5SR - October 17, 2023

Today’s curator is Qudsiya Naqui. Qudsiya is the creator and host of the podcast, Down to the Struts about disability, design, and intersectionality. You can also subscribe to Qudsiya’s newsletter, Getting Down to It , for updates on the podcast and news from the disability community. When she’s not podcasting, Qudsiya loves organizing adaptive sports adventures through the Metro Washington Association of Blind Athletes. Qudsiya lives in Washington DC with her husband.

Reservation Dogs’ Sterlin Harjo on Community Goodbyes After Series Finale (The Hollywood Reporter)

I’m sure I’m not alone in my sorrow at the season finale of the hit FX series, Reservation Dogs. Reading this beautiful interview with the show’s creator, Sterlin Harjo was a wonderful way to be called back to this poignant and hilarious piece of storytelling.

As much as Western culture prizes the idea of striking out on your own and forging your own path, watching this show was a reminder of how good it can feel to be called into your community. It’s a long read, but one that will make you want to call up your closest friends and tell them how much you love them.

Why Disabled People Struggle to Book Hotels (The Washington Post)

This piece does a great job of outlining the specific barriers that people with different kinds of disabilities face when trying to book hotels, and framing that struggle within the context of the Supreme Court case, Laufer v. Acheson Hotels, which has called into question the ability of private citizens to file lawsuits to enforce the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Civil rights testing has been a critical strategy for rooting out racial and other forms of discrimination, and this is a great read if you want to learn more about the practice and what it means for disabled people who want to travel accessibly.

The Majority of Polling Places Are Inaccessible. A Disabled Voter Bill of Rights Could Change That (In These Times)

Speaking of accessibility, this piece by Dom Kelly, co-founder of the disability advocacy organization, New Disabled South, also does a great job of explaining how the design of polling places and voting processes can effectively cut disabled and aging adults out of the democratic process.

According to new research from two leading scholars at Rutgers University, disabled voters had a 20% likelihood of having difficulty in voting during the 2022 midterm elections, compared to 6% for nondisabled voters. The establishment of a disabled voter bill of rights could go a long way to enshrine the access that disabled voters deserve to have a say in the laws and policies that so intimately affect their lives.

In the Country of the Blind (The Nation)

I love this recent interview with my friend, Andrew Leland about his incredible new book, The Country of the Blind. As someone who also became blind over time, Andrew’s experience and complex feelings towards blindness and disability really resonated with me.

Equally important, the book unearths the disability history that none of us learn about in school. As I learned about the origin story of Braille, and how blind people revolutionized audio, I felt present and acknowledged in an entirely new way.

If you are the least bit curious about the world of blindness and disability, check out this article, and the book is a must-read.

Why Is Coffee Suddenly More Expensive? (Vox)

There’s nothing like that first pumpkin spice latte of the season, but it certainly does cost a pretty penny these days. This is a fascinating look into all of the costs and steps that go into that tasty treat.

The bottom line? If an $8 latte means that my barista earns a living wage, I’m here for it.