17 Black Disability Activists and Advocates

February is Black History Month! We will be highlighting impactful Black disability activists and advocates throughout the month. Check back for new features each day! 

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Harriet Tubman is one of the greatest Black liberators of all time. She is well known in history for leading hundreds of enslaved people escape slavery in the South. Tubman made thirteen recorded trips and later freed nearly 800 others in South Carolina as the leader of an armed expedition for the Union Army. After being struck by a 2-pound weight as a teenager, Tubman acquired a disability - she began experiencing what she then referred to as sleeping spells but what many Black historians now believe were most likely epileptic seizures from a traumatic brain injury.

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Brad Lomax was an essential part of the disability rights movement. He was a member the Black Panther Party and founded the East Oakland Center for Independent Living which provided support and resources to Black individuals with disabilities. He is especially remembered for his vital role in the 1977 504 sit-ins, where the Black Panther Party supplied food and supports to the disability protestors. May people share that with this support, the 504 sit-ins would have likely failed.

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Kathy D Woods is the 1st African American fashion designer for little people. Recognizing disparities in access to clothing for little people, Kathy D Woods founded and is the CEO of her own clothing company designed for adult little people. This was not an easy feat, as she experienced discrimination from people in the fashion industry who did not see a need to make clothing for people her size. Her business and advocacy centering the experiences of women with disabilities has gotten her invited to the White House on multiple occasions.

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Donald Galloway was an impactful activist working to center Black and POC people in the disability rights movement. Blinded at a young age due to a lack of medical care, he had been a disability advocate his entire life. A few of his notable positions included being the executive director for the Colorado Governor’s Council on Disability, Director of Jamaica's Peace Corps and running the Center for Independent Living’s Washington, D.C. branch. He is also famously remembered for suing the federal government for denying him the ability to server on a jury. He won his case.

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Joyce Ardell Jackson was a disability activist that lived with arthritis throughout her life. She is one of the vital protesters who took part in the nearly month long sit-ins that demanded the enforcement of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Her efforts led her and other disability activists to meet with the Carter administration to successfully implement Section 504 – the historical civil rights legislation that prohibits federally funded agencies, programs, and activities from discriminating against people with disabilities.

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Jazzie Collins was a passionate organizer, activist, and leader living in the San Francisco area. She was a Black, transgender, and openly HIV positive activist who fought for LGBTQ folks, elders, people with disabilities, tenants, and labor rights. Her activism spanned over 20 years, including organizing for Senior and Disability Action, chairing San Francisco's LGBT Aging Policy Taskforce, running the "6th Street Agenda" food pantry, founding Queers for Economic Equality Now (QUEEN), and serving on the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Trans March.

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Audre Lorde self-described herself as a Black, Lesbian, Feminist, Mother, Warrior, Poet. She was an award winning activist, poet, writer and visionary. Lorde wrote Sister Outsider, The Cancer Journals, The Black Unicorn, and many other books and poems that highlight the intersections of her identities. Her timeless creative works center a Black Feminist frame and have been foundational pieces of social justice work against racism, classism, heterosexism, and other systems of oppression. Lorde had breast cancer and navigated the later years of her life with cancer and related illness.

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Fannie Lou Hammer was a legendary civil rights, worker's rights, women's rights, and voting rights activist. Hammer was disabled, living with the long-term effects from having Polio as a child, being sterilized while getting surgery without her consent, and becoming physically disabled due to severe violence in a Mississippi jail for attempting to vote in 1963. Her efforts and activism greatly impacted the civil rights movement She gave one of the biggest speeches of all time at the Democratic National Convention of 1964 and spoke openly about her experiences and the racial issues in Mississippi

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Claudia Gordon is the first Deaf Black woman lawyer in the United States. She is a trailblazer, advocate, and leader dedicated to assisting those with disabilities and other marginalized communities. She is the former Senior Policy Advisor for the department of Homeland Security, former vice president for the National Black Deaf advocates, and former White House Public Engagement Advisor. In this last role, she was President Obama's key advisor on issues relating to people with disabilities. She continues her advocacy in the US Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.

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Lois Curtis is an influential Black artist and disability activist with intellectual and developmental disabilities and schizophrenia. She spent a large part of her early adult life living in an institution despite her care team stating she could live in the community. She is best known as the famous plaintiff LC in the landmark Supreme Court case 'Olmstead vs L.C.' which ended unjustified segregation of people with disabilities and established the right for people with disabilities to live independently in their communities as opposed to in institutions. Her lifelong advocacy has impacted the lives of many Americans and got her invited to the White House under the Obama administration.

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Pat Parker was a Black, lesbian, feminist, poet and activist with breast cancer. Her 5 released collections of poetry still remain incredibly impactful and influential to readers today. She wrote about her experiences and pride related to her identities. She was involved with the Black Panther Party, the Women’s Press Collective, and activism around domestic violence, rights of people of color, and the LGBTQ community. She founded the Black Women’s Revolutionary Council and was the director of the Feminist Women’s Health Center.

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Vilissa Thompson is a disability rights consultant, social worker, public speaker, activist, writer, and leader. She created the hashtag hashtag Disability Too White that sparks online conversation and critical thought about the intersection of race and disability. She is the founder and CEO of Ramp Your Voice!, a disability rights consultation & advocacy organization that promotes self-advocacy & empowerment for people with disabilities. Thompson is also a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.

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Barbara Jordan was a famous advocate for voting rights, immigration reform, minimum wage laws, and civil rights. She was the first African American woman from a southern state in congress in 1973. She is most famously remembered for her role in the Watergate hearings and for delivering the keynote at the 1976 Democratic national convention, being the first Black woman to do so. She continued her advocacy through education as a professor at the University of Texas at Austin. Throughout the later years of her life she used a wheelchair due to of Multiple Sclerosis.

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Morénike Giwa Onaiwu: global advocate, public speaker, writer, educator, researcher, and mom. Morénike is a disabled non-binary woman of color currently a professor at Rice University. They have served on the boards of the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN), the Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network, and more. They have received many awards and have been invited to speak at the White House and United Nations Headquarters. In addition, she also has co-edited the first anthology of Autistic people of color, All the Weight of Our Dreams: On Living Racialized Autism, in addition to other books.

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Haben Girma is a lawyer, advocate, speaker, writer and activist advocating for disability justice. Haben is the first deafblind individual to graduate from Harvard Law School. She has been named a White House Champion of Change, and she has received the Helen Keller Achievement Award, a spot on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, and TIME100 Talks. She has recently published her best selling memoir Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law. She has been globally recognized by world leaders including President Bill Clinton, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Chancellor Angela Merkel, and more.

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Johnnie Lacy was a trailblazing advocate for Black people with disabilities. After having polio as a child, she used a wheelchair throughout her life. In higher education, she faced many barriers, including not being able to be participate in her own graduation ceremony, which partially fueled her passion for disability rights. She helped found the Berkeley Center for Independent Living in 1981, served as Director of the Community Resources for Independent Living, and more. It was in these roles that she advocated for anti-ableist and anti-racist spaces, centering the experiences Black folks with disabilities.

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Leroy F Moore Jr. is an African American writer, poet, community activist, and feminist who has cerebral palsy. He is the founder of Krip-Hop Nation, the Co/Founder of Sins Invalid, a member of National Black Disability Coalition, and journalist & writer at Poor Magazine. His art and activism center the Black disability experience. His art takes the form of film, spoken word, poetry, and books. His art is well known across the world, and he is recognized a global disability leader. His movement, Krip Hop Nation, continues to highlight and amplify disabled artists and their music.

Comments

Thank you so much for posting this. At the intersection of being black, female, and over 40 with invisible disabilities I have experienced discrimination in more ways than I could ever express. I have dreams of doing things that I feel I’m meant to do (like going to law school) but started to think those opportunities were just that, dreams. Deep within I know there is still much for me to do in this life and seeing these heroes are examples that show me not to count me out like others have. It’s sad to know that at 47 and my mom who is 71 are JUST NOW learning about black people that significantly created or affected America’s history but were never spoken of because America separates “Black history” from American history.

By Ericka Guy on Feb 24, 2022

Really thanks to post this informative article about Black Activists, especially for “Fannie Lou Hammer”. She did great efforts for activism having diasability. I have written a blog on the Black Activists and their life achievements that provides the a lot of information about Black History and other Black Activists. Some documentary videos and films are also made for this poupose.

By Robin Hamilton on Jun 13, 2022

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