Black disabled and Deaf artists have always existed. They were on street corners down South singing the Blues, spray painting on New York subways, and bringing sign language to the big screen. Today, young Black disabled artists are finding their own way to the stage and studio, some with a paintbrush in their mouth, like Alana C. Tillman, and some with a drumstick in their hands, like Vita E. Cleveland. As a Black disabled youth in the 1970's and 1980's, I wished that there was a book like the one you are holding now. No more wishing - the book is here!

We say that our ancestors are resting in peace but I argue that our Black disabled ancestors can't rest in peace because their stories are incomplete and have a lot to teach us today. Black disabled people have ancestors who left knowledge, art, music, culture, politics and a lot of pain for us to pick up, build on, and to tell the harsh truth. Many colorful, harsh and dream like Black disabled ancestor's stories have been waking Leroy up in the middle of the night.

The vividly told, gloriously illustrated memoir of an artist born with disabilities who searches for freedom and connection in a society afraid of strange bodies “Golem Girl is luminous; a profound portrait of the artist as a young—and mature—woman; an unflinching social history of disability over the last six decades; and a hymn to life, love, family, and spirit.”—David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas WINNER OF THE BARBELLION PRIZE • FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FOR AUTOBIOGRAPHY • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY KIRKUS REVIEWS What do we sacrifice in the pursuit of normalcy? And what becomes possible when we embrace monstrosity? Can we envision a world that sees impossible creatures? In 1958, amongst the children born with spina bifida is Riva Lehrer. At the time, most such children are not expected to survive. Her parents and doctors are determined to "fix" her, sending the message over and over again that she is broken. That she will never have a job, a romantic relationship, or an independent life. Enduring countless medical interventions, Riva tries her best to be a good girl and a good patient in the quest to be cured. Everything changes when, as an adult, Riva is invited to join a group of artists, writers, and performers who are building Disability Culture. Their work is daring, edgy, funny, and dark—it rejects tropes that define disabled people as pathetic, frightening, or worthless. They insist that disability is an opportunity for creativity and resistance. Emboldened, Riva asks if she can paint their portraits—inventing an intimate and collaborative process that will transform the way she sees herself, others, and the world. Each portrait story begins to transform the myths she’s been told her whole life about her body, her sexuality, and other measures of normal. Written with the vivid, cinematic prose of a visual artist, and the love and playfulness that defines all of Riva's work, Golem Girl is an extraordinary story of tenacity and creativity. With the author's magnificent portraits featured throughout, this memoir invites us to stretch ourselves toward a world where bodies flow between all possible forms of what it is to be human. “Not your typical memoir about ‘what it’s like to be disabled in a non-disabled world’ . . . Lehrer tells her stories about becoming the monster she was always meant to be: glorious, defiant, unbound, and voracious. Read it!”—Alice Wong, founder and director, Disability Visibility Project

Eddie, an unemployed truck driver, reunites with his ex-wife Ani after she suffers a devastating accident. John, a brilliant and witty doctoral student, hires overworked Jess as a caregiver. As their lives intersect, Majok’s play delves into the chasm between abundance and need and explores the space where bodies—abled and disabled—meet each other.

Disability and the Sociological Imagination is the first true undergraduate text for the relatively new and growing area of sociology of disability. Written by one of the field’s leading researchers, it discusses the major theorists, research methods, and bodies of knowledge that represents sociology’s key contributions to our understanding of disability. Unlike other available texts, it examines the ways in which major social structures contribute to the production and reproduction of disability, and examines how race, class, gender, and sexual orientation shape the disability experience

This expansive collection sets the stage for the next generation of Hip Hop scholarship as we approach the fiftieth anniversary of the movement’s origins. Celebrating 50 years of Hip Hop cultural history, Freedom Moves travels across generations and beyond borders to understand Hip Hop’s transformative power as one of the most important arts movements of our time. This book gathers critically acclaimed scholars, artists, activists, and youth organizers in a wide-ranging exploration of Hip Hop as a musical movement, a powerful catalyst for activism, and a culture that offers us new ways of thinking and doing freedom. Rooting Hip Hop in Black freedom culture, this state-of-the-art collection presents a globally diverse group of Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian American, Arab, European, North African, and South Asian artists, activists, and thinkers. The “knowledges” cultivated by Hip Hop and spoken word communities represent emerging ways of being in the world. Freedom Moves examines how educators, artists, and activists use these knowledges to inform and expand how we understand our communities, our histories, and our futures.

Asset-based pedagogies, such as culturally relevant/sustaining teaching, are frequently used to improve the educational experiences of students of color and to challenge the White curriculum that has historically informed school practices. Yet asset-based pedagogies have evaded important aspects of students’ culture and identity: those related to disability. Sustaining Disabled Youth is the first book to accomplish this. It brings together a collection of work that situates disability as a key aspect of children and youth’s cultural identity construction. It explores how disability intersects with other markers of difference to create unique cultural repertoires to be valued, sustained, and utilized for learning. Readers will hear from prominent and emerging scholars and activists in disability studies who engage with the following questions: Can disability be considered an identity and culture in the same ways that race and ethnicity are? How can disability be incorporated to develop and sustain asset-based pedagogies that attend to intersecting forms of marginalization? How can disability serve in inquiries on the use of asset-based pedagogies? Do all disability identities and embodiments merit sustaining? How can disability justice be incorporated into other efforts toward social justice? Book Features: Provides critical insights to bring disability in conversation with asset-based pedagogies.Highlights contributions of both university scholars and community activists. Includes analytical and practical tools for researchers, classroom teachers, and school administrators. Offers important recommendations for teacher education programs.