Continuous Becoming: Artistic Practice and Community Building In Response to Racism, Ableism, and Shame

Black and Disabled   individuals living in the United States consistently contend with institutional and compounding systemic racism, ableism, heterosexism, ageism, sexism, and classism. In recent years, these systemic challenges have compelled artists and leaders within Black and Disability communities to rely on art and protest as a way to find meaning and resolve within the systems that have divided communities and collectively pushed us to the margins.

The cumulative psychological, physical, and emotional effects of systemic oppression, grief, and trauma on individuals in the Black and Disability communities is both well-established and documented. With this as our foundation, the workshop explores the three keystones of constructive cultural, social, and political disruption: identity, accessibility, and care.

We’ll encourage participants to consider the ways in which Black and Disability communities rely on care work as a primary source of healing and how—in today’s world, especially—the act of care is, in itself, a necessary form of disruption.

We’ll conclude by illustrating how artists and leaders of today’s Black and Disabled movements are pushing the boundaries on what we define as intersectionality, challenging how we navigate spaces, practices, and even the possibilities of what language can be.