Ableism = Anti-Blackness: TL Lewis, an Advocate for Intersectional Change

T.L. Lewis is an advocate, an educator and a lawyer. She attends the WCL at AU and has a blog on her site that captures the nuances of ableism and anti-Blackness and how even POC need to be more cautious about how they label and treat individuals with disability. A quote that really brings this home is "Anti-Blackness and ableism are inextricably linked in large part because “intelligence” was manufactured by racist-ableist eugenicists, and in other large part because capitalism and elitism have only served to solidify this mythical notion and its related perceived white superiority and Black inferiority in the hearts and minds of even those of us who know it to be false."

When thinking about individuals that are symbolically annihilated in the media disabled individuals are very much at the top of that list. In general, TL is arguing that ableism's roots are annihilated in the media. The eugenics movement was a pioneering force that led the fist classifications of disabilities to be ones linked to the mentally ill states of run away slaves. They were mentally ill in fact, but I think their efforts to run away say more about their sanity than their insanity. You can read more about TL and her work here.