Ability Advocacy with Roque Alas Bucton

For our final episode of Season 3, we talk with Vice-Chair of the California State Independent Living Council, Peer Specialist & Disability Advocate for Painted Brain, Roque Alas Bucton. Roque Alas Bucton is Indo-Pacific Islander American, emanated on the land of the Tongva. Roque identifies as a person who lives with visual, hearing, and mobility impairment. Currently, Roque is a Peer Specialist and Disability Advocate for the peer run non-profit Painted Brain. He is a California governor appointee, serving as Vice-Chair on the Executive Committee of the State Independent Living Council, since 2022. Roque was the Co-Chair of the Access For All, Disability Advisory Committee, for the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health. He also serves as Vice-Chair on California's Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness, SAMHSA's federal oversight committee. On behalf of the California Arts Council Arts Infrastructure Groups Initiative, Roque was the former Director of the statewide Pilipino Artists Network (PAN), a division of the non-profit, FilAm ARTS. He is also one of the founders of the Festival of Philippine Arts & Culture (FPAC). Roque Alas Bucton holds a World Music, Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree from the California Institute of the Arts. He also holds an Advanced Assistive Technology Training certification. Further, Mr. Bucton is a certified Disability Peer Specialist. Roque is a holder of several Srivijaya spiritual, music, and martial arts lineages. He believes that advocating for people living with disabilities is a spiritual act of healing. This episode was edited by Cheryl Samson Ramirez. Our in-house designer is Ritchie (IG: @ritchramirezart). Our break track was the "Instinctual Time Travels" by Gingee released in 2011 (IG/YouTube: @Gingeeworld ). Host: Cheryl Samson Ramirez (IG: @angelspointyoga) Follow Us/Like/Subscribe! ------------------------------------------ IG/FB/Threads: @PilipinxinWellness X: @pilipinxnwellns