Access Day 2018 - Interview with Alice Wong

Transcription included below: CiTR 101.9FM4th Annual Access DayInterview with Alice Wong Aired on May 17th, 2018 Dezy: You are listening to citr 101.9 FM and it is our 4th annual Access Day so from now till 3 p.m. Pacific time, we will be featuring programming centered around accessibility, self-advocacy, social accessibility, adaptive programming and more. My name is Dezy Nair and I'm from citr’s Accessibility Collective. We are broadcasting from Musqueam territory in Vancouver here on the West Coast. In this hour will be speaking to notable American Disability Advocate Alice Wang . Most notably, Alice is known as being the founder and director of the disability visibility project which is an online community dedicated to recording amplifying and sharing disability stories and culture. (Music - Darkest (Dim) by Tokimonsta) Alice: Yea so you know i was born disabled. So you know I think the experience of being born disabled in a non disabled world from the very beginning you know in a lot of ways. You made me an activist .you know i have said this before in other conversations, but i do think just the experience alone has made me an accidental activist. You know in a lot of ways i felt uncomfortable with the identity and title of being an activist for a while because you know for a while i wasn't grassroots or community organizer. I wasn't affiliated with an organization. You know, i was just kinda just working on things you know on a very small scale, you know for myself and for others . But you know the last 5 or 6 years you know i do identify as an activist because i am using social media now a as a real tool and platform to help me build a communities. So i guess long story short is that i always been an activist just because of the world that we live because of ableism and white supremacy. But ya it’s been an ongoing thing that did, that started off as more an of individual how i navigate things with with myself to to realize broader and systemic issues. System change is really where it is at because if it helps me it helps other people. I hope that answers your question Dezy: That was good. That was good. So did you have any roles models growing up?Alice: You know I really cannot remember especially as a young child, growing up in the midwest you know being asian, being disabled and a girl... I had nobody ever that looked like me growing up. It wasn't until i was in college or you know as a young adult i started reading more by actual disabled people. That was when i started realizing. I got a load of this. Especially in media, I don't think there were very many people that looked like me. I think that’s another thing about you know, hashtag by my friend Vilissa Thompson started the hashtag #disablitytoowhite, I think there is a huge gap in terms of representation of all kinds of multiply marginalized disabled people because we do exist, but we just never see ourselves reflected in mainstream media Dezy: And has that changed now? Are there people that you look up to who inspire you now? Alice: Well i will say that you know in the last few years I think senator Tammy Duckworth. You know...What a badass. I think she is so fantastic, what she does and her you know prominence, visibility, as an elected official, a mother, a disabled women of colour. To see her, fully in herself. I do think people that i do really admire, are people i’ve known throughout the disability community and people i follow through twitter. I dont know folks, but you know i alot of people like to … twitter. But I found it an amazing way to connect to diversely abled folk. They are so outspoken and really speak their truth. A lot of people i admire are people i meet on twitter. Dezy: You know you’ve been doing this for a while now, you’ve written for a number of publications, you have the disability visibility project. How do you feel about being someone that now others look up to? Alice: oh jez... well. Its weird when people are like “oh i’ve heard of you” or “oh i follow you”. I still find that kind of weird. You know I put stuff out there, sometimes you don't know who will read it, who will touch it, you know that’s really humbling and gratifying. I feel that if folks enjoy and get something out of the work that i do, ‘always nice to hear that. You know i don't want tone myself up as some sort of example or be on some pedestal for somebody. I just try to keep it real, as real as possible. Dezy: Can you tell us what kind if projects you are up to lately?Alice: I guess i like to do a lot of partnerships with people. So the last few months i’ve been partnering with a disability rights baby organization called rooted in rights and its based in Seattle. One of things that I approached them about earlier this year, to do a joint call for stories related to the #meetoo movement and the disability community because it comes to representation. You know with the #meetoo and #timesup movements blew up, one thing i immediately noticed was the absense of disabled people and their stories in general media coverage .Even for activists and advocates regarding sexual assault and harassment, when they leave groups out, guess what group they always leave out that is impacted? Disabled people. This will be great way to generate stories from our community and by our community. So you know rooted in rights agreed to put out a call. They’ve published 4 to 5 blog posts by disabled people related to #meetoo. We also had a twitter chat this year and another thing we have coming up on May 9th is a chat on disabled parenting in a lead up to mothers day. I think that that is a form of representation, in terms of does what that look like? What does motherhood look like? How do we center disabled parents, disabled mothers, in these kinds of conversations using social media to get that reach and visibility and sincerity out there so that all of kinds of folks in the end can hopefully share and amplify it.Dezy: Now you're the founder and project coordinator of the disability visibility project. Can you tell us a little bit more about it and how it came into formation?Alice: So the disability visibility project, i started in 2014 and originally i started it as a community partnership with storycorps. Storycrops is a a national non-profit in the US. Basically I thought as individual, thought i could i could record a few oral histories as a way to celebrate the disability community. In 2015 it was the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act so originally it was just going to a this one year campaign. I thought maybe i should try to get my friends to do it maybe. Maybe i could interview some of my friends that i thought were amazing and just get their stories to be told. It really blew up, it became this thing that the disability community really embraced and based on that one year, you know a lot of people wanted to do that. So It’s been ongoing since then and i’m really proud to way that we have over 140 oral histories so far. With our partnership with storycorps, they have a relationship with the library of congress so that participants have the option of archiving with the library of congress. It feels really good that we as a community are empowered to tell our own stories and create our own histories and that we are leading something for future generations. That’s pretty awesome.Dezy: That's amazing. Now what are some things you have hoped or are still hoping to achieve with this platform?Ya you know i’ve made it kind of it a point to not have any grand plans. I am really open to different partnership. I mentioned rooted in rights, i really feel collaboration with different folks is very powerful and a great way to build community. I am really open to new opportunities in the future but i would really like to do more conversations, create more media featuring people with disabilities. Finding ways to help build skills for others disabled people who want to create media but don't know how to do it yet. You know, those are some other ideas i’m trying to figure out.Dezy: So you're saying the disability visibility project has been around for quite some time now . What have you noticed in doing this project? what kind of changes and sentiments maybe about disability from the general public or within the disabled community, did you notice in your time since you started this project? Alice: I guess i do feel like they are a little bit better in terms of folks noticing and appreciating disability rights, disability justice and disability culture. It’s really the result of people with disabilities creating their identity and calling out on ableism, whether that’s on social media or other platforms. I do think that there are more people who are proud to be who they are and are really unapologetic about who they are and i think that to me has really been picking up. That’s a really great sign. We still have a really long way to go in terms of parity and having enough, you know, power. It’s been a slow but really encouraging sign that a lot of people with disabilities are not waiting around for other people to notice us. They are just being themselves, you know, loud and proud and that’s really great. (Music - Darkest (Dim) by Tokimonsta) Dezy: You are listening to citr 101.9 FM and it is our 4th annual Access Day so from now till 3 p.m. Pacific time, we will be featuring programming centered around accessibility, self-advocacy, social accessibility, adaptive programming and more. My name is DezY Nair and I'm from citr’s Accessibility Collective. We are broadcasting from Musqueam territory in Vancouver here on the West Coast. Stick around! Don't go away we'll be right back after the break with Alice Wong Advertisement Dezy: Welcome back to citr 101.9 FM you are listening to our interview with Alice Wong, long term disability advocate from the United States and founder of the disability visibility proj