The Dignity of Our Breathing: A Disability Pride Month Poetry Reading

Susan and John Hess Family Theater and Gallery and online, via Zoom

This Disability Pride Month, join us for a poetry reading facilitated by Joselia Rebekah Hughes featuring poets Kay Ulanday Barrett, Dan Schapiro, and Jackie Torres, in conjunction with the thirty-third anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Hughes framed this poetry reading with this invitation: 

Let’s be potent and clear: it is summer 2023, the covid-19 pandemic rages, neglect from the status quo proliferates, many of our comrades have died, many more of our communities are dying and becoming increasingly debilitated. It is July which means it is Disability Pride Month. In the face of unwavering violence, Pride is a complicating energy to hold. It is neither just the appreciation of progress nor an acknowledgment of one’s efforts. Pride is a collective rally into the necessity of and our presence to dignity—in living, in death, in sorrow, in celebration. The dignity of ourselves as individuals within a network of many. The dignity of our breathing. The dignity of our struggle. The dignity of our being here now, our being there then, our will to be again. In a small chorus, Dan Schapiro, Jackie Torres, and Kay Ulanday Barrett will offer songs, chants, memories, directives, considerations, dreams, and much more on how we can continue our mission of dignified life for all of us. 

This event will take place on Zoom and will be accompanied by an in-person viewing in the Susan and John Hess Family Theater. This event will have ASL interpretation, CART captioning, and a low-stimulus sensory environment. If you have any questions, please email accessfeedback@whitney.org or call (646) 666-5574 (relay calls welcome).