The CACTI Blog: Navigating Social Justice as a Disabled Person of Color

By Makhyla Howes, 2020-2021 Policy Fellow

The year 2020 was a very big and overwhelming year for many reasons, but one of the biggest reasons is that it was a major year for social justice. Due to the tragic death of George Floyd, the country erupted in protest against police brutality, led by the Black Lives Matter movement.  Cities from every state held marches and sit-ins making their voices heard.

The disabled community is no stranger to protest. In fact, the longest sit-in in U.S. history was the 504 Sit-in for disability rights. During that protest, the Black Panther Party supported the participants by feeding them during the 26 day sit-in. Knowing our history and the fact that 50% of the individuals brutalized or killed by police violence are disabled, prompted the community, myself included, to march and protest and many of us did.

However, many of these protests were met with an aggressive police response that put participants in danger. After my friend, a fellow POC (Person of Color) wheelchair user, was brutalized and detained at a Los Angeles protest, I was too nervous to attend any more protests. I began to look for additional avenues to support the movement.

I wanted to be able to push for change and I investigated the reform that the Black Lives Matter movement has been working towards and are successful in. I worried that the disabled 50% of those harmed by police would be left behind in the push for change. So, with the support of the Sonoran Center as a policy fellow, I drafted a brief discussing the importance of including disability in the efforts for racial justice.

It is important to acknowledge those who live at the intersection of disability and race and the unique experiences they have. If you push for disability rights, you should also be supporting the efforts of the Black Lives Matter movement and vice versa. Social justice affects all of us and when one group wins, we all do.

The CACTI Blog features the voices of our interdisciplinary trainees and Community Advisory Council members as they highlight diverse images of people with disabilities and provide community information and advocacy on disability issues. Check Out The CACTI Blog