Center for Racial and Disability Justice – Medium

Center for Racial and Disability Justice

When a Call for Help Becomes Lethal: The Case of Sonya Massey and the Criminalization of Disability

By the Center for Racial and Disability Justice

3d ago

A nighttime body-camera image shows a woman standing in the doorway of a light-colored house, lit by warm indoor light. She wears a long robe, patterned pajama pants, and slippers, holding a phone to her ear. On the porch, a uniformed sheriff’s deputy in dark tactical gear faces her, partly in shadow, his flashlight beam cast on the floor.

3d ago

A Rhythm of Resistance

Swing is more than music — it is resistance in motion.

5d ago

A vintage-style illustration of a Black man in a 1940s suit leaping midair while playing a double bass, surrounded by crowds marching and protesting on both sides. Airplanes fly overhead, and the text above reads “A Rhythm of Resistance.” The image evokes swing music as a form of joy and defiance.

5d ago

From Care to Control

Why Trump’s “Making Health Technology Great Again” Policy Should Alarm Us All

Oct 22

Digital illustration of a person deep in thought surrounded by futuristic technology imagery. A glowing blue brain is overlaid on their head, connected by circuit-like lines to floating screens and mechanical gears displaying heartbeats, data graphs, and silhouettes of heads. The background is a grid of blue tones with red and white circular patterns, suggesting themes of artificial intelligence, neuroscience, and human–machine connection.

Oct 22

The Return of Asylums: Why H.R.4022 Endangers Disability Rights

How H.R.4022 would fast track funding for institutions while undercutting community care.

Oct 6

Split illustration showing contrasting futures of mental health care. On the left, colorful scene with children and families smiling outside homes, labeled “H.R.4022 Increasing Behavioral Health Treatment Act.” On the right, dark grayscale scene of a large institutional building with barred windows and a solitary figure sitting hunched on a chair, labeled “The Return of Asylums.”

Oct 6

The Spectacle & The System

What the LA Protests Reveal About Power, Surveillance & Resistance

Jun 13

A group of five protestors wearing white shirts reading “No One Is Illegal On Stolen Land” are holding signs and a Mexican flag in opposition of the ICE interventions in Los Angeles. They are standing in front of a repeating pattern of grayed-out megaphones — the pattern, itself, obscuring a black and white image of a demonstration where protestors have blocked highway access.

Jun 13

Event Recap: Disability & Reparations Panel — Centering Justice, Memory, and Transformation

A conversation on how reparations and disability justice can transform systems, redistribute power, and reimagine care.

May 5

May 5

Erasure by Design: How HHS Restructuring Threatens the Reproductive Justice

How dismantling care and civil rights infrastructure destroys reproductive justice at its roots.

Apr 25

An illustration of a pregnant person of color holding their belly with a glowing silhouette of a fetus inside. They are centered in the foreground, looking forward with a serious expression. Behind them are five other silhouetted pregnant people of color, seated or standing, facing away in various directions. The background features stylized government buildings with domes and torches, evoking the U.S. Capitol.

Apr 25

Dismantling Disability Rights: How the HHS Reorganization Threatens Generations of Progress

The proposed restructuring of HHS threatens to erase decades of hard-won disability rights, civil protections, and community-led programs…

Apr 21

A colorful mural honoring disability rights activists, many using wheelchairs and holding protest signs like “Buses are for Everyone,” “Curb Cuts Not Fines,” and “We Can’t Use Your Stairs.” Scenes of advocacy, protest, and community are depicted, with a pink banner at the bottom reading: “Disability is Strength — Disabilidad es Fuerza.” The mural is credited to artists including D. Paul B., Chris Burch, Vanessa Bravo, and Saria Krdzmar for the Center for Independent Living’s 50th anniversary.

Apr 21

Manufactured Confusion: Gaslighting as a Tool of Power in the Trump Administration

How lies, distortion, and denial are being weaponized to dismantle truth, undermine institutions, and consolidate authoritarian power.

Apr 4

Illustration in bold orange, red, and black shows a man resembling Donald Trump seated at a desk. Above him is a glowing lightbulb encasing a dark government building, emitting lightning bolts. Two individuals on either side are depicted holding oversized microphones shaped like gas pumps, seemingly fueling or recording him. Hanging lightbulbs and sharp lightning motifs intensify the dramatic, high-stakes. The scene conveys themes of political power, media influence, and manipulation.

Apr 4

Austerity is Violence: The Human Cost of Slashing Social Safety Nets

Exposing the deadly consequences of gutting essential programs for disabled, poor, and BIPOC people.

Mar 19

This image features a circular graphic with the bold text “AUSTERITY IS VIOLENCE” at the top and “CENTER FOR RACIAL & DISABILITY JUSTICE” at the bottom. The center depicts an American flag tangled in barbed wire, symbolizing restriction and entrapment. Several hands, depicted in blue tones, reach out from behind the wire, representing marginalized communities struggling to break free. The imagery conveys themes of oppression, economic violence, and social injustice.

Mar 19

Center for Racial and Disability Justice

Center for Racial and Disability Justice

Promoting justice for people of color, people with disabilities, and individuals at the intersection of race & disability at Northwestern Law School.

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