“All In: Solidarity Takes Disability Justice,” a presentation by Lydia X.Z. Brown and Shain M. Neumeier, will take place Wednesday, Oct. 3, from 7-8 p.m. in Watson Theater. An inclusive reception and book signing of “All the Weight of Our Dreams: On Living Racialized Autism” follows from 8-9 p.m. at Light Work.
Lydia X.Z. Brown
The book is described as “the first ever anthology of art and writings by autistics of color about our lives, our experiences, our histories, our communities, our struggles, our passions, and our resilience.” Brown is the lead editor of the anthology.
The event is being held in celebration of Disability Awareness Month, Coming Out Month and Latinx and Hispanic Heritage Month, and is hosted in concert with Mental Health Awareness Week.
Brown is a disability justice advocate, organizer and writer whose work has largely focused on violence against multiply marginalized disabled people, especially institutionalization, incarceration and policing. Brown has been a visiting lecturer at Tufts University, where they taught a course on critical disability theory, public policy and intersectional social movements, and they will be joining the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law as a Justice Catalyst Fellow this fall.
Shain M. Neumeier
In collaboration with E. Ashkenazy and Morénike Giwa-Onaiwu, Brown is the lead editor and visionary behind “All the Weight of Our Dreams,” the first-ever anthology of writings and artwork by autistic people of color and otherwise negatively racialized autistic people, published by the Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network. Giwa-Onaiwu and Brown also co-direct the Fund for Community Reparations for Autistic People of Color’s Interdependence, Survival, and Empowerment, which was created and launched this summer and provides direct support, mutual aid and community reparations to individual autistic people of color.
Neumeier is an autistic activist for disability, youth and queer justice and liberation. They are a solo attorney in Western Massachusetts whose practice focuses on disability and transgender law, including defense against civil commitment and obtaining court-ordered name changes. Neumeier has written articles and spoken at numerous conferences and colleges about issues of bodily autonomy and freedom from coercive medical treatment for the past nine years. Neumeier received an Outstanding Young Lawyer Award from the Massachusetts Bar Association, as well as awards from the National Association of University Centers on Disabilities and the Self-Advocacy Association of New York State.
American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation will be provided during the presentation and reception/book signing. Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) will be provided during the presentation.
Parking is available in the Marion lot; those needing accessible parking may use the Q5 lot. For questions pertaining to parking, contact Dee Bailey at debailey@syr.edu. A campus parking map is available online at https://goo.gl/7wA7ra.
For other accommodation requests or questions, contact sudcc@syr.edu.
The event is sponsored by the Disability Cultural Center, with co-sponsorship by the Center on Human Policy; Interdisciplinary Programs and Outreach, the Burton Blatt Institute; and the Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies, with support from Active Minds, the Beyond Compliance Coordinating Committee, the Disability Law and Policy Program at the College of Law, the Disability Law Society, the Disability Student Union, the Disability Studies Program, the LGBT Resource Center, the Office of Disability Services, the Office of Multicultural Affairs, On the Spectrum, the Renée Crown University Honors Program and the Slutzker Center for International Services.
