Tatum Tricarico is a second-year student at Duke Divinity and a Disability rights activist on Instagram (@blind_person_in_area). She also serves as an Advocate with the California Foundation of Independent Living Centers Youth Organizing program as well as other agencies. Tatum is an author who writes on Disability History, Justice, and Culture, and how they intersect with the Church and theology. She has spoken at the San Diego California Women’s March, Point Loma Nazarene University’s Crossing the Lines Conference, and many other classrooms and conferences on Disability justice and theology.
During this academic year, Tatum will be serving L’Arche NC as our Disability & Justice intern. She has already been a great addition to our community, and we are beyond grateful that she said YES to L’Arche NC. She will share her many gifts and talents this year as she serves and learns with our emerging community.
Image description: Tatum holds the artwork she made during Crafternoon. It is a canvas with brightly colored geometric shapes. In the center, it says LOVE.
Tatum wrote this reflection on her first two weeks at L’Arche NC:
- Joined in leading a Crafternoon event where we painted canvases with shapes made from painter’s tape. This space allowed me to connect with many of you who I had not yet met and some who I’ve been friends with for a while. I really enjoyed getting to experience the ways that L’Arche has created an intentionally accessible space for people to be creative in whatever ways work for them.
- I was able to be part of my first “Y’all Belong Here” meet-up on zoom with people from L’Arche NC and L’Arche Atlanta! This month, the theme was encouragement and we listened to a song and got to talk in small groups about when we had been encouraged or given encouragement. It was fun to get to meet some people from another L’Arche community and to get a picture of how this inclusive interfaith group shows up for each other.
- Last week I was also able to attend a L’Arche NC board meeting and get to meet those who I had not yet met on our board. I enjoyed getting to hear the ways that L’Arche NC was working on fundraising for a house, as well as getting excited about organizing around a mission of valuing the gifts of those with intellectual and developmental Disabilities.
- Part of my time has been spent thinking about our next L’Arche NC book club book. I have been reading books that focus on characters with Intellectual Disabilities in order to honor Disability Employment Month coming up in October. I am already getting excited to lead this book club alongside some of my L’Arche friends. *Sneak peek: we are going to read Marcelo in the Real World, a novel by Novel by Francisco X. Stork.
- One of my focuses has also been the Disability & Pride panel that we just hosted last night. I was honored to speak about my experience both lamenting and celebrating the relationship between Disability and the Christian church. It was wonderful to get to hear the perspectives of other Disabled Christians and to share in times of lament and celebration with them, along with beautiful art and music.
