As we adjust to social distancing and stay-at-home orders and see emerging struggles for just workplace conditions for essential workers, we are fortunate to be able to learn from those who have spent years organizing with concerns about access and radical inclusion at the forefront of their work.
Last month we hosted three leaders in this movement at “Organizing in a Time of Social Distancing: the Wisdom of Disability Justice Organizers,” a webinar moderated by our own Allegra Heath-Stout. The webinar featured disability justice leaders Patricia Berne, Lydia X. Z. Brown, and Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha. Over 1,200 people registered to attend this very important opportunity. Register here for a copy of the recording and see the resources mentioned by panelists at the bottom of this page.
The webinar was also picked up by the notable Irresistible and featured on its April 12 podcast.
This episode shares stories and insights from disability justice organizers that all of us can learn from and apply to organizing in our current conditions.
-Irresistible
In response to all of the questions we received from Jewish leaders, organizers, and organizations about how to organize for justice and community during the pandemic, we will be offering a special round of Don’t Kvetch, Organize!
Beginning May 18, we will run the seven-week special edition, offering skills and insights for people seeking to organize in this time of crisis. Whether your interest is in joining mutual aid efforts for this unique moment or using this time to engage with longer-term organizing for systemic change, we will support participants seeking to get involved in their communities as they learn. This course will also serve as an introduction to how community organizing can be used to build a more just world for all. It will explore what Jewish traditions and history teach us about our work for justice, with video segments taught by experienced organizers and movement trainers. Find out more about the course Don’t Kvetch, Organize *Special Edition* here.
As mentioned earlier, below are links and learning opportunities referenced in the webinar:
- Fund for Community Reparations for Autistic People of Color’s Interdependence, Survival and Empowerment – Please donate to support the fund’s effort to provide direct financial support via micro-grants to autistic people of color during COVID-19.
- Stand with The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe – The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, the very tribe that welcomed the Pilgrims in the 1600s, is at risk of losing what is left of their homelands due to a determination made by Trump’s Bureau of Indian Affairs. Sign their petition and donate to their cause.
- Skin, Tooth and Bone (Second Edition) – To dig in deeper with your learning about disability justice, get yourself a copy of this fabulous primer all about disability justice principles and practice, published by Sins Invalid.
- Crip Fund: Crip Fund is pooling money for chronically ill, disabled, and immunocompromised people in serious financial need during this ongoing time of love, coronavirus, and apocalyptic joy & pain.
- #NoBodyIsDisposable Know Your Rights Guide to Surviving COVID-19 Triage Protocols – This “Know Your Rights” toolkit is for people facing potential triage discrimination based on disability or weight during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. The document covers rights and strategies for fat and disabled people of all ages navigating medical care in this time.
- Disability During a Pandemic: Why You Should Put a Spoon on your Seder Plate this Passover, by Rabbi Elliot Kukla, in JWeekly.
- Stay alert for news on the upcoming show produced by Sins Invalid: We Love Like Barnacles: Crip Lives and Climate Chaos.
