On sticking around.
A few months ago, a friend told me a story about moving through a tough moment with someone they love. It sounded like it could have led to an ending, but it didn’t. How? I asked. “I stuck around,” they said.
Despite having been in various disability organizing spaces since 2012, I struggle to feel like I’ve stuck around anywhere in particular. I’ve been in groups big and small, institutional and off-the-grid, some with enormous goals, some super tactical. I’ve been in places that have been going for years and even decades.
But I’ve also watched as many, many vital movement spaces and urgent projects have been cut short and closed.
We know what takes us out of it. Our bodyminds wrest control and we try to hold that as an exquisite seed of disability knowledge to plant next time. Sometimes what closes things down is an object lesson in the everyday nature of ableism, when we can’t access the conversation about access itself. When it’s deep like this, it’s no wonder we can be pretty hard on each other. That too sends us away.
What I’ve witnessed helps me cherish the times when what draws us together is stronger than what keeps us apart.
Writing this newsletter has been a study at both ends. The content of Crip News is the profoundly life-loving creativity that comes from proximity to disability. But disability culture and politics are also often forged as the response to a dense catalog of what threatens crip conviviality.
Because it feels like there’s no end to the troubles, it’s easy to stall out in worry. Honestly? Some weeks the despair almost wins. But then there you are. You, reading this, reaching out, proving me wrong when I feel alone. Thank you for being here.
Today, in this 200th issue, I’m reaching for a different side of stuckness: the blessings of having stuck around.
And the blessings of return. (Some news!)
I’m thinking about all this as I reflect on some news of my own: I recently started a 2-year Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Center for Disability Studies at NYU.
NYU is where I did my undergraduate studies. The Center is where I worked while I finished my Ph.D. And NYU is where I had my first faculty appointment. In this new role, I get to work with Mara Mills and Georgina Kleege, 2 of the people who first ushered me into the worlds of disability artistry at a summer residency in 2012.
For all of this (and with more details to come on what we’re up to!), I am enormously grateful.
-kevin a.k.a. who girl
CALLS
How We Move, a 6-month hybrid dance intensive created for and by D/deaf and Disabled dancers and centering multiply marginalized (BIPOC, LGBTQIA+) dancers, is accepting applications for its next cohort of artists. Apply by Oct. 15.
The 5th Annual Symposium for Disability and Accessibility at Yale (April 6 - 11, 2026) is accepting proposals of papers, panels, and workshops around this year’s theme, “In(Visibility): The Creation of Narratives and their Legacies.” Submit by Sept. 31.
The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) is hiring a Grants Manager.
Disability Action Research Kollective (DARK) is seeking writing submissions on a range of disability-related topics.
Fellows with the Curating Visibility project at London Museum, Barnsley Museum, and Charleston are looking for local co-producers who identify as deaf, disabled or neurodivergent to help them shape their museum display which will open in Spring 2026.
EVENTS
Abolitionist Care Work in Action
Sunday, Sept. 21, 1 - 3pm ET, online
We speak of non-carceral care in our dreams of a more liberatory approach to mental health and crisis response, but what does that really look like in practice? What does an abolitionist care praxis look like on the ground and in our communities? Join Project LETS in exploring beyond visions and stepping into the everyday practice of non-pathologizing, holistic care work based completely outside of carceral frameworks and systems. In a panel discussion, we’ll hear from current Project LETS Peer Support Advocates (PSAs) working on the front lines of abolitionist care work and crisis response. Together, we’ll examine how community members can resist medicalization and criminalization, while building systems of care rooted in dignity, trust, and mutual responsibility.Protect Housing for Disabled People: Understanding National Threats and Calls to Action
Monday, Sept. 22, 3 - 4:30pm ET, on Zoom
Hosted by The Kelsey. Co-hosted by the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, the National Council on Independent Living, and New Disabled South. Join us for this 90-minute online event to learn about what’s happening with federal housing programs for people with disabilities. We’ll talk about new and ongoing threats to important programs like Housing Choice Vouchers (Section 8), HUD Section 811, HOME, and more. We’ll also talk about rule changes that could add unfair time limits or work requirements, as well as other threats to community integration. You will learn what’s at stake, ask questions, and get the necessary information to take action. Whether you are a disabled person, a family member, an advocate, or an ally, you’ll leave with clear steps to help protect affordable, accessible, and inclusive housing in your community and across the country.
Congratulations on the big 200! Your newsletter is always a gift to read, and I appreciate every one that's landed in my inbox.
Thanks for sticking around and congrats. Sticking around is what we do. Appreciate your being a leader.