Compiled by Miriam Furlan Brighente, PhD and SEMIS Coalition Program Associate
Disability Justice Practices in Place-based Education initiative at SEMIS Coalition
This living document is packed with resources for formal and non-formal teachers, community partners, and leaders who want to incorporate Disability Justice into their practices as place-based educators. You will find lesson plans, videos, books, articles, and other texts on Disability Justice.
Let’s come together and reimagine our communities to put Disability Justice at the center of our Place-Based Education practices and envision a more beautiful and equitable world for ALL!
Definitions
Disability Justice – a working draft by Patty Berne
Definition of Ableism — noun ( a·ble·ism ˈābə-ˌli-zəm ):
A system that places value on people’s bodies and minds based on societally constructed ideas of normality, intelligence, excellence, desirability, and productivity. These constructed ideas are deeply rooted in anti-Blackness, eugenics, misogyny, colonialism, imperialism and capitalism. This form of systemic oppression leads to people and society determining who is valuable and worthy based on a person’s language, appearance, religion and/or their ability to satisfactorily [re]produce, excel and “behave.” You do not have to be disabled to experience ableism.
—This is a working definition by Talila “TL” Lewis, updated January 2021 and developed in community with Disabled Black and other negatively racialized people, especially Dustin Gibson. Provided by Detroit Disability Power
In the Classroom
Lesson plan by Museum of Disability History
Lesson: Understanding Disability
Lesson: Understanding and Challenging Ableism
Crip Camp Curriculum lesson plans
Educator discussion guide (pdf)
One Out of Five: Disability History and Pride Project
Disability Teaches Us: Disability and Ableism in Schools History (pdf)
Articles
Diverse Books – How To Make Disability Justice a Classroom Priority
Disability Justice – The Right to Education
Science Friday – How COVID-19 Reveals Existing Biases Against The Disability Community
A US immigration history of white supremacy and ableism
Access is for Everyone: Interview with Patty Berne, Co-Founder and Director of Sins Invalid
Books
Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice, by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, 2018
What Matters: Reflections on Disability, Community and Love, by Janice Fialka
Disability Justice from A to Z Coloring Book Preview — Sins Invalid
Fialka, J. (2018). What matters: Reflections on disability, community, and love. Inclusion Press.
Videos
The Revolution Must Be Accessible! (ASL with English voice-over)
Ableism is The Bane of My Motherfuckin’ Existence
My Body Doesn’t Oppress Me, Society Does
Intersections of Disability Justice and Transformative Justice
Detroit Disability Power:
Community Conversations PT 1: Ableism, Ageism, Racism
Community Conversations PT 2: Ableism, Ageism, Racism
Community Conversations PT 3: Ableism, Ageism, Racism
Community Conversations PT 4: Intergenerational Organizing
Community Conversations PT 5: Lessons from Pro-Disability, Anti-Oppression Educators
Movies
Host a screening of the film “Crip Camp”
↳ Director’s Note from Nicole Newnham Jim LeBrecht (pdf)
↳ How to Host a Screening (pdf)
↳ Discussion Guide (pdf)
Intelligent Lives (film)
Presentations
Stories from Disabled and Mad University Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic (03/11/2021) — by Jason DeCamillis. Screencast and Google Slides
Other Initiatives and Resources
Disability Justice Student Initiative at Brown University