Beyond Disability Rights; Disability Justice: Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

Safety: every law enforcement officer and every politician tells us that they're for it. And yet for many, police are a problem in their communities, and today's policies are only making things worse. If what we're doing isn't the answer. What is? We explore this issue, and what we all need to learn from the disability justice movement, with this week's guest. Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha is a queer disabled writer, performer, poet, healer and teacher, inspired by poets and authors June Jordan, Suheir Hammad and Audre Lorde. She is the author of several books of poetry, including Consensual Genocide and the Lambda-award winning Love Cake. She has a new book of poetry called Bodymap, and a memoir, Dirty River. out this year. She also co-founded the performance group Mangos With Chili and is an editor of The Revolution Starts At Home: Confronting Intimate Violence in Activist Communities, a book that grapples with the difficult idea of addressing violence without police. All this, and Laura discusses the roads less traveled.

[@AmethystWoman]

Thank you, Laura and Leah. I came to learn about Disability Justice. I have been shamefully disabled nearly my entire life. I always say my life ended when I was 23. When I had my first back surgery and the pain of CRPS took over my life. and then the depression and the memories of abuse and rape and all that my cracked mind allowed to come back from my dissociated child self. Disability Justice. I have a mentor for that now. to unlearn the notion that I have to live in shame. That I can't leave the house on days I need my crutches. That at the age of 66, I now need to use the electric cart in the grocery store. To unlearn shame of my body. And THAT will make all the difference. Thank you.

[@huutiainen9393]

thanks for captioning this!

[@LauraFlandersAndFriends]

Beyond Disability Rights; Disability Justice: Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha #disability #disabilityjustice

[@niamhheron5587]

Thank you SO MUCH for this !!!

[@BenDover-jw8rm]

She must live an incredibly happy life

[@TAYDEON23]

that was beautiful

[@jshir17]

*Yes*