#jamesdallasrhinesmith

[jamesdallasrhinesmith]

July is disability pride month & I wanted to post a poem I wrote two weeks ago about some of my experiences as someone who is disabled. I also wanted to shed some light on some of the ableism I’ve experienced, how it’s affected me, & my struggle with disability pride. I have an incredibly deep shame & guilt about my experiences of being discriminated against & about being disabled in general. I and many others have suffered in silence and that is why disability pride is needed.

To my fellow disabled people you deserve to talk about your experiences, you don’t deserve the shame and guilt others have given you. You deserve to love yourself and define your experiences for yourself without others' unsolicited input. You deserve much more than what others have given you.

And to the nondisabled people, this is why you need to listen to those of us that experience these things. Those of us who are disabled live a life you have never seen or experienced and most of you never will. It doesn't matter if you have a disabled family member or friend or coworker, etc. You have not and probably never will experience what they have. You will never truly be able to understand their experiences on the same level as other disabled people can. You will never be that eleven-year-old. Think before you speak and educate yourself on our issues(and by educate I mean get your education from disabled people only, not those speaking over us or "on our behalf"). We fucking matter and we deserve to be proud and live a life without suffering. Stop contributing to the problem.

Also mobility aids aren't a bad thing, stop treating them like they are.

Happy disability pride month, even though it can still be hard to feel proud.