“Spill the Disabili-Tea” is an interactive, facilitated workshop designed to elevate knowledge of disability justice and provide a space to apply this lens to the inclusive practices of various community spaces. As a queer, biracial, amputee with a Master’s degree in Clinical Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling, I draw upon my lived experience, education, and advocacy skills to lead a candid conversation unpacking the following questions (and more): Who is "disabled" and what creates that experience? What is "disability justice?" What's the "right way" to interact with people with disabilities? How do we navigate "microaggressions?" What's the difference between "access" and "inclusion?" Is disability a cultural experience and how can that intersect with other cultural identities? How can I integrate these skills in the community?

This specific project is proposed as a collaboration with the Plus Bus, a plus size retail store that sells new and used plus size clothes in Los Angeles. In addition to fostering a safe space for body positivity and ethical fashion, the Plus Bus is an established venue for community events and encourages opportunities for “face to face connection” and strives to “provide a safe space for spending time with other fatshionistas looking to connect and create memorable experiences.”

With funding from the Awesome Project, I will be able to host “Spill the Disabili-Tea” at the Plus Bus, bringing the spirit of disability justice to a community space founded on body positivity and radical inclusion. The Plus Bus has created an engaged community of activists who are eager to build connections and awareness through socially conscious dialogues. Through this collaboration, I hope to draw connections between the fat activism and disability justice movements, fostering an exchange between these communities, highlighting the common goal of challenging normativity and embracing all bodies with love.

What our grantee is saying: "This grant award represents an opportunity for me to take the passion and skills I’ve developed for disability justice in the Bay Area and share it with a new community of people eager to join in the movement. I admire the mission of the Plus Bus and am humbled to facilitate a workshop showcasing the relevance of disability justice in that community’s culture of body positivity and fat activism. I am also thrilled to have the means to create paid work for other marginalized peers in my network and compensate them adequately, using this capital to address inequities in work opportunities for marginalized people."