Recording of a plenary session from Virtual Progress 2020.
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To watch the talk Lessons from the Disability Justice Movement start video at 52 mins.
‘Ableism does not exist on its own. It is also a function of racism, classism, queerphobia, transphobia and many other bigotries… When we think about -isms, we think about bigotry, discrimination, we have to look at just how tied together to those institutions ableism is.’ – Imani Barbarin
This video contains 2 other presentations. The timings for each talk are:
- Organising in this Moment – 3:20mins – 13:20 mins
- The Future of Workers’ Rights – 30.20mins – 51.04 mins
- Lessons from the Disability Justice Movement – 52:00 mins – 1:40:15 mins
Imani Barbarin, Damian Griffis and Kera Sherwood-O’Regan opened the second day of Virtual Progress 2020, bringing expertise in campaigning and online organising, and shared lessons from leadership of the disability justice movement.
About the speakers
IMANI BARBARIN (US)
Founder, Crutches and Spice
Imani is a disability rights and inclusion activist and speaker who uses her voice and social media platforms to create conversations engaging the disability community. Born with cerebral palsy, Imani often writes and uses her platform to speak from the perspective of a disabled black woman. In the last few years she has created over a dozen trending hashtags that allow disabled people the opportunity to have their perspectives heard while forcing the world to take notice: #PatientsAreNotFaking, #ThingsDisabledPeopleKnow, #AbledsAreWeird and others each provide a window into disabled life while forming community.
DAMIAN GRIFFIS (AUS)
CEO, First Peoples Disability Network
Damian Griffis is a descendant of the Worimi people of the Manning Valley in NSW. He is a leading advocate for the human rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with disability. Damian has been a central figure in the establishment of both the Aboriginal Disability Network NSW and the national organisation representing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with disabilities and their families – the First Peoples Disability Network.
KERA SHERWOOD-O’REGAN (NZ)
Co-Founder and Communications & Impact Director, Activate
Kera (Kāi Tahu, Te Waipounamu) is an indigenous and disabled multidisciplinary storyteller and rights advocate based in Aotearoa New Zealand. She is the Co-founder and Communications & Impact Director at Activate, an indigenous and disabled social impact agency specialising in campaigning and narratives for social change. Her work focuses on centering structurally oppressed communities in social change, exploring community-led collective storytelling, and seeks to raise the bar for free, prior, informed, and ongoing consent in the media. Kera’s work is grounded in kaupapa Māori practices and approaches, and is informed by 15 years of activism within the climate movement. In her spare time she runs Fibromyalgia Aotearoa NZ, and advocates for indigenous rights at the United Nations climate negotiations and within the wider climate movement.
About Virtual Progress 2020
Australian Progress held Virtual Progress 2020 on June 23-24. It was a rapid response online conference to respond to the intersecting crises of the pandemic, racial injustice, rising inequality and the climate crisis. The conference included 1,600 participants, 225 speakers from 13 countries, 5,000+ live chat messages and more than 60 sessions exploring everything from First Nations self-determination to racial justice, disability justice, health, economic fairness, the climate crisis and so much more.
See the Australian Progress collection on the Commons Library for materials from Virtual Progress 2020 and past events. To see what’s coming up in terms of training and events visit the Australian Progress site.
Disability Justice Resources
This crowdsourced list of disability justice resources came together on the second day of Virtual Progress 2020. This list includes resources mentioned by presenters in the Lessons from the Disability Justice Movement plenary and Deconstructing Ableism in Progressive Movements workshop. Many other resources were suggested by participants in the event chat stream and in a Google Doc started by the Commons librarians. If you have additions or updates to this list please contact the Commons.