Itâs impossible for me to talk about chronic illness without talking about environmental racismâ â what she says is the disproportionate exposure of people of colour and low-income communities to polluted and otherwise degraded environments. In her first Sins Invalid performance, Piepzna-Samarasinha describes growing up in a rustbelt town in Massachusetts, what it felt like being at school, overpowered by the smell wafting down from the abrasives plant, and how each year another teacher developed alopecia or cancer. And yet, the mainstream disability rights movement has been predominantly white. âI came to disability studies with the hope that I was coming home,â says Syrus Marcus Ware, a local artist, researcher and educator. As a queer, black, trans man and identical twin with disabilities, Ware had sought a place that embraced all facets of his identity but found the presumption of whiteness to be pervasive. In other spaces, he often feels he has to check his disabilities at the door. âWhen I go to a black queer meeting, Iâm only talking about that issue,â he says, noting he feels he canât question why the meetingâs on the fourth floor and thereâs no elevator. In his art he explores how his full identity comes together, referencing Audre Lorde, who wrote, âMy fullest concentration of energy is available to me only when I integrate all the parts of who I am.â
Queer, disabled & desirable | Daily Xtra (via locomotives)
