#disabilitytoowhite
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/confronting-the-whitewash_b_10574994?guccounter=1
On reading the interview I realise that when I’m giving examples I really haven’t considered the intersections enough. I think anecdotal examples can really resonate with students so often favour them. But what happens then? when your anecdotal examples aren’t representative you’re not amplifying everyone’s experience or allowing them to see themselves in what you’re teaching. So I need to find ways to maintain the trust and tangibility of real life examples but in a way that is much more inclusive and broader.
I think my brains first reaction was to almost give myself a pass, I don’t know any disabled POC personally so thats why my anecdotes don’t speak to them. But actually immediately a couple of people who are both POC and disabled popped straight into my head and I wondered why then, am I not using those examples? I could probably argue that it’s because I don’t know them or their work as intimately as some of the examples I do give, but thats on me! That’s a me problem that I need to fix. There are definitely ways of bringing in what seems like anecdotal (forgive my overuse of this word!) and more ‘human’ examples. Especially with the access to peoples lives we have now. Podcasts, interviews, articles, blogs and so on. When I go back and redesign my sessions this summer I’d really like to make time to find those examples and integrate them into my teaching more.
There’s two big lessons in here that are also worth sharing with students, the power of social media for change and communication is one. There’s a lot of things I hate about social media but seeing how quickly something like a simple hashtag can gain traction and have in impact is really powerful. And not to put the owness back on students and expect to them to take on the labour of raising awareness or change these systems of oppression, but to have an awareness that they have a voice and they can use it if they choose to.
The second lesson is one around collectiveness, I often encourage students to build their professional network or eco system starting with those around them, I’ll tell them if they’re offerred something and they can’t do it, to pass it along. If they’re freelancing and there’s an opportunity to bring someone else in – to recommend. Share and share alike. I realised I don’t extend this ‘sharing’ necessarily to them sharing hashtags such as this one, I could be encouraging them to do this. I ask them to think deeply about what their values are and what’s important to them and this could be a really good way of them actioning this in real terms.
Now I’ve obviously gone down a wormhole of TV and films that have cast non disabled actors to play disabled people. Sia and the deserved backlash for casting dancer Maddie Ziegler as an autistic person for example was the first (maybe most recent) one that sprung to mind. It struck me, and in fact made me sad that Vilissa almost has to choose her battles. She speaks about having to except representation that isn’t actual representation, because that might be the best she can hope for. Having to put aside repeatedly seeing white disabled people because at least it is representation of disabled people. That shouldn’t really feel like progress….
Your insights are so true, and I too felt the same when reading the article. I’m a true believer in the power of anecdotal examples to create trust and tangibility with the students. But like you, I should consider intersections further and stop creating silly excuses. Maybe we should get in touch at the end of next term to check for any improvements!
The other point that really resonated with me is the importance of sharing as practice, and social media is of course an easy one. I think all my best jobs came from recommendations. I always tell my students that building a strong network is incredibly important in the creative industry, but networking should work both ways.
Really insightful post, thank you!
Hi Isabella,
Love the idea of checking in and keeping each other accountable – lets definitely do that. Might be worth sharing our examples too as there could be some crossover?!
Right? so many opportunities come in unconventional ways – which is also endlessly frustrating for students I realise. When they ask how to find an internship and want a fix all, ABC of how to do it. When in truth the creative industries especially don’t really work that way. I sort of joke that my job is 80% giving them the confidence to do the thing and 20% how to do the thing and I think this applies here. Empowering them to put themselves out there in a way that feels meaningful, and of course safe for them. Acknowledging that there is definitely an element of privilege and agency at play. I’m really interested and a lot of the work I do is around creating that agency where students don’t have it or don’t have the networks to build it outside of university.
You got me thinking again now… thankyou!