For Immediate Release
PRESS RELEASE FOR: Friday, September 6, 2024
CONTACT: apr@fenton.com
ATLANTA – Last night, American Pride Rises and New Disabled South held a virtual panel discussion focused on the fight to protect disability rights and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). The event featured Stacey Abrams, founder of American Pride Rises, Dom Kelly, co-founder, president and CEO of New Disabled South, Rebecca Cokley, U.S. disability program officer at Ford Foundation, and Keah Brown, disability rights activist, author and journalist. During the event, the panel emphasized that recent attacks on DEI are also direct attacks on disability rights, with efforts to dismantle DEI programs and initiatives disproportionately harming the disabled community by undermining accessibility, accommodation, and inclusion efforts.
“DEI is a 248 year process. From this country’s inception, we have done what we needed to do to take corrective action,” said Stacey Abrams. “They will argue that DEI is about privilege or preference. That it is about giving certain people extra access. It is not. It is about correcting fundamental flaws and making right the opportunity to participate fully in our country.”
“We can talk about the importance of making sure that everybody is included but we also have to make sure that the people included actually include disabled people because we’re not a monolith,” said Keah Brown. “And I think a lot of times disabled people are sort of on the outskirts of these conversations because people are uncomfortable facing the fact that disability can and does happen to everybody whether it’s temporary or permanent.”
“In these moments, it’s really easy to get tunnel vision and to focus on what you individually or you and the people in your specific space are dealing with,” said Rebecca Cokley, recounting a conversation she had with the late Congressman John Lewis. “That’s what they want us to do. The power and what keeps us strong as a movement is by holding firm and letting there be no daylight between the disability community and the immigrant community. Letting there be no daylight between [LGBTQ+] folks and communities of color because we’re all intermingled and they just want us to forget that.”
Across the country, anti-DEI legislators and activists have advocated for the dismantling of DEI initiatives and programs in an effort to restore barriers to the American Dream. Retreating from DEI will have a disparate impact on the disabled community by rolling back inclusive policies that provide necessary accessibility and accommodations for disabled students and employees, leaving them with more barriers to advancement. Last night’s event was an opportunity to discuss how the cynical attacks on DEI have real, personal consequences for people of all backgrounds in our nation. A recording of the full event can be found here.
About American Pride Rises:
American Pride Rises (APR) is an initiative committed to protecting pathways to the American Dream by fighting for a more diverse, equitable and inclusive America for all.