The recognition month invites us to embrace achievements, build understanding and awareness, and celebrate the rich history of the past, present and future generations of Black Women and all women across the African/Black Diaspora.

Black students are leaving university before graduating at alarming rates…I specialize in Title IX and Title VI for students, faculty and staff as a Civil Rights Investigator. In this role, I see firsthand where the collegiate educational system fails black students on the front lines.

We’ve been thinking about where and how we’re needed in media and in Black liberation work - and how we can show up consistently and with integrity in those spaces to accomplish our mission and be in service to Beloved Community. That said…we think it’s time to make things official in 2023.

"[I]t is not lost on me how only Black women have been called out for the usage of ableist slurs in their songs while non-Black celebrities continue to use ableist language daily...while sp*z is indeed a slur, it has also very much been a part of AAVE – African American Vernacular English – for years and until recently was not seen as a slur by the able-bodied and neurotypical Black community. Even some disabled and neurodivergent Black people were not aware.

That said, it's important to understand that no matter who the term is being used by, it should still be considered a slur, but in order for the intersection of ableism and racism to be discussed in depth, the platform to speak on it needs to be given to a Black disabled person. This is the only way there can be true education."