Intersectionality Unleashed: Amplifying Diverse Voices – Blog #9

Feb 17, 2025

Image description: Intersectionality Unleashed title graphic. Gray background with blue, green, and orange diagonal stripes on the left and right hand sides. In the middle, the Disability Network logo and the words “Intersectionality Unleashed: Amplifying Diverse Voices.” Under those words, an illustrated group of eleven people with various disabilities are gathered together in conversation.

 

Black History Month

Written by Kari Havenaar, MA and Marissa Anderson, MS

Black history is a vital and dynamic part of the broader narrative of humanity, encompassing stories of resilience, innovation, and achievement that have shaped cultures and societies across the world. However, the importance of this history has often been undermined or erased, leading to a distorted understanding of the past. Erasure of Black history can take many forms, from the omission of significant figures in textbooks to the marginalization of contributions in popular media. Recognizing this erasure is essential not only for honoring those who have been overlooked but also for fostering a deeper, more inclusive understanding of history that reflects the diverse experiences and perspectives of all people. 

Marginalized groups are the foundation of what we know as present day life. Many things that we appreciate in life today such as blood banks, mailboxes, traffic lights, and sundials are a product of the black and brown community. Many things that we in modern society take for granted have been created by people of color which aid us in our everyday movements through life. For Black History Month 2025, we are highlighting voices and movements that changed the face of disability and history. At the end of the blog, there are modern content creators being highlighted as well so that we can continue to embrace contemporary visions of community.  

Image Description: Brad Lomax is sitting in a chair with multiple people surrounding him. Lomax is holding a microphone in his left hand, smiling, addressing the audience at a 504 sit in at a federal government building. Lomax is wearing a suit with classic flared pants. The image is in black and white, and Lomax has brown skin with natural hair.

Brad Lomax was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in September of 1950. Lomax grew up at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, where he watched his mother march with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Lomax embodied the work that his mother contributed to his community and when he graduated from high school, he joined the Black Panther Party at Howard University. While attending school, Lomax served as a panther at free health clinics which ensured that marginalized community members could access healthcare at a free or reduced cost. Lomax was at the forefront of the Panther’s involvement in health care which in turn also influenced how this party participated in community care. The Black Panther Movement is often framed through a colonized lens of being or attributing to violence when this wasn’t in actuality what was happening. The Black Panthers were a paramilitary group that sought out advocating for self-defense and empowering the community. This movement was the first to provide free breakfast for children before they went to school, serving the community without the help of the government. For many children, this was the first time that they had eaten breakfast before school just simply because of the lack of access to nutrition. The breakfast program served as an avenue in which the “purpose was to fuel revolution by encouraging black people’s survival”.1  

Lomax noticed that most places and spaces that were disability focused only were focused and occupied by white people. In noticing this, Lomax acted and sat in on Section 504 demonstrations to not only encourage the passing of the Rehabilitation Act, but to also bring representation of those who are multiply marginalized. Lomax sat in on the Section 504 demonstration that lasted for 25 days in front of and on the fourth floor a federal building in San Francisco.2 The Black Panthers provided food to protestors, no matter their ethnicity or race, and provided continuous broadcasting of this demonstration because mainstream media was not airing the demonstrations on the news. This demonstration, among many, influenced that Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.  In 1975, Lomax created the Center for Independent Living in Oakland California because the closest CIL was in a white area of town and served primarily white community members. Lomax wanted to create a version of community that met the needs of the community of color as a priority instead of asking to be considered after the fact. It is important to note that the Black Panthers assisted and supported Lomax in creating this CIL because they have helped other marginalized communities such as women and the LGBTQIA+ community, and they saw the disabled as no different.  

After the passing of ADA in 1990, Lomax continued his work in the healthcare clinics in his community until he was no longer able because of his MS caused his brain and spinal cord to deteriorate. Lomax will be remembered as influential to Disability Justice because he always considered the multiple intersections of blackness and disability.  

Image Description: This is a black banner with the colors red, orange and green going from left to right. Left starting out small and getting bigger as you go to right side.

Image Description: Johnnie Lacy is sitting in a wheelchair next to a desk facing the camera, and smiling with closed lips. She has brown skin and short, natural hair. She is in what appears to be an office setting. The desk to her left has a notebook and papers on it. The image is in black and white. In the corner there is a text box that reads “Copyright Ken Stein Photo – All Rights Reserved”. Below the image is a typed caption, reading  
“Johnnie Lacy at the Berkeley Center for Independent Living, 1975”

Johnnie Lacy was born in Arkansas in 1937 and attended a segregated elementary school. When she was 10, her family moved to California where, although she attended an integrated school, she continued to face discrimination based on both her race and gender.4  

There would soon be another layer of discrimination she faced. When Johnnie was 19 and studying to be a nurse, she contracted polio, which left her paralyzed and requiring the use of a wheelchair. When she wanted to return to higher education to pursue a degree in speech-language pathology at San Francisco State University, she was told by the head of the department she could not even enroll because she had a disability. She advocated for herself and eventually was allowed to enroll but was prevented from fully participating in graduation or being a true part of the school or program. Johnnie looked back on the experience in a 1998 interview, saying “…my final and departing shot to him [the department head] was that if I were just a woman, he could not do this to me; if I were only a person of color, he would not be able to do this to me;” the only way that you are able to take this unfair advantage is because I have a disability”.4 

This experience led to Johnnie becoming a strong part of the Disability Rights Movement, going on to be a supporter of the Center for Independent Living (CIL) at Berkeley. She also went on to become the executive director of Community Resources for Independent Living (CRIL) in Hayward, California for over 10 years. Johnnie herself explained the mission of CRIL as “… to help disabled people to get jobs and medical services and do whatever they can do to maintain their independence,”. It became one of the most prominent resources for people with disabilities in the area. Johnnie even worked to obtain donations and funding–over $350,000–to open a second CRIL center in Hayward in 1984.5

Although the term “intersectionality” would not be coined for many more years, Johnnie spoke often of the intersectionality between her race, gender, and disability identities, what she considered three disenfranchised identities for one person to navigate society with. Johnnie expressed she often felt like she did not belong fully in either the Black community or the disability community, because of her identity within the other community. Like Brad Lomax experienced, much of disability advocacy was centered around the experience of white people, and she experienced ableism within the Black community.6 

Though Johnnie retired from her position at CRIL in 1994, she continued to use her voice as an advocate for disability rights in many cities, community councils and committees.5 She is remembered by many as a champion for disability rights and a trailblazer of the concept of intersectionality among race, gender, and disability.  

Brad Lomax, Johnnie Lacy, and many other Black and brown disability advocates paved the way for today’s advocates within the disability rights movement and its intersectionality with other identities.   

Below are some current content creators, authors, influencers, and other creatives who focus on the intersection of their Black and disabled identities within their work in their respective industries.  

  • Keah Brown – author of “The Pretty One” and other books, @keah_maria 
  • Verton Banks – actor, @vertonbanks 

Many more Black creators with disabilities across many industries can be found at Black Disabled Creatives.  

Reference Links: 
How the Black Panthers’ Breakfast Program Both Inspired and Threatened the Government | HISTORY
Renegades: Brad Lomax – Watch the documentary now | American Masters | PBS
Sitting-in for disability rights: The Section 504 protests of the 1970s | National Museum of American History
Director, Community Resources For Independent Living: An African-American Woman’s Perspective on The Independent Living Movement in The Bay Area, 1960s-1980s
Tribute to Johnnie Lacy — Community Resources for Independent Living
The TRIdentity of Johnnie Lacy: Disabled Black Woman – Liberated Souls