Black-led civil rights and disability rights
We recognise the influence of Black-led civil rights work on the disability rights movement. Throughout history, many Black and Racially Minoritised disabled civil rights leaders and activists have helped to secure rights and representation for disabled people and inspired the Disability Rights movement in the UK.
Find out more about Black history and disability
Read why Black disabled history matters from the World Institute on Disability.
Explore the Black history of Brighton & Hove.
Working intersectionally
We recognise that disabled people experiencing ableism may also be experiencing racism, islamophobia, antisemitism and more.
We also recognise that disabled people might experience discrimination in relation to other life experiences or to circumstances not covered by the Equality Act.
We acknowledge and observe that the experiences of diverse disabled people, especially Black and Racially Minoritised communities, queer, transgender and intersex people of colour, those of minoritised faiths, and young adults, are also under-represented.
We recognise intersectionality in disability and accessibility work needs to be intentionally considered and invited to influence policy and institutions.
We recognise the need to proactively ask ourselves questions about power and privilege, and recognise the importance of striving to deepen our understanding of why finding yourself meaningfully represented matters to people.
Recognising whose voice is missing in the disability space also means recognising who dominates it. The voices which are more often heard include the voices of those who are White, middle-class, female, people with visible disabilities, parents, and older carers.
There's an under-representation of the voices of young adults, people with non-visible disabilities, Black and Racially Minoritised, LGBTQIA+, young carers and single people.
We recognise that we need to do more in this space and connect with Black and Racially Minoritised and LGBTQIA+ disability leaders and activists to further our understanding of intersectional activism and inform our commitment to working intersectionally.
What we will do to improve inclusion
To improve the inclusion of diverse disabled groups, we will:
- intentionally diversify our community engagement groups
- ensure we're reaching out and working to platform diverse voices, using positive action and other efforts
- work as inclusively as we can with disabled individuals experiencing marginalisation and exclusion, above and beyond the legal protections outlined in the Equality Act