Race and Disability

These posts highlight the intersections of race and disability identity through authentic narratives and reporting.

Hands holding gears connected together. They are in the shadow of the sun against a blue sky.

Disability Justice Must Include All Marginalized Identities

When Rooted in Rights first accepted me for their inaugural Rooted in Writing Fellowship program last year, my reaction was one of pure disbelief. For all that I have struggled in my post-grad life to make writing a full-time career, …

Laura Kiesel sits in her power chair and speaks into a microphone, next to another speaker on a stage in front of an audience.

The Disability Intersectionality Summit: A Gathering for Justice

On a damp and chilly Saturday in mid-October, I rolled out of bed several hours earlier than I usually would have in order to attend the biannual Disability Intersectionality Summit in nearby Cambridge, Mass on the MIT campus. Groggy but …

A photo of a group of people at a march holding up a trans pride flag.

4 Activists Who Make Me Proud to be Disabled and Transgender

As a disabled, transgender person, I don’t have a lot of role models. To understand what it means resist ableism and transphobia at the same time, I started researching the history of our community. Here are four disabled, transgender people…

Three partially formed circle made up of an aerial view of people. In one circle, people are dressed in red, in another, they're dressed in blue, and in the third, green. Where the circle intersect, the clothing is multicolored.

It’s Time to Stop Ignoring the Intersections of Marginalized Identities

Intersectionality, according Kimberlé Crenshaw who coined the term, “is a lens through which you can see where power comes and collides, where it interlocks and intersects.” It has also been defined as “a framework designed to explore …

A deep blue background with text that reads "Rooted in Rights." Two spotlights in the top left and right corners of the image shine across the image, highlighting the words "Activist Spotlight.

Activist Spotlight: Denarii Grace – Singer-Songwriter, Poet, Aspiring Screenwriter

Denarii Grace believes that an artist should reflect the times, and that’s what she does as a blues singer-songwriter, poet, aspiring screenwriter, and freelance writer. “We have a responsibility to be truth tellers, speak to our people(s), and create visions…

Activist Spotlight: Cyree Jarelle Johnson – Writer, Speaker, Artist

When I first asked Cyree Jarelle Johnson what their activism is focused on, they said, “I don’t know what it means to be an activist. I’m a writer and a speaker. I think of myself as an artist.” Then they …

Bright white spotlights in the top left and right corners shining into a blue background.

Activist Spotlight: Keah Brown, Writer and Creator of #DisabledAndCute

When she started the hashtag #DisabledAndCute, Keah Brown wasn’t thinking she’d start a movement. She woke up one day, and as she says, “I looked in the mirror and said something kind about myself.” She decided that she’d make …

A blue background covered in light blue hashtags. Text reads "#DisabilityTooWhite"

Reflecting on the Impact of #DisabilityTooWhite

It’s been just over a year since activist and Rooted in Rights’ new Digital Manager, Vilissa Thompson, created #DisabilityTooWhite (the hashtag turned a year old on May 18), and started meaningful conversations about race and intersectionality in the disability community.…

A road sign that reads Mexico with an arrow to the left, and USA with an arrow pointing forward.

Growing Up at the Intersection of Disabled and Immigrant

I am an immigrant with a disability. When I was five years old my parents decided to move our whole family from Mexico including five kids, two of whom have a disability, to the United States. My mother still talks…