""I thought, '[WVU] is going to be even more accommodating because they're a bigger school with more money,'" says Lacy. She says that's not how things worked out."

This is what I thought about the shift from community college to University of California. It was the opposite.

Having more money attracts more of the kind of administrator who's there for money instead of giving a rat's ass about public education and their duty to the public.

https://www.npr.org/2026/04/06/nx-s1-5720191/digital-accessibility-college-education-disability #UCAccessNow #Ableism #HigherEd

Today in Labor History April 5, 1989: The United Mine Workers launched their strike against Pittston Coal Co., eventually winning concessions by Pittston on February 20, 1990. The strike started in response to Pittston’s termination of health care for widows, retirees and disabled veteran miners. During the strike, there were 2,000 miners camped out daily at Camp Solidarity, and up to 40,000 total engaging in wild cat strikes, civil disobedience, picketing, occupations and sabotage. The strike reduced Pittston’s production by two-thirds, while over 4,000 strikers were arrested during the strike.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #pittston #coal #mining #strike #wildcat #disability #CivilDisobedience #sabotage #solidarity #police #healthcare #ableism

Today in Labor History April 5, 1977: U.S. disability rights activist stormed and occupied the offices of the US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle. They demanded enactment of section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which had passed Congress four years prior. The law mandated that no federally funded programs could exclude persons with disabilities and put into place legal protections, and the right to accommodations, for students with disabilities. During the prior four years, HEW director Joseph Califano repeatedly delayed enactment of the law, while regulations were weakened to benefit business interests. During the San Francisco protests, disability rights activists Judith Heumann, Kitty Cone, and Mary Jane Owen organized a 25-day occupation of the US Federal Building with 150 other activists. Solidarity support was provided by the Black Panthers, allied politicians, and the International Association of Machinists, who donated food, mattresses, wheelchairs, and other equipment, and who helped a delegation get to Washington, D.C. The regulations for section 504 were ultimately signed into law on 28 April, 1977.

For a really great documentary on the birth of this movement, please see “Crip Camp, A Disability Revolution” (2020).

#workingclass #LaborHistory #CivilDisobedience #occupation #directaction #disability #ableism #union #solidarity # #blackpanthers #sanfrancisco #JudithHeumann #KittyCone #MaryJaneOwen #BlackMastodon

Let's open the book and find the next Batman villain!

Bonus meme:

The Empire’s Old Clothes – Publication Launch and Screening 29 May 2026
18:00 https://backlit.org.uk/whats-on/the-empires-old-clothes-publication-launch-and-screening BACKLIT, near #Sneinton Market. #Nottingham #England #UK #Art #Event "a short, non-linear film by Priya Mistry #whatsthebigmistry , that confronts the enduring myths and propaganda of the so-called #British #Empire.

Moving through histories of #eugenics, the invention of the #gender binary, #enslavement and #exoticisation, and the role of #technology from early #film #photography to contemporary AI, the work exposes how these legacies persist today, shaping experiences of #racism and #ableism in post-Empire Brexit Britain.

Both a provocation and an invitation, The Empire’s Old Clothes asks us to rethink and rewrite inherited histories, and to consider what it means to take action against racism."