In the same vein as great disability advocate-writers as Mike Ervin (Smart Ass Cripple) and Lucy Gwin (Mouth Magazine), Andrew Pulrang has been writing from a peer perspective on the variety of issues people with disabilities face. One of his 2020 articles in Forbes Magazine addresses how non-disabled individuals can best advocate for disability communities. The crux of Pulrang’s article is that the voices and experiences of disabled people should be only supported but not substituted in advocacy and leadership roles. This is something L4J is addressing by hosting a national letter of recommitment to the values of the Independent Living movement for Centers for Independent Living (CILs) and Statewide Independent Living Councils (SILCs). The expanding role of disability-adjacent individuals in some of these organizations, as well as in one of our national IL networks, exposes our communities to greater threats of marginalization.
Here is a link to Pulrang’s Forbes article. You can find more of his writings on his blog.
