As we commemorate Black History Month, we’re proud to amplify the voices of Black, disabled authors and shine a light on stories that intersect race and disability. Add these empowering narratives to your reading list to embark on a journey of discovery, reflection and celebration.
Sipping Dom Pérignon Through a Straw by Eddie Ndopu
In a memoir penned with one good finger, Ndopu writes about being profoundly disabled and profoundly successful. We follow Ndopu, sporting his oversized, bejeweled sunglasses, as he scales the mountain of success, only to find exclusion, discrimination, and neglect waiting for him on the other side. Like every other student, Ndopu tries to keep up appearances—dashing to and from his public policy lectures before meeting for cocktails with his squad, all while campaigning to become student body president.
Privately, however, Ndopu faces obstacles that are all too familiar to people with disabilities yet remain unnoticed by most people. With the revolving door of care aides, hefty bills, and a lack of support from the university, Ndopu feels alienated by his environment. As he soars professionally, sipping champagne with world leaders, he continues to feel the loneliness and pressure of being the only one in the room.
Determined to carve out his place in the world, he must challenge bias at the highest echelons of power and prestige. But as the pressure mounts, Ndopu must find his stride or collapse under the crushing weight of ableism.
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“This process was filled with countless sleepless nights and tears. But through it all, I aimed for something special, and it looks like I’ve achieved that. I hope it touches the lives of those who stumble upon it, changing them in the same profound ways it has changed me,” says Eddie Ndopu.
Do you feel overwhelmed by social change? Don’t know where to start? Maybe you keep asking, ‘Who is missing from the table?’ but do not know how to identify or reach out. Maybe you want to be a better ally.
Luticha Andre Doucette‘s 30-day guided journal takes you through complex topics of equity, diversity, intersectionality, and inclusion and breaks them down into reasonable bites. Topics include:
- Daily prompts for advocates and leaders to hone critical thinking skills
- Develop new lenses for social change
- Learn leadership principles from those who are the most impacted
- Better understanding of self and others for intersectional advocacy and leadership
- Learn how to build a “net that works”
- Fun for new advocates and challenging for seasoned leaders
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“I poured my heart into my book as a way to hold myself accountable but to change how we think about advocacy and activism. I know that this helps transform how people think about themselves and how we can go about making social change,” says Luticha.
Luticha’s New York Times article was also featured in About Us, a collection of personal essays and reflections that have transformed the national conversation around disability.
The Pretty One: On Life, Pop Culture, Disability, and Other Reasons to Fall in Love with Me by Keah Brown
The Pretty One is about a journey to joy. From the disability rights advocate and creator of the #DisabledAndCute viral campaign, this thoughtful, inspiring, and charming collection of essays exploring what it means to be Black and disabled in a mostly able-bodied white America.
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“Today, I saw #ThePrettyOne at @barnesandnoble. This was the best debut I could’ve ever asked for. Thank you for all of your excitement, celebration, and joy with me today! My very first book is out there in the world now! I hope you fall in love with it too!” says Keah.
She has also released Sam’s Super Seats, a children’s picture book about a disabled girl with cerebral palsy who goes back-to-school shopping with her best friend and The Secret Summer Promise, her debut YA novel about a queer romance.
Jerry McGill was thirteen years old, walking home through the projects of Manhattan’s Lower East Side when he was shot in the back by a stranger. Jerry survived, and now uses a wheelchair. His assailant was never caught. Thirty years later, Jerry wants to say something to the man who shot him.
I have decided to give you a name.
I am going to call you Marcus.
With profound grace, brutal honesty, and devastating humor, Jerry McGill takes us on a dramatic and inspiring journey. We travel with him from the streets of 1980s New York, where poverty and violence were part of growing up. He shares the challenges of living with a disability and learning to help and inspire others. He takes us along on the difficult road to acceptance, forgiveness, and, ultimately, triumph.
“I didn’t write this book for you, Marcus. I wrote this for those who endure. Those who manage. Those who are determined to move on,” says Jerry.
Jerry also published Bed Stuy. It is a breathtaking novel about a fated love affair that crosses the divides of race and class.
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