Week 13: Disability Justice Art (Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha)

 

Blog Post Topic:

"I Wanna be with you Everywhere (And I Am): Disability Justice Art as Freedom Portal"

by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha


Our final reading was a chapter from a book by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, “The Future is Disabled.” Most of the writing was about an art event (by and for disabled people) which the author attended in 2019 New York called “I Wanna Be With You Everywhere (IWBWYE).” It was so wonderfully accessible to disabled people that it set a whole new standard for what all of us can expect in Disability Justice. The reading itself was pleasant and flowed well, with relevant examples and explanations to make the author’s points clear. Researching the author after reading was also helpful to see, as I found even more intersectional justice on their website, and I recommend checking it out! (brownstargirl.org) 

Piepzna-Samarasinha’s explanation of the environment at IWBWYE was incredibly helpful in understanding just how magical the world they stepped into was, and how we can change our own expectations like they did when they learned about it. Accommodations were so abundant, they described it as having “five rows of ‘creative adaptive device’ seating in the front, right in front of giant featherbeds called Buffies people with pain were lying on to watch the show, a sensory-friendly room designed by and for neurodivergent people with a ton of free ear defenders, pillow forts in the corners where you could recline on bean bags draped with curtains, coloring books, and someone’s seashell collection.” There was extraordinary ASL and captioning that was projected and integrated into the show. Everything from the seating to a travel fund to the sensory experience was intentionally enhanced for better disability access. This art show was a great sign of progress for a future world with more ease of access for disabled people.

After reading this chapter, I think that artists, art teachers, and art historians can make their work more accessible by listening to and learning from feedback in many intersectional communities. Artists like myself can do things like make versions of work that can be seen, heard, felt, smelled, or tasted in ways that are targeted towards certain disabilities. Art teachers can learn new ways to present information and teaching styles so that they have more teaching tools to work with for a diverse body of students. Historians should maybe document their findings in ways that are as close to the truth as they can, and consult many people in the process. As always, the success of accessibility may be gauged through whether it works for disabled people in practice. 

Book cover for "The Future Is Disabled: Prophecies, Love Notes and Mourning Songs"
by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha 

brownstargirl.org/the-future-is-disabled



Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, "I Wanna be with you Everywhere (And I Am): Disability Justice Art as Freedom Portal," in The Future is Disabled (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2022), 183-196. 

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