July is Disability Pride Month, an annual month-long celebration of people with disabilities and our history as a community. In honor of this month and the Americans with Disabilities Act’s anniversary, we ask people to think about how they define and think about disability, as one diverse aspect of humanity, and address ableism.
The disability community is one of the largest minority populations in the United States. In Wisconsin, 9.6% of people between the ages of 21 to 64 years (working-age) reported having a disability. That’s approximately 360,000 people with a disability in the state. This makes it even more important that we understand the lived experiences of people with disabilities, such as in the area of voting rights, housing, medical access, and more.
- Learn more about what Disability Pride means via USAToday.
- Learn more about the experiences of children with disabilities by watching the documentary, Crip Camp.
We’d like to introduce everyone to the Disability Pride Flag, created by Ann Magill, which is displayed above. The flag is public domain and free to use and share. The symbolism for the flag are:
- The Black Field: Mourning for those who’ve suffered and died from Ableist violence, and also rebellion.
- The Zigzag Band: How disabled people must move around and past barriers, and our creativity in doing so.
- The Five Colors: the variety of Disability, our needs and experiences (Mental Illness, Neurodiversity, Invisible and Undiagnosed Disabilities, Physical Disability, and Sensory Disabilities).
- The Parallel Stripes: Solidarity within the Disability Community, despite our differences.