Overwhelmed, I attempted to list the reasons for how this list could be so long and at the same time these crimes be so overlooked. Although D/deaf and disabled people make up the majority of people murdered by law enforcement each year, the black activist mainstream has been slow to add disability justice to their platforms for a brighter black future.
Several days after my original search the story of a young, white disabled man beaten by four black people, three of them teenagers, emerged. White supremacist news organizations dubbed the violence the #BLMKidnapping, although none of the accused were affiliated with the Movement for Black Lives.
Suddenly, activists that had previously been silent on issues of disability – some who had even been defensive and hostile in the past toward including disability justice in their analysis – had much to say on the issue. I saw articles about the incident from Shaun King, who avoided using the solidarity term “disabled” in favor of the apolitical “mentally challenged.” When mentioned, major black organizing spaces where ableism and disability are relegated to the backburner,dug deep into their pockets and found something to say about this story, since after all, they were now directly implicated.
It’s a shame that the only time that violence against black disabled people becomes a priority is when it is used as a counterpoint to violence against white disabled people. I am a member of The Harriet Tubman Collective, an incubator for black activists, artists and advocates, and we have worked to advance an anti-ableist agenda in black movement spaces. We have been accused of attempting to splinter the movement, of being selfish for wanting inclusion in spaces purported to be designed for us.