A Break From Models of Disability for Black Disabled People
A Break From Models of Disability for Black Disabled People Leroy said today in 2026 makes an argument that Black Disabled people in the US and in theAfrican diaspora need to break from the models of disability so we can create our own model or something totally different! By making that break, we are challenging […]
Black News 
A Break From Models of Disability for Black Disabled People
Leroy said today in 2026 makes an argument that Black Disabled people in the US and in the
African diaspora need to break from the models of disability so we can create our own model or something totally different! By making that break, we are challenging the Western Disability history, theories and studies that created a framework that gave birth to the social model of disability which came from White European disabled academic scholars like Mike Oliver from the United Kingdom.
Why do we need to make a break? Because we, Black disabled people and our families in the US and in the African diaspora have to make our own models or something to see disability from a Black disabled radical perspective and at the same time dealing with Black ableism so the Black community in the US and in the African diaspora can move from the medical outlook to Disability Justice always from a Black disability radical perspective!
We, Black disabled people in the US and in the African diaspora, need to be honest to say that almost all popular models of disability and even the philosophy of the independent living movement were created by mostly White disabled and non-disabled academic scholars that
were rooted in individualism not the family. So knowing that, it makes sense that Black disabled people especially in the US first take back Disability Justice and ground it in the Black experience, Black homes, community and also come up with our own model or prospective or whatever feels comfortable to us so our Black community can erase Black ableism and enjoy the fruits of Black disability theory, terminology that can lead to solidarity between the Black community and Black disabled people.
Black disabled people in the US can learn from Black disabled people in some African countries who form the African Disability Model and Pan-Africanism for disabled people like in Zimbabwe that included the whole family as we can see in African terms like under the African Model of Disability you have Ubuntu Philosophy: Rooted in shared humanity, family, community, and interconnectedness, where disability is seen as part of human diversity, fostering collective care and belonging rather than isolation and individualize not seen as a family unit, the western viewpoint.
We can learn today by recent Black Disabled Movements in Brazil and Canada.This can’t
happen with a hashtag or on social media. Yes Black disabled people must return home in
numbers to do the decolonizing work that our Black community so desperately needs but the
system wants us to be separate and continue to work for them because it’s a threat if we come home and focus on our community. This is what the Black people with disabilities are in Brazil are doing aka only focusing on their Black community.
