Disability Pride Parade This Saturday

The 5th Annual Disability Pride Parade will ticker tape through downtown this weekend on a mission. Parallel to other civil rights movements, those striving for disability pride aim to reverse the negative connotation associated with this sector of society and create a sense of empowerment among its members. The parade will promote the idea that people with disabilities enrich our cultural diversity. As defined in the Encyclopedia of Disability:

Disability Pride represents a rejection of the notion that our physical, sensory, mental, and cognitive differences from the non-disabled standard are wrong or bad in any way, and is a statement of our self-acceptance, dignity and pride. It is a public expression of our belief that our disabilities are a natural part of human diversity, a celebration of our heritage and culture, and a validation of our experience. Disability Pride is an integral part of movement building, and a direct challenge to systemic ableism and stigmatizing definitions of disability. It is a militant act of self-definition, a purposive valuing of that which is socially devalued, and an attempt to untangle ourselves from the complex matrix of negative beliefs, attitudes, and feelings that grow from the dominant group's assumption that there is something inherently wrong with our disabilities and identity.

An Open Mic/Poetry Slam reception preludes the parade on Friday night at 6 p.m. at the McCormick Freedom Museum. The parade begins at 11 a.m. on Saturday at Plymouth Court and Van Buren and ends at Daley Plaza. Afterwards, Washington Square Park hosts Mike Ervin, disability activist and writer, at 3 p.m. All events are free.