Celebrate the Intersection of Black History and Disability at LightHouse, Saturday February 22
On Saturday February 22, LightHouse commemorates Black History Month with our event, “Celebrate and Elevate!” at our headquarters in San Francisco. All are welcome.
The schedule for the event is as follows:
2:00 pm to 3:00 pm – Appetizers and Exhibits
Appetizers include: Jamaican beef patties, chicken curry patties, mushroom patties (vegetarian)
Exhibitors include: Bayview Senior Services and Rafiki Coalition for Health and Wellness
3:00 pm to 4:00 pm – Guest Speakers
Anil Lewis
Anil Lewis, Executive Director of Blindness Initiatives for the National Federation of the Blind and author of Being Black Helped Me Be Blind and Being Blind Helped Me Understand that #BlackLivesMatter and who’s committed to protecting the rights of people with disabilities, will speak on “Elevate and Celebrate” and the intersection of disability and black history.
In comments given to the National Disability Rights Network, Anil explained some similarities and differences between the discrimination he faced as a blind person versus what he faced as a black person. “[When] I became a blind person, and I realized that I was being faced with a whole different set of criteria related to discrimination, where the strategies I had developed in order to fight discrimination as a black person were very similar, the real interesting dynamic is as a black person, much of that discrimination was based on ignorance, through hate and dislike. As a blind person, most of that discrimination was ignorance, but through love. The hardest part for me was to fight the custodial value system that was placed on me as a blind person, which really was much more difficult than dealing with the discrimination I faced as a black person.”
William Rhodes
William Rhodes (www.williamrhodesart.com), a mixed media artist trained in traditional woodworking and joinery, with a fine arts background, is the Intergenerational Director at Bayview Senior Services and will speak on “African American history through Quilting and other Mixed Media.”’
William shared some thoughts with us ahead of this event:
“Black disabled history is Black history, and all of this permeates American history. During Black History Month, it is vital to recognize the significant contributions of Black individuals throughout history. It is equally important to acknowledge that many of these influential figures also lived with disabilities, an aspect that is often overlooked or minimized.”
4:00 pm to 5:00 pm – Music
Jorge Ellington, a local musician will DJ.
What: “Celebrate and Elevate!” Black History Month Celebration
When: Saturday, February 22, from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Where: LightHouse headquarters, 1155 Market St., San Francisco 10th Floor (directions to LightHouse San Francisco)
RSVP by Thursday, February 20: RSVP online for Black History Month Celebration or to Sabrina Bolus at 415-694-7607.
