In addition to Women’s History Month, March is also National Disability Awareness Month. We’re sharing some memoirs and essay collections from women (particularly artists and activists) living with a disability —currently or in the recent past. Not everyone with a particular identity makes them an activist. But choosing to share these stories in the face of the ongoing trivialization of ableism (just look at how people have downplayed Chris Rock’s attack on Jada Pinkett Smith’s autoimmune disorder) and using their platforms to discuss these topics can feel like a revolutionary act.
Not included on this list (because we’ve recently mentioned them) are Golem Girl by Riva Lehrer and The Collected Schizophrenias by Esmé Weijun Wang. This is your reminder to check them out anyway! While I usually include memoir graphic novels, I omitted those this time because there were so many good ones, and that warrants its own list. (Yes, I’m biased because historical and memoir graphic novels are my favorite.)
The Pretty One: On Life, Pop Culture, Disability, and Other Reasons to Fall in Love With Me by Keah Brown
Keah Brown, the creator of the viral #DisabledAndCute hashtag, writes a vulnerable and thoughtful collection of essays that delves into various challenges in her life as a woman with cerebral palsy. The title references comments comparing her to her abled (non-disabled) identical twin sister, often referred to as “The Pretty One.” Brown’s love for pop culture comes through as she discusses what it’s like being disabled and how media poorly depicts disability on screen.
Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century edited by Alice Wong
On the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, Alice Wong published this anthology of essays, blogs, manifestos, eulogies, Congressional testimonies, and more. These stories address disabilities seen and unseen, and they recall stories both new and old (recontextualized). Wong published an adaptation for young adults in 2021.
While Wong did contribute to this book, she also has her memoir coming later this year —Year of the Tiger: An Activist’s Life. In addition to checking out her books, read the many stories on Wong’s Disability Visibility Project.
Uncomfortable Labels: My Life as a Gay Autistic Trans Woman by Laura Kate Dale
Jessica Dale’s book might be considered more of a Gender Studies book than a memoir. However, she weaves in personal life experiences as someone both autistic and on the LGBT spectrum in talking about the nuances of gender, sexuality, and autism. Dale recounts how society socially conditioned her from childhood to present as a neurotypical heterosexual boy all the way to a continuous journey to living her most authentic self.
Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law by Haben Girma
The child of refugees (from two countries) relocated to Oakland and born deafblind, Haben Girma constantly sought knowledge and saw problems as opportunities to innovate. Entering elementary school after the signing of the ADA, Girma could access the tools to complete her education through college, where she became the first deafblind graduate of Harvard Law School. This memoir recounts the challenges and hilarious moments of her life story so far. Girma also contributed a section in Wong’s book Disability Visibility.
Broken Places & Outer Spaces: Finding Creativity in the Unexpected by Nnedi Okorafor
Well-known for her works like Binti, After the Rain, Remote Control, the Nsibidi Scripts (the Akata stories) and writing for various Shuri titles, Africanfuturist Nnedi Okorafor also wrote this highly-anticipated memoir. Broken Places & Outer Spaces documents her time exploring imagination and a creative awakening after Okorafor became temporarily paralyzed. As a college track athlete, Okorafor understood that treating her scoliosis was not something to be put off and went into a routine procedure that ended up going awry. In the hospital bed, Okorafor’s experience parallels artists before her like Frida Khalo and Mary Shelley as she reflect on life, fantasy, and truth.
(image: Vintage, Atria Books, and Jessica Kingsley Publishers)
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