We Survive Together

This image depicts a horizontal group of people standing in a garden that leads to a city. Over the top of the image in bold all capital text are the words “WE SURVIVE TOGETHER.” The image is done in watercolor and ink, meaning that you can see brush strokes and areas that look more organic and less digital. From left to right, there is a person with light brown skin and spiky hair and cool sunglasses in a power chair reading a book. Their shirt is bright orange and says free them all, and they are looking at another person seated with them on a red and white picnic blanket. The next person is a nonbinary fat person with peach colored skin and round glasses, beard stubble, and a hoop earring with short black hair. They wear a bright polka dot sweater and read, smiling back at the person in the power chair. In front of these people is a pigeon size to be as large as the people are. In the background is a cornfield, and in the cornfield is a whistle blowing it an ice cube that is melting. The sun shines down on a thermometer that shows around 120°F. Next in the image are two figures standing on a sidewalk with a cracked corner. There is a woman wearing a purple hajib with medium brown skin who is looking up at the sun. She is holding an umbrella over her friend, who is a fat Black femme person with an orange KN95 mask, gold earrings, and a bright red dress. She is wearing a magenta belt and using a matching magenta cane. A monarch butterfly almost as big as the people sits on their umbrella, and a snail almost as big as the people sits with them on the sidewalk. Rain pours down on their umbrella. To the right is a field of mixed purple cone flower, grasses, spoons, and pills. A mouse sits in the field. To the far right of the image is the Chicago skyline with the image of Three Fires out in the lake.

We Survive Together

sharing stories and activist-research to ensure disabled people survive disaster ableism of all sizes

We’re currently in a soft-launch phase and inviting community feedback to strengthen the site’s accessibility and overall experience. Thank you for your support and insights.

*Please email us at nishidaa@uic.edu with any feedback.

Who we are:

A growing bunch of Chicago- and Illinois-based disability activists, artists, and researchers. We put forward crip wisdom to collectively survive and thrive in the midst of disaster ableism. For more information, please see People.

There is a pigeon with grey body and orange feet with the words “WE ARE PART OF EACH OTHER” next to it. There are beautiful purple and green colors in its neck.

What we do:

We center disabled people’s wisdom to dismantle disaster ableism.
We offer critical and nuanced ways to understand disaster news and research.
We make sure disaster resources respond to the unique needs of disability communities, especially those who are marginalized in more than one way.

There is a green snail with pretty purple and blue tones in its shell moving to the left of the page, with the words “WE MOVE TOGETHER” underneath it like a slime trail.

What is disaster ableism?

The term describes how disasters are to further oppress disabled people and other marginalized communities, while the privileged population gains more power or wealth.

It also refers to the idea that nature exists mainly to be taken from and used for economic gain.

Disaster ableism:

  • devalues disabled and marginalized people’s lives as disposable or burdensome;
  • blames individuals instead of building systems that prevent harm;
  • protects governments and corporations from accountability by blaming nature or disability;
  • reduces nature to property rather than recognizing it as essential to all life.

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