A conversation with disabled creatives that challenges internalized ableism in the Latinx community and society at large. Our panelists will question generalized ideas about bodies, productivity and creativity, moving away from the medical public health conversation around disability. Through art, language and being, panelists explore concepts of culture, bodies, productivity and creativity, interdependency and social justice.

Co-sponsored by NYU Center for Disability Studies.

Panelists

Wilfredo Gomez  is a Ph.D Student in Criticism and Culture at the University of Cambridge, Christ's College. His research interests center disability, hip-hop, cultural, and performance studies to examine questions of identity, politics, race, representation, and self-expression in popular culture. Moreover, he is interested in exploring the formal and informal sites where learning and cross-cultural exchange take place. His public writing has appeared in outlets such as the NewBlackMan, LatinoRebels, and the Feminist Wire, while his academic work has appeared in places like Cultural Transformations: Youth and Pedagogies of Possibility, In Media Res:Race, Identity, and Pop Culture in the Twenty-First Century, Pedagogies: An International Journal and The Journal of Latino Studies. He completed his bachelor's degree in political science at Haverford College, and completed master's degrees in English and Africana Studies, at Bucknell University and the University of Pennsylvania, respectively. He has presented work at institutions such as Swarthmore College, Harvard University, Princeton University, and the University of Pennsylvania, amongst other colleges and universities. He has also spoken at the U.S. Social Forum in Philadelphia, where the subject of his presentation was on the disabled experience and the need for a renewed focus on social justice initiatives and a more inclusive policy agenda. He can be reached via Twitter at BazookaGomez84.

Jimena Lucero is a poet, artist, and actor from NYC. She graduated with a B.A. in English from Hunter College. She is a Pink Door fellow and you can find her writing at Colorbloq.org, The Center for Humanities, and more. Jimena has performed at venues like the Brooklyn Museum, Poetry Project, and Flux Factory.

Raul B. Pizarro is a self-taught, Queer Latinx visual artist with muscular dystrophy. Born in Mexicali, Mexico, the third of four siblings, Raul and his family migrated to Southern California - the place that reared him and became home after the age of three. He grew up in the City of Pomona, a short stroll to Pomona’s Artist District. Raul’s professional work bridges diverse themes and spans over 25 years; each piece of art emerges from his experience at the intersection of disability, lgbtq identity, race & ethnicity, family & community. Raul believes art needs to be reclaimed by our communities and embraced by the formal art world. Among his proudest achievements is Raul’s residency with Self-Help Graphics Los Angeles. Raul worked with a master printmaker to produce several prints of “Sharia” and half became part of various Latinx collections at museums and universities nationally. Raul was also one of artists invited to participate in the singular Los Angeles’ Community of Angels project, and this year, Raul was featured in “Preserving Creative Spaces”, a traveling collection of 50 photographs of artists and their studios that will become part of the Smithosonian archives. The dA Center for the Arts was the first gallery to exhibit Raul’s work, and recently hosted his first retrospective which encompassed over 70 pieces including his first painting completed at the age of three, which is when art became Raul’s preferred lenguaje.Nu

Reveca Torres was paralyzed in a car accident as a teenager. After completing degrees in Fashion Design and Theatre Arts, Reveca worked as a costume designer and simultaneously worked with various organizations doing disability work in health, advocacy, recreation, and peer support. She started a nonprofit called BACKBONES after realizing that years of interaction and friendship with others living with spinal injuries (SCI) made a significant impact in her own life. Reveca wanted to ensure that others, especially those newly injured, had access to resources, information, and the same type of support she has had. She is co-director of ReelAbilities Film Festival Chicago and has curated touring photography and art exhibitions that showcase work of people with disabilities and bring awareness to disability rights. Reveca received Creative Access Fellowships at Vermont Studio Center (2014) and Santa Fe Art Institute (2017). She was selected as a fellow for Kartemquin Films Diverse Voices in Docs program (2017) and was one of University of Illinois Chicago 3Arts fellow in 2018. Reveca is one of Documentary Magazine's 2020 Editorial Fellows. She uses painting, illustration, photography, film, movement, and other media as a form of expression and a tool for advocacy and social justice.

Jorge Matos Valldejuli is an Assistant Professor and Reference Librarian at Hostos Community College at The City University of New York (CUNY). Alongside his library work, he also provides support to the Accessibility Resource Center serving students with disabilities on campus. His past experiences with Special Education and mental health issues influenced his interest in Disability Studies. A former librarian at the Center for Puerto Rican Studies Library & Archives at Hunter College, his academic training is in Latin Am/Latinx & Africana Studies. His research documents the history of race and class at the formerly notorious institution for the developmentally disabled, the Willowbrook State School in Staten Island, NY. He is currently writing an article about a predominantly Black and Puerto Rican parents organization that was actively involved in closing Willowbrook during the 1970s and 1980s, the Gouverneur Parents Association. He holds a BA in Political Science from Hunter College-CUNY, an MLS from Queens College-CUNY and an MA in Modern European & Latin American History from The Graduate Center-CUNY. He is a founding member of the National Coalition for Latinxs with Disabilities and is actively engaged in raising awareness of disability issues and scholarship in professional associations such as the Latina/o Studies Association.

The Latinx Project at NYU provides reasonable accommodations to people with disabilities. Requests for accommodations for events and services should be submitted at least two weeks before the date of the accommodation need. Please email Janel Martinez at jm9168@nyu.edu for assistance.

Click below to watch Demystifying Disability: Creatives and the Making/Musings of Latinx!

Jimena Lucero’s Recommended Reading List:

• Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

• Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present by Harriet A. Washington

• More Than Organs by Kay Ulanday Barrett

• Slingshot by Cyrée Jarelle Johnson