Voting Rights in Georgia

Below is a message from a voting rights lawyer in Atlanta looking for eligible voters with disabilities who are willing to share their thoughts on the accessibility of Georgia's absentee ballot system.

Are you an eligible Georgia voter?  My name is Bryan Sells, and I'm an attorney in Atlanta who specializes in voting rights. I believe that Georgia's absentee ballot system may be inaccessible for voters with certain disabilities, and I'd like to hear from people who might be affected.  

Georgia law does not currently offer any accommodations for disabled voters who want to vote by absentee ballot, but there are new technologies that might be able to help.  

If you have a disability that would prevent you from marking an absentee ballot without assistance *and* you use assistive technology, like screen-reading software, that might enable you to mark an online ballot with your computer, I want to hear from you.  It's OK if you haven't actually voted by absentee ballot in the past.  This is about having the equal right to vote in future elections.

Anyone interested in talking with me about their experiences can reach me by phone at 404-480-4212 or by email at <bryan@bryansellslaw.com>.

Feb. 6, 2017 Twitter Chat: Disability Identity & Activism

Storify of last night's blockbuster chat that had #CripTheVote "trending" on Twitter for awhile. The next chat will be February 12, on Disabled People in Public Service. Stay tuned for more details when we get closer to the date.

#CripTheVote Activism Stories: Advice for First-Timers

A few weeks ago, we posted a survey asking people to talk about what disability activism and identity mean to them, and how they came to be involved. Here are some selected quotes from answers we received on how to help people new to activism. Join us for our next #CripTheVote chat on Disability Identity and Activism, Monday, February 6, at 7:00 PM EST.

If you are uncomfortable with activism …

"Take whatever steps you are comfortable taking. Time and experience will help you take more steps."

-- Di Steiner @DM_dimntd

"If you can't get comfortable getting a little uncomfortable, the person you wish to change won't either. CripTheVote creates a community where we can find comfort in one another, grow our ideas and grow our political power."

-- Liz Jackson @elizejackson

"I'm still starting out myself...It seems scary at first and like it will be hard but when you get responses and people see what you are doing and you know you are educating others and helping people everything is worth it."

-- Ev

"When I started I had an image of what activism looked like, and I castigated myself for failing to meet that expectation. I found myself at my most effective when I played toward my strengths, rather than trying to fit a pre-existing image of what I should be. I love synthesizing and disseminating information and ideas, especially engaging on a one-to-one basis, and that has formed the foundation of my activism. Activism is, by nature, not always easy, but it's important that the kind of work I do is, at least in part, something that comes naturally to me or that I am comfortable with. That forms a base of accomplishment upon which I can stack other kinds of action that stretch me in new and challenging ways, but prevents me from feeling like I'm constantly out of my depth."

-- Sam de Leve @ChaiKovsky

"Sometimes activism is about starting small and then building up to a level you feel comfortable with."

-- Anonymous

"Don't feel your view of issues or your activism have to completely conform to a certain set of beliefs, positions, or community norms. At the same time, be open to learning what the community's consensus beliefs, positions, and norms are. You can commit to what you are comfortable with and abstain from what you aren't. But as you gain experience try to stretch your thinking and possibly your work to encompass more areas that you were previously uncomfortable with. Take care of yourself, keep your critical faculties sharpened in all situations, hold yourself to strong principles, be gentle to others, especially when they don't fully live up to your principles. Disability activism is important, but by itself it won't make you a great person or a terrible person ... so relax a little."

-- Andrew Pulrang @AndrewPulrang

"Everything is uncomfortable when you've not done it before. There is very little to be lost in putting your own voice out there, rather than letting others speak for you. You will invariably be more accurate than they are... everyone is comfortable with something - it is just a question of finding how you can use that to advance your cause or someone else's."

-- Tim Abbott @mhdtim

Before getting started ...

"...unless a person develops a sense of disability pride, they're probably not going to be very likely to fight for themselves and the community, because they might think "Oh, it's me that is the problem." "I want too much", when really it's the system."

-- michele @rebelwheelsnyc

"You start where you are. Do whatever brings freedom to closer to you. There are no rules. If someone tells you, "No, no, don't say that," feel free to say it louder."

-- Anonymous @georgesdryad

"What I would suggest is seek out disability rights groups, or an independent living center and ask how you can be involved in the disability community. It is important for persons with disabilities to learn our history, the problems we faced and still face today, try and get to know others with different disabilities other than your own. Just reach out. Try not to get overwhelmed. Learn the difficulties and problems facing the disabled community today and find the courage to say: "I don't like this, I want this to change!"

-- Anonymous

"Sharing your own experiences and not feeling ashamed is a start."

-- Suzanne

"I would start with self-reflection and reading/learning about power and privilege.  Then I would ask yourself "If I don't fight for myself and my community, then who will?" To me, the answer is clear."

-- Lisette @LisetteETorres3

"Perhaps start by being curious.  Seek connections.  Ask questions about basic things, or complicated ideas.  Read threads.  Ask which threads might be useful depending on your interest.  Realize that what seem to be small, everyday actions are actually resistance to the status quo.  That you can build on that.  Know that you are welcome!"

-- Linden Gue @DagbokDog

Examples of first steps …

"Start small. Talk with friends."

-- Blow Pop @blowpopsreviews

"Hook up with people who are active in advocacy and seek their support. You don't have to be the world's loudest and proudest, but with support you can even simply mail a senator or speaker to a store manager about an obstacle."

-- Mary Mactavish @Mactavish

"I started by learning, and talking about it with other people with disabilities. It might not seem like much, but it's a beginning. Often times, you may see others who are doing things and decide to get involved. That helps take some of the pressure off... You can be involved as an activist, but you may not feel comfortable organizing yet."

-- Christine M @ChrisDisability

"Finding local activist groups is important. If your city has an office of equity, make sure that disability rights are included in the discussion, as well as at the school district level."

-- Suzanne

"I began getting involved anonymously by joining support groups relating to my specific conditions through alias accounts on social media (I've found Tumblr to be an especially friendly community for 'spoonies'.) The support I found in those communities boosted my confidence and energized me to make more public displays of my solidarity with and support for disability rights. But one of the benefits of online activism is that you can take part in it anonymously if that's a more comfortable way for you to connect and get involved."

-- Amanda H

"As long as one can and feels comfortable participating in social media, that's an easy place to start. You can retweet other people's takes on Twitter if you feel they express it better than you would. You can participate in various disability-themed chats, which helps broaden perspectives in the disability community... I haven't gone to a disability-specific march yet, but one can always try to reach protest/march organizers ahead of the event date and ask them nicely what they've done to include disabled people. There might be time for them to make things more accessible and if not, now they know that you (and others) are out there and would like that. And as one gets more experienced/active, one can undoubtedly join in organizing, which would be one way of ensuring your experience as a disabled person is helping to form the event."

-- Megan Lynch @may_gun

"I suggest starting by looking for opportunities in the community. Talk to local organizations that deal with disabilities (retirement homes/senior centers, schools, child care/foster care groups, medical/physical therapy, shelters are just some examples). Once you find a group or cause it'll be easier to find something you'd like to do some activism, like raising money for a charity, circulating petitions for government, speaking at local school board meetings, whatever is relevant to you & the specific thing you want to do. It's a great thing & if you just put your mind to it & your heart in it, it is really worthwhile."

-- Anonymous

"People are afraid to speak out, and disabled people are so often objectified or spoken over/for that it's hard to cultivate and amplify our own voices. Accessible mediums -- for me, Twitter -- are crucial, as is creating a disability community that those with mobility issues can access.  The internet is a powerful tool.  It's where so many disabled people see others like themselves for the first time -- that is true for me.  It's our amplifier, our recruitment tool, our soapbox.  We can use it, and we must keep using it, all the while listening to disabled people as to how to make it as accessible as possible."

-- Aleksei Mirov @ai_valentin 

"participating on twitter has been really good for me in terms of becoming more comfortable with my limits in the real world sphere and being ok with the fact that i don't have to make a phone call if it will completely fuck up the rest of my day/week, or if i can't leave the house i don't have to go to a protest. i'm learning that sometimes staying alive at all is radical when the authorities don't want you to be alive."

-- kate @kavoogs

#CripTheVote Activism Stories: Definitions and Motivations

A few weeks ago, we posted a survey asking people to talk about what disability activism and identity mean to them, and how they came to be involved. Here are some selected quotes from answers we received on disability identity. Join us for our next #CripTheVote chat on Disability Identity and Activism, Monday, February 6, at 7:00 PM EST.

Defining activism and/or advocacy 

"I identify as advocate. I don't have much reason other than activism feels more like butting heads...and advocacy feels more like conversation, bringing people along..."

-- Liz Jackson @elizejackson

"I am an activist/advocate because I can't keep my mouth shut.  I want to draw people in toward understanding. My definition of activism is broad.  Any act that disrupts the status quo is activism.  Being disabled in public is an act of resistance.  Being genuine and unapologetic is an act of resistance.  Speaking truth on social media, in conversations, not accepting being an object of inspiration porn... staying alive and as well as possible is an act of defiance and resistance."

-- Linden Gue @DagbokDog

"I define activism as getting involved , educating people on disability issues and policy's especially ones that many people don't understand."

-- Lauren Norman @jrtgirl35

"What I define as activism is standing up for what you believe in and shouting at the top of your lungs against things you know is wrong. You must take a stand for your community, get mean if you must but I try not to. I believe that all persons with disabilities should unite together, not just stay in our own groups, to confront the problems we face today.”

-- Anonymous

"Activism, for me, is putting myself on the line as the image of who is being harmed.  It's owning being harmed and pushing back against it.  It's standing in solidarity with intersecting oppressions and insisting that either we get there together or none of us get there at all.  A free, just society is one in which everyone has their needs met without suffering or undue burden.  To be an activist is to work for that society, no matter the cost."

-- Aleksei Mirov @ai_valentin

"I am an Autistic self-advocate and activist. Advocacy I would define as more "working for ___" and activism as being advocacy with maybe being louder or more out there. Activism is to make people aware. Advocacy is for fighting or working towards something. It's hard to separate them into two different things..."

-- Ev

"Activism is using yourself to lift up other people's voices, advocacy is using your own voice to speak for others."

-- Tim Abbott @mhdtim

"To me, activism/advocacy is not always pointing things out the discriminatory things in culture, because that can be tiring and one can't be expected to do that all the time. So, I think it is also learning how to accept oneself in a culture (past, current, and hopefully not future) that teaches ableism is an acceptable thing and GOOD thing."

-- Anonymous

"For me, advocacy is fighting for my own rights and needs. Activism is fighting for the whole disability community's rights and needs."

-- Andrew Pulrang @AndrewPulrang

 "I don't call myself an activist or advocate. I just put my thoughts around disability on twitter and they seem to resonate with people. I don't know what being an activist entails so I'm loath to call myself one. If other people see my thoughts, opinions and activity as activism so be it."

-- Anonymous

"I define activism as any deliberate action, no matter how small, toward a more just existence for all people."

-- Flynn Germain @flynngermain

"Activism to me is challenging power, privilege, and oppression in all of its forms.”

-- Lisette @LisetteETorres3

"Activism is freedom. I can no longer quietly conform to a system that subordinates me."

-- Anonymous @georgesdryad

"i think there is a mainstream description of activist that i feel like i don't ID with, and i don't know how much of that is internalized ableism and how much of it is just not necessarily identifying with that. i think intellectually i want to argue that activism and advocacy aren't necessarily the mainstream definition i'm thinking of, particularly for spoonies who aren't always able to be present in the same way people traditionally view activists as. but i 'm struggling to internalize that on an emotional level."

-- kate @kavoogs

Motivation for being an activist or advocate

"I'm an activist because I have to be.  I go to a disability-hostile school.  I live in a disability-hostile world.  I learned to fight early from my Latinx immigrant father, and I've never met a challenge I couldn't take on.  I can't use my fists, so now I use my words.  14 years of higher ed and being multilingual gives me a rhetorical ferocity and fearlessness that overcomes my anxiety."

-- Aleksei Mirov @ai_valentin

"I want to do what I can to help people like me who may not have the same resources."

-- Anonymous

"I am definitely an activist (though I also advocate for myself.) I am an activist because there is a vat load of fuckery and oppression going on in this country (and world) and I know we can do better, so I fight for that."

-- Michele @rebelwheelsnyc

"I am an activist/advocate because I can't keep my mouth shut.  I want to draw people in toward understanding."

-- Linden Gue @DagbokDog

"I'm an activist and advocate. I admin forums for PWD and help promote Lyme literacy. I'm an activist because I ACT - by opposing measures and behaviors intended to hide us or keep us quiet or refuse the help we need. I'm an advocate because I teach and provide support myself and through forums."

- Besame @BesameChispa

"I have to use my voice. I've learned that my voice has power as a self advocate, and advocating for issues I care about is the next step. I typically see activists as people who are "out there" doing things, and not just using their voice through speech or writing - advocacy. I have been called an activist, and it initially made me uncomfortable - I typically see myself as more of an advocate... Willing to use my voice, but not likely to be out on the street demanding change. What I've realized is, I am becoming an activist. Wanting to take legislative action is something I see activists doing, and that's the direction I'm heading."

-- Christine M @ChrisDisability

"There was a time that I only focused on the rights of Autistic people, but after joining a group called YO! Disabled and Proud I got to meet other people with different disabilities. I realized we all face the same problems. I decided that rather than being an activist for just the Autistic Community, I decided to be an activist for the Disabled Community as a whole. I have made a lot of non-Autistic friends with different disabilities."

-- Anonymous

"I feel a responsibility to others who are suffering to leverage the resources, privileges and experiential knowledge I have gained to try to lessen their burden and empower future generations of disabled people, as was done for me. I've benefited tremendously by brave 'activists' whose activism took many different forms."

-- Amanda H

"When I became disabled I had to advocate for myself in order to do things I wanted to do (participate in athletics, dance, etc). I found that the best way to accomplish that was to effect systems change, which not only enabled me to do those things, but the people who come behind me as well."

-- Sam de Leve @ChaiKovsky

"I took up being an activist during my last few years in college. I noticed more and more as my classmates fervently fought for the rights of everyone, I got left behind. While my university championed having gender neutral bathrooms I still didn't have an accessible bathroom in the building on campus where I worked: and no one cared. I was excluded from discussions about minority, being told that I wasn't a real minority and that I didn't experience 'true' discrimination. And worse, when I recanted these situations to friends they agreed! I realized no one but me was going to stand up and say it was wrong and that I mattered too."

-- Kit @mathnskating

Examples of activism from your life

"I am a journalist by trade and activism came to me as a natural response to the UK government's attacks on disabled people's rights. Amplifying people's stories became a useful use of my skills."

-- Tim Abbott @mhdtim

"traumatic brain injury is known as the silent epidemic and i work everyday to bring awareness. Activism and advocacy is writing letters, emails, twitter, phone calls, lunches once a month at my house for other survivors, and using my connections to the media and others to create opportunities for others...to bring about awareness"

-- Anonymous

"I am interested in politics and policy anyway, and as a disabled person I feel these issues personally. I also feel I have insights into disability issues that not everyone can give."

-- Andrew Pulrang @AndrewPulrang

"I mostly engage in activism online through blogging/social media, fundraising/donating to causes I believe in, and sending emails to my reps. I like to think that even if all I accomplish is increasing visibility of disabilities due to mental health and chronic illness, that I've done at least something."

-- Anonymous

"I consider myself to be a scholar-activist. I fight for intersectional social justice, focusing mainly on the intersections of race, gender, and, now, disability. I am currently forming a national coalition for Latinxs with disabilities with colleagues from across the country."

-- Lisette @LisetteETorres3

"Additionally, for those people who have the need to create fiction, creating characters with marginalized identities can be a very beneficial thing, not just for oneself, but for others if you feel you are able to put your works out there safely. Representation is always a good thing. Our communities can always use more complex disabled protagonists. :3"

-- Anonymous

"I've been to protests, I've made calls and sent letters, I've turned up at city hall, but I've never done that *primarily* as a disabled person. I advocate strongly online, though. I also try to educate in person when things come up. Since I speak up about my disability and advocate for myself in school and volunteer positions, I suppose I'm raising the profile of people with invisible disabilities."

-- Megan Lynch @may_gun

"Activism and advocacy aren't limited to the conventional activities that come to mind (e.g., canvassing, lobbying representatives about legislation, signing petitions). The advocacy that was most instrumental in empowering me came from personal, informal blog posts I located online - powerfully candid accounts from a woman detailing her personal experiences with an embarrassing condition that I was suffering from, too. Her bravery inspired hundreds of others who were feeling ashamed and embarrassed to come forward and share their experiences and crowd-source their knowledge for the collective benefit of the group."

-- Amanda H

#CripTheVote Activism Stories: On Disability Identity

A few weeks ago, we posted a survey asking people to talk about what disability activism and identity mean to them, and how they came to be involved. Here are some selected quotes from answers we received on disability identity. Join us for our next #CripTheVote chat on Disability Identity and Activism, Monday, February 6, at 7:00 PM EST.

Acceptance of disability in relation to identity and pride

"For a long time I thought that my blindness shouldn't define me, but as I got older I realized that it wasn't that it defined me, rather other people defined me by it. It took a long time to understand that my visual impairment colors my entire world: and that's ok. I'm not ashamed of having alternate reading methods anymore, or using my cane, or when people make rude comments."

-- Kit @mathnskating

"I started accepting the label mentally ill w/out shame. My family cringed, especially my mother. It took her just over 5 years to accept that I had an MI. I struggled w/being open at work, settling for sharing w/immediate co-workers. Around the time I partnered with a service dog prospect to train, I began to identify as having a psychiatric/invisible disability.  Very open about it publicly when people would ask me as a service dog handler what "was wrong with me."  Got some quick walk aways, and some polite smiles, and some genuine questions for education about service dogs for psych disabilities, and some shared stories about MI.  Having other future teams in mind as I did so, I eventually identified as an advocate."

-- Linden Gue @DagbokDog

"I was DXed [diagnosed] at 11 and it opened up a new understanding of who I am that I wasn't just a freak or stupid like other well saying I was , I started identifying as autistic when I left the public school system to go to a school for all autistic kids but was told it was wrong for me to say I was autistic because I'm more than my disability and I was also going through a period were I was ashamed to be autistic because I thought different was bad it wasn't until I was 22 and started getting involved with disability advocacy and the online autism community that I started proudly identifying as autistic again." 

-- Lauren Norman @jrtgirl35

Internalized ableism & identity

"To be honest, it took me awhile to really connect with my disability identity. Initially, I had a hard time finding other disabled people who I could connect with. There was a LOT of internalized ableism and a lot of single issue solidarity, which turned me off. Like the time I was at a disability center to attend a social support group and many members AND the facilitator (an employee) of the group made these homophobic comments. I spoke up which really isolated myself from the group as a result. That sort of thing."

-- Michele @rebelwheelsnyc

"Accepted my identity as a disabled person after I'd had disability accommodations for a year. I struggled with what it meant to need the extra help when I hadn't needed it my first time through college (I have two bachelors degrees earned 8 years apart), but when I realized that I deserved extra help I no longer felt ashamed of identifying as disabled...I definitely get a lot if negative feedback about my identity, classmates have criticized my use of accommodations or told me it was my own fault I was sick (or they refused to believe that I *was* in pain to begin with), or they would dismiss me with "everybody is tired sometimes" when I mention my chronic fatigue...There is such a stigma about not being 100% self sufficient that it's hard to accept that's how things are now."

--Anonymous

"There was a time I hated being disabled, I wanted to hide it. But after meeting others like myself and meeting other people with different disabilities I began to have a sense of belonging. As I gotten more involved, something happened, I started to feel...happy the way I was. I became proud of my disability because it has made me the person I am. I still face some hurdles in employment, now I am getting help with that, but I am happy to be different."

-- Anonymous

"I'm 28 and was born with my initial disability - cerebral palsy, but it took me a long time to feel comfortable with it. I think like most kids and teens, I felt weird and uncomfortable having a disability. Living in the US, since 1997, changed that a little as I was more included and understood here than where I was born (England). I was a quiet, shy kid growing up and I remember being told by the school physical therapist from day 1 that I needed to be a self advocate. Speaking up for myself seemed terrifying, but she forced me to. It was my IEP goal every year. Eventually I learned how to. I think what really taught me about how to advocate was doing AmeriCorps. It forces you out of your shell, you learn to be a leader, and how to make change as one person. I was much more comfortable advocating after my time in AmeriCorps. I didn't really feel comfortable as a disabled person until I was in my mid 20s. I read a memoir by a woman with CP, and for the first time felt like this was my experience. From there, I became more involved in disability issues, worked for a nonprofit, and got let go due to health issues. The year I spent trying to find myself was when I felt like I needed to use everything that I'd learned to try and advocate more. For now, that means trying to learn, tweet with other disabled people, joining advocacy groups, and writing. I'm hoping to spend time this year at the state capitol doing advocacy work and learning how to make change." 

--Christine M @ChrisDisability

Influence of writers and thinkers on politics, disability, and power

"My disability progression coincided with my discovery of feminist blogs, which led me to disability-related blogs. FWD/Forward, Alice Sheppard's defunct Wheelchair Dancer blog, Bill Peace's Bad Cripple, Mia Mingus' Leaving Evidence, and others were all instrumental in guiding me toward a politicized disability identity as I became more disabled."

-- Sam de Leve @ChaiKovsky

"Through my undergraduate studies of feminism, I started to draw parallels to some of the concepts I was learning about gender politics to my identity as someone living with disabilities. Barriers I faced to identity formation included invalidating experiences with healthcare professionals and others, a lack of exposure to social/political theory about disability and gender and lack of exposure to others like me (in media representation and in real life). Furthermore, although I have had disabilities since childhood, one of my most disabling conditions was undiagnosed until just a few years ago, which made me second-guess myself and struggle to fully acknowledge my disability, much less think of it in political terms."

-- Amanda H

Finding language and community

"It took a long time. I was always disabled but the word was never spoken in my house. Then I went to college, read some books, realized lots of writers exploit disability. Finally, went in search of my disabled tribe."

-- Anonymous @georgesdryad 

"I discovered I was autistic about 2 years ago. I read other Autistic written activism pieces and started participating in self-advocacy to get myself the supports I need. I faced a bit of internalized ableism and also ableism from my family. I'm still working towards understanding between my family and I, but I have an amazing found family which understands, supports and loves me 100%. They helped me get past a lot of my self doubt and self-consciousness and grow into who I am now, with the help of the online Autistic community. Finding community and people who are with you no matter what is probably the most important thing to me shaping my identity (and my pride in my identity) to where it is today."

-- Ev

Disability identity in relation to multiple, intersectional identities

"I didn't encounter the idea of disability as an identity fully until I joined twitter, and to a lesser extent, facebook. I'm quite isolated so social media, especially twitter, helps me feel connected to the disability community. I guess the biggest barrier I face is myself. While I'm comfortable discussing disability on social media it's quite different in everyday life. I don't know any Black Disabled folk and I live in an area where most disability organizations are white. There was no discussions of identity or activism between Black & PoC folk I met at my local mental health service. I don't even know if they thought of themselves as being disabled. Mental health still isn't seen as disability, probably because society still thinks of disability in terms of physical impairment. MH activism and general disability activism in my country is dominated by white organizations and white people and I don't feel as if I would fit in or my concerns about racism would be addressed or even acknowledged."

-- Anonymous

"I was born disabled. I embraced it as an identity as a young adult when it became clear to me that society was consciously, lazily, putting barriers in front of disabled people...My identity as an English man was never under threat but every other strand of my identity as a proudly European, migrant, bisexual, disabled person has been minimised or ignored by others. My disabled identity is the single most subjected to frequent assessment by the criteria of others."

-- Tim Abbott @mhdtim

"I had to get over the internalised cultural hegemony about disability, and it was only when I started to use mobility aids that I accepted myself as disabled.  As a former dancer, it was only when dance was not possible that I could accept it.  Having a lot of marginalisations already -- Latinx, Jewish, queer -- helped me accept this new intersection, and my experience in the wheelchair has helped me accept my gender identity thanks to the strange asexuality ascribed to wheelchair users.  Without a gender and sexual performance to put on, and without the ballerina identity to hold on to, I recognised my trans-ness.  It all flows together." 

-- Aleksei Mirov @ai_valentin

Challenges of having an invisible disability 

"I started identifying as disabled when I saw friends of mine identifying that way. The lack of stigma they had around their identities made it easier for me. A big barrier for me was feeling that i wasn't "disabled enough."" 

--Flynn Germain, @flynngermain

"It's still a process even after having this disability for 22 years now. I think at first I was hoping to beat back the progress of it. It took a very long time to accept there were things I could no longer do without increasing pain and/or further hurting myself. I didn't hide the disability from employers, friends or family. The biggest surprise was the way my family and some friends accused me of faking or blamed me for acquiring the condition. So just as I most needed moral support, not only was it not there, but I had that additional burden. I had to advocate for myself, there was no one to do it for me...Sometimes I feel caught in the middle, though. There are people with far greater challenges than what I face and sometimes I worry that I'm too disabled for able-bodied folk and not disabled enough for some folks in the disability community (having an invisible disability and more options than a lot of folks)."

-- Megan Lynch @may_gun

"Unlike my racial/ethnic and gender identities that I have identified with since I was young, I discovered my disability identity as I tried to navigate my academic career with a new diagnosis of fibromyalgia, motherhood, and full-time employment; still trying to see what my disability identity means to me; my main barrier is the fact that fibromyalgia is not a visible disability and people think it is not real or that the symptoms are exaggerated; it can make you doubt yourself."

-- Lisette @LisetteETorres3

2/6 #CripTheVote Chat: Disability Identity & Activism

#CripTheVote Twitter Chat

Disability Identity and Activism

Monday, February 6, 2017

4 pm Pacific/ 7 pm Eastern

More people than ever are becoming engaged in activism for the first time. The co-partners of #CripTheVote, Andrew Pulrang, Gregg Beratan, and Alice Wong, will discuss the relationship between disability identity and activism. Join us as we start 2017 with our eyes wide open. 

A big thank you to the #CripTheVote community for sharing their stories with us! Please check out the wealth of advice and knowledge by disabled people about their disability identity, activism, and how to help people interested yet intimidated or scared. 

#CripTheVote Activism Stories: On Disability Identity

#CripTheVote Activism Stories: Definitions and Motivations

#CripTheVote Activism Stories: Advice for First-Timers

How to Participate

Follow @GreggBeratan  @AndrewPulrang  @DisVisibility on Twitter

When it’s time, search #CripTheVote on Twitter for the series of live tweets under the ‘Latest’ tab for the full conversation.

If you don’t use Twitter, you can follow along in real time here: http://twubs.com/CripTheVote

If you might be overwhelmed by the volume of tweets and only want to see the chat’s questions so you can respond to them, check @DisVisibility’s account. Each question will tweeted 6-8 minutes apart.

Check out this explanation of how to participate in a Twitter chat by Ruti Regan: https://storify.com/RutiRegan/examplechat

Check out this captioned ASL explanation of how to participate in a chat by @behearddc

https://www.facebook.com/HEARDDC/videos/1181213075257528/

Introductory Tweets and Questions for 2/5 Chat

Welcome to the #CripTheVote chat on disability identity and activism! Let’s do this!

This is the first of 4 #CripTheVote chats for the spring of 2017. We also have a new blog: http://cripthevote.blogspot.com/p/upcoming-cripthevote-events_12.html

We also have 3 blog posts featuring #CripTheVote activism stories from our online survey thanks to you all. http://cripthevote.blogspot.com/2017/02/cripthevote-activism-stories.html

Please remember to use the #CripTheVote hashtag when you tweet.

If you respond to a question such as Q1, your tweet should follow this format: “A1 [your message] #CripTheVote”

Q1 Community check-in: How are you feeling right now given the recent events after the Inauguration? How are you coping? #CripTheVote

Q2 What does activism mean to you? What kinds of activism are you involved with? #CripTheVote 

Q3 Do you think of yourself as an activist or advocate? Why or why not? #CripTheVote

Q4 How did your disability identity develop in relation to other identities you inhabit #CripTheVote

Q5 When did you become politicized? How are you shaped by your culture, beliefs, and communities? #CripTheVote

Q6 Not everyone is on Twitter or interested in political participation. How can we encourage disabled people to get involved? #CripTheVote

Q7 What are some barriers that get in the way of more disabled people from participating in any form of activism? #CripTheVote

Q8 There's the phrase 'the personal is political.' If that resonates with you, what issues are hitting you hardest right now? #CripTheVote

Q9 As you look forward to the rest of this year, what do you need to sustain your activism? What will help? #CripTheVote