Shattered beyond repair

ableism, abuse, bias, bigotry, burnout, classism, defeat, depression, discrimination, hurt, injustice, Just Being Me...Who Needs 'Normalcy" Anyway? (my blog), law enforcement, life, loss, Morénike, pain, prejudice, scars from the past, scars from the present, trauma, violence / By

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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Image contains white text with black borders stating "Black Autistic Lives Matter" in all caps on a white background. Photo credit: Jen White Johnson

When It Comes To Autism, Black Lives Matter

#actuallyautistic, #autismawareness, autism, autistic, intersectionality, Just Being Me...Who Needs 'Normalcy" Anyway? (my blog), Morénike, neurodiversity, parenting while black, race, representation, stigma, tokenism, writing / By

A group of renowned advocates and Black and/or PoC led autism organizations have united to express disappointment about a Today Parents article entitled Why there’s a war between parents of children with autism and autistic adults which was initially published (on August 13, 2021) with no identifiable people of color featured or quoted.  Though several …

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270 Days

injustice, Just Being Me...Who Needs 'Normalcy" Anyway? (my blog), Morénike, trauma, writing / By

Two hundred seventy days. Only two hundred seventy days.  Two effing hundred Seventy effing days Two hundred seventy days. Hmmph. I suppose it equates to the two hundred seventy ways  That we are deemed inferior Deemed less than Deemed nothing By those who really count The “real” people, The ones that matter Of which I …

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Two blue text bubbles; the one on the right states, "Public Comment."

Let’s hope they don’t kick me off: these IACC public comments though…

#actuallyautistic, #autismacceptance, #autismawareness, AAC, ableism, acceptance, advocacy, anti-stigma, autism, autism acceptance, autism awareness, autism parent, autistic, balance, civil rights, communication, community, disability, disability rights, diversity, ethics, families, functioning labels, IDD, inclusion, intellectual disability, intersectionality, Just Being Me...Who Needs 'Normalcy" Anyway? (my blog), Morénike, neurodiversity, open letter, POC, presume competence, representation, respectful parenting, self-advocacy, solidarity, stigma, tolerance, writing / By

So…I was recently appointed to the IACC, which is the federal advisory board that handles important autism-related matters at the national level. There were ~40-ish? people appointed in total, including 23 public members…and a full EIGHT of us public members are autistic! I am beyond grateful to have an opportunity to serve my community in …

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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

#actuallyautistic, autistic, burnout, defeat, discrimination, ethics, hurt, hypocrisy, integrity, intersectionality, Just Being Me...Who Needs 'Normalcy" Anyway? (my blog), Morénike, open letter, owning your mistakes, pain, POC, race, representation, scars from the past, scars from the present, survival, tokenism, toxic relationships, White Fragility, White Privilege, White Tears, writing / By

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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Until we are all free, we are none of us free.

Hear Our Cry: Call for Solidarity with Autistic BIPoC and Autistic People with Intellectual Disabilities: Demands presented to the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN) for their June 20th Board Meeting

1 Comment / #actuallyautistic, #autismacceptance, #autismawareness, advocacy, allies, anti-racism, anti-stigma, autism, autism acceptance, autistic, balance, cultural sensitivity, diversity, human rights, IDD, intellectual disability, intersectionality, neurodiversity, open letter, POC, race, solidarity / By

To: Meg Evans, Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) Board of Trustees Secretary   Cc:  Current ASAN Board of Trustees; Julia Bascom, ASAN Executive Director  From: A collective of former ASAN Board and staff, which includes: Morénike Giwa Onaiwu, former ASAN Board of Trustees Vice Chair Cal Montgomery, former ASAN Board of Trustees Chair  Oswin Latimer, former …

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Blog

Quick FYI about my blog…

Just Being Me...Who Needs 'Normalcy" Anyway? (my blog), Morénike, writing / By

  I have been blogging since 2013. From 2013-2019 my personal blog, Just Being Me…Who Needs “Normalcy” Anyway? (of ~100 posts) was housed on Blogger/Blogspot. After 2019, I moved my blog here to my website and all new blog posts can be found HERE. Although my purpose for republishing all of my posts on this site …

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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

#BlackLivesMatter, African American, allies, anti-racism, bias, bigotry, black, Black Lives Matter, death, discrimination, hate crime, hurt, hypocrisy, injustice, intersectionality, Just Being Me...Who Needs 'Normalcy" Anyway? (my blog), law enforcement, Morénike, murder, parenting while black, POC, police, police brutality, police violence, racial profiling, racism, scars from the past, scars from the present, trauma, violence, White Privilege, writing / By

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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Image of a Black person's hands typing on a keyboard.

New year; new location!

Just Being Me...Who Needs 'Normalcy" Anyway? (my blog), Morénike, writing / By

Happy New Year! I’ve been blogging since ~2013 on my personal blog, Just Being Me…Who Needs ‘Normalcy” Anyway? It was originally a free Blogspot site (which later became a Blogger site, and then part of Google, but that’s probably tangential). I started blogging to have a place of my own where I could to express …

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Don’t even know what to title this

depression, hurt, hypocrisy, Just Being Me...Who Needs 'Normalcy" Anyway? (my blog), Morénike, owning your mistakes, scars from the past, scars from the present, writing / By

I don’t know what I’m going to write right now; it’s all jumbled up in my head. But I just know I need to write. I haven’t written for what feels like eons…I need to write. Forgive me if this ends up being an incoherent rambling mess. It probably will be. But maybe that’s okay, …

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