Disability Visibility

Today’s subject is this podcast because it’s episode 100!! Whether this is the first time you’re listening or if you’re a longtime listener, this podcast is co-audio produced by three people and myself: Sarika Mehta (@sarikadmehta), Geraldine Ah-Sue (@geraldineah_sue), and Cheryl Green (@WhoAmIToStopIt). I’m proud to work with all three of them since the podcast started in 2017. You’ll hear us talk about the lack of disabled voices in radio or podcasts, our collaborative process, and the future of the podcast. And this is a supersized episode! After the conversation, you’ll hear some feedback from podcast listeners. On my website you can also find more such as a downloadable list of all 100 podcast episodes you can share as a resource and another document with responses by students from Mid-Peninsula High School in San Mateo, California. And now for a very important update. Friends, this is the last episode of the Disability Visibility podcast. I’ll talk about how I came to this decision in the conversation you’re about to hear. I hope you will continue to subscribe because I may still produce other audio stories in the future, just not regular podcast episodes. It has been an absolute joy to create and collaborate with so many awesome people. In addition to Sarika, Cheryl, and Geraldine, I want to thank Mike Mort for creating the logo, Wheelchair Sports Camp for allowing me to use 2 of their songs as the theme music, and Lateef McLeod for the introduction. I also want to thank the 100+ guests for sharing their wisdom and time and for trusting their story with me. And most importantly, I want to thank YOU. This is not the end, but the beginning of new adventures. Thank you for being in community with me. Disability Visibility is a production of the Disability Visibility Project, an online community dedicated to recording, amplifying, and sharing disability media and culture. Text transcripts and links for each episode are available at: https://disabilityvisibilityproject.com/podcast-2/ Twitter: @DisVisibility Support this podcast: patreon.com/DVP

Today I’m in conversation with my friends Andrew Pulrang (@AndrewPulrang) and Gregg Beratan (GreggBeratan). The three of us are co-partners in #CripTheVote, an online movement encouraging the political participation of disabled people that we started in 2016. You’ll hear us talk about the origins of #CripTheVote, the differences between the 2016 and 2020 election on disability policies and engagement, and looking ahead with the Biden/Harris administration. Please note our conversation took place in December 2020 a few weeks after the Presidential election. Disability Visibility is a production of the Disability Visibility Project, an online community dedicated to recording, amplifying, and sharing disability media and culture. Text transcripts and links for each episode are available at: https://disabilityvisibilityproject.com/podcast-2/ Twitter: @DisVisibility Support this podcast: patreon.com/DVP

Today I’m in conversation with Alena Morales, who will graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in Nutritional Sciences with a minor in Disability Studies at UC Berkeley in Spring 2021. Alena is a queer disabled advocate of color and the former Chair and Co-Founder of the Disabled Students Commission, and through loving interdependence and collective labor with her fellow crips, she co-created one of the few Disability Cultural Centers in the country at UC Berkeley. You’ll hear Alena talk about developing her disability identity, finding community, and getting involved in community organizing at school. She’ll also talk about the importance of creating space for the broader disability community with the formation of the Disability Cultural Center and the years-long process that made it happen. Disability Visibility is a production of the Disability Visibility Project, an online community dedicated to recording, amplifying, and sharing disability media and culture. Text transcripts and links for each episode are available at: https://disabilityvisibilityproject.com/podcast-2/ Twitter: @DisVisibility Support this podcast: patreon.com/DVP

Today I’m in conversation with Mustafa Rfat. Mustafa is a graduate student in the Public Administration Program at West Virginia University. He’s also a trainee at Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) at the university. Mustafa came to the U.S. as a refugee from Iraq in 2011. You’ll hear Mustafa talk about his experience as a refugee and his adjustment to life in the United States. Mustafa will also describe the unique challenges and needs of refugees with disabilities. For more, you may want to check out episode 32 of this podcast with Dr. Mansha Mirza who talked about a project in Illinois that helps refugees with disabilities access employment and career opportunities. Disability Visibility is a production of the Disability Visibility Project, an online community dedicated to recording, amplifying, and sharing disability media and culture. Text transcripts and links for each episode are available at: https://disabilityvisibilityproject.com/podcast-2/ Twitter: @DisVisibility Support this podcast: patreon.com/DVP

Today’s episode is about art and technology featuring a conversation with Lindsey D. Felt (@ldfelt) and Vanessa Chang (@vxchang). Lindsey and Vanessa curated Recoding CripTech, a multidisciplinary art exhibition at SOMArts Cultural Center in San Francisco in early 2020. You’ll learn about how their collaboration and friendship started, what it was like curating this exhibit, some of the disabled artists that were part of the exhibit, and why CripTech, disability culture, and accessibility is more important than ever in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Disability Visibility is a production of the Disability Visibility Project, an online community dedicated to recording, amplifying, and sharing disability media and culture. Text transcripts and links for each episode are available at: https://disabilityvisibilityproject.com/podcast-2/ Twitter: @DisVisibility Support this podcast: patreon.com/DVP

In today’s episode I’m in conversation with Dr. Justin Bullock (@jbullockruns). Justin is currently an Internal Medicine Resident in San Francisco, California. You’ll hear Justin talk about his experiences disclosing his disability at work, the process he had to go through to prove his fitness to serve as a physician because of his disability, the systemic ableism and racism in medicine and medical education, and the benefits and risks of telling your story and being visible. You’ll also hear Justin talk about article he wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine titled “Suicide—Rewriting my story” which describes his battle with bipolar disorder and suicidality during undergraduate and graduate medical education. Please note our conversation took place in September 2020 and there will be discussions of hospitalization, death and dying, suicidality, suicidal ideation, and trauma. Disability Visibility is a production of the Disability Visibility Project, an online community dedicated to recording, amplifying, and sharing disability media and culture. Text transcripts and links for each episode are available at: https://disabilityvisibilityproject.com/podcast-2/ Twitter: @DisVisibility Support this podcast: patreon.com/DVP

Hospitals across the country have reached full capacity and utilizing crisis standards of care, guidelines used when there is a shortage of resources and care. Today’s episode is about healthcare allocation in the time of COVID with Britney Wilson (@labelleverite), a civil rights attorney with the National Center for Law and Economic Justice. This center, along with three other disability rights organizations, filed a class action complaint in October 2020 against the state of New York. The lawsuit alleges discrimination in a current state plan that would ration ventilators and allow hospitals to reallocate ventilators from people who use them in the community. Britney will talk about her role in the case and how the case came about, how these existing guidelines are ableist and harm disabled people, and the goals are from the lawsuit. Please note we talked in November 2020 and I included a short update at the end of the episode. Disability Visibility is a production of the Disability Visibility Project, an online community dedicated to recording, amplifying, and sharing disability media and culture. Text transcripts and links for each episode are available at: https://disabilityvisibilityproject.com/podcast-2/ Twitter: @DisVisibility Support this podcast: patreon.com/DVP

Today’s episode features an interview with Johnnie Jae (@johnniejae) who is from the Otoe-Missouria and Choctaw tribes of Oklahoma. Johnnie is a journalist, organizer, creator, and futurist and the founder of A Tribe Called Geek, an award-winning media platform for Indigenous Geek Culture and STEM, and #Indigenerds4Hope, a suicide prevention initiative designed to educate, encourage, and empower Native youth. Johnnie will talk about her experiences accessing healthcare and staying safe as an immunocompromised person, the pandemic’s impact on disabled Indigenous, the systemic inequalities facing Indigenous communities, and the movement to remove racist imagery and terms in popular culture. Please note there will be discussions about hospitalization, genocide, settler colonialism, medical racism, racist mascots. Disability Visibility is a production of the Disability Visibility Project, an online community dedicated to recording, amplifying, and sharing disability media and culture. Text transcripts and links for each episode are available at: https://disabilityvisibilityproject.com/podcast-2/ Twitter: @DisVisibility Support this podcast: patreon.com/DVP

Today’s episode features an interview with Jen White-Johnson (@jtknoxroxs), an Afro-Latina disabled artist, photographer, educator, and designer. Jen is also an Assistant Professor of Visual Communication at Bowie State University. Jen will talk about how being the parent of a neurodivergent Black son politicized her and her work in the midst of racist violence and police brutality this year. You’ll hear her describe one of several graphics she created this year that features the raised solidarity fist in black with an infinity sign at the wrist with the words Black Disabled Lives Matter below. You can find more of Jen’s work on her website at https://jenwhitejohnson.com/. Please note this interview contains mentions of antiblackness, violence, and police brutality. Disability Visibility is a production of the Disability Visibility Project, an online community dedicated to recording, amplifying, and sharing disability media and culture. Text transcripts and links for each episode are available at: https://disabilityvisibilityproject.com/podcast-2/ Twitter: @DisVisibility Support this podcast: patreon.com/DVP

Today’s episode features an interview with Emily Ackerman (@EmilyEAckerman), a doctoral candidate in chemical engineering at the University of Pittsburgh and a disabled activist. Emily will talk about how she got into chemical engineering, her advice for disabled students who want to be scientists, her experiences last year on campus with a delivery robot, and the importance of accessibility in the design and development of technology. Disability Visibility is a production of the Disability Visibility Project, an online community dedicated to recording, amplifying, and sharing disability media and culture. Text transcripts and links for each episode are available at: https://disabilityvisibilityproject.com/podcast-2/ Twitter: @DisVisibility Support this podcast: patreon.com/DVP