Crip News v.196
Honoring Patty Berne, new works, other news, calls, and events.
NEWS
Honoring Patty Berne
The celebration of the life of Patty Berne took place on Saturday, August 9, 2025 at the East Bay Church of Religious Science (Oakland, CA) and online.
Patty dedicated their life to making revolutionary art, organizing across multiple movements, and uniting our communities to build power. From Haitian and Palestinian solidarity, to movements to end sexual violence, abolish white supremacy, win climate justice, transform the medical industrial complex, and of course dismantle ableism, Patty always had freedom in their mind and heart. Patty’s vision helped seed an entire ecosystem of Disability Justice—an approach to movement-building that rejects disposability and insists on interdependence, dignity, and creativity as necessary conditions for freedom for everybody. Patty’s revolutionary vision is needed now more than ever.
Patricia “Patty” Berne
January 21, 1967 – May 29, 2025
A chorus of crip heartbreak and gratitude has flowed through social media with the hashtags #PattyLivesThroughUs #PattyPresente and #PattyTaughtUs. Several of Patty’s comrades and kin have shared memories and remarks, including…
Rabbi Elliot Kukla, writing on Truthout, offered some personal and political contexts for the time of Patty’s passing.
Alice Wong described Patty as “a revolutionary, an elder, and an oracle” and offered 3 ways to honor them: “welcome as many people as possible,” “love yourself and your body mind,” and “speak out when you see injustice and always resist ableism and the oppressive forces that try to extinguish our light.”
Talila A. Lewis recounted one of Patty’s offerings in an email exchange: “WE HONOR US.”
If you’d like to support Patty’s legacy, donate to Sins Invalid.
New Works
InflamMed, an online hub for people navigating chronic inflammation, is publishing a 5-part mini-series on “Pregnancy and Inflammation.”
The Long COVID Narrative Justice Project has published an explainer on “Informed Consent for COVID and Long COVID in the Arts for Intimacy Directors and Coordinators.”
In Other News…
This Wednesday, the National Museum of American History (Washington, DC) will host an event celebrating the life and legacy of Stacey Park Milbern and unveiling the quarter coin created in her honor.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass recently signed a commitment to accessibility on the road to hosting the 2028 Paralympic Games, including hiring the city’s first-ever “Accessibility Chief.” Paris, the 2024 host city, failed to deliver key promises about access despite their centrality to their successful host bid.
Last month, Brandon Novick from the Center for Economic and Policy Research reported on a new model at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for using AI to deny health insurance claims as part of a major expansion of the use of prior authorizations.
CALLS
Dance/NYC’s Dance Workforce Resilience Fund supports individual freelance dancers through one-time $1,000 grants. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis through March 3, 2026.
DaDa - Disability and Deaf Arts (Liverpool, UK) is hiring a CEO/Artistic Director and an Operations and Finance Manager. Apply by September 4.
NIAD Art Center (Richmond, CA) is hiring a Development Director, a Bookkeeper, and accepting proposals for visiting artists.
EVENTS
Art/Access Lab: How to Sustain your Practice & Present New Work
Sunday, August 17, 2 - 4pm CT, in-person at Experimental Station (Chicago) and on Zoom
This session will feature a panel of individuals with direct experience developing and presenting work as an artist with a disability or in collaboration with artists with disabilities. A panel of artists, funders, curators/producers, and arts organization staff will share their advice, insight, and cautionary tales about navigating collaboration and sustaining a creative practice across time. As with all Art/Access Lab events, there will be time to connect with fellow attendees, ask questions, and interact with panelists and moderators. Featuring Gabriel Chalfin-Piney-González, Ry Douglas, Alison Kopit, John Rich, and moderated by Terri Lynne Hudson and Tsehaye Hebert.
Dance through the Detroit Institute of Arts with Detroit Disability Power
Thursday, August 14, 1 - 4pm ET, in-person at the Great Hall inside The Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, MI)
Join DanceAbility, a welcoming and vibrant space for disabled Detroiters, caregivers, allies, and anyone exploring their relationship to disability. Together, we'll move, groove, and connect in a way that celebrates our bodies and builds community – no dance experience needed! About once a year, we gather at Detroit's beautiful D.I.A. to have our unique movement inspired by the art around us. Jive and hustle across your favorite spaces inside and outside the D.I.A. as we embrace museums in a new way: for community, for art that generates art, and for disabled joy. Live music provided by local artists with incredible talent!
Just finished watching “Life After” and the Q&A. So powerful and enraging. Thank you for sharing.