Every July, Disability Pride Month invites us to celebrate disability culture in all its art, humor, joy, and imagination. This year, we asked the Borealis team to share the organizations, artists, and resources they turn to for ongoing learning and inspiration. In addition to the many groups that comprise our grantee community, they pointed us toward visionary disabled artists, storytellers, healers, and organizers whose work remind us that if we want a truly inclusive democracy, access and belonging must be baked into how we live, work, and create together. The organizations and resources below offer a place to spend time with that work and to discover new models of care, be immersed in disability culture, and celebrate the richness of disabled brilliance.
The Arts & Performance
- Sins Invalid centers disabled artists of color, queer, and trans performers through live performances and created the 10 Principles of Disability Justice, a foundational framework that has shaped disability justice organizing.
- Deaf Spotlight hosts annual film festivals and theater productions that give Deaf, DeafBlind, and BIPOC artists paid opportunities to perform and share their talents.
- FWD-Doc is a global, intersectional community of disabled creators and allies that supports disabled filmmakers through fellowships, mentorship, and professional development.
- Visionaries of the Creative Arts uplifts BIPOC Deaf, DeafBlind, and Hard of Hearing artists by creating opportunities to write, perform, and produce original theater in American Sign Language.
Journalism & Narrative Change
- Disabled Journalists Association is led by BIPOC disabled journalists working to improve reporting on disability while advocating for accessible newsrooms and more representation of disabled journalists across the media industry.
- Disability Media Alliance invests in disabled nonfiction storytellers through funding, mentorship, and industry support, helping more disabled journalists, documentary filmmakers, and creators publish their own stories.
- Disability Visibility Project, founded by beloved ancestor and self-proclaimed “disabled oracle” Alice Wong, is a storytelling platform that uplifts disabled voices through essays, podcasts, and stories, reshaping how disability is understood around the world.
- Military Veterans in Journalism supports vets pursuing careers in journalism through fellowships, mentorship, and career development while equipping newsrooms with tools for more accurate and inclusive disability reporting.
Members of Disability Culture Lab gather outdoors to celebrate. Three people in power wheelchairs chat and gesture with raised hands while several others stand nearby talking around tables in a courtyard lit with string lights.
Disability Justice Infrastructure
- Access Is Love, co-created by disabled activists Sandy Ho, Mia Mingus, and Alice Wong, offers practical tools that help organizers, educators, and communities build accessibility into gatherings from the very beginning and beyond.
- Disability Culture Lab is a trans and queer-led nonprofit that builds communications infrastructure by and for the disability community, supporting disabled leaders with communications strategy, leadership development, and public education campaigns.
- Disabled and Here offers a free stock media library featuring disabled BIPOC folks, helping journalists, designers, and organizations helping create more authentic and inclusive representation across media.
Mutual Aid & Community Care
- Imagine Water Works is a trans, Two-Spirit, and disabled-led organization that provides mutual aid and disaster relief while building climate resilience through land stewardship, community farming, and food sovereignty.
- The Autistic People of Color Fund gives direct micro-grants to autistic BIPOC folks to help cover basic living, medical, and personal needs, removing barriers so folks can access resources when they need them most.
How to Celebrate Beyond July
We hope this list—which offers but a small glimpse into the richness of disability culture—inspires our community to continue learning from, and be in community with, disabled artists and organizers whose work is expanding our collective understanding of what kind of world is possible when we center care, creativity, and belonging.
At Borealis Philanthropy, disability justice is woven into our vision of an inclusive democracy and into our commitment to resourcing the leaders bringing that vision to life. If you’d like to learn more about how Borealis partners with disability justice leaders and supports movement-building across our communities, or if you’re interested in joining one of our donor learning opportunities, contact us here.