Guest post by Christine Slaughter, Social Science Research Librarian
In observation of Disability Pride Month this July, the Library would like to highlight a number of resources exploring disability justice and activism that we hold in our collection, including anthologies and essays, memoirs, a primary source database, and an introduction to core concepts in disability studies. The quoted text is from each book’s publisher.
“Disability Visibility: First-person Stories From the Twenty-first Century” edited by Alice Wong (Vintage Books, 2020)
“A groundbreaking collection of first-person writing on the joys and challenges of the modern disability experience: ‘Disability Visibility’ brings together the voices of activists, authors, lawyers, politicians, artists, and everyday people whose daily lives are, in the words of playwright Neil Marcus, ‘an art . . . an ingenious way to live.’
“According to the last census, one in five people in the United States lives with a disability. Some are visible, some are hidden — but all are underrepresented in media and popular culture. Now, just in time for the thirtieth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, activist Alice Wong brings together an urgent, galvanizing collection of personal essays by contemporary disabled writers. There is Harriet McBryde Johnson’s ‘Unspeakable Conversations,’ which describes her famous debate with Princeton philosopher Peter Singer over her own personhood. There is columnist s. e. smith’s celebratory review of a work of theater by disabled performers. There are original pieces by up-and-coming authors like Keah Brown and Haben Girma. There are blog posts, manifestos, eulogies, and testimonies to Congress. Taken together, this anthology gives a glimpse of the vast richness and complexity of the disabled experience, highlighting the passions, talents, and everyday lives of this community.”
“Disability Intimacy: Essays on Love, Care, and Desire” edited by Alice Wong (Vintage Books, 2024)
“The much-anticipated follow-up to the groundbreaking anthology ‘Disability Visibility’: another revolutionary collection of first-person writing on the joys and challenges of the modern disability experience, and intimacy in all its myriad forms. What is intimacy? More than sex, more than romantic love, the pieces in this anthology offer broader and more inclusive definitions of what it can mean to be intimate with another person. Explorations of caregiving, community, access, and friendship offer us alternative ways of thinking about the connections we form with others — a vital reimagining in an era when forced physical distance is at times a necessary norm. These 25 original pieces — all carefully curated by acclaimed activist Alice Wong — include essays, photo essays, poetry, drama, and erotica: a full spectrum of the dreams, fantasies, and deeply personal realities of a wide range of beautiful bodies and minds.”
“The Collected Schizophrenias: Essays” by Esmé Weijun Wang (Graywolf Press, 2019)
“An intimate, moving book written with the immediacy and directness of one who still struggles with the effects of mental and chronic illness, ‘The Collected Schizophrenias’ cuts right to the core. Schizophrenia is not a single unifying diagnosis, and Esmé Weijun Wang writes not just to her fellow members of the ‘collected schizophrenias’; but to those who wish to understand it as well. Opening with the journey toward her diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder, Wang discusses the medical community’s own disagreement about labels and procedures for diagnosing those with mental illness, and then follows an arc that examines the manifestations of schizophrenia in her life. In essays that range from using fashion to present as high-functioning to the depths of a rare form of psychosis, and from the failures of the higher education system and the dangers of institutionalization to the complexity of compounding factors such as PTSD and Lyme disease, Wang’s analytical eye, honed as a former lab researcher at Stanford, allows her to balance research with personal narrative. An essay collection of undeniable power, ‘The Collected Schizophrenias’ dispels misconceptions and provides insight into a condition long misunderstood.”
“Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist” by Judith Heumann; with Kristen Joiner (Beacon Press, 2020)
“One of the most influential disability rights activists in U.S. history tells her personal story of fighting for the right to receive an education, have a job, and just be human.
“A story of fighting to belong in a world that wasn’t built for all of us and of one woman’s activism — from the streets of Brooklyn and San Francisco to inside the halls of Washington —‘Being Heumann’ recounts Judy Heumann’s lifelong battle to achieve respect, acceptance, and inclusion in society.
“Paralyzed from polio at 18 months, Judy’s struggle for equality began early in life. From fighting to attend grade school after being described as a ‘fire hazard’ to later winning a lawsuit against the New York City school system for denying her a teacher’s license because of her paralysis, Judy’s actions set a precedent that fundamentally improved rights for disabled people.
“As a young woman, Judy rolled her wheelchair through the doors of the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in San Francisco as a leader of the Section 504 Sit-In, the longest takeover of a governmental building in U.S. history. Working with a community of over 150 disabled activists and allies, Judy successfully pressured the Carter administration to implement protections for disabled peoples’ rights, sparking a national movement and leading to the creation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“Candid, intimate, and irreverent, Judy Heumann’s memoir about resistance to exclusion invites readers to imagine and make real a world in which we all belong.”
“Too Late to Die Young: Nearly True Tales From a Life” by Harriet McBryde Johnson (Henry Holt and Co., 2005)
“Harriet McBryde Johnson’s witty and highly unconventional memoir opens with a lyrical meditation on death and ends with a bold and unsentimental sermon on pleasure.
“Born with a congenital neuromuscular disease, Johnson has never been able to walk, dress, or bathe without assistance. With assistance, she passionately celebrates her life’s richness and pleasures and pursues a formidable career as an attorney and activist. Whether rolling on the streets of Havana, on the floor of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, or in an auditorium at Princeton debating philosopher Peter Singer, Harriet McBryde Johnson defies every preconception about people with disabilities, and shows how a life, be it long or short, is a treasure of infinite value.”
“Year of the Tiger: An Activist's Life” by Alice Wong (Vintage Books, 2022)
“Drawing on a collection of original essays, previously published work, conversations, graphics, photos, commissioned art by disabled and Asian American artists, and more, Alice uses her unique talent to share an impressionistic scrapbook of her life as an Asian American disabled activist, community organizer, media maker, and dreamer. From her love of food and pop culture to her unwavering commitment to dismantling systemic ableism, Alice shares her thoughts on creativity, access, power, care, the pandemic, mortality, and the future. As a self-described disabled oracle, Alice traces her origins, tells her story, and creates a space for disabled people to be in conversation with one another and the world. Filled with incisive wit, joy, and rage, Wong’s ‘Year of the Tiger’ will galvanize readers with big cat energy.”
“Disability in the Modern World: History of a Social Movement” (Database)
“At completion, Disability in the Modern World will include 150,000 pages of primary sources, supporting materials, and archives, along with 125 hours of video. The content is essential for teaching and research — not only in the growing disciplines of disability history and disability studies, but also in history, media, the arts, political science, education, and other areas where the contributions of the disability community are typically overlooked.”
“Keywords for Disability Studies” edited by Rachel Adams, Benjamin Reiss, and David Serlin (New York University Press, 2015)
“‘Keywords for Disability Studies’ aims to broaden and define the conceptual framework of disability studies for readers and practitioners in the field and beyond. The volume engages some of the most pressing debates of our time, such as prenatal testing, euthanasia, accessibility in public transportation and the workplace, post-traumatic stress, and questions about the beginning and end of life.
“Each of the 60 essays in ‘Keywords for Disability Studies’ focuses on a distinct critical concept, including ‘ethics,’ ‘medicalization,’ ‘performance,’ ‘reproduction,’ ‘identity,’ and ‘stigma,’ among others. Although the essays recognize that ‘disability’ is often used as an umbrella term, the contributors to the volume avoid treating individual disabilities as keywords, and instead interrogate concepts that encompass different components of the social and bodily experience of disability. An invaluable resource for students and scholars alike, ‘Keywords for Disability Studies’ brings the debates that have often remained internal to disability studies into a wider field of critical discourse.”