Tuesday's artist spotlight: "Don't let the bastards grind you down."

Julia Smith

Julia Smith

— 3 min read

Item 1. Read and listen to Alice Wong

The activist, writer, editor, community organizer, 2024 MacArthur Genius, and founder/director of the Disability Visibility Project died a few days ago. Some things to read:

➡️ Her memoir. With your book club if you have one.

➡️ Remembrances from Steven W. Thrasher (LitHub) and Miles W. Griffis (The Sick Times).

➡️ This piece she co-authored a month ago: Two Years of Genocide+: Crips Aren’t Done Sending eSims to Gaza. (Disability Visibility Project)

➡️ Her parting words if you haven't:

ID: Yellow background with black text "This is Alice's friend Sandy Ho, posting. Per Alice's wishes, this message is being shared at the time of her passing. Hi everyone, it looks like I ran out of time. I have so many dreams that I wanted to fulfill and plans to create new stories for you. There are a few in progress that might come to fruition in a few years if things work out. I did not ever imagine I would live to this age and end up a writer, editor, activist, and more. As a kid riddled with insecurity and internalized ableism, I could not see a path forward. It was thanks to friendships and some great teachers who believed in me that I was able to fight my way out of miserable situations into a place where I finally felt comfortable in my skin. We need more stories about us and our culture. You all, we all, deserve the everything and more in such a hostile, ableist environment. Our wisdom is incisive and unflinching. I'm honored to be your ancestor and believe disabled oracles like us will light the way to the future. Don't let the bastards grind you down. I love you all."
Via Sandy Ho on Instagram. Image description in alt text.

➡️ Podcast listener? Here's a Radiolab episode for you.

Item 2. Honor her with a contribution

Alice Wong co-created Crips for e-Sims for Gaza along with Jane Shi and Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, who wrote yesterday:

Just in the last few weeks, the three of us were exchanging texts on our group Signal chat about how we had to document how we made Crips for eSims over the last two years—the internal moments, realizations, big challenges and learnings we had along the way and how we managed to work together for two years with zero internal drama and a lot of amazing blooming of our work and our connections to Palestine. Alice was enthusiastic about this idea. In her honour, we vow to make this happen to the best of our abilities. Stay tuned.

➡️ Donate to her family at the Alice Wong - Stay in Community GoFundMe, or to Crips for e-Sims for Gaza on Chuffed.

Thanks for reading! Past editions you might enjoy:

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