Rooted in Rights Blog
We’re here to challenge the status quo, pushing readers and writers alike to think beyond the tired tropes of disability. The Rooted in Rights Blog publishes pieces that share perspectives on disability, amplify key issues and ideas, and make it known loud and clear that disability rights are human rights.
- Activism and Advocacy
- Autism and Neurodiversity
- Community Living
- Criminal Justice
- Disability History and Culture
- Disability Vote
- Education
- Emergency Preparedness
- Employment
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- Health
- LGBTQIA+
- Media
- Mental Health
- Policy
- Race and Disability
- Relationships and Sex
- Sexual Harassment and Abuse
- Storytellers
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Turning the Page: Meet Rooted in Rights’ New Editor-in-Chief, Denarii Grace!
CONTENT NOTE: brief mention of domestic abuse (no details) I began with singing. Then I swam in songwriting. By the time I graduated from elementary school, I was riding the waves of poetry and playwriting. I would be in…
Saying Goodbye: A Message from Emily Ladau, Former Editor in Chief of the Rooted in Rights Blog
I’m not particularly good at saying goodbyes, but I know the time is right for this one. As of January 1, 2022, I am no longer the Editor in Chief of the Rooted in Rights Blog. I came to this…
The Costs of Burdening People with Medical Bills for Involuntary Psychiatric Hospitalization
Years ago, when I was a third-year law student just a few credits away from graduating, I experienced a serious mental health crisis. My psychiatrist at the time involuntarily committed me to a private psychiatric facility in Oakland, California. Because…
How Disabled Queer People Are Finding Community Through Digital Drag
Author note: At the time of writing, Pyx Elated (They/Them) was previously known as Peter Panic (He/Him). They’re comfortable with the article using the name Peter Panic and he/him pronouns as written, but the image description and link at the…
Living (and Leaving) Diagnostic Labels
When I was 20 months old, I was diagnosed with what was then known as Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (JRA). Recently, though, the terminology has changed to Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA), reflecting the often ambiguous origins and trajectory of the illness.…
Queen Jasmeen: Creating Space for Disability Through Poetry
“Poetry was the first way I asked for help.” –Jasmine “Queen Jasmeen” Schlafke Slam poet and disability justice advocate Jasmine Schlafke began writing at age twelve and began competing in slam poetry in 2011, where starting in 2012 she won…
Too Disabled? Or Not Disabled Enough?
Imposter syndrome–the feeling that you are pretending to be someone you aren’t–slowly devours me from two sides. On the one hand, I feel “not disabled enough.” My first time voting, I couldn’t reach or see up to the tiny tables…
“Left on Read”: Coping with Communication Anxiety
Content note: trauma, abandonment, emotional abuse Fall comes around again, and I’m feeling like an angsty poet. All I need to do is find my Bette Porter to inspire my love poems. Alas, all I have is my Chicano Oldies…