![]() ![]() If there’s one key takeaway or thought that you’d like to share about Disability Culture Month, what would that be?ĭisability culture and activism have existed from ancient times to present, but we rarely hear about people with disabilities from our own perspective. It isn’t about people with disabilities being included in society but how people with disabilities drive and transform society. What does disability culture mean to you?ĭisability culture is the celebration of the uniqueness of disability it is about visibility, pride and changing societal perceptions of value and contribution. Your keynote will be the marquee event of MU’s Disability Culture Month this year. We spent the next five years doing research, building the team and acquiring funding - including through Kickstarter - to make the final film. My one-minute piece became the trailer for The Invalid Corps. The goal of the 8-week class was to create a short one- to two-minute film. A few years ago, she picked ballroom dancing, I picked a documentary film class. Every year, my wife and I do something new together. How my first documentary came to be made is also a romantic story. No one really wants to read a Civil War history book (unless you’re already interested in the topic), so I was looking for something that could appeal to a broader audience. ![]() I was already writing books but came across this story about disabled soldier regiments in the Civil War. What drew you to become a documentary filmmaker? And from there, a career in legislative and regulatory policy was an easy step. It was while I was at Mizzou that I got my first internship at the Missouri House of Representatives. Mizzou was a great foundation where I felt like I had some time and space to explore who I was and what I wanted to learn and do with my life. Has your time at Mizzou and Mizzou Law shaped your career? So happy to hear that you’re a Mizzou alum (M-I-Z!). That was true when I worked on policy issues and is just as true in my writing and filmmaking. It follows wherever you go and because of structural inequities in the way the world is physically built, the way programs are designed and the stereotypes that people believe, advocacy is always a part of what you do. I think, one of the things about having a disability is that you don’t really get a choice on whether or not you want to get involved with disability issues. What motivated you to get involved with disability issues? Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 24-01 and on the Montgomery County Commission for People with Disabilities. I read romance novels, eat potato chips and have yet to meet a cheese I don’t love. ![]() My Civil War documentary, The Invalid Corps, recently sold to Alaska Airlines, and my historical series on disability - Renegades - was just released on American Masters PBS in July 2021. Outside of my policy work, I write books, make films and am a part-time radio host on Idobi Radio’s Geek Girl Riot with an audience of more than 80,000 listeners. While still at Mizzou, I worked on the planning committee for the Civil Rights Group of the Cambio de Colores conference, the largest conference that directly addresses the various issues faced by Latino immigrants to the Midwest and served as a representative of the ISC-ICC to the Preparatory Commission of the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the United Nations. This included an active role in the passage of the Affordable Care Act and the Hate Crimes Prevention Act. I’ve been a lobbyist for more than 10 years addressing a variety of legislative and regulatory areas including disability, health care, immigration and international development. My other work at the Department of Labor has included the design and implementation of the multimillion-dollar Add Us In initiative to identify and develop strategies to increase employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities by working with small business associations in underserved and historically excluded communities and policy design and improvement on youth workforce and employment. I head the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s premier safety and health management recognition program, the Voluntary Protection Programs. She will discuss disability representation in media from 5 to 6:15 p.m. Al-Mohamed is a Mizzou Law School alum, activist, documentarian and attorney who works in Washington, D.C. Read about Day Al-Mohamed, the keynote speaker for this year’s Disability Culture Month. ![]()
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