Our 7th Annual INCLUDAS Book Party – Honoring Our Disability Ancestors
The history of disability stands on the many disability activist ancestors who fought for the inclusion of disabled people. Check out a few of their profiles and how they helped make an impact on how disabled people live (and continue to advocate) today. Thank you for joining our seventh INCLUDAS Book Party event! Let us know which disability ancestor you have heard of before or are just learning about them here.
This is not a sponsored post nor are we endorsing any of the books, works, authors, or activists. Please use your own judgement when considering reading or listening to a particular book or content for yourself.
Alice Wong (1974–2025; 51 yrs. old) #DisabilityVisibilityActivist
Work: founded the Disability Visibility Project
About: In sharing personal experiences, Alice worked to amplify disability in media and culture, collaborated on projects such as #CripTheVote and #AccessIsLove, and promoted disabled writers in DisabledWriters.com.
Disability: muscular dystrophy
Alice wrote and edited books such as Resistance and Hope: Essays by Disabled People (2018), Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-first Century (2020), Year of the Tiger: An Activist’s Life (2022), and Disability Intimacy: Essays on Love, Care, and Desire (2024).
Photo credit: Eddie Hernandez
Judy Heumann (1947–2023; 75 yrs. old) #DisabilityRightsActivist
Work: legislation & policy implementations (+international), podcast: The Heumann Perspective
About: Known as “the mother” of the Disability Rights Movement, Judy advocated to be a teacher, fought for the passing of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and launched the Independent Living Movement.
Disability: polio
Judy wrote Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist (2020) and Rolling Warrior (2021).
Photo credit: TEDTalk
Lois Curtis (1967–2022; 55 yrs. old) #IndependentLivingActivist
Work: created visual art
About: Living in Georgia, Lois advocated against institutionalization, legally fighting for the right to choose where disabled people wanted to live. These advocacy efforts established the Olmstead v. L.C. case, which became law in 1999, letting disabled people make their own choices about where and how they wanted to live in society.
Disability: schizophrenia and developmental disabilities
Photo credit: Robyn Rayne/ZUMA
Rep. John Lewis (1940–2020; 80 yrs. old) #CivilRightsActivist
Work: civil rights legislation, including sponsoring the Disability Integration Act of 2019 (DIA) and supporting the Olmstead v. Lois Curtis case
About: From organizing the March on Washington on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial (where Martin Luther King Jr. was a speaker) to supporting and protecting the ADA (1990), Rep. John fought against segregation and discrimination in public spaces and government legalities.
Disability: speech impediment
Rep. John has written books such as Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement (1998), Across That Bridge: Life Lessons and a Vision for Change (2012), and Carry On: Reflections for a New Generation (2021).
Photo credit: John Lewis
Stacey Park Milbern (1987–2020; 33 yrs. old) #DisabilityMovementOrganizerActivist
Work: Wrote chapters for Disability Visibility (2020) & Crip Genealogies (2023)
About: As a queer Korean-American disability writer and social justice activist, Stacey organized ways to help disabled people, including those with various identities. Some projects included assisting with the documentary, CripCamp, co-founding Oakland’s Disability Justice Culture Club, and co-authoring for Bernie Sander’s Disability Rights platform.
Disability: muscular dystrophy
Photo credit: Stacey Park Milbern
Carrie Ann Lucas (1971–2019; 47 yrs. old) #DisabledParentsActivist
Work: blogged about her life experiences
About: Living in Colorado, Carrie – who was a lawyer – fought for businesses to be more accessible, like Kmart, where she won a 2006 ADA class-action lawsuit. More importantly, she advocated to make sure that a disabled person (parent or guardian) would not be denied custody or adoption (or etc.) solely because they had a disability.
Disability: muscular dystrophy
Photo credit: Colorado Public Radio
Claire Wineland (1997–2018; 21 yrs. old) #RaisingAwarenessActivist
Work: Assisted with projects like Five Feet Apart (movie) and My Last Days (tv series)
About: Claire documented her life online to bring awareness about cystic fibrosis (CF), consulted on media projects, and as a teenager, founded the Claire’s Place Foundation to provide support those with CF.
Disability: cystic fibrosis
Claire wrote the memoir, Every Breath I Take (2014).
Photo credit: Avery Ward
Stella Young (1982–2014; 32 yrs. old) #NotYourInspirationActivist
Work: ABC’s Ramp Up disability blog editor, TEDTalk Speaker (I’m Not Your Inspiration, Thank You Very Much)
About: Living in Australia, Stella was a teacher, advocated for live music venue accessibility through the LiveAccess project, was a presenter on the show “No Limits,” and wrote comedy – including a show for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
Disability: brittle bone disease
Photo credit: Stella Young
Paul Kenneth Longmore (1946–2010; 64 yrs. old) #DisabilityHistoryScholarActivist
Work: launched the H-Disability listserv and academic work
About: From being a professor of history and director of the Institute on Disability (SFSU) to being the Founder of the Disability History Association, Paul helped organize and put disability studies on the academic map.
Disability: polio
Paul wrote and edited books such as The New Disability History: American Perspectives (The History of Disability) (2001), Why I Burned My Book and Other Essays on Disability (2003), and Telethons: Spectacle, Disability, and the Business of Charity (2016).
Photo credit: San Francisco State University
Have you heard or read about any of these amazing disability activists? The history of disability activism is so strong, and we hope you learned something about how disabled people live (and advocate). If you want to read about other disability ancestor activists, check out Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund’s In Memoriam page. #DisabilityHistory #WorldDisabilityDay #IDPwD #IncludasBookParty #DisabilityAncestors #DisabilitySocialJustice #DisabilityActivists
