Activism > Disability Rights Archives

Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

Nonbinary femme poet, writer and intersectional activist, who advocates for disability justice as well as for Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans (LGBT+) and Black, Indigenous, and People Of Color (BIPOC) rights.

Julia Wallace

She was the first woman to become a city councillor in Palmerston North, serving from 1962 to 1968. Because of her disability, she worked tirelessly for the New Zealand Crippled Children Society.

Alice Wong

Alice Wong is the founder and director of the Disability Visibility Project, an online community that fosters and amplifies disability media and culture. A Chinese-American activist and writer, Wong fights for access and representation for people with disabilities from all backgrounds.

Petra Kuppers

Disability culture activist and community performance artist

Hannah Tomiko Holmes

Educator and disability rights activist

Olivia Robello Breitha

Renowned author and Hansen’s disease activist who resided in Kalaupapa from 1937 until her death in 2006.

Tilly Aston

Tilly Aston, ‘Australia’s Own Helen Keller’ was a blind writer and teacher who founded the Victorian Association of Braille Writers and later went on to establish and become secretary of the Association for the Advancement of the Blind.

Jane Collier

She laid the foundations for educational attainment among blind people in New Zealand, when many assumed that the blind were incapable of leading productive lives.

Jeanette Berglind

Swedish founder of Tysta Skolan, a school for deaf/mute children

Emanuella Carlbeck

Pioneering Swedish educator known for her work with students with intellectual disabilities. She founded the first institution for such students in Gothenburg in 1866, providing education and supportive home and asylum for patients.