Crip News v.179

New works, "disability justice," calls, and events.

Apr 14, 2025

New Works

A person with a purpley-pink afro whose face is being pulled away from their head and body as they scream and cry set against a background of multicoloured squares. Over the top are the words Collection 1: Psych abolition and Mad liberation — Artwork by **EJE: The Artist**.

Healing Justice Ldn has released a new collection in its In Practice series about “Psych abolition and Mad liberation.” It features writing and creative works by Stefanie Lyn Kaufman-Mthimkhulu, Thokoza Ndlondlo, Lydia Rose, Dionne O’Shannon, Divya Mahatme, Jahia LaSangoma, Jasmine Kahlia, Sara Bafo, and Nada Colectivo’s Locus* project. Other collections in the series include “Trans community healthcare” and “Disability Justice // Assistance to live.”
In her latest column for Teen Vogue, Alice Wong writes about what she wishes she had known about managing chronic pain.
In “Letters of Connection: Building Disabled Community Through Snail Mail” recently published by Rooted in Rights, Rasheera Dopson explains the how the Dear Friend Mailing Collective aims to “build morale among disabled people of marginalized genders.”

A film still of a black and white film version of Hamlet is on a large screen at the back of a stage. The character is leaning on a rock. The posture is matched by a disabled actor on the stage in front.

This Saturday, April 19, Peruvian theater company Teatro La Plaza comes to Lincoln Center (NYC) to retell Shakespeare’s Hamlet through the stories of artists with Down Syndrome.

Two video game characters with prosthetic limbs.

For Rolling Stone, Ryan Easby reports on Blizzard Entertainment’s work with disabled consultants like Angel Giuffria to create new disabled characters for the “hero shooter” game Overwatch.
Arlene Schulman talks with disabled folks about their access hacks in the kitchen for Next Avenue.

Disabled writer and artist Jesse Meadows recently spoke with writer, organizer, and educator Fergus Murray about monotropism, flow, and weird pride.

POD letter shapes, with an illustrated person coming out of each one. P is listen. O is watch, and D is read.

Disabled podcasters and organizers Cheryl Green, Thomas Reid, and Alice Wong have launched Pod Access, a resource offering “aspiring, beginning, and established d/Deaf and disabled podcasters an approachable, easy-going experience to build community, learn about podcasting, and grow an audience.”

In an Instagram feature, cripple media’s Emily Flores reports on disabled actress Jessy Yates’s new role as a wheelchair-using doctor on Netflix’s Pulse.
For the Seattle Times, Gemma Wilson writes about the importance of content advisories for live performance.

“Disability Justice”

Every so often, I report on some of the corners of the internet where I notice this term is appearing. Here’s what’s new:

The cover of a book has an image of a wheel in black, white, orange, and teal. The text below is also in these colors.

Disability and Empire: Class, U.S. Imperialism, and the Struggle for Disability Justice by Joyce Chediac, Jane Cutter, the late John Peter Daly, and Sunil Freeman is out from 1804 Books, the press of The People’s Forum (NYC), which will also host a launch event tomorrow, Tuesday, April 15 from 7 - 8pm ET.
Last week, Strategies for Justice convened a symposium on “Evaluating the Criminalization of the Intersectionality of Race and Disability: Through the Lens of Disability Justice.”

A queer person with short salt and pepper hair is speaking into a microphone wearing a rainbow lanyard.

In a recent letter to their constituents, Minnesota House Representative Brion Curran writes, “I am a disability justice advocate first and always at heart, with an unwavering commitment to protecting our most vulnerable populations from harmful budget reductions, especially as these federal cuts threaten to compound the challenges our community already faces.”
In a correspondence article published in Nature last month, Japanese researchers share some findings from a survey and workshop about genetic testing for monogenic disorders before IVF implantation, finding that disabled people’s experiences are undervalued in the regulatory process. “Integrating these considerations not only enhances reproductive autonomy,” they write, “but also fosters disability justice in genetics.”
For Nonprofit Quarterly, writer Alison Stine reports on the upcoming Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) conference taking place in Los Angeles. Stine talks with disabled writer Sarah Fawn Montgomery about the climate, economic, and disability justice concerns over the the choice to hold the conference in LA amid post-wildfire rebuilding efforts.

CALLS

New Jobs

PeoplesHub is hiring a Program Associate. Applications accepted until May 4.
Detroit Disability Power is hiring an Individual Giving Officer. Apply by May 8.
Oakland-based Creative Growth is hiring for several positions, including Executive Director, Cantonese Interpreter, Artist Care Aide, Studio Art Facilitator, and Digital Media Arts Facilitator.
Philadelphia-based Center for Creative Works is hiring an Art Instructor and Program Specialist.

Other Calls

Donate to help Crushing Colonialism pay artists and access workers for the Decolonized Beatz Indigenous World Pride 2025 event after the Kennedy Center withdrew its support.
Per Dr. Natasha Punia at InflamMed, Mana Medical is seeking folks with “Rheumatoid Arthritis - diagnosed or undiagnosed - and struggle with inflammation or flare-ups after physical activity” who use an iPhone and have a health tracking wearable device to help beta test a new app.
The Disability Belongs™ Leadership Program is seeking applications from “juniors and seniors in college, graduate students, as well as graduates and those seeking new opportunities in the field of disability advocacy and inclusion” for its Fall 2025 cohort. The priority deadline is April 25, and applications close on May 15.

EVENTS

Disability Justice for Palestine: Taking Action Webinar

Tuesday, April 15, 11am ET / 6pm Palestine Time, on Zoom

Join Disability Justice 4 Palestine and the Palestinian Disability Coalition for a webinar as Palestinian refugees with disabilities from Gaza, the West Bank, and beyond share their stories. Hear firsthand what is happening in their communities under occupation, and help us amplify their voices. Be part of the conversation—listen, learn, and take action!

Impaired at Tangled: A 4/20 Disability Culture Celebration

Thursday, April 17, 12 – 5:30pm ET, in-person at Tangled Art + Disability (Toronto) and online

Impaired at Tangled is a 2-part event produced by brothers Carmen and Antonio Papalia that celebrates cannabis as medicine and its importance within Disability culture. Doubling as a launch for the Impaired short film series–which focuses on the brother’s relationship and the interdependencies between them–the event will include a medicinal tincture making workshop and special guest contributions from notable figures within the Disability Arts movement, including David Daoud, Thomas Reid, Andy Slater, Finnigan Shannon, Joselia Hughs, Ezra & Noah Benus, Syrus Marcus Ware, and Veronica Papalia.

pain subjects: artists on illness

Thursday, April 17, 2 - 3:30pm ET, in-person at the Osler Library of the History of Medicine (Montréal)

Artists Yuki Tam, Emily Sirota, and Jessica Bebenek, in conversation with Osler artist-in-residence Ev Ricky, will convene to talk about how illness, access, and disability figure in their multidisciplinary art practices, spanning video art, sculpture, performance, textiles, poetry, artist books, print art and more. Each artist will present a selection of their work and discuss the urgencies of disability in the arts in 2025.

Audio Description for Dance

Saturdays through May 10, 4 - 6pm ET, on Zoom

Dark Room Ballet with Krishna Washburn presents a series of online workshops covering a variety of topics related to audio description for dance, designed not only as professional development for audio describers, but also as essential education for blind and visually impaired audiences, choreographers, dancers, movement educators, and administrators for arts presenting organizations.