African American

  • A Black woman stands at a microphone singing in front of a crowd. A man playing a guitar stands behind her.

    How Fannie Lou Hamer’s disability informed her fight for voting rights

    (From The 19th, July 19, 2023) Fannie Lou Hamer’s testimony at the 1964 DNC shook the nation and highlighted the fact that many people didn’t realize that Hamer had a…

  • A Black woman with a orange and brown swirly color tilts her head: April 19, 1964-January 9, 2023.

    LaTonya Reeves, Advocate for Community-Based Services

    From Colorado Developmental Disabilities Council On January 9, 2023, LaTonya S. Reeves died after a short illness. Governor Polis only recently appointed Ms. Reeves to the Colorado Developmental Disabilities Council…

  • A black man with a beard and a black t-shirt signs. Text below says, "That's our Black ASL."

    Signing Black in America

    (From Talking Black in America) SIGNING BLACK in AMERICA is the first documentary about Black ASL: the unique dialect of American Sign Language (ASL) that developed within historically segregated African American…

  • An African American woman holds two paintings, one a self-portrait and the other a white man.

    Lois Curtis, Disability Rights Activist Who Won a Landmark Civil Rights Case (1967 – 2022)

    Fighting for the right to live in the community and establishing the right of people with disabilities to live independently Lois Curtis was a disabled African American woman who lived…

  • Photo card of a Chinese dwarf.

    Freak Shows in the United States (1840-1940)

    How’d You Like to be a Giant? For one hundred years (1840 – 1940) the freak show was one of America’s most popular forms of entertainment. Today the same shows…

  • Black Panther News: Handicapped Win Demands

    The 504 Protests and the Black Panther Party

    In April 1977, disability activists around the country held protests to fight for the passage of Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act. Section 504 of the Act stated that:…

  • Black Disabled Ancestors, by Leroy F. Moore Jr.

    Black Disabled Ancestors: by Leroy F. Moore Jr.

    “We say that our ancestors are resting in peace but I argue that our Black Disabled Ancestors can’t rest in peace because their stories are incomplete and have a lot…

  • Harriet Tubman

    The Overlooked History of Black Disabled People

    By Vilissa Thompson, Rewire News Group What do Harriet Tubman, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Mary Davidson have in common? They were all important Black historical figures who made incredible strides in our nation’s ongoing struggle…

  • Virginia State School for Colored Deaf and Blind, Newport News, VA

    Black Deaf Americans: History, Culture, and Education

    The University of Oregon’s Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA) has an exhibit focusing on Black Deaf Americans. “Black Deaf people have one of the most unique cultures in the world.…