https://goo.gl/MldSr0
It's been well over a year, and I've blasted social media about this twice, but no autism organization has bothered to even mention it. So I'm going to write once more about the murder of Charnice Milton because Charnice Milton was young, Black, talented, and Autistic.
Charnice was the victim of a drive-by shooting in the neighborhood she dedicated herself to getting voices heard about. She was used as a human shield in a violent exchange that had nothing to do with her. Southeast D.C. still mourns her. The police are asking the pubic's help in finding her murderer.
Charnice was the victim of a drive-by shooting in the neighborhood she dedicated herself to getting voices heard about. She was used as a human shield in a violent exchange that had nothing to do with her. Southeast D.C. still mourns her. The police are asking the pubic's help in finding her murderer.
Her parents discussed her diagnosis, which at that time was labeled Aspergers, and how no one ever thought she'd complete school, much less end up with a masters degree in journalism. Like some African American parents, they spent the next months vacillating between the truth of admitting she was autistic and saying she "had Asperger's like symptoms" when the love for her work and for her by her peers and community overflowed such that her murder became the subject of articles in The Washington Post and The New Yorker. They rethought their initial admissions and made efforts to mute her autism from the story of her life rather than celebrate the brilliance of her short career as a disabled journalist. But their initial admissions are there in interviews for local television stations.
Meanwhile, all autism organizations remained silent on her murder. There were neither statements of loss nor demands for justice. No hashtags flooded Twitter. The first anniversary of her murder was on May 27th. I was in the hospital and could not attend her vigil. To my knowledge, no representative of any autistic organization did either.
I used to write one of these blog posts each time a Black autistic adult or child was murdered simply to force attention on these events and make the deaths of autistic people of color matter as much as white autistic children. The hypocrisy of being an autism organization and ignoring the murders of Black autistic people but claiming to speak for autistic people of color is something I've hammered on for 5 years.
I shouldn't have to .
Meanwhile, all autism organizations remained silent on her murder. There were neither statements of loss nor demands for justice. No hashtags flooded Twitter. The first anniversary of her murder was on May 27th. I was in the hospital and could not attend her vigil. To my knowledge, no representative of any autistic organization did either.
I used to write one of these blog posts each time a Black autistic adult or child was murdered simply to force attention on these events and make the deaths of autistic people of color matter as much as white autistic children. The hypocrisy of being an autism organization and ignoring the murders of Black autistic people but claiming to speak for autistic people of color is something I've hammered on for 5 years.
I shouldn't have to .