We started DNA with the hopes of helping promote Celebration and Advocacy in our community. I recently finished Shayda Kafai’s book Crip Kinship and a thought came to me. Since we have this new platform to share our collective voices with, we should get to work on sharing the spotlight with our community members. In her book Shayda shares that the name and concept of Leaving Evidence comes from the blog by acclaimed writer Mia Mingus (if you haven’t read her post You Are Not Entitled To Our Deaths, I highly recommend it.) The concept is that our stories of disability and/or neurodivergence are often overlooked or erased from our media and news sources. That it is up to us to do the work of leaving evidence of our lives for future generations to learn and evolve from. This generational learning is crucial in creating substantial change in our society. So with that, we open the floor to you, our dear community members. Please feel free to share any story you would like to be witnessed, acknowledged and shared within our community. It is important that we find ways to celebrate our victories over, and learn from our struggles with ableism, no matter what shape or form it may look like. Your story can be shared anonymously. However, if you feel like attaching your name (first and/or last, real or fake) to your story users will be able to find your contributions by using the search function. We hope you feel comfortable sharing your stories with us. We would love to hear from you.
Please email all stories or inquiries to info@dna-swo.ca
just remember to breathe
September 10, 2023
