Our Organizational Commitment to Disability Justice
We recognize that disability justice is always a work in progress and often complex in practice. As members of White People 4 Black Lives we commit to living out disability justice in our work, which also means accepting we will be imperfect at it. We commit to striving to get better and being humbly open to feedback.
We recognize that ableism is a symptom of white supremacy culture and, as part of our commitment to both end white supremacy and increase disability justice, we commit to:
Check in regularly around our personal and organizational manifestations of white supremacy culture and ableism
At the start of a new project, there should be a rigorous evaluation of all components and activities to determine the level of accessibility in each area (including disability accessibility and other accessibility - distinction described in principle #1 below). From there, an accessibility check should be included as a standing item in project leadership meetings to determine if any issues around accessibility have been raised and need to be tended to
e.g., Standard check in questions might be: What’s working? What challenges have emerged? What feedback have we heard from people with disabilities and other access needs? Are we living out our DJ values?
We will try to name when white supremacy culture is showing up and adopt the antidotes laid out in this article on white supremacy culture
We will be willing to alter the course of our organizational activities to help ensure our work is as aligned as possible with our disability justice principles (see below)
Cultivate a culture of appreciation for people showing up in the ways they are able to, including developing ways to recognize folx who "show up" in ways that are not always visible
Value all aspects of movement ecology and celebrate and center ongoing work, not only time-sensitive campaigns
Engage in recurring political education about the intersections of disability justice and our collective’s work. This includes:
Political education in public spaces (e.g., general meetings, events, and other WP4BL gatherings)
Ongoing personal education: in the same way we take responsibility for educating ourselves about race and whiteness as white people, we commit to educating ourselves about disability and ableism
Publicly stating our commitment to disability justice by making our disability justice principles available on our website, and ensuring an introduction to these principles is part of both people’s orientation to our collective and our leadership body
Strive to make actions, campaigns, events, and any other projects as accessible for people with diverse disabilities as possible, including using all available WP4BL resources (including, but not limited to speaking with people with expertise/knowledge)
Take action to correct ableism, rather than accepting lack of disability justice in an activity or project as a "tension held" to alleviate our duty to make our work accessible
Building acknowledgement of the disability community into our language (e.g. "Everyone please stand, insofar as you are able," and avoiding ableist terms like “crazy” and “paralyzed”)
Remember that disability justice is an active practice. It isn’t something we will ever complete or master. We commit do our best to practice it in the ways stated above and by adhering to the following principles:
WP4BL’s Disability Justice Principles
Note: This is a living list. Just like all of our work, it is incomplete and imperfect. We envision this list will continue to evolve as we learn and grow in our collective and individual disability justice journeys.
1. We use a broad definition of “accessibility” within our collective and also commit to specific, deep work around disability justice
Accessibility & Disability Justice are distinct. While there is overlap, they are not interchangeable. Our commitment to accessibility includes (but is not limited to): class, parenting/family care, and access to gender neutral restrooms. We hold the dichotomy of wanting to adopt the broadest possible definition of accessibility we can and knowing it’s important to hold disability justice with specific focus and care
From our glossary - Accessibility: The "ability to access" and benefit from some system or entity. The concept focuses on enabling access for people with disabilities, however, accessibility benefits to everyone. Another dimension of accessibility is the ability to access information, spaces and opportunities by minimizing the barriers. ”
From our glossary - Disability Justice: Disability justice is a movement not simply for the rights of people with disabilities as a whole, but for many forms of liberation and empowerment, as well as mutual support and sustainable systems of care for us all. The Disability Justice framework understands that all bodies are unique and essential, that all bodies have strengths and needs that must be met.
What this value looks like in practice:
Developing and promoting broad accessibility offerings like transportation reimbursement, childcare, ASL interpretation, gender neutral bathrooms, and fragrance free space
Thinking explicitly about accessibility for people with disabilities when planning events and campaigns (so our needs aren’t forgotten or overlooked because of other accessibility measures being taken)
2. There is work for everyone in every project
This principle is grounded in a belief that we need and value everyone in our movement
We also accept there is no “one size fits all way” to do disability justice: Disabilities are diverse - access will look different for different people
What this value looks like in practice:
Offer multiple ways to take anti-racist action without elevating the importance of any one way over another
Center and review accessibility of all activities we take up and create as many accessible options as possible for involvement in campaigns, events, and direct actions or other workgroups
Note: This principle does NOT mean that every tactic or piece of work within a project needs to be accessible to everyone. We recognize there are some types of “showing up” that will never be accessible for certain people. We want them to be able to name that and still be able to be meaningfully involved. For example, a direct action may not be accessible for someone, but they can play other roles like social media, publicity, recruitment, outside contact in case of jail support, etc.
3. Disability justice is prioritized in the prep of any campaign we take on – including space to process feedback from people with disabilities with enough time to make adjustments
Just like we would never begin a campaign without a check-in with our solidarity partners, and just like we continually check in with solidarity partners over the course of a campaign, we should never begin a campaign without a disability justice check-in, and these check-ins should continue throughout a campaign
What this value looks like in practice:
Begin thinking about disability accessibility at the start of the planning process
Engage people with disabilities in campaign planning. Since disabilities are diverse and no one person with disabilities can speak for all, include as many voices as possible
Ensure that consensus on all new campaigns moving forward include an analysis of the level of disability accessibility of the campaign. This should include sharing thinking about the many ways engagement will be possible and naming where the campaign may not be accessible (and why that decision was made)
4. Have a disability justice/accessibility lead(s) for any undertaking
This goes for one-off events and ongoing efforts
Build out capacity so that it's not always the same person or 3 people getting called
What this value looks like in practice:
Have a clearly stated accessibility contact in all outreach/communications for an event. This person doesn’t have to be an expert in every accessibility issue, but rather a point person for getting people the answers and accommodations they need
Make sure there’s support for the accessibility lead so it’s not a “single point of failure” if the lead gets sick, etc.
5. Don't dismiss DJ concerns under the guise of dismissing "big feelings".
What this value looks like in practice:
Having a clear, built-in, routine mechanism for receiving feedback related to disability and access, such as including an accessibility check as a standard practice in planning meetings
If someone raises a concern around access needs, whether it is conveyed in a way that is emotional, make an attempt to get at the root or the underlying concern rather than focusing on the delivery of the information
All concerns expressed should be taken seriously and met with care
This document was developed in July 2020.