Find CLEC's past webinars here.
Upcoming and Recent Webinars
We hosted a free screening of the vital documentary Fire Through Dry Grass on Jan 10 at 3 pm EST and an interactive panel discussion with the film's Reality Poets along with CLEC lived-experience experts on Jan 17 at noon EST.
Recording of the discussion now available
In Fire Through Dry Grass, Black and Brown disabled artists document their lives on lockdown during Covid, using their poetry and art to underscore the danger and imprisonment they feel. In the face of institutional neglect, they refuse to be abused, confined, and erased. The interactive panel took place one week after the film screening. It shed light on the intersectional experiences of disabled persons of color in institutional settings as well as raised awareness of the impacts of structural racism, systemic poverty, and incarceration. The campaign hopes to engage diverse stakeholders, including nursing home residents, advocates, and policymakers on community living policy reform. Tools related to resident rights will be shared with event attendees. Thank you to those who joined us for this two-part screening and interactive panel discussion.
Panelists
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Francene Benjamin is Coler’s Resident Council President. She came to the US in 2004 from Antigua and Barbuda. After a fall that resulted in a back injury, Francene found out she also needed neck surgery, and multiple medical procedures have left her with limited mobility. She’s passionate about disability justice and often includes what she’s learned about the movement in her work. Her poetry has appeared in Wheeling & Healing: A Poetry Anthology Edited by OPEN DOORS Reality Poets, and she loves to perform at Freestyle Fridays and other gatherings. |
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AlHassan "El" Abdulfattaah was born and raised in Fort Greene, and spent his childhood between Brooklyn and the Bronx with his parents and siblings, with whom he remains very close. In a case of mistaken identity, El was shot in a drive-by shooting in 2012 that left him paralyzed from the waist down. Today, El is a proud member of the OPEN DOORS Reality Poets—an artist collective committed to disability justice, community building and gun violence prevention. He is also a core member of the OPEN DOORS Design Team, using bold graphics to creatively inspire and uplift the community. |
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Shannon Nelson was the first woman to join the OPEN DOORS Reality Poets, was a dental assistant before the swimming pool accident that left her paralyzed. She’s been a quadriplegic for 27 years, and identifies as a wheelchair warrior, disability rights advocate, social justice activist and animal lover. Shannon once escaped from a nursing home in Maine and arrived in New York seeking freedom. She lived in South America for a year while escaping homelessness in the United States. She leads the OPEN DOORS Instagram series, The Movement, which spotlights past and present events in different rights movements that deserve more attention. |
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Tyree Brown is a Lived Experience Expert and Community Advisory Committee member of the Community Living Equity Center. Tyree is a Christian and a visual artist currently living in Maryland. In 2015, she was in a car accident that left her quadriplegic. Art has always been a prominent part of Tyree’s life but everything changed after her injury. She could no longer walk or use her dominant right hand. While in rehabilitation, she learned to adapt in using her left hand to train it how to draw. Learning how to draw with a different hand was new to her and it was often difficult to get the desired outcome; but she kept her religious faith in Jesus. |
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Theresa Williams joined OPEN DOORS in December 2021. She grew up in Ghana. When Theresa was a teenager, she moved to Washington DC and later Queens, NY. In 2003, an illness left her unable to walk. She became an advocate for herself and her friends. She is passionate about disability justice, writing poetry, and reading non-fiction books. Theresa also loves to volunteer and learn. She hopes to become an advocate for people with disabilities and work with the United Nations.
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Timotheus “T.J.” Gordon Jr., MFA, MS, is a Lived Experience Expert with the Community Living Equity Center and a research associate at the Institute on Disability and Human Development at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Gordon uses his passion for self-advocacy, racial equity, disability culture, and autism acceptance to create webinars, training sessions, and publications on autism and race, inclusion in communities of color, inclusion in higher education and sports, exploration of sexuality in the disability community, coping with COVID-19 pandemic, mental health emergency services, and more. He is also a co-founder of the Chicagoland Disabled People of Color Coalition (Chicagoland DPOCC), a group of disabled people of color in the Chicagoland area that promotes disability pride, self-advocacy, and inclusion in communities of color throughout the Chicagoland area. |
And check out our other recent webinars:
Home- and Community-Based Services (HCBS) are essential for individuals with disabilities to live and participate in their homes and community. However, little is known about how HCBS impacts disabled people of color. The Community Living Equity Center was thrilled to feature three states and organizations that are beginning to examine equity within their HCBS systems. Attendees heard from our CLEC stakeholders—New Disabled South, Colorado Department of Healthcare Financing and Policy, and the University of Minnesota—about how each of them got started on identifying HCBS inequities within their state, which data sources were used, and what themes have emerged from their work.
Access the recording of LOOKING AT HCBS EQUITY AT A STATE LEVEL
Panelists:
Kiana Jackson is a dedicated advocate and seasoned professional, currently holding the position of Director of Data & Research at New Disabled South. With a strong commitment to uplifting underserved communities, Kiana has dedicated her career to enhancing grassroots organizations' capacity and empowering communities, especially those in rural and minority areas. Her efforts are driven by a wealth of lived experiences and a genuine passion for fostering positive change. With over five years of extensive experience in community organizing, Kiana has honed invaluable skills in data analytics and research, leveraging them to advance her advocacy efforts.
Throughout her journey in community advocacy, she has made numerous contributions as a Data Consultant and Data Strategist for local political campaigns and nonprofit organizations in South Georgia.This role has allowed her to apply her expertise in data analytics to effect meaningful change within the community. Kiana's perspective is informed by her unique lived experience as a disabled black woman residing in rural Georgia. This firsthand understanding of the challenges and opportunities within these communities has fueled her dedication to breaking down barriers and promoting inclusivity. She draws from her background, holding a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Albany State University and a Masters of Science in Data Analytics and Policy from Johns Hopkins University, to drive her mission of creating a more equitable and just society for all.
Liana Major is a policy research analyst in the Research and Analysis Section within the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy & Financing. She leads and supports evaluation and data analysis projects for the Department on various topics. In prior roles, Liana was a policy analyst at the Colorado Health Institute as well as a research analyst at the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission in Virginia. She received her Master of Public Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Tasia Sinn is a Senior Policy Advisor within the Office of Community Living at the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy & Financing (Colorado’s Medicaid agency). The Office oversees all Medicaid long-term services and supports, including home- and community-based services waivers. Tasia focuses on supporting the work of the Office through strategic planning, communications, and stakeholder engagement, with special emphasis on transformational system change and equity.
Prior to joining the Office of Community Living, Tasia worked at the Colorado Health Institute as a Senior Analyst, focusing on all things aging and long-term care. She has spent the last 15 years dedicated to understanding how people interact and move through long-term care systems and programs, with the goal of making sure people are best supported to live and thrive. She has a passion for ensuring policy work includes the voices of all people impacted and is happy to be here discussing the needs of communities who have been historically marginalized in the long-term care space.
Dr. Tetyana Shippee is a social gerontologist with a Dual-Title PhD in Sociology and Gerontology. She is a tenured professor in the Division of Health Policy and Management at the University of Minnesota, School of Public Health, and Associate Director for Research at the Center for Healthy Aging and Innovation. She spent two years living in a long-term care facility to better understand factors that impact quality of life for older adults in long-term care settings. Her work aims to eliminate racial/ethnic disparities in access to and use of long-term services and supports and improve quality of life for older adults.
Disability Identity and Pride in Equity Research
The Community Living Equity Center's first ever webinar, Disability Identity and Pride in Equity Research, centered the voices of members of the CLEC Community Advisory Committee. The webinar included a brief introduction of the Community Living Equity Center mission and guiding principles. Researchers discussed gaps in equity research and self-advocates shared their perspectives on disability, identity, and representation within research.
Date: August 16
Time: 2pm ET
Panelists: Janie Mejias, Andy Arias, and Germán Parodi
Moderators: Teresa Nguyen and Jennnifer Lee-Rambharose
Download the extended Webinar Recap | Download the 2-page Webinar Summary