What is Disability Justice?

Disability Justice has been defined as “the cross-disability (sensory, intellectual, mental health/psychiatric, neurodiversity, physical/mobility, learning, etc.) framework that values access, self-determination, and an expectation of difference. An expectation of difference means that we expect difference in disability, identity, and culture. To be included and part of society is about being able to be our ‘whole self’ (all of our identities together). Disability Justice includes space for self-care, reflection, and hard discussions.” This definition comes from the 2009 Disability Activist Collective meeting notes as attributed by Naomi Ortiz.

In 2005, queer, disabled activists of color, Patty Berne, Mia Mingus, and Stacey Milbern, began discussing “their exclusion from mainstream disability rights movement and disability studies discourse and activism, as well as the ableism in activist spaces.” This sparked the second wave of disability rights, the Disability Justice framework. With Leroy Moore, Eli Clare, and Sebastian Margaret, these activists built a framework that “understands that all bodies are unique and essential, that all bodies have strengths and needs that must be met. We know that we are powerful not despite the complexities of our bodies, but because of them. We understand that all bodies are caught in these bindings of ability, race, gender, sexuality, class, nation state and imperialism, and that we cannot separate them.” By s entering intersectionality and uplifting the voices of those most impacted, “what has been consistent is the leadership of disabled people of color and of queer and gender non-conforming disabled people.”

There are ten principles of Disability Justice as defined by Sins Invalid. Founded by Patty Berne and Leroy Moore, Sins Invalid is “a hybrid between a community-based organization and a performance.” These principles are:

• Intersectionality. We all exist at the intersections of many identities (ie. white, non-binary, disabled person)
• Leadership of those most impacted. We stay rooted in meaningful challenges and solutions by uplifting the voices of the most impacted within our community.
• Anti-capitalist Politic. Capitalism encourages competition for survival. Disabled people often cannot conform to able bodied productivity standards. Our worth is not dependent on what or how much we produce.
• Commitment to cross-movement organizing. Disability Justice must align with other social justice movements. This means challenging racism, sexism, queerphobia, fatphobia, etc in broader disability spaces and working to make them truly inclusive to all disabled people.
• Recognizing wholeness. Each person has history, life experience, and inherent value.
• Sustainability. Individually and collectively we pace ourselves to keep Disability Justice sustainable and accessible to as many people as possible.
• Commitment to cross-disability solidarity. We uplift voices of all types of disability. Connection leads to collective liberation.
• Interdependence. We live the slogan: “We take care of us,” working to meet each other where we are.
• Collective access. We are creative and thoughtful in our forms of communication and access.
• Collective liberation. No one is free until we are all free. I will not be free until we stop the state sanctioned violence against Black, disabled people.

Each principle is essential. Challenging racism allows disabled voices of color to flourish and lead; challenging transphobia allows gender diverse, disabled voices to flourish and lead. Allowing prejudice like fatphobia to go unchecked makes fat, disabled voices feel less valued. If we believe in collective liberation and collective access we need to address behaviors that may act as barriers to that access and liberation for some disabled people. This brings us back to intersectionality. No one is just disabled, we all exist at the intersection of many identities. My experience as a white, non-binary, chronically ill, disabled person is different from a cisgender, Black, blind man’s experience. We expect differences; in disability, identity, and experience. Capitalism encourages competition and defines labor by able bodied standards. Our worth is not dependent on our ability to conform to those standards. We are whole, independent of our abilities to produce. We are whole inherently. We elevate leaders that are most affected. We listen to their experience before we take action, because we expect that our experiences are different. We support each other across disability types and all other intersecting identities. We support each other.

Disability Justice has helped me to better understand myself and reframe my perspective. We are all steeped in an ableist society and culture that insists that disabled bodies and minds are worth less than abled bodyminds. These principles remind us of our inherent value, our collective strength, and our ability to build a world that truly supports us all.

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