The Pulse

Synopsis
On this episode of the Pulse, Joeita and her guest Angela Harris, discuss the intersection of disability and fashion. Joeita shares her personal experience of how fashion has allowed her to take control of the narrative surrounding her blindness. Angela Harris, the founder of the IMperfeKtly Made Foundation, discusses her motivation for starting the organization and her upcoming fashion show celebrating disability pride. She talks about the challenges and considerations involved in organizing the fashion show, such as finding a venue, selecting designers, and making modifications to the clothing for comfort and ease of use. Angela also mentions the importance of sponsorship and the business side of organizing such an event. They also discuss Angela's upcoming book, "Life As I See It," which chronicles her journey from meeting her husband to losing her vision.  

Link to Angela Harris: https://www.imperfektlymade.com

Episode Highlights:

How the IMperfeKtly Made Foundation Started (2:05)

Reactions to the Disability Pride Fashion Show (7:59)

Why Were Models Nervous to be in this Fashion Show? (8:24)

Accommodating Blind and Low Vision Models in the Fashion Show (10:10)

Modifying Clothes for People who are Blind or Low Vision (15:36)

Advice for Young Blind and Low Vision Women Wanting to Establish their Fashion Sense (23:06)

Angela’s Upcoming Book “Life As I See It” (23:53)

About Angela Harris:
In 2019, just five months after getting married, Angela started experiencing severe headaches and blurred vision. Alarmed by these symptoms, she went to the doctor, where she underwent a series of tests. The results were devastating. Angela had a tumor in her brain that needed immediate surgical intervention.  The surgery was risky, but they remained hopeful and trusted the skilled medical team. Finally, the day of the operation arrived. Angela bid a tearful farewell to her husband, not knowing if she would ever see his face again.  The surgery was a success, and the tumor was partially removed. However, the cost was incredibly high. Angela awoke from the procedure to find she had completely lost her vision. The world she had once known was now a dark, unfamiliar place. She felt a mix of emotions—fear, anger, and sadness engulfed her.  But Angela was not one to be trounced. She had always been a fighter, and losing her sight only ignited a new flame within her. As she adjusted to her new reality, she discovered a newfound empathy for those who had been visually impaired all their lives. She yearned to support and give them hope and resources to navigate the challenges she now faces.

Her journey inspired Angela to create a non-profit organization supporting the visually impaired; she is finalizing her mini-memoir sharing her journey and has a patent pending on an invention that will assist visually impaired individuals when identifying apparel and accessories.

Reference:  https://www.imperfektlymade.com/about

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About AMI

AMI is a media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians with disabilities through three broadcast services — AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French — and streaming platform AMI+. Our vision is to establish AMI as a leader in the offering of accessible content, providing a voice for Canadians with disabilities through authentic storytelling, representation and positive portrayal. To learn more visit AMI.ca and AMItele.ca.

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Synopsis:

On this episode of the Pulse, Joeita and her guest Ashley Shew discuss the concept of Techno-Ableism, which refers to the idea that technology is often seen as the solution for disability. They explore how disabled individuals are often pressured to use the latest technology and are criticized for choosing alternative options. The conversation also touches on the importance of including disabled individuals in the design and development of technology, as well as the limitations and failures of certain technologies. They emphasize the need for a shift in the narrative around disability and technology, allowing disabled individuals to take control of their own stories and challenge the able savior narrative.  

Link to Ashley Shew:

https://liberalarts.vt.edu/departments-and-schools/department-of-science-technology-and-society/faculty/ashley-shew.html

Episode Highlights:

• What is Techno-Ableism? (1:55)
• When is "Lower-tech" best? (7:09)
• Is there a difference between tech designed for people with disabilities vs. mainstream tech that people with disabilities adopt? (10:25)
• Are we spending enough time discussing the reality of using tech? (13:33)
• How can people with disabilities challenge the "Able-Savior" narrative? (16:59)
• The high cost of tech (22:18)
• Excerpt from Ashley Shew’s book “Against Technoableism: Rethinking Who Needs Improvement”. (24:17)

About Ashley Shew:

Ashley Shew is an associate professor of science, technology, and society at Virginia Tech and specializes in disability studies and technology ethics. With support from the Mellon Foundation, she is developing a Disability Community Technology (DisCoTec) Center in collaboration with UNC-Charlotte and Virginia Tech. Her previous books include Animal Constructions and Technological Knowledge and Spaces for the Future. She lives in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Reference:  https://books.google.ca/books/about/Against_Technoableism_Rethinking_Who_Nee.html?id=goGpEAAAQBAJ&source=kp_author_description&redir_esc=y

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About AMI

AMI is a media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians with disabilities through three broadcast services — AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French — and streaming platform AMI+. Our vision is to establish AMI as a leader in the offering of accessible content, providing a voice for Canadians with disabilities through authentic storytelling, representation and positive portrayal. To learn more visit AMI.ca and AMItele.ca.

Find more great AMI Original Content on AMI+

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Synopsis

 On this episode of the Pulse, host Joeita Gupta discusses disability identity and the book 'Dispatches from Disabled Country' by Catherine Frazee. The book is a collection of Frazee's writing over the years, exploring themes such as disability rights, identity, human rights, and the relationship between disability and the medical world. Frazee discusses the evolution of the disability rights movement in Canada and the ongoing debates around medical assistance in dying. The program also includes a conversation with Frazee about finding joy and staying optimistic in disabled country. Overall, the program highlights the importance of embracing disability identity and advocating for the rights and dignity of disabled individuals.

Link to Catherine Frazee’s book:

“Dispatches from Disabled Country”

 https://www.amazon.ca/Dispatches-Disabled-Country-Catherine-Frazee/dp/0774868686

Episode Highlights:

Joeita introduces author and advocate Catherine Frazee (1:11)

Joeita and Catherine discuss the meaning of the title of Catherine’s book “Dispatches from Disabled Country”. (1:48)

How Catherine chose which of her writings to include in her book. (6:16)

Catherine gives her thoughts on the evolution of the disability rights movement in Canda since the 1990s. (9:20)

Catherine discusses the effects of the Traci Latimer case on disability rights. (11:56)

Joeita and Catherine discuss medical assistance and dying in Canada. (14:04)

What advice does Catherine have for someone who has recently realized their citizenship in disabled country? (23:27)

About Catherine Frazee:

Catherine Frazee is a Canadian educator, activist, researcher, poet and writer. She is currently professor emerita in the School of Disability Studies at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University).[1] Prior to her retirement from Ryerson in 2010, she served for a decade as professor of distinction and as co-director of the Ryerson/RBC Institute for Disability Studies Research and Education. She is known for her role as Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission from 1989 to 1992.

Reference:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Frazee

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About AMI

AMI is a media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians with disabilities through three broadcast services — AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French — and streaming platform AMI+. Our vision is to establish AMI as a leader in the offering of accessible content, providing a voice for Canadians with disabilities through authentic storytelling, representation and positive portrayal. To learn more visit AMI.ca and AMItele.ca.

Find more great AMI Original Content on AMI+

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In this episode Joeita is joined by Rabbi Julia Watts Belser. They discuss the ableism and misconceptions surrounding disabilities in religious communities. Julia, who is a rabbi and scholar, emphasizes the importance of loving and embracing oneself as a disabled person in a world that often devalues and stigmatizes disabilities. They also explore the need for religious communities to move away from treating disabled individuals as symbols of suffering or inspiration and instead recognize their complexity and full humanity. Julia examines biblical texts and traditions, highlighting the presence of disability and challenging the ableist narratives often associated with them. The conversation concludes with a call for disability justice and the dismantling of ableism in society.

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Link to Rabbi Belser's Book: "Loving Our Own Bones: Disability Wisdom and the Spiritual Subversiveness of Knowing Ourselves Whole"

https://amzn.to/3EQVU79

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Episode Highlights

The two discuss the new book "Loving Our Own Bones: Disability Wisdom and the Spiritual Subversiveness of Knowing Ourselves Whole.” (2:13)

Rabbi Watts Belser explains the Bible and the imagery of disability. (5:03)

Is there a way to do charitable work in a religious context without being paternalistic to people with disabilities?(6:42)

Interpretations of certain religious texts that are central to our cultural beliefs? (9:34)

Where do disabled and non-disabled people go from here? (19:01)

Rabbi Watts Belser reads an excerpt from her book "Loving Our Own Bones: Disability Wisdom and the Spiritual Subversiveness of Knowing Ourselves Whole.” (21:28)

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About Rabbi Julia Watts Belser

Julia Watts Belser is a Professor of Jewish Studies in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, as well as core faculty in Georgetown’s Disability Studies Program and a Senior Research Fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs. Her research centers on gender, sexuality, and disability in rabbinic literature, as well as queer feminist Jewish ethics and theology. She directs Disability and Climate Change: A Public Archive Project, an initiative that documents the wisdom and insights of disabled activists, artists, and first responders on the frontlines of the climate crisis.

Her work brings ancient texts into conversation with disability studies, queer theory, feminist thought, and environmental ethics. She has held faculty fellowships at Harvard Divinity School and the Katz Center for Advanced Jewish Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of Rabbinic Tales of Destruction: Gender, Sex, and Disability in the Ruins of Jerusalem (Oxford University Press, 2018) and Power, Ethics, and Ecology: Rabbinic Responses to Drought and Disaster (Cambridge University Press, 2015). Her most recent book is Loving Our Own Bones: Disability Wisdom and the Spiritual Subversiveness of Knowing Ourselves Whole (Beacon Press, 2023; published in the UK by Hodder & Stoughton).

A rabbi and a longtime advocate for disability and gender justice, Belser writes queer feminist Jewish theology and brings disability arts and culture into conversation with Jewish tradition. She co-authored an international Health Handbook for Women with Disabilities (Hesperian Foundation, 2007), developed in collaboration with disability activists from 42 countries and translated into 14 languages, designed to help challenge the root causes of poverty, gender violence, and disability discrimination. She’s an avid wheelchair hiker, a lover of wild places, and a passionate supporter of disability dance.

Reference: https://gufaculty360.georgetown.edu/s/contact/00336000014TWyHAAW/julia-watts-belser

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About AMI

AMI is a media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians with disabilities through three broadcast services — AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French — and streaming platform AMI+. Our vision is to establish AMI as a leader in the offering of accessible content, providing a voice for Canadians with disabilities through authentic storytelling, representation and positive portrayal. To learn more visit AMI.ca and AMItele.ca.

Find more great AMI Original Content on AMI+

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What is Crip Animation and how does it challenge ableist perceptions?

On this episode of The Pulse with Joeita Gupta, Joeita welcomes Slava Greenberg. The two discuss how animation can subvert norms and challenge ableist perceptions, inviting audiences to rethink their understanding of disability. Slava Greenberg, the author of 'Animated Film and Disability: Cripping Spectatorship', explains that cripping spectatorship involves reimagining film theory and spectatorship to include all senses and perspectives, not just vision. They also explore the value of blinding and deafening the spectator in films to challenge the primacy of vision and create a more inclusive cinematic experience. The conversation touches on the intersections of trans and disabled experiences and the potential for animation to evoke transformative and imaginative futures. Overall, the discussion highlights the importance of crip animation in creating a disability-inclusive world.

Link to Slava’s book: “Animated Film and Disability: Gripping Spectatorship” - https://amzn.to/3EI3Ase

Episode Highlights

“Spectatorship” in Film Theory (2:28)

What does “Cripping Spectatorship” mean? (5:00)

How experience of being trans and disabled led Slava to animation (9:09)

“Blinding and Deafening the Spectator” in cinema (11:17)

Value of shifting the gaze away from able-bodied perspective in filmmaking (17:00)

Slava reads excerpt from his book 'Animated Film and Disability: Cripping Spectatorship' (23:18)

About Slava Greenberg

Slava Greenberg is an Assistant Professor of Film in the Department of Media Studies at University of Amsterdam's Faculty of Humanities and Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis. Previously, he served as a Casden Institute postdoctoral fellow at the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts and Department of Gender and Sexuality Studies. Greenberg's research and practice, grounded in disability studies (particularly Crip theory and Mad studies), transgender studies, and feminist film theory, concern the potential of emerging media forms to produce embodied transformative experiences for audiences.

Greenberg is the author of Animated Film and Disability: Cripping Spectatorship (Indiana University Press, 2023). His articles have been published in journals such as Film Quarterly, Transgender Studies Quarterly, Animation, The Moving Image, Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, Review of Disability Studies, and Jewish Film and New Media. He regularly contributes to various field-defining anthologies, including those on disability and documentary, accent studies, queer television studies, and new media. Currently, he is writing his second book, Gender Dysphoria: An Unauthorized Biography, which examines the trans-crip histories and cultures of dysphoria from the Reed Erickson papers to contemporary pop representations.

Reference:

https://www.uva.nl/en/profile/g/r/s.greenberg/s.greenberg.html?cb#Biography

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oppositional_gaze

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About AMI

AMI is a media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians with disabilities through three broadcast services — AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French — and streaming platform AMI+. Our vision is to establish AMI as a leader in the offering of accessible content, providing a voice for Canadians with disabilities through authentic storytelling, representation and positive portrayal. To learn more visit AMI.ca and AMItele.ca.

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This week, Joeita speaks to Ahmed Habib, an accessibility consultant based out of Doha, Qatar about the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and the legacy of access left behind by the game. This is the September 16, 2023 edition
 

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About AMI

AMI is a media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians with disabilities through three broadcast services — AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French — and streaming platform AMI+. Our vision is to establish AMI as a leader in the offering of accessible content, providing a voice for Canadians with disabilities through authentic storytelling, representation and positive portrayal. To learn more visit AMI.ca and AMItele.ca.

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This week, Joeita speaks to Patty Douglas, inaugural Chair of Student Success at Queen's University about disability-inclusive approaches to higher education.This is the September 9, 2023 edition

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About AMI

AMI is a media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians with disabilities through three broadcast services — AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French — and streaming platform AMI+. Our vision is to establish AMI as a leader in the offering of accessible content, providing a voice for Canadians with disabilities through authentic storytelling, representation and positive portrayal. To learn more visit AMI.ca and AMItele.ca.

Find more great AMI Original Content on AMI+

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This week, Joeita speaks to Lydia XZ Brown about disability and transnational adoption. This is the August 31, 2023 edition

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About AMI

AMI is a media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians with disabilities through three broadcast services — AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French — and streaming platform AMI+. Our vision is to establish AMI as a leader in the offering of accessible content, providing a voice for Canadians with disabilities through authentic storytelling, representation and positive portrayal. To learn more visit AMI.ca and AMItele.ca.

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This week, Joeita speaks to inclusivity coach and social justice activist Annahid Dashtgard about "Bones of Belonging" her collection of essays exploring being a woman of colour. This is the August 24, 2023 edition

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About AMI

AMI is a media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians with disabilities through three broadcast services — AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French — and streaming platform AMI+. Our vision is to establish AMI as a leader in the offering of accessible content, providing a voice for Canadians with disabilities through authentic storytelling, representation and positive portrayal. To learn more visit AMI.ca and AMItele.ca.

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This week, Joeita speaks to author Rena Lipiner Katz about her new book "A Life Inherited: Unraveling the Trauma of a Second-Generation Holocaust Survivor".This is the August 17, 2023 edition

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About AMI

AMI is a media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians with disabilities through three broadcast services — AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French — and streaming platform AMI+. Our vision is to establish AMI as a leader in the offering of accessible content, providing a voice for Canadians with disabilities through authentic storytelling, representation and positive portrayal. To learn more visit AMI.ca and AMItele.ca.

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