This is from my ongoing question-and-answer series, "You Ask, I Answer" in which I take questions that you send me and attempt to answer them. Do you have a question? A Reader asks,  What is "disability justice"? Isn't it the same thing as "disability rights"? Dear Reader, I love your question and I'm glad you asked. Disability justice is a sweet, sweet subject and I'd love for our community to be talking about it more. And no, dear reader, disability justice and disability rights are not the same thing. Disability rights are about laws—protections meant to create access and inclusion. Ramps, interpreters, Braille, IDEA, the ADA. All important. All necessary for access. Disability justice goes deeper. It’s about culture. It’s about liberation, intersectionality, community. It’s about building a world where disabled people—all of us—can thrive, not just survive. The term "disability justice" was coined by Patty Berne of Sins Invalid. Disability justice asks us to look beyond ramps and legal wins to the intersectional elements within ourselves and our communities. Disability justice recognizes that we’re not just disabled. We are also made up of all the other intersections that make us who we are: black, brown, queer, trans, fat, poor, undocumented, incarcerated. It recognizes that all of our intersecting pieces matter. Disability justice is grounded in principles like: Intersectionality – Our identities don’t live in separate boxes. They overlap and shape how we move through the world. Leadership of those most impacted – Disabled people of color, queer and trans folks, and others at the margins are at the center. Collective access – Access isn’t a checklist. It’s a practice of care we build together, in community. Collective liberation – We don’t get free alone. We get free together. Sustainability – We honor the pace of our bodies, our minds, and our lives. Now let’s talk about disability pride and disability identity for a minute. Disability pride isn’t just about waving a flag (though the Disability Pride flag is pretty great). It’s about unlearning shame. It’s about knowing that disability isn’t a flaw or a tragedy, that disability is a part of us, that disability is a source of connection, creativity, culture, and wisdom. Disability identity can probably get a little gnarly as so many of us grew up without the words, grew up taught that the goal was to be non-disabled and so we grew up trying to pass as non-disabled. We were taught that we shouldn't want to be disabled, or to appreciate our respective disabilities. Finding our way back to who we really are - which includes our disability - and claiming it, can feel like coming home. Even if it’s a home that still needs unpacking and a bit of patchwork. That’s okay. We still belong. Back to disability justice. Disability justice invites us to imagine more. To go beyond inclusion. To build belonging. To embrace interdependence. To celebrate the full, brilliant complexity of who we are. The 10 Principles of Disability Justice, Sins Invalid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTE42livhQg&t=2s If you'd like to watch me reading this, here's the video! https://youtu.be/kURo35Co6jY