Push or Pivot?

In the spirit of taking care of each other, we are “pivoting” this year’s CTZN Summit to virtual. We listened to your needs for safety and access and decided to bring the experience online so that more people could engage and benefit. It was an opportunity for us to embody our theme “practicing change” and respond to what was present and generative. Our virtual retreat take place September 1 - 4th and will be nourished by inspired facilitation, embodied practice, courageous conversations, and community connection. Join us TONIGHT/7ET for a special CTZN meetup where we will be sharing a rest practice AND revealing some exciting updates for our upcoming gathering. REGISTER HERE.

Despite over two years of steadfast masking and distancing, I finally got COVID. I’m not sure how I got it or from whom. All I know is that it kicked my ass and taught me an important lesson. 

Being sick is a teacher. I know this from many years of chronic pain and the invisible struggle that makes it impossible to move through a world designed for able bodies, meet capitalist expectations of productivity and feel worthy inside dominant culture’s idea of “normal”. Having a disability has taught me that it is not me that is “broken” but the structures and systems that aren’t designed to care for us. Betraying that system is choosing to do something different. To not push through but to pivot and imagine alternatives that take care of all of us. 

I am humbled and more committed than ever to collective care and the shared practice of taking care of ourselves and each other. This is the the wellness that we all deserve - the active pursuit of the conditions, policies and culture that ensures that people have what they need to thrive. 

Kerri (she/her)

art by @ananyatheartist

1. If you want to know who changed Manchin's mind--you did. Bill McKibbon on why the Zeitgeist matters. [click to tweet]

2. “There’s no doubt burnout is a real, and timely, problem. It’s also an “American problem, a yuppie problem, a badge of success”. There’s a problem with the way we talk about burnout (and how we talk about needing help). [click to tweet]

3. The misguided assumption that those with the good fortune of wealth and privilege are the most qualified to diagnose and treat society’s ills is deadly. But billionaires will not save us. Here’s what will. [click to tweet]

4. We’re in an emergency, and that’s not good news. However, the worst-case scenarios are not inevitable- and that is good news. Here’s why it’s not too late. [click to tweet]

5. There is no such thing as collective liberation in an inaccessible world. Here are some ways to show up for disability justice, both in July and beyond. [click to tweet]

July marks the anniversary of Americans with Disabilities Act, ground breaking federal legislation which was passed in 1990 to protect the rights of disabled people. It was a victory that was hard won by disabled protestors who put their bodies on the line to demand change. But Disability Pride is not just one month—it’s about commitment to disability justice. What is disability justice? “A Disability Justice framework understands that all bodies are unique and essential, that all bodies have strengths and needs that must be met.” (Patty Berne). Here’s how to practice:

ACCOUNTABILITY: Consider how you might be perpetuating ableism in your life, whether personally, professionally, or to strangers. How have you internalized ableism?

LISTEN: Solidarity means listening to disabled people and getting educated about the issues that effect them. Here are some great books to get you started.

AMPLIFY: Uplifting and including the most marginal among us — including disabled people — is the only way we can ensure our collective liberation. Here are some powerful voices to follow and amplify: @LeahLakshmiWrites @Disability_Visability @MiaMingus @ProjectLets

CHANGE: Here’s a great resource from @behearddc about how you can build accessible education and virtual learning spaces (truth: we’ve got some work to do).

art by @becca_wight

Dominant culture and systems reinforce the “medical model” of disability which views disability as a problem that belongs to the individual. It assumes that something is wrong with a person’s body/mind and that they need to be cured or fixed in order to be viewed as normal and treated as equal in society. When systems treat disability as the “problem” it results in stigma and discrimination, lack of agency and self determination, exclusion from and/or segregated services. The social model of disability, on the other hand, argues that society is the problem. It understands disability as “the loss, limitation or denial of rights by society to a point where someone is restricted or completely excluded”. By shifting the focus, we can address the real barriers (cultural, systemic, structural) that are holding people back from thriving on their terms.

art by @feminuity

Be accountable.

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