This new era of ushering in Joe Biden and Kamala Harris into the White House is a symbol of hope for the United States. For me, it’s hope that brutal killings of Black people, like George Floyd in Minneapolis, and Breonna Taylor in Kentucky will no longer go unpunished. It’s also hope that America realizes that under no circumstance is it acceptable for immigrants to be thrown into cages, or Black Lives Matter protesters to be tear gassed. Additionally, my hope is that no president will ever be as mean as Donald Trump was when he said to representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib, “go back to your country.” Simply put, I hope that people in America return to treating each other with kindness and respect.
However, we as people who are disabled or probably know someone with a disability cannot simply rely on hope alone. My beloved Sins Invalid community sent us a clear message in their most recent performance, “We Love Like Barnacles: Crip Lives in Climate Chaos,” that we need to love each other, especially in this time of climate chaos. One of the performers, Maria Palacios, known as the Goddess on Wheels, discussed issues around emergency preparedness. Painfully, this beautiful, brown, immigrant, disabled woman conveyed the fact that a lot of people with disabilities do not have the money, due to being on Supplemental Security Income (SSI), to buy enough food to prepare for an emergency. Nobody should have to worry about not having enough food. Lateef McLeod, another brilliant performer and a published author, expressed his concern of whether a person will take him out of his wheelchair in a fire. A memorable part of Lateef’s piece was when he mentions his anxiety about firefighters forgetting to take his augmentative communication device, which is his primary means of communication. Since Lateef is a Black Jamaican man, he also worries about whether the color of his skin will impact how first responders treat him. Again, no one should have to deal with any of these concerns. Bianca Laureano, an award winning writer and sexologist, also performed a powerful piece in “We Love Like Barnacles.” She very personally discussed her devastation around the President’s careless reaction to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. President Trump did not do anything (except have a helicopter dispense some rolls of paper towels) to help thousands of people who lost their electricity and homes in the aftermath. There is absolutely no way in the world that this should be acceptable. All of these incredible artists’ stories demonstrate that there is definitely not enough love and human kindness on this planet. Even if the world is about to end, we need to go out treating each other with more compassion, love, and support.
