & Philanthropy Forum.

This episode of Disability Inclusion Required features a conversation with Michael Greer, President and CEO of Arts Fund, and Jen White Johnson, an Afro-Latina artist, activist, designer and educator. They discuss the concept of the "artistry of philanthropy" and how it can be channeled to directly benefit people with disabilities. The guests share their perspectives on the importance of centering disabled voices and experiences in philanthropic work, and highlight several disabled artists and projects that are amplifying issues at the intersection of disability, race, and justice. They also explore how disabled artists are using their creative expressions to challenge ableism, envision a more accessible future, and lead radical movements for social change.Our podcast theme music is by Andre Louis and Precious Perez. Thank you to Recording Artists And Music Professionals With Disabilities (RAMPD) for connecting these talented disabled musicians with the Disability & Philanthropy Forum.

This episode discusses the current landscape of discrimination against individuals with autism. Eric Garcia, a journalist and author, describes how anti-vaccine sentiment from high-level government officials like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is fueling misinformation and harmful policies that threaten the rights and well-being of autistic people. Garcia emphasizes the importance of including diverse autistic voices to challenge harmful narratives, and provides advice for autistic individuals and advocates on how to protect themselves and mobilize their communities during this challenging time. The discussion underscores the need to combat dangerous myths about autism and to ensure the rights and dignity of all autistic people are upheld.Our podcast theme music is by Andre Louis and Precious Perez. Thank you to Recording Artists And Music Professionals With Disabilities (RAMPD) for connecting these talented disabled musicians with the Disability & Philanthropy Forum.