Blackness and Disability: Critical Examinations and Cultural Interventions

by Christopher M. Bell (Editor)

Disability Studies diverge from the medical model of disability (which argues that disabled subjects can and should be “fixed”) to view disability as socially constructed, much in the same way other identities are. The work of reading black and disabled bodies is not only recovery work, but work that requires a willingness to deconstruct the systems that would keep those bodies in separate spheres. This pivotal volume uncovers the misrepresentations of black disabled bodies and demonstrates how those bodies transform systems and culture. Drawing on key themes in Disability Studies and African American Studies, these collected essays complement one another in interesting and dynamic ways, to forge connections across genres and chronotopes, an invitation to keep blackness and disability in conversation. With an analysis of disability as a result of war, studies of cognitive impairment and slavery in fiction, representations of slavery and violence in photography, deconstructions of illness (cancer and AIDS) narratives, comparative analyses of black and Latina/o and black and African subjects, analysis of treatments of disability in hip-hop, and commentary on disability, blackness, and war, this volume shows that the historical lines of demarcation in this field are permeable and should be challenged.

Genres: Disability, Disability Studies, Race, Nonfiction, Social Issues, African American, Anti Racist

180 pages, Paperback

First published March 22, 2011

Reviews

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only read the chapters that interested me -- on mental illness stigma, metaphor, and post-humanism -- so can't comment on all of them, but the ones I read were fantastic. I was particularly excited by the Pickens (which added so many new books to my to-read list) and the Bailey. But the Jarman and Bolaki were also great.

[eleanor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a really interesting starting point for my essay's focus on blackness & disability- i learnt a lot and found lots of good quotes- i did feel that the individual contributors could have had some more similarities- i felt like it jumped around a bit, but a very helpful starting point