hi everyone!!! happy disability pride month!

every july, the disabled community comes together to celebrate ourselves and our resilience, honour our histories, and our ongoing struggles and dehumanization we face due to ableism, eugenics, isolation, illness, suicide rates, capitalism and innaccessibility. in honour of the month, i've decided to make lists for each colour of the disability pride flag and teach what each colour represents. i got this idea while bored at work lol.

the disability pride flag:

the disability pride flag was created in 2021 by ann magil. the multiple colours on this flag highlights the various experiences, support needs, and uniqueness of the disabled community. each colour represents one aspect of disability.

a disclaimer: before i present the colours, and lists below, not all books within these lists are OwnVoices, meaning the author shares the same disability as a character in a book. these lists are not exhaustive, but each has both fiction and non-fiction books representing each topic. they are always open to recommendations so please feel free to comment on a list that catches your inspiration. each list will be linked below with the name of the colour in bold. lastly, many books within each list present more than one aspect of disability on the flag, and many disabilities may fit into more than one category (OCD is both a psychiatric disability and neurodivergence, but i kept it within the nd list.).

💚 - our first list is the colour green! it represents sensory disabilities. notably, deafness, blindness/HOH, hearing loss, etc.

💙 - secondly, we have the colour blue/light blue!! this colour highlights psychiatric disabilities and mental illnesses. ex: bipolar disorder, depression, general anxiety disorder, PTSD, etc...

🤍 - thirdly, the colour white represents invisible or undiagnosed disabilities. examples of some of these are ehlers-danlos syndrome, chronic illnesses, MECFS, long covid, fibromyalgia, POTS, ulcerative colitis, IBS, and more.

💛 - the colour yellow is for the multiple conditions that fall under neurodivergency, cognitive and intellectual disabilities. such as autism, ADHD, OCD, dyslexia/dyspraxia/dyscalculia, down syndrome, tourettes, etc.

❤️ - the last colour in the main "rainbow" is red!! this colour represents all kinds of physical disabilities. wheelchair users, diabetes, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, dwarfism, ALS, arthritis, asthma and polio all fall under this category, as well as many others.

🖤/🩶 - finally, we have the colour(s) black/grey, which shows itself behind the flag's "rainbow." this colour calls on all of us to remember those who we've lost to ableism, suicide, neglect, abuse, assimilation, isolation, illness. as we mourn our fallen comrades, we also protest and rage against the systems that left them for dead, and continue to isolate and dehumanize many.

i really hope that you all enjoy and appreciate these lists i've compiled for all of you! both these lists, and this post, took a long time to write and compile so i'd appreciate it wholeheartedly if you'd all check them out. once again, if you all have any recommendations for books to add/remove, please let me know in each comment section! i hope those of you who didn't know about the disability pride flag have learned something new today!!! thank you all for the love!! bisous (kisses)!!

VERY NEEDED TRIGGER WARNING: mentions and descriptions of sexual assault, abuse, intellectual theft, sexual harassment, self harm and suicide. please take care of yourself if you want to read the article i've provided in this post. if you're a survivor of any of these things, there is no need to force yourself to look deeper into it. i will be vague with my descriptions here.

good morning everyone. it doesn't make me happy to write this post but i think it really needs to be shown because accusations such as these are incredibly serious. if any of you are unaware, the author leah lakshimi piepzna-samarasinha has recently been accused by a group of trans and queer anonymous individuals of S/A, many forms of abuse, sexual harassment, self harm threats and many more cases of harmful acts. if you're unaware of who this author is, she is the writer of books such as:

• care work: dreaming disability justice
• the future is disabled: prophecies, love notes and mourning songs
• dirty river: a queer femme of color dreaming her way home and many others.

according to the article which i will provide below, these people have had awful experiences for over 20 years and are finally speaking out after years of manipulation and fear, and for that, i commend these people for their courage. obviously, it is very difficult to truly understand what truly happened to them by simply reading it, but i believe that it is very important information for us to read, and do what we will with it. once again, if you have been affected by any of the things mentioned in this post, please take care of yourself and your mental health and avoid the full read if you must. there is a summary at the top of the article detailing vaguely what has occurred, so do not force yourself to read it completely.

with that being said, here is the link to the article. it is very extensive and very well detailed and it is always so saddening when a person in the disability justice space is shown to have caused abuse and harm. so as always, take care of yourself lovelies, and do what you will with this information.

sending love to each and every one of you. 🫂

hi everyone! i know many of us here use libraries but i also do know that there are many of us who do not or can not utilize library access as much as we'd like. i'm a library student graduating in october and i have learned so much about all kinds of libraries and what they offer to their patrons. so, here are examples of what you may be able to access, other than books, thanks to libraries!

• streaming services (kanopy, hoopla, etc) • national park passes • museum passes • musical instruments • DVDs, VHS tapes, and CDs • access to rare collections and archives (old newspapers, documents, letters, etc.) • free art exhibitions • book clubs • home book delivery (in case anyone has mobility issues or lacks transportation) • materials & books in braille • assistance with job applications! • citizenship support (refugee and immigrant assistance) • concerts, film screenings, and lectures • clubs (minecraft, D&D, anime, pokemon, etc) • assistance with learning to cook • access to early voting! • genealogy and ancestry research • interlibrary loans (one of my faves) • free internet access • clean air and protection from outdoors • board games • language classes • makerspaces • meeting rooms for companies/students/organizations • tickets to local events • periodicals (magazines, newspapers, etc) • podcasts • librarian personalized book picks! • printing (free or low-cost) • seasonal reading challenges • research assistance and access to databases (proquest & other journals) • entrepreneurship assistance • social services (shelter for unhoused patrons, narcan for overdoses, addiction assistances, food banks, community fridges, etc) • tech support (learning how to use a certain device or platform) • life jackets • telescopes • cameras • mp3 players with audiobooks on them • jackets • sewing machines • dvd players • video games • ipads and apple pencils • tutoring and reading assistance • volunteering opportunities • assistance to veterans • workshops • access to news stations & radio • cookbooks and recipes • car repair services • CELA collections (for people with print and sensory disabilities) • encyclopedia access • video tutorials • vegetable and flower seeds!

and many many more!! libraries are vast institutions and one of the only third spaces that remain free, accessible and open to everyone. please, get that library card and take advantage of what libraries give you!