The fourth annual Women’s March is happening on Saturday, January 18. The first three marches garnered some criticism for not being inclusive in multiple ways, including toward people of color, trans women, and those with disabilities. This year, Women's March, Inc. is making some necessary improvements to rectify those ills, including offering virtual attendance options, captioning, and ASL interpreters on live feeds.
As a black, disabled, bisexual woman, seeing the organization make these changes after critiques, call-ins, and outs, the one that matters most to me is the push for more accessibility. Without accessibility, lasting change is not possible — being a part of the conversation is imperative, and all marginalized groups must have a seat at the table. Whether those seats aren’t available because folks aren’t invited by gatekeepers or because their accessibility and comfort isn’t considered, the result is essentially the same.
While marches are a necessary vehicle to move change forward and start a collective movement, not everyone has the ability to be physically present — and I am speaking from experience. Not only do I often find that the marches I hope to attend are not in my area, I also need to contend with the fact that walking long distances is a no-go for my body. I know I’m not alone in these considerations.
I have cerebral palsy and while it is a wide-ranging disability that can impact people affected in myriad ways, mine dictates that rest and comfort are a necessity, not a choice. My legs often sting and ache, and when I am out and about, I need to take breaks to sit down frequently. My inability to physically participate in these movements and marches is not a matter of “laziness,” as ableist notions would have many folks think, but due to a lack of accessibility.
As such, my hope is that people will broaden their ideals of what participation in these movements means and what it looks like. Taking action is not just about being a body on the street, it’s also about lending support in a multitude of ways (be it through financial support, emotional support or encouragement to those attending, or spreading information about the cause), being informed about the issues, and so much more.
When it comes to the Women’s March, those who can’t physically be there for any reason (be it lack of physical accessibility, social anxiety, or something else) can now attend virtually. We have the option to digitally support the cause and rally around friends who will be there. This is vital, because for me, “marching” is as much about writing and tweeting about the things that matter to me and using my platform to make my audience aware of things they might not know about otherwise. While I won’t devalue physical action, there is inherent ableism in believing it has more weight than other forms of protest and activism, and putting such weight on it erases people like me from movements.
If your movement does not include us, it is not a real movement at all. While disabled people shouldn’t have to implore activist movements and those running them to care about us, the truth is, we do, so much of the time. What matters most is the actions — and results — that are borne after these conversations. Advocate and activist Kings Floyd, the Accessibility Lead at the Women’s March, knows that true inclusion is not a one and done scenario or a box to be ticked and then tossed aside.
“The Women’s March has many goals, the umbrella of which is to support women in this politically charged time, but the accessibility team is specifically for those in the movement who identify as disabled, or who are in need of additional support,” Floyd tells Allure. She continues, “The revolution is meant to be inclusive and accessible, and we want to see people with disabilities on the front lines of political and social activism, now and in the future.”
One of the changes the organizers made was the creation of the virtual march, which has allowed disabled people and those who can’t physically be there for any reason to attend online. This is a great start, and more movements should be unafraid to try similarly inclusive initiatives. Of course, there are also cons to virtual attendance. It can feel like you’re just a ticked box, rather than a participant who is genuinely integrated into the day’s events, but the board of the Women’s March is taking this into account.
Shawna Knipper, a Women’s March Board Member, tells Allure that they’re looking at participation and access to try to include people who can’t attend on three levels: digital, in-person, and representative. “Our digital team is working really hard to make our content more accessible for those who can’t always be involved in other ways, with captioning, ASL interpreters on live feeds,” says Knipper.
What matters most to me as a disabled black woman is that we are not being left out behind the scenes when it comes to movements like the Women’s March. So often, disabled people are asked to consult on a fleeting thing here or there, but to be truly included is to have seats at the table in the rooms where change is being made. “We have inter-generational disabled representation on our board for the first time. We are proud to have input on writing the next chapter of Women's March, making sure that we are not erased,” Knipper says.
While disabled people are not a monolith and we all have differing needs, this is a great start, and it’s nice to see the Women’s March offer different ways to participate in the march for those of us who cannot attend. Taking accessibility and disabled people into consideration is vital for any movement, because without actively including us, you’re actively choosing to exclude us. Now, we will just have to see how it comes to fruition on January 18.
Read more stories about disability on Allure:
- How Visually Impaired Women Are Changing an Industry That Ignored Them
- Why Lipstick Makes Me Feel So Empowered as a Disabled Woman
- 7 Things You Shouldn't Say to Someone With a Chronic or Invisible Illness
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