Something I never knew -even as a trans disabled person- is that there is a Disability Day of Mourning every year on March 1st. Much like with Trans Day of Remembrance keeping a list of the trans victims of murder, a list of names of the KNOWN disabled victims of filicide (killed by caregivers and family) is kept and published on disability-memorial.org . They ALSO publish a tool kit to help you do something about it.
This year there are over 60 ~recorded~ victims of filicide. For a list of names please visit disability-memorial.org (also in the QR code). Disabled Hikers(instagram&facebook) also has posts which feature the list of names.
I keep stressing “KNOWN” victims because obviously the deaths of disabled people are usually seen as something else, even if they were caused by the mistreatment or embedded ableism of their family or doctors. I know of an autistic child, for instance… who passed away in his sleep while under the temporary care of extended family… Quite likely an unintended effect of over-dosing him on meds they were unfamiliar with that day “just to make him easier” (its all been said before) but in truth we will never know for sure. There are many unseen stories just like that.
And this is to say nothing of the deaths invoked by systemic ableism in other ways - or the subtle but fervent genocide of millions of disabled people who have been sacrificed to covid…
We all spend a lot of time on the internet. Please take at least a few minutes today while online to read the names and check out the Tool Kit.
I think 2k is a reasonable goal for a motley crew of passionate internet nerds, but even if we fall just shy of that goal I’ll probably draw something as a reward for good effort. Let’s go team!
I just really want to write a book (in fact, I think that I’m going to) where the protagonist is in a wheelchair. And they live in a city where there’s a group of superheroes. And there’s a big, magical, villain because of course there is.
And since they were a young child, this protagonist has wanted nothing more than to join the group of superheroes. Like they’re a huge fan of the group and they just know that it’s their destiny to join.
And one day, when wheeling through the city, they see the group of heroes fighting the villain. And they quickly wheel over and cry, “Let me help!”
But the ‘heroes’ laugh and instead make a whole bunch of ableist remarks.
And so the protagonist has to prove themselves.
And the villain is trying to warn them to stop.
But the protagonist ends up taking their footrest off of their wheelchair and they swing it. And it hits the villain in the side of the face and the villain collapses and groans in pain.
And so the protagonist proudly smiles and turns to the group of heroes.
Because they just proved that they are strong and worthy enough.
But the group of ‘heroes’ still keeps making ableist remarks.
And the protagonist is shocked.
And meanwhile, the ‘villain’ staggers to their feet and is standing next to the protagonist’ wheelchair.
And one of the ‘heroes’ goes too far when calling the protagonist the R word.
And the protagonist and the ‘villain’ just sort of glance at one another.
And the ‘villain’ is just like, “You know…I can zap them for you…if you want.”
And the protagonist hesitates and says, “Yeah, alright!”
One fried group of heroes later, the ‘villain’ says, “Why do you think that I’m always fighting them? They’re all a bunch of assholes.”
And the protagonist sadly nods and starts to wheel away.
Then:
“Hey, do you want a job?”
The protagonist turns at the villain’s remark. And the protagonist mumbles something like, “Oh, come on. I don’t need your pity.”
And the ‘villain’ is like, “Pity!? Do I look like someone who hands out pity!? I don’t pity you! I’m kind of afraid of you, to be honest! I mean…I’m going to have a giant bruise on my face because of you.”
“Yeah…sorry…”
“Water under the bridge! So, what do you say? Do you want a job?”
And the protagonist thinks about it for a minute before shrugging.
And the ‘villain’ is all excited because they’ve wanted someone to work with them for years but no mortal is allowed to ‘step into’ their lair.
And then the ‘villain’ stops and is like, “Hang on…you can’t work with me in that.”
And they gesture to the protagonist’s wheelchair.
And the protagonist is all embarrassed.
And then the villain goes, “Because we can get you a much better wheelchair! It’ll look great! And it’ll be indestructible! And it’ll have all sorts of weapons and gadgets! Hey, how do you feel about flying…?”
And all of that is literally in the first chapter and then the rest of the story follows the two going around the city like BAMFs, forcing people to stop being ableist, one way or another. And maybe it’ll have some commentary on the scale of morality and what it truly means to be a hero and what it truly means to be a villain.
Would anyone be interested in this!?
Because I really want to write it!?
YESSSSS. ALL MY YES PLS WRITE IT
I’D READ THE SHIT OUT OF THAT YES PLEASE
OP HERE!
Man, it’s so surreal to look at this.
BECAUSE I ACTUALLY WROTE IT!
AND IT WAS JUST PUBLISHED TONIGHT!
Of course, there are some differences between the final book and this original idea. The most notable difference is that all of this takes place in the first book (it’s going to be a series!) and the whole ‘superhero’ thing is just going to be a front. There’s a few other differences as well (such as a huge plotline involving Merlin and immortal characters!)
Boosting because sadly I can’t afford to buy the first five books in the series on my limited disability income, and only the sixth one is available on KU. So I’m hoping that enough people will log into their accounts on Overdrive and recommend this series for purchase so that eventually we may be able to borrow copies from their networked library. Make sure you log into your home library webpage as well and recommend they buy hard copies of the series as well as digital copies. Young adults especially need this kind of representation, but are unfortunately not usually in a position to drop $25 on books. Which is not to say the author does not deserve to be properly compensated for the sale of their work! Just hoping that many, many libraries will spend their limited funds to buy copies. Preferably multiple copies of each one.
I’m genuinely concerned that I’ll have no real way to tell when it’s safe for me to start doing things again, because the CDC basically told everyone to get fucked and die, I’m surrounded by people taking the, “eh, if I get covid, I get covid” approach, and I can’t fucking tell what’s a reasonable safety precaution anymore.
I’m exhausted all the time, and I’m still scared of getting sick, but the world is moving on without me, and I’m just so disoriented, y'all.
Everyone I live with IS immunocompromised, and this comment comes off very “it’s fine, the only people who are still dying are disabled people,” which really just serves to cement my original point about the world moving on without me.
Just want to add that that person is so incredibly wrong! The current science (or in layman’s terms check here) says that about 50% of everyone who gets covid, vaxxed or not, immunocompromised or not, will end up with long lasting symptoms, ones that last beyond the four weeks of infection. Now this statistic includes symptoms that resolve on their own eventually as well as ones that are permanent. But one in every two people will have long lasting covid symptoms. Sure being vaxxed decreases your chances of catching covid in the first place and it decreases the chances of it being severe, but it won’t stop the long term symptoms. Even if you get a “mild” or asymptomatic infection, you still have a 50/50 shot of having long term symptoms. And this is just the most current science, for all we know the number could be higher! We don’t yet know the full extent to which covid fucks up the human body.
Oh and PLUS, omicron has an R0 value of somewhere between 8 and 15, making it the second most infectious disease in the whole world (second only to measles). The R0 number is a measure of how infectious a disease is. For comparison the R0 of the flu is generally 1.5.
And yet EVERYONE I talk to is completely ignoring this and calling omicron more mild than previous strains, that it’s comparable to the flu (never mind that the science says it’s about twice as likely that you’ll have long lasting symptoms from covid than the flu). It makes me feel like I’m losing my mind. But we’re not losing our minds. Especially if you’re disabled/chronically ill, getting covid could be devastating even with a “mild” infection. My brain doesn’t know how to process all of this. The wide spread scale at which people are saying “fuck you” to disabled lives makes me want to vomit.
But uh OP I hope this justifies your actions/thoughts. You’re not alone in this either!
I am triple vaxxed and caught Omicron while masked and outdoors, but working with the unmasked public.
Yes, technically I’m fine. But I spent a week basically unable to sleep or really rest because I had what I can only describe as restless legs syndrome. It hurt to lay down or sit down. I frequently had to move to keep from being in pain. While I’m grateful that this symptom eventually went away, it’s the kind of symptom - weird & neurological - that has become a permanent condition for others.
My breathing also remains permanently impacted. I am, was, in great shape - cardio and strength building exercises on the regular. I now frequently get winded walking up stairs. Exercise in general is much harder and I am fighting to maintain my current state, let alone get back into the kind of fit I used to be.
And there’s NO WAY OF KNOWING how long I will be impacted or if my symptoms will ever increase or resurface. We just don’t know.
I’m the best case scenario: a person in excellent health and triple vaxxed and I still suffered and continue to experience symptoms. There are plenty of reasons to be concerned about your own health, and plenty more to care about and be concerned for the health of others.
The immunocompromised are not disposable.
OP, I’m sorry we as a society failed so hard and you have to live with this fear and exhaustion.
hayao miyazaki on ableism re: AI depicting “zombie”-like movements:
presenter:
miyazaki:
the last part usually gets quoted out of context as a meme or to paint miyazaki as an unreasonable grump but he was speaking against the ableist usage of disabled people’s movements for shock value & evoking ‘grotesquery.’
