How are you an ally?

A question for International Disabled People's Day

Hello!

Tomorrow is the UN’s International Disabled People’s Day (or IDPWD). I don’t know about you but I reckon it should be a Thing that all the nondisabled people have to buy a disabled person a drink/cake to mark the occasion but for some reason this doesn’t seem to have caught on. Sort it out, people.

In all seriousness though, this is the one day of the year where we can actually put disabled people front and centre. This really, really needs to happen - and you can help. But sharing an Instagram post and a hashtag isn’t really enough.

It’s time to be a real ally.

Last year, I wrote a whole piece about how to start on the journey to allyship. You can read it here:

#IDPWD: Are you a disability ally?

The piece is chockablock with the stats and resources you need to get you going, and even provides some easy ideas for your first act of allyship.

So, this year, it’s over to you.

Comment below to let us know what you’ll be doing to mark International Disabled People’s Day, and how you plan to carry on that anti-ableism work in 2023.

I really, genuinely want you to write something. It doesn’t have to be a huge, visible-from-outer-space, time-consuming thing. Just a small gesture of solidarity to the disabled people you know, or don’t know; a sign that you are standing with us.

As for me, I’m marking the day in several different ways.

To start, I’m about to give a talk about how employers can move from diversity to real inclusion.

And, while I’ll be spending much of tomorrow trialling a potential new carer, if I have some energy I’ll be on the paid-subscribers-only community chat feature in the late afternoon, where we’ll be discussing all things IDPD, anti-ableism and allyship.

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And I’ll be on Instagram and Twitter with some thoughts on IDPD, as well as amplifying other disabled voices throughout the day.

And when all of that is done, I’ll be raising a glass to my community, and putting my feet up.

I hope you’ll join me.

See you next week,
Lucy

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