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.
#EqualPay4OurWork Twitter Chat: The Fight to Eliminate the Subminimum Wage
Archive of Twitter Chat When the Fair Labor Standards Act passed in 1938, it included a revolutionary protection: a minimum wage. But Section 14(c) of the Act included an exemption allowing some workers – people with disabilities – to be…
My Knowledge of My Body is Often Ignored When I Seek Medical Care
I walk through the doors behind the front desk of the pain clinic to room number four, the white-walled, two-chaired, one-tabled examination room that looks identical to the room I was in the last time I was here. I fill …
What I Wish People Knew About Being a Young Cane User
Although Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, the genetic connective tissue disorder I have, is lifelong, my symptoms have varied throughout my life. I started using a cane in August or September 2016 to help with balance, stability, stamina, and chronic pain. I don’t …
Social Justice Activists Can’t Always Fight for Everything, and That’s Okay
Whenever I have strength to walk around my neighborhood, I often find myself reflecting on how I got to where I’m at now. In comparison to a few years ago, my life is drastically better than I expected it to …
On Valentine’s Day, Let’s Recognize Why #AccessIsLove
Roses, chocolates, galentines…there is a lot of emphasis on love for people in our personal lives this time of year. I could cry into my glass of rosé over the lack of romance in my life but instead, …
The Power of Storytelling in Times Like These
As the world around me grows ever more entrenched in the horrors of climate change, political repression, and capitalist growth, my fear grows alongside it. Every day I hear more about the terrors that oppressed communities are facing. With each …
#ThingsDisabledPeopleKnow is Necessary Because Realistic Disability Representation is Scarce
Recently, I wrote about the most recent instance of “cripping up,” or disabled mimicry, in the film The Upside. Many people were angered by my post and couldn’t imagine why I would be so bold as to critique Bryan Cranston…
How My Parents Helped Me Find My Disabled Identity
I have always loved the way drums sound. During parades, my focus was always on the marchers with the snares; while at concerts my neck was perpetually craned as I struggled to see over the taller members of the crowd …