Event organisers angry about being told they need to include accessibility plans often respond by demanding free labour from disabled people. This should end now.
On disability and emotional labour
Tag: activism
Resistance: Keeping up the momentum
It’s easy to get fired up and organized around a distinct cause, but what about the long haul? We need a resistance movement, not a resistance moment.
Resistance: Don’t tweet, call
Well-meaning activists often encourage people to use social media to reach elected officials. This is a bad and ineffective idea.
Activism is easy to hypothesise but harder to do, so plan ahead
It’s easy to talk in loose terms about opposing disturbing moves by the government such as starting a registry of Muslims. But what will you actually do if these things become a reality?
Resistance: Pick a cause, make it yours
Don’t get overwhelmed with causes in the coming years: Pick one, make it yours, and advocate comprehensively to avoid feeling like you’re fighting a losing battle.
Why aren’t we getting more excited about politically active youth?
There’s something I’m often struck by when I’m able to attend city council and planning commissions or other city events: I’m often one of the youngest people in the room, and I’m not even a resident of the city — which means that I can submit comments as a member of the interested public, but […]
Albert Einstein, Anti-Racist Activist
Usually, when I delve deeper into the lives of famous figures and days gone past, I end up surfacing with a dirty, uneasy feeling. There’s Margaret Sanger and her support of eugenics, for example, a huge disappointment for me when I realised that the woman I’d heralded as an icon and important figure in the […]
6 Things Animal Rights Groups Should Never, Ever Do
I’m passionate about animals, and animal rights. I believe that all animals should live safe, loved, happy lives, and that people should treat animals with respect and compassion. I oppose experimentation on animals. I become extraordinarily angry when I read about violence directed at animals, or cases of neglect, and I believe that the way […]
The Dangers of Blithe Internet Activism
If you’re on social media, you probably encounter them frequently: images of missing people, often girls, with a note saying that someone’s daughter/wife/sister is missing and a plea for anyone who sees her to get in touch with the original poster. Such images are widely circulated, often with a load of guilt attached — if […]
Spare Me Your Guilt: Try Doing Something
Wringing her hands, the woman looks around at the other panelists. We’re discussing the appropriation of poor skills, the rise of hipster backyard gardening, the erasure of people of colour and low-income people involved in the explosion of backyard farming, ‘artisan’ food production, and related trends. We’re talking about how when you make the lives […]