Radical Thots

Thoughts on The Able Bodied Slave by Cristina Visperas

A disabled person’s argument against authority.

The concept that disabled people must be likable in order to convince caregivers/the state to keep us alive. An exhausting practice of emotional regulation on top of regular symptom management.

I’ve been too in my feels to get anything done, so here’s a short personal free write about my experience with acquired disability grief.

On April 28, 1977, after a nearly month long occupation of a federal building, the disabled community pressured the federal government to implement Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, also seen as the civil rights act for disabled people. This was the foundation for the American with Disabilities Act. Here I explore how the protesters strategically organized to success.

Characterizing disabled people as a “burden” to those around them and to society at large is used to justify eugenics. But the fact of the matter is all of us are “burdens” because we are social creatures who survive together. We all need tools. We all have biological limitations. So why are disabled people singled out for needing assistance?

Black Disability Threat theory was created in 2024 by Da’Shay Templeton. Here I go through the introductory academic paper and relate it to my own experiences, another paper, and attempt to add the context of homelessness to the analysis.