Parisian Phoenix Publishing

I mentioned in a previous post that we did not reach the finals of the Independent Book Publisher Association’s Innovative Voices Fellowship. The finalists included I believe 20 different publishers, all with either BIPOC or LGTBQIA+ voices. No one among them had a disability. The five winners were announced, and the group spans the globe, which is fascinating and exciting. But, as a dear friend pointed out to me, most organizations do not view disability as part of their diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

That truth has stung more than I’d like to admit. It never occurred to me that disability did not warrant the same opportunity to express our unique experience of the world. I have spent the last decade embracing and accepting that I am a disabled individual. I spent the first 40 years of my life trying to “pass” as someone without a disability. My self-confidence finally reached a point where I was proud and brave enough to advocate for myself, while at the same time, my age and my frustration reached the point where I had to stop internalizing my feelings about what it takes for me to survive in this body.

Also, I had a meeting with someone in my social circle recently, and this person said something that I considered disparaging about my blind friend. This person implied that blindness automatically meant a person was less than or unable to function in the world. And unfortunately, that attitude is why many people with disabilities born within the confines of Generation X or earlier were taught to behave as able-bodied as possible, to make ourselves invisible, and to not need too much help— because just one generation earlier disabled and/or neurodivergent people found themselves institutionalized.

Disabled people are some of the most creative, tenacious, outside-of-the-box thinkers on the planet. When faced with a problem, disabled people don’t automatically run to the easy or typical solution. We can work with whatever resources we have and find solutions able-bodied folks can’t see.

EDIT: I have learned that the IBPA DOES have an Innovative Voice that features disability: Thinking Ink Press.