[This episode is part of the Health and Wellness Changemakers Series, our collaboration with Shohreh Davoodi's Redefining Health and Wellness Podcast. This post is cross-posted from Shohreh's website.]
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Do you ever meet people online who you instantly connect with and wish you could hop on the next flight to go see and hug them? That’s how I felt when I had the opportunity to interview disability justice champion and community organizer Alex Locust.
Alex is a fabulous “glamputee” who embraces all the intersections of his identity as a multi-racial, queer, and disabled person. We chatted about how increased access benefits everyone, the ways ableism shows up in the world, parallels between the fat liberation and disability justice movements, and much more.
In this conversation, Alex makes clear that disabled folx don’t need your pity or advice—what they need is your support and allyship.
Discussed in this episode:
- Who Alex is and what he’s passionate about.
- Why Alex chooses to lead with disability pride in his life and work.
- How more access for disabled folx actually benefits everyone.
- Disability justice as an intersectional framework.
- The Crip Camp documentary.
- How the Americans with Disabilities Act (the ADA) isn’t necessarily a fail-safe for disabled folx.
- Ableism and the ways it shows up in the world.
- The pressure on disabled people to conform to the standard of being able-bodied.
- The parallels between fat liberation and disability justice.
- What Alex thinks some of the keys are to challenging ableism in the health and wellness industry.
- How Alex defines health and wellness for himself at this moment in his life.
Mentioned in this Episode:
- Alice Wong of the Disability Visibility Project
- Disability Justice by Patty Berne
- Mia Mingus, Stacey Milbern, Leroy Moore, Eli Clare, and Sebastian Margaret as some of the people who helped coin and influence the “Disability Justice” framework
- Crip Camp documentary
- Dr. Karen Nakamura
- She’s All Fat podcast
- You Have the Right to Remain Fat by Virgie Tovar
- Disability, Death, and Subverting the Dominant Culture with Alejandra Spector | #21
- The Access Is Love campaign
- Natalie Carey, also known as @barbellblondie on Instagram
- Pleasure Activism by adrienne maree brown
- Alex’s Spill the Disabili-Tea™ workshops
This Episode is Part of the Health and Wellness Changemakers Series
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Featured on this Episode:
Alex Locust is a proud, multiracial “glamputee” spreading the word about disability justice, one workshop at a time. Whether on the runway or in a counseling session, Alex aspires to emulate the tenacity of the trailblazers before him and fiercely advocates for equity in all community spaces. You can find Alex on his website and Instagram.
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- For a full transcript of this episode, click HERE.
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