This has been on my mind for over a week, & it must be said:

I need the Black folks, esp activists, I follow to be conscious of the ableist language in your tweets. The increase of ableist language usage has been startling and upsetting to witness these several weeks.

I understand that these times are frightening and we are all angry about what is transpiring, especially for our community.

However, that does not give anyone permission to lean heavily on ableist language to describe their frustrations.

Every week, I've seen tweets by folks that KNOW better with words like cr*zy, st*p*d, d*mb, etc., and for most of you, these terms aren't usually found in your tweets.

Just because we're in a pandemic doesn't mean you get a pass in using such words.

This is particularly so for Black activists who are writers - USE YOUR WORDS, not the easy jabs that ableist terms provide.

Many of you are heralded in ways that people follow your every word, literally. People value your opinions and you normalizing ableist terms is a problem.

It is a problem because the increase in ableist terms has been stark - these terms are used to describe the incompetence of the Admin and state leadership, people resisting stay at home orders, etc.

The impact of normalizing these terms during a pandemic shouldn't be dismissed.

And when it comes to our community and this pandemic, we are all we got as Black folks.

If Black disabled activists like myself witness you using these terms when we know you know better, how can we trust you as comrades in this work?

Unlearning these terms is a process because they're so ingrained in our vocabulary as a society, but that doesn't mean you cannot be called out for leisurely using them.

You cannot say you respect Black disabled activists' work & still use these terms. You can't.

I see you, and this is my call out in love for you to do better.

Do better because you know better. This is accountability.

Fin.