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Embodying Disability Justice as White Accomplices

  • BORP Fitness Center at Ed Roberts Campus 3075 Adeline St, Ste 150 Berkeley, CA 94703 United States (map)

BAY AREA and beyond — Have you been wanting to better understand white supremacy and how disabled, Hard of Hearing, and Deaf white people can be allies to people of color (POC)? Maybe you have been inspired by disability justice, a growing movement framework led by disabled POC, and are wondering how to plug in and support the work?

India Harville and Jess Dene Schlesinger are offering a 15 hour community course entitled “Embodying Disability Justice as White Accomplices” for white people with disabilities, and that identify as Deaf and/or Hard of Hearing. The class takes place in five sessions at the Ed Roberts Campus located at the Ashby BART station. The course is $60-150 payscale per session. People of color interested in this work, please note: we can connect you with a free disability justice study group led by and for activists of color if you'd like, feel free to contact us.

Sun, Oct 27 1-4 pm
Sun, Nov 10 1-4 pm
Sun, Nov 24 1-4 pm
Sun, Dec 8 1-4 pm
Sun, Dec 15 1-4 pm

Together we will do an in-depth study on:

- challenging white supremacy
- the history of racism in single-issue movements
- ways ableism particularly targets communities of color
- disability justice as an emerging framework
- current topics in disability justice communities, such as abolition and dismantling the carceral state, cripping and queering understandings of labor, anti-capitalist practices, community safety, care, desirability politics, and more
- our relationships to our bodies, wholeness, and each other

We expect participants to be able to attend at least four out of five sessions, with each session building on previous sessions. The first two sessions are foundational to understanding how white supremacy operates and as such, are mandatory to attend in their entirety to be a part of the course. We encourage you to attend with a friend so you can support and challenge each other with the material.

Registration :https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1dclnlJXuwfMeKUjN0hXllOGdNYCopjVCyfrcuxaIfu8/edit

Scholarships are available. To apply for a full or partial scholarship or suggest a work/trade, please email us at accesscenteredmovement@gmail.com telling us about yourself, the specifics of your request (including income information, etc) and a little bit about how you plan to use the information in your own life. We recognize that $60-150 per session is atypical in disability community culture. This is an independent class offered without institutional support, so class fees provide for access, facilities rental, facilitator payments, materials, and scholarships. We encourage you to think of this course as an investment in your capacity to show up for disability justice community and to give as best you can within your means. These funds sustain the 40+ hours of unpaid community work India and Jess provide each month, including offering similar programming free for disabled people of color.

Access information about the class:
-Wheelchair Accessible
-No Scent Campus. (This is a Fragrance-Free class. Please come unscented to protect those of us with environmental/chemical sensitivities.)
- ASL interpretation
- Cushioned mats, bolsters, blankets available for lying down or sitting on the floor. Cushioned folding chairs provided.
- Non-fluorescent lighting
- Campus is located right above Ashby Bart with BART trains and buses running to the site
- Free parking lot in the back
- Childcare not provided but if needed to participate please include request in registration form

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