By: Phone Min Thant, Arts and Culture Editor
knot body by Eli Tareq El Bechelany-Lynch
knot body is a collection of poems, short stories, and letters that address various themes, along with how people with disabilities are treated unjustly by capitalist and discriminatory systems. For instance, in one of the letters, Bechelany-Lynch scrutinizes the lack of scientific research behind the medical diagnoses of trans people, a form of systemic injustice in itself. Combining deep philosophical reflections and light-hearted quips, knot body asks the readers to join along, in bringing awareness to many social challenges affecting the disabled community, such as ableism and fatphobia, but also in appreciating your own body.
Care Work by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
Care Work is a selection of short writings by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, a Canadian American disability justice activist and author. As described by Piepzna-Samarasinha, Care Work is a “call to arms,” inspiring readers to educate themselves and take action on the issues surrounding disability justice, such as how to build a resilient community with mutual care. In dealing with such a broad and crucial topic, Piepzna-Samarasinha’s work looks from both the local to the global. The book includes tidbits of their experiences having lived among Toronto’s disabled community as well as awareness towards a world that pays more attention to a fair trade emotional labour economy. There is also a focus on issues of suicidality and intersectional oppression through many conversations with fellow activists. Care Work is a must read for anyone striving to build a better, more inclusive, accessible, and resilient society.
A World Without Martha by Victoria Freeman
Freeman’s work is a raw, painful, and impactful memoir where she recounts the experience of being separated from her sister Martha who was institutionalized before she turned two because she had Down Syndrome. The book dives deep into the effects this separation had on Freeman and her family, but also into how broken government responses to disability are. The book is a challenge against the status quo — the belief that people with disabilities should be shut off from the rest of society. It is also beautiful, showing how strong the ties that exist between siblings are. Coming from someone who is perpetually thinking about government policy processes and who one day aims to change them for the better, this book is a strong recommendation from me. It has exposed me to something that those in policy boardrooms tend never to see: the human suffering caused by misguided policies — in this case, in failing to give proper support to the disabled community.
My Art, My World by Rita Winkler
My Art, My World is a hopeful, comparatively soothing narrative of someone with Down Syndrome enjoying their everyday lives, written and illustrated by an author who is experiencing it. Both the short texts, and the accompanying paintings show how Winkler goes about her life, full of passion and appreciation for finding the brightness and delight in what we would otherwise find mundane: public transportation, visiting a café, dancing, and many more. If you find yourself overwhelmed by too much reading, or if you simply want to take a break from your usual routine and enjoy a slice of happiness from Winkler’s enjoyment of the everyday, this book is for you.
