Disability Justice Week 2023
November 6th – 9th 2023
In partnership with Access Services, Disability Justice Week centralizes the intersectionality of the disability experience through a social justice framework.
Disability Justice Week Committee: Sara Thomas, Jennifer Sandler, Edwina Fui, Michael Hanscom, Tylir McKenzie, Yonathan Berhan, Julie Pollard, Cindy Arias, Fuifui Ah Kuoi, & April Kosakoff
Monday, November 6, 2023
11:00am-12:30pm
Building 2 (Zoom Watch Party)
Zoom Meeting ID: 836 0693 4637
Passcode: djw2023
Keynote: Vilissa Thompson
Program Title: Our Experiences, Our Truths: Understanding Disability Intentionally For Ourselves & Our Work (Keynote)
Vilissa Thompson, LMSW is the Founder & CEO of Ramp Your Voice!, an organization focused on promoting self-advocacy and strengthening empowerment among disabled people. She will start off the 4th Annual Disability Justice Week with a keynote speech about the intersectional experiences of disabled people of color. When it comes to the largest minority group in the United States and the world, our experiences cannot be overlooked. This exclusion and erasure is especially harmful to the lives of disabled people of color, who are living intersectional lives that must be told fully to capture the unique barriers and triumphs that exist. Centering the experiences of disabled people of color, particularly Black disabled people, is imperative so that freedom and liberation can become reality.
This event will be live captioned and ASL interpretation will be provided. If you require additional accommodations due to a disability, please contact Access Services at (206) 592-3857 (voice) or by email at access@highline.edu. Advance notice is necessary to arrange for some accessibility needs.
Tuesday, November 7, 2023
12:00pm – 1:30pm
Building 7
Facilitators: Dr. Darryl Brice, Woody Moses and Jenni Sandler
Program Title: Film & Discussion: Loving with Three Hearts
Join the Disability Justice Week committee with special guests Dr. Darryl Brice and Woody Moses for “Loving with Three Hearts”, a viewing and discussion of a film by Sins Invalid about the intersections of Disability Justice and Climate Justice.
How do eight crip artists collectively create a performance about the effects of climate chaos on their lives during an uncontrolled global pandemic, unprecedented wildfires, and the same old racist, homophobic, transphobic, ableism? That’s the story of Loving With Three Hearts, a behind-the-scenes look at what it took to make We Love Like Barnacles: Crip Lives & Climate Chaos.
This event will be live captioned. If you require additional accommodations due to a disability, please contact Access Services at (206) 592-3857 (voice) or by email at access@highline.edu. Advance notice is necessary to arrange for some accessibility needs.
Wednesday, November 8, 2023
11:00pm – 12:30pm
Building 8 – Mt. Constance / Mt. Olympus
Speaker: Ivanova Smith Co-facilitators: Julie Pollard and Yonathan Berhan
Program Title: Elevating Student Voices: Self-Advocacy as an Agent of Change
Ivanova Smith, disability rights activist, Eugenics scholar, and self-advocate, will facilitate a conversation with Highline students about how self-advocacy can play an important role in higher education. This workshop will build on the voices and experiences of students as we explore the role of self-advocacy in personal success and as a strategy that can ultimately transform institutions.
This event will be live captioned. If you require additional accommodations due to a disability, please contact Access Services at (206) 592-3857 (voice) or by email at access@highline.edu. Advance notice is necessary to arrange for some accessibility needs.
Thursday, November 9, 2023
1:00pm – 2:00pm
Building 30 – Room 212
Speaker: Michael Hanscom
Program Title: Assistive (and Accessible)Tech for Everyone
Accessibility doesn’t just benefit people with disabilities! Modern computers include a number of accessibility features that can come in handy in all sorts of situations, and there are other tools that Highline provides or that you can install on your own. Come learn about, see demos, and experiment with some of the accessibility tools available to you.
This event will be live captioned. If you require additional accommodations due to a disability, please contact Access Services at (206) 592-3857 (voice) or by email at access@highline.edu. Advance notice is necessary to arrange for some accessibility needs.
Past Event Schedule
Tuesday, November 1, 2022
11:00am-12:30pm
Keynote: ChrisTiana ObeySumner
Program Title: From the Trailhead to the Mountaintop: Awareness, Advocacy, Activism (Keynote)
Building 7 (Turtle Building) or via Zoom
This keynote will center around the mountaintop vision of Disability Justice and the Ten Principals of the liberatory framework. We will talk about the trailhead of Disability Rights and what it means to embed the “risk, change, and growing pains” of achieving true Disability Justice and Liberation. The speaker will share stories from their personal and professional experience, and share calls to action that everyone can use. This keynote will serve as a foundation for the workshop to follow.
Thursday, November 3, 2022
1:30-3:00pm
Presenter: ChrisTiana ObeySumner
Workshop Title: From the Trailhead to the Mountaintop: Awareness, Advocacy, Activism
Building 7 (Turtle Building)
This workshop will build upon the keynote of the same. This workshop will break down what scaling from the trailhead of disability rights to the mountaintop of disability justice would look like culturally, politically, in policies and procedures, and in change management. Participants will leave with some tools and strategies that can be used as soon as the workshop is over. The goal of the workshop is to lay out realistic expectations and liberatory strategies to achieve Disability Justice in academia and our society as a whole
Friday, November 4, 2022
11:00am-1:30pm
Facilitator: Dr. Tylir McKenzie
Film & Discussion: Rising Phoenix
Building 7 (Turtle Building)
Join us in watching the film Rising Phoenix, this focuses on “elite athletes and insiders reflect on the Paralympic Games and examine how they impact a global understanding of disability, diversity and excellence.” Dr. Tylir McKenzie will facilitate conversation about the film, snacks will be provided!
Monday, November 1, 2021
11:00am-12:30pm
Presenter: Timotheus Gordon, Jr.
Program Title: Creating an Inclusive and Equitable Post-Pandemic Future
In this keynote presentation, autistic researcher-activist Timotheus “T.J.” Gordon, Jr. paints a vision of a world where disabled people from many ethnicities and intersections thrive together in an inclusive and equitable world after the recent pandemic. Gordon will lay out the current challenges that the disability communities face in entering that world, from facing systemic racism in state entities to seek inclusion and disability pride in local communities. He will also speak on examples on how disabled people can help each other make a thriving post-pandemic world become a reality through disability justice and inclusion.
Timotheus Gordon, Jr. Zoom Link
Tuesday, November 2, 2021
10:00-11:30am
Presenter: Diana Chao
Program Title: Dear Stranger
This presentation tells Diana’s personal story, from aspects of minority mental health like growing up below the poverty line with parents who didn’t speak English, to the power that even the smallest acts of kindness have had on her life. Incorporated within are strategies for maintaining mental wellbeing for ourselves and each other.
Wednesday, November 3, 2021
3:00-4:30pm
Presenter: Dr. Paulina Abustan
Program Title: Queer Crip Pilipinx Dreaming with Dr. Paul/Leena/Paulina Abustan
Dr. Paul/Leena/Paulina Abustan (gender fluid, any pronoun) will share their Queer Crip Pilipinx K-12, higher education, and community scholar-activist-educator experiences. What does it mean to live and experience intersectional and decolonial Queer, Crip, and Pilipinx identities and issues? How is our existence and joy a form of activism and resistance? Learn more about Dr. Abustan’s life journey, education, activism, and research centering Queer Crip Pilipinx disability justice dream worlds of rest, care, and connection found within K-12, higher education, and community learning and activist spaces.
Thursday, November 4, 2021
11:00am-12:30pm
Presenter: Minda Dentler
Program Title: Iron Inspiration
As the first female wheelchair athlete to complete the Ironman World Championship after being paralyzed from the hips down by polio, Minda has overcome the impossible. Minda will share her incredible story which will impact and inspire you to conquer your own personal Ironman.
Friday, November 5, 2021
10:00am-11:30am
Facilitator: Tetyana Matsyuk
Program Title: Highline Student Panel
Come hear from the Highline College Achieve family about Highline’s role in their paths to joyful liberation.
Panelists:
Joey Beltran, Highline Achieve Alum
Austin Landon, Highline Achieve Alum
Julliannea Plummer, Achieve Alum and BAS student, Integrated Design
Mahad Dahir, Current Achieve student
Laneeka Hall, BAS student, Youth Development
Disability Justice Week 2021 Committee Members: Karen Fernandez, Jennifer Sandler, Noah Lindborg, Jeff Hsiao, Tetyana Matsyuk, Geomarc Panelo, Georgia Pirie, Edwina Fui, Beatriz Vera and Doris Martinez (Chair)
In partnership with Access Services, Disability Justice Week centralizes the intersectionality of the disability experience through a social justice framework.
Disability Is Us: What Does It Mean To Be Human?
October 19-22, 2020
Interview with Leah Katz-Hernandez
Leah Katz-Hernandez
Leah Katz-Hernandez is currently Communications Manager at the Office of the CEO, Microsoft. Previously, she spent a decade in the public sector. Leah Katz-Hernandez, who is deaf and uses sign language, first joined the Obama world as a campaign volunteer and worked in the Press Office of First Lady Michelle Obama before becoming the Senior Operations Coordinator for President Obama’s West Wing. She is a contributing author of the book West Wingers: Stories from the Dream Chasers, Change Makers, and Hope Creators Inside the Obama White House, and a current board member of American Association of People with Disabilities.
Monday, October 19, 2020
Thriving With Your Mental Health: Be Part of the Conversation
10:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m.
Active Minds Zoom Link
Passcode:g5Acg&
Panel Discussion with Active Minds Club
A panel of students and faculty help build a community of support by sharing their experiences thriving with mental health despite challenges. Learn more about Active Minds, a new student-run club designed to change the conversation about mental health. Learn about ways faculty and staff can love and support students with these often invisible challenges.
Tuesday, October 20,2020
Alice Wong
Disability Visibility in the Time of COVID-19
4:30 p.m.-6:00 p.m.
Alice Wong Zoom Link
Passcode:C8$t6E
Conversation with Alice Wong
Join in a conversation with Alice Wong, Founder of the Disability Visibility Project, about her new book, Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century, available now by Vintage Books. They will talk about disability culture and stories, ableism during the coronavirus pandemic, and how accessibility is more important than ever.
Alice Wong (she/her) is a disabled activist, media maker, and consultant. She is the Founder and Director of the Disability Visibility Project®, an online community dedicated to creating, sharing, and amplifying disability media and culture created in 2014. Currently, Alice is the Editor of Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-first Century, an anthology of essays by disabled people, available now (June 30, 2020) by Vintage Books. You can find her on Twitter: @SFdirewolf.
Wednesday, October 21, 2020
Allexa
Clark
Emily
How to NOT Make Inspiration Porn (or How Rooted in Rights Does Media Advocacy)
11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Rooted In Rights Zoom Link
Passcode: 25+21v
Panel Discussion by Rooted in Rights
Join Creative Co-Directors Allexa Laycock and Clark Matthews, and Editor-in-Chief Emily Ladau to discuss how they create advocacy stories by and for the disability community through videos and blog posts. Enjoy the work of Rooted in Rights’ disabled storytellers and explore strategies that keep stories grounded in the agency and experience of the storyteller. We will discuss fun topics such as: Paying people! Making content accessible! Avoiding troublesome tropes! Connecting to larger movements! Come for the stories, stay for the accessible media making revolution.
Rooted in Rights is the media advocacy team at Disability Rights Washington. We are a crew of videomakers, writers, and creators with a delightful assortment of disabilities and perspectives. Find out more at www.RootedInRights.org.
Thursday, October 22, 2020
Crip Camp
10:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m.
Viewing and Discussion Zoom Link
Film viewing and discussion
Join the Disability Justice Week (DJW) Committee for viewing of Crip Camp and engaging conversation as we conclude Highline College’s inaugural DJW!
You may also view Crip Camp before the event.
In the early 1970s, teenagers with disabilities faced a future shaped by isolation, discrimination, and institutionalization. Camp Jened, a ramshackle camp “for the handicapped” (a term no longer used) in the Catskills, exploded those confines. Jened was their freewheeling Utopia, a place with summertime sports, smoking, and make-out sessions awaiting everyone, and campers experienced liberation and full inclusion as human beings. Their bonds endured as many migrated West to Berkeley, California — a hotbed of activism where friends from Camp Jened realized that disruption, civil disobedience, and political participation could change the future for millions. Crip Camp is the story of one group of people and captures one moment in time. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of other equally important stories from the Disability Rights Movement that have not yet received adequate attention.
Disability Justice Week Planning Committee
Doris Martinez (Chair), Jennifer Sandler, Amy Bergstrom, Brandon Tupufia, Tessa Hunt, Martin Sande, Nicole Wilson, Krystal Welch, Geomarc Panelo, Edwina Fui, Beatriz Vera