"A Vintage Books original."--Title page verso

"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. It invites readers to question their own assumptions and understandings. It celebrates and documents disability culture in the now. It looks to the future and past with hope and love."--

Unspeakable conversations / Harriet McBryde Johnson -- Ki'tay D. Davidson : a eulogy / Talila A. Lewis -- If you can't fast, give / Maysoon Zayid -- There's a mathematical equation that proves I'm ugly -- or so I learned in my seventh grade art class / Ariel Henley --

The

erasure of indigenous people in chronic illness / Jen Deerinwater -- When you are waiting to be healed / June Eric-Udorie --

The

isolation of being deaf in prison / Jeremy Woody as told to Christie Thompson -- Common cyborg / Jillian Weise -- I'm tired of chasing a cure / Liz Moore -- We can't go back / Ricard T. Thornton, Sr. -- Radical visibility : a disabled queer clothing reform movement manifesto / Sky Cubacub -- Guide dogs don't lead blind people. We wander as one / Haben Girma -- Taking charge of my story as a cancer patient at the hospital where I work / Diana Cejas -- Canfei to canji : the freedom to be loud / Sandy Ho -- Nurturing black disabled joy / Keah Brown -- Last but not least : embracing asexuality / Keshia Scott -- Parenting with a disability makes me feel like an 'impostor' as a mother / Jessica Slice -- How to make a paper crane from rage / Elsa Sjunneson-Henry -- Selma Blair became a disabled icon overnight. Here's why we need more stories like hers / Zipporah Arielle -- Why my novel is dedicated to my disabled friend Maddy / A.H. Reaume --

The

anti-abortion bill you aren't hearing about / Rebecca Cokley -- So. Not. Broken / Alice Sheppard -- How a blind astronomer found a way to hear the stars / Wanda Díaz-Merced -- Incontinence is a public health issue and we need to talk about it / Mari Ramsawakh -- Falling/burning : Hannah Gadsby, Nanette, and being a bipolar creator / Shoshana Kessock -- Six ways of looking at crip time / Ellen Samuels -- Lost causes / Reyma McCoy McDeid -- On NYC's paratransit, fighting for safety, respect, and human dignity / Britney Wilson -- Gaining power through communication access / Lateef McLeod --

The

fearless Benjamin Lay : activist, abolitionist, dwarf person / Eugene Grant -- To survive climate catastrophe, look to queer and disabled folks / Patricia Berne -- Disability solidarity : completing the 'vision for black lives / Harriet Tubman Collective -- Time's up for me, too / Karolyn Gehrig -- Still dreaming wild disability justice dreams at the end of the world / Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha -- Love means never having to say ... anything / Jamison Hill -- On the ancestral plane : crip hand me downs and the legacy of our movements / Stacey Milbern --

The

beauty of spaces created for and by disabled people / s.e. smith