DCC Community Lounge (BSB 235)

Sins Invalid and Sandie Yi, Kelp Help, 2021

Kelp Help was mailed out to 200 participants in 2021 with this statement:

“This is a six foot-long kelp, here to help, produced by crip hands during the pandemic. You can use it to measure social distance. You can wrap it around your body. You can dance with it and sing to it. You can turn it into a bracelet, a necklace, a crown, or a sling, or cut the kelp into shapes that make you feel home.”

Kelp is proof that homes can die like people do. What once sheltered fish, fed aquatic mammals and humans, was cherished for its unbroken connection to ancestors of every variety, has vanished from seas all over the world.

The practice of kelp farming, kept alive through indigenous practices of cultivation and millennia of respectful relations, is now exploited for profit by white growers.

But this healing plant will not be lost. You are witnessing a reminder of kelp’s power, and the power of all things that grow. You are witnessing kelp wisdom, superkelp, kelp as it once was and as it will be once more.

By taking part in the kelp experience, we resist the trolling hand of capitalism, affirming our participation in the future, rooting down deep, and providing for communities as large and complex as the ocean.

Take pictures of yourself with our kelp, and post to social media with the hashtags

#SinsInvalid, #KelpHelp, #CripCouture, and #2GreatFingers !

Crips Say Close the Camps!

Crip Love is the Best

Liberation for All #CloseTheCamps

Nothing About Us Without Us 

Olly Costello, The Future is Mutual Aid, 2020

“From grocery deliveries to grassroots climate disaster support to child care offerings etc! we know that Mutual Aid is a both a very old and also re-emerging system of collective care. It is a practice rooted in a belief in communal survival that prioritizes collective wellness over individual gain. It is beautiful. It is flourishing and it is our future.
While we all take deep breaths to prepare for the week and months ahead of us, I find hope and reassurance in the widening networks of mutual aid showing up around the country and the shifting culture that these groups embody. To all of you out there working on mutual aid in big or small ways, THANK YOU!!”

See more of Olly Costello’s artwork on their website: Olly Costello.

Micah Bazant for Sins Invalid, Birthing, Dying, Becoming Crip Wisdom Commemorative Poster, 2016

This poster was designed by Micah Bazant for Sins Invalid’s 2016 performance, marking the group’s decade of disability justice based art and culture. Sins Invalid was formed in 2005 by a group of disabled people of color and queer disabled artists including, Patty Berne, Mia Mingus, Stacey Milbern, Leroy F. Moore Jr, Eli Clare, and Sebastian Margaret.

See more of Micah Bazant’s art at Micah Bazant.

Jen White-Johnson, Autistic Joy Manifesto, 2018

This poster is part of Jen White-Johnson’s series of Soul of Neurodiversity risograph posters.

See more of Jen White-Johnson’s artwork on her website, Jen White-Johnson.

Jen White Johnson, Create More Anti Ableist Spaces, 2021

“I made this sticker and poster for my fellow disabled comrades! Don’t measure yourself by ableist standards! ⁣Let’s act to hold ALL spaces accountable for providing care and access to disabled folks with all types of bodies and minds.

Let’s combat Internalized ableism by we have to unlearning and dismantling for ourselves- the desire for normalizing ones self to achieve a sense of belonging – seeing productivity as the gage of self worth and as a contributing member of society.”

See more of Jen White-Johnson’s artwork on her website, Jen White-Johnson.

Jen White Johnson, Black Disabled Lives Matter Limited Edition Riso Poster, 2020

“In solidarity with my 7-year-old Black Autistic son and in virtual protest with my Black disabled community, I felt compelled to use my art to bring visibility to the facts. More than half of Black/Brown bodies in the US with disabilities will be arrested by the time they reach their late 20s. We don’t see many positive stories or acts of #AutisticJoy among Black/Brown bodies because they don’t make headlines. ‘To Be Pro-Neurodiversity is to be Anti-Racist’: this statement carries a lot of truth, which directly influenced the need to create the graphic.”

“Celebrating Freedom, Emancipation, Joy and Interdependence in the lives of Black Disabled Bodies and Minds. The very creation of this this limited edition Riso print is very dear to my heart as represents my disability journey and all of the designs, symbols and stickers I have created in amplification and in honor of my fellow disability community! I wanted to combine my message of disability solidarity, freedom, joy, and anti ableist language all in one print!”

See more of Jen White-Johnson’s artwork on her website, Jen White-Johnson.