Three Hashtags Every (Adult) Aspiring Disability Ally Should Follow
I’m new (but now deeply committed) to the disability rights movement, and there has been a lot of catching up to do. The movement has been building momentum for decades and the community is dynamic and organized and poised and positioned to assert its power. With the Fourth of July and the 30th Anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act upon us, I think we could all get into the spirit of revolution!
Want to feel the winds of change at your back? Start with #DisabilityTwitter. Most of my learning in the last few years has actually taken root on Twitter, where the likes of Alice Wong, Rebecca Cokely, Haben Girma, Emily Ladau, Sara Luterman, and Imani Barbarin keep me fired up, chasing new resources (books, podcasts, articles…the learning is endless), checking myself, and engaged in the most pressing issues of the movement today. Will you join me as an aspiring ally for #disabilityjustice? Here are three key hashtags for finding great disability rights content on Twitter:
#CriptheVote - This is the hashtag movement leaders are using to identify policy issues of importance to the disability community (including voter access) and the candidates who do and don’t support them.
Screenshot of twitter post by Andrew Pulrang about National Disability Voter Registration week. It says, “Issues important to people with disabilities MUST be part of the platform for any candidate running for public office…”
Full post at https://twitter.com/AndrewPulrang/status/1278023086768562177?s=20.
#BlackDisabledLivesMatter - This hashtag highlights oppression at the intersection race and disability. Lately, it’s called up stories of police murders of black disabled people and medical ableism as doctors decide which Covid19 patients have lives worth saving.
Two #BlackDisabledLivesMatter twitter posts. The first, a retweet by Alice Wong of Andre J. Duaghtry’s post about Elijah McCain, which reads, “…in your desire and quest to get justice for Elijah McClain please remember that he was disabled…”. Full retweet at https://twitter.com/SFdirewolf/status/1277755156977704960?s=20. The second post is a Gregory Mansfield retweet of Not Dead Yet’s post about the death of Michael Hickson. Full retweet at https://twitter.com/GHMansfield/status/1277754202031349760?s=20.
#SuckItAbleism - This is exactly what you’d expect--everyday stories of ableism in action, from the problem with straw bans, to TikTok controversies, to offensive language and microaggressions, to media depictions of disability and beyond.
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I know you’re curious! Get on Twitter and start reading. Let us know what you find!