How can moves to address climate change, and protests to demand action, include disabled people? Alice Wong, Jason Boberg and Mia highlighted the different ways that organisers of the climate protests weren’t making them accessible.
Alice raised that organisers were asking for sign language interpreters to work for free, at the last minute, Jason talked about how disabled people are excellent activists in our own right and Mia said that putting accessibility on the back burner is no access at all.
There are many ways to protest, including marching, but that isn’t the only way. I’ve seen far too many social media posts saying that if you don’t march, you don’t care about the climate. This is wrong, and bullshit.
The climate movement needs to include disabled people from the beginning, not as an afterthought. We are disproportionately impacted by climate change, but also have significant skills, experience and knowledge to bring to climate activism.
The world is often hostile to people with disability. Finding ways to make it accessible can be hard, but also require us to be innovative and adaptable. Many disabled people are consummate hackers of a non-accessible world, turning everyday items into essential tools to make ordinary activities possible.
More reading:
- Disability Justice Primer from Sins Invalid
- How to Make Your Social Justice Events Accessible to the Disability Community: A Checklist
- 5 Ways To Make Protests Accessible And Truly Include Disabled Folks
- Crip the Resistance: Thoughts and Resources for Accessible Protests
- Ability Access/Disability Inclusion Checklist for Marches and Rallies
