discrimination

Shattered beyond repair

I’m tired.  So tired. So, so very tired. I pray that I will have the “wherewith-all” (that is SUCH a strange word) to clearly convey the subterraneous depths of despair that I am currently and for some time been dwelling in. Right now I don’t think that I do. This probably isn’t “professional.” It’s probably …

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Matrix corridor scene (three figures standing at the end of a long hallway; everything in sight is black with green binary code like the "view" of a computer)

Leaving the Matrix

I was recently part of a coalition that issued an Open Letter (penned by Cal Montgomery and I) and a follow up Memo (which had several co-authors, including many who opted to remain anonymous). The purpose of the Open Letter and the Memo was to make positive changes within the autistic community (and in this …

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"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." -MLK

The “silence of our ‘friends’” hurts my ears

What did MLK say exactly? Something like, “…in the end, what hurts the most is not the harmful words spoken by our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” I’m sure I completely botched the quote and truthfully right now Idgaf; this isn’t speech and rhetoric class. This is “real” “life” in 2020 America for …

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jet cloud landing aircraft

Disrespect & Ableism from a Southwest Airlines Representative: My Story

It has taken me a week to be able to write out my thoughts about my horrific recent experience with Southwest Airlines. Though I did encounter some very helpful and very compassionate Southwest Airlines staff that day, I am hurt, disappointed, and disgusted by the unprofessional and ableist way that I was treated by Southwest …

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Lessons from Imperial China, for Disability Day of Mourning (#DDoM)

“Would you bind my feet?” I was on my laptop in my living room entering grades into my online gradebook. Basically working from home for free (as usual…that’s #teacherlife for you, right?) on a warm weekday afternoon. The kids were afoot as they always were: my youngest daughter snuggled against my back as we sat …

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grayscale photography of people raising hands

You #StandWithCharleston, you say? Prove it.

Nine innocent lives were recently lost in #Charleston, South Carolina when a white supremacist entered a historically black church, was welcomed into an evening Bible study, and announced after an hour that he hated Black people and had came to kill the people who were there. He then opened fire, murdering clergy persons, college graduates, …

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Million Moms March Mother’s Day Tribute

Dearest mothers of the Million Moms March, As I write this I am currently in the air en route to Washington DC. In less than 24 hours, we will join together, arm in arm, hand in hand, to march on our nation’s capitol for the inaugural Million Moms March.  For months our volunteer team has …

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Dear Ms. Ruby Bridges

(This is cross-posted at the “Advocacy Without Borders” blog as well, available here.) My six year old daughter came home with a book about Ruby Bridges today. At first I was taken aback. How on Earth do you make any sense of segregation and hatred to a child who knows nothing of that life…without making them self-conscious, fearful, …

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#JusticeForKayleb NOW

Most people who know me know how passionate I am about things that I care about, especially human rights. It’s personal. I advocate and I write and I take action because I deeply believe in the causes I champion. I believe that regardless of age, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, ability status, nationality, socioeconomic level, HIV or …

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Black Lives Matter??? The Day After (#WalterScott)

Only slept an hour last night. Couldn’t stop thinking about life, death, race, gender, violence, deceit, corruption. About #WalterScott. About everything. I had “the talk” with my kids this morning in the car. Not the “birds and the bees” talk. The “how to stay alive because you’re black and therefore a threat” talk. Don’t wear …

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