I’ve been debating whether or not to do a thread on this, but that video of the little girl with CP using the stairs being treated as inspiration porn really triggered something in me and I’m going to work it out on the timeline.

TWs: I don’t know which. So please bare with me.
So, generally speaking, many people know my stance on inspiration porn.

I hate it, but especially when it’s shared and used by nondisabled people.

But, given we’re in the middle of a pandemic in which we, as a population, have basically been left to die, sharing inspiration
Porn during this time shows a level of cognitive dissonance and ignorance that fucking enraged me.

We’re dying. We’re fucking dying and you’re concerned with how we might inspire you? Fuck you. Truly.

The vast majority of deaths due to COVID can be traced directly to
Either disabled people or those with preexisting conditions and yet, you want us to tap dance for you? Show you all how much “worse life can be?”

It’s bad enough that you hide us away as soon as we become inconvenient.

You ignore entire cities that are inaccessible to us
But call us inspiring if we make it past the hurdles that YOU PUT THERE.

As a community we fundraise for basic accommodations or mobility aids, but you’re focused on how “cute and determined we are” for organizing for our survival.
You write entire fucking articles about how we’re burdens deserving of death and then make a profit off of movies that portray our deaths as romantic.

You don’t want us to survive, you want us to entertain you with inspiration. Ultimately you won’t bother to learn our
Names because we’re both disposable and replaceable. There will always be more inspiration to come because your interest isn’t in fixing the barriers we face but to snack on popcorn as we struggle to navigate them.

And in 2020, as you reap the accessibility disabled people
Fought for and still don’t get, you turn your nose up as we lay dying so you can only see the disabled people who make you feel better about yourself.

I don’t know what else to say but “fuck you.”

And, I hope that little girl learns to use the stairs for herself so that
During a potential school shooting, she won’t be left in the building like the rest of us disabled kids were.
You can follow @Imani_Barbarin.
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