Disability & Pride: A Panel Discussion

June 30, 2022 @ 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Join L’Arche communities from Portland, Tacoma, and North Carolina for a virtual conversation on the intersections of Disabilities & Pride. Keynote speakers, panelists, and artists will reflect on what LGBTQIA means to the, and how we can create more accessible, inclusive communities across the country and beyond!

Register in advance at tinyurl.com/larchepride

 

 ChrisTiana ObeySumner – Keynote Speaker

ChrisTiana ObeySumner is a Black/ Indigenous, queer, non-binary, and multiply disabled person, community organizer and activist. They are CEO and principal consultant of Epiphanies of Equity LLC — A social equity consulting firm that particularly specializes in social change, intersectionality, antiracism, and disability justice. For two decades, they’ve dedicated their life and career to amplifying the importance of social equity – defined as the lifelong work of deconstructing inequitable sociological impacts and products such as policies, institutions, cultures, biases, and constructs; and facilitating strategic and embodied pathways towards the construction of equitable processes, accountability structures, and outcomes.

 

 

Deanna Parvin Yadollahi – Artist & Panelist

Deanna Parvin Yadollahi (they/them) is a fat, disabled, neurodivergent, mad, non-binary, diasporic mixed-race Iranian and Toltec-Mexican community activist, friend, and dog parent. Deanna’s scholar-art-activism is informed by their lived experience and both with and for their communities. Deanna is passionate about collaboratively undoing ableism and intersecting oppressions, especially as it relates to collective accessibility. They hope to enact institutional change and radical reimagination that will lead to more supportive and just realities. Deanna enjoys making connections with people and journeying with others to find creative ways to navigate a world that wasn’t made for all of us. Deanna’s work includes community-building, resource-creating, presenting, writing, being an access doula, and Deanna’s Creative Access Consulting practice. Their work is based in deep appreciation for disability justice, which is intersectional and calls for cross-movement solidarity as well as community-advocated accessibility practices. Deanna is pursuing a Master’s degree in Disability Studies, and most highly values knowledge that is co-created within their communities. Deanna acknowledges, with respect, that they are a settler on the lands of the Kizh Nation. They support the LandBack movement, Climate Justice, acknowledging historic and intergenerational oppression, and dismantling its continuations today. At this time, you can follow Deanna on instagram @undoing_ableism and visit Deanna’s working draft website (bit.ly/D-Y-Scholarship)!

Rebecca Schultz – Artist

Rebekah Schultz is an artist and second year graduate student at Duke Divinity School, studying the intersection of theology and art. She works in acrylic painting and wood block printing, exploring art as worship, prayer, protest, and joy. Her art often reflects on the community she’s in and portrays the people around her. Currently, Rebekah lives in an intentional community of Disabled young adults and Duke students who share meals, prayers, game nights, and life together. Rebekah’s art has been published in the Children and Youth Artist’s Grief Deck by Artists’ Literacies Institute. She also received the 2022 C. Eric Lincoln Theology and Arts Fellowship from Duke University Chapel for her collection of prints: “Communion of Saints: A Reflection on the Body of Christ Through Time and Space.”

 

Nicholas Herd – Panelist

Nicholas Herd is an accomplished actor, artist, and Disability advocate. In 2007, Nicholas became one of the founding members of L’Arche Toronto’s Sol-Express Theatre Arts Program. His work has been featured and performed in many festivals across Canada. Nicholas also hosts a talk show, currently on The Disability Channel, called “Keeping it Real with Nick”. Nicholas was recently appointed Creative Advocacy Head Director with L’Arche Canada. Nicholas worked as Creative Director with the team that produced an animated video to accompany singer Jordan Hart’s song “Freedom”. The film’s success made Nicholas the first filmmaker with Down Syndrome to be long-listed for an Academy Award. He is committed to advocating for those with disabilities, and strives to be a role model for all people with disabilities trying to live their lives authentically and courageously.

 

Rebel Black – Panelist

Rebel Black (he/him pronouns) is a queer, agender, multiracial person with a history of poverty and houselessness. He lives with multiple disabilities that are the source of his creativity and generative processes. Rebel is the founder and President of Disability Justice Dreaming, a Portland OR-based, inter/national Disability Justice gathering space that focuses on disabled art, justice, culture, leadership, and more, by and for Queer and Trans (QT) + Black, Indigenous, Multiracial, and People of Color (BIPOC). As their mission says, “From our beds and our ventilators, we think generationally and work for liberation and a reindigenized world.”

In November, Rebel has been invited to Vancouver B.C. as a guest artist at the Vancouver Art Gallery. He will bring the Disability Justice Dreaming Sessions he designed to the museum and to Disabled communities in Vancouver. Part of Rebel’s dream is to pollinate cross-border Disability Justice relationships and hopefully bring the Dreaming Sessions to other galleries, museums, and community spaces within the United States and Canada.

Azrael Burton – Panelist

Azrael Burton (xe/they) is a queer, neurodivergent, interracial college student working toward a degree in Women and Gender Studies with a Minor in Sexuality Studies. Xe is driven by furthering sex education into a more intersectional arena, as xis lived experience is inherently intersectional. They believe marginalized voices are often neglected in academic conversations surrounding gender, sex, and sexuality and strives to uplift those primary source experiences as equally important.

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