Today, South Asian Heritage Month (SAHM) starts, and Disability Pride Month continues - all my worlds and identities colliding!
This summer is about more than SAHM and Disability Pride Month; we also have the long-awaited 2024 Paralympics.
But this is why I feel especially disheartened. The announcement of the Paralympic presenters for 2024 once again reveals a significant over-exclusion of South Asian representation.
South Asians make up the second largest population in the UK and are more likely to experience disability than other ethnic groups.
This ongoing erasure isn’t just disheartening; it underscores the critical need for representation that authentically reflects the rich diversity of our society.
The impact of this over-exclusion sends a message that our contributions, our stories, and our identities are not valued.
It only perpetuates a cycle of erasure within an already oppressed community, where our needs remain unmet because our intersection of race, ethnicity and disability is ignored.
In South Asian culture, disability faces a further sense of stigma and is deeply rooted in shame, perceived as a reflection of family honour and personal worth. Disabilities are linked to past misdeeds or karma, reinforcing feelings of individual or familial guilt.
Navigating these complexities within the South Asian community, let alone the wider disability community, underscores the need for collective support and advocacy to uplift and educate.
South Asian’s also need access to role models and representation that affirm our identities in all spheres of life, particularly in events that celebrate resilience and the human spirit, such as the Paralympics.
Ironically, this year’s SAHM theme is “Free to Be Me.” How can we feel truly free to be ourselves when we’re still fighting for visibility in spaces that exclude us?
“Nothing about us, without us” - the well-known slogan in disability rights activism, sadly remains a fallacy for some of us.
#Paralympics2024
#DisabilityPrideMonth
#RepresentationMatters
#SouthAsianHeritageMonth
Paris 2024 Paralympic Games coverage on Channel 4 will be the most accessible ever with today’s announcement that all advertisements during the event will feature subtitles.
👏 👏 👏
Channel 4 is committed to improving accessibility in TV advertising.
https://lnkd.in/eFxFUnva
