Journalist – Historian – Speaker
Foggy Nelson: “A blind old man taught you the ancient ways of martial arts. Isn’t that the plot to Kung Fu?” (Marvel’s Daredevil, Netflix, Episode 10) I’ve got a review of “Scenes of ordinary disability” in Daredevil coming out later today from Vice. Edit – Link is here!! In today’s blog, I want to say a …
Walter Scott’s killing has made national news, propelled by a cell phone video that allegedly shows the officer dropping a TASER by the body, trying to make the death look justified. When Scott died, I expected to hear defenders of the killing blame Scott for running, but there’s been relatively little of that. Instead, Officer …
One response to ableism, eugenic ideology, or just plain ignorance is to tout the achievements of people with disabilities. Sometimes it can veer into inspiration porn or cuteness porn, but I’ve long thought that there’s a bigger problem. If we define the worth of an individual by what they do, and then say – look, …
This is a collection of links about Republican cuts to programs serving people with disabilities, as well as comments from Republican officials/candidates questioning the rationales behind such programs. Resource pages offer collections of links for pieces I am writing, usually without comment. The comment comes in the piece I write later. Please suggest other links …
Every year on March 1st, the disability community gathers to mourn people killed by their parents and caregivers. We mourn all untimely deaths, of course, and there are far too many deaths by accident, stranger violence, police violence, and more. But there is something specific to the disability community in which caregivers kill and then …
This is one of the worst essays I have ever read on disability. An abled person informing the disability community that inspiration porn is a good thing. She even has the audacity to cite Stella Young. Here’s the piece, then a commercial that I think does a better job. There’s a debate raging on the …
In Spokane, a woman stabbed her autistic son in the neck. Here is 100% of the information on the victim (link here): Court documents say the 17-year-old son had several cut marks on his neck and throat, but officials say his wounds were not life threatening. The rest of the piece is about how hard …
I’ve been meaning to write about the story of Leo Forrest for a few days now. The gist of the story ACCORDING TO THE FATHER is that his father (Samuel) got media attention based on the claim that Leo’s mother (Ruzan) demanded Samuel choose between Leo and her. Leo has Down syndrome. Ruzan, according to …
One of my frustrations with disability writing is that it’s often perceived as a niche, and a small one at that. Instead, it’s us. All of us. Not all of us at once. Not all of us now. But disability is a fundamental component of the human condition. And of course disability is also diversity, …
Austen Heinz is the typical silicon valley disruptor superstar. Edgy. Controversial. Disruptive. He was profiled for his DNA Startup which allows you to “create life.” In Austen Heinz’s vision of the future, customers tinker with the genetic codes of plants and animals and even design new creatures on a computer. Then his startup, Cambrian Genomics, prints …