Webinar – Black Disabled Leadership: Essential Yet Overlooked
Date: February 27, 2025
Time: 1:00 – 2:00 PM ET
Racial equity is impossible without disability justice, rights, and inclusion. And with at least 1 in 4 Black people in the U.S. living with a disability, disability justice requires Black disabled leadership. As we witness rollbacks in both legislative protections and organizational commitments to DEI, racial justice, and disability inclusion, philanthropy must take action to fund Black disabled communities. Join us for a discussion with Black disabled leaders on how philanthropy can support Black disabled communities.
This webinar will cover topics including:
- the intersections of anti-Blackness and ableism,
- how anti-Blackness is disabling and increases risk for Black people with disabilities, and
- why disability justice and Black liberation must be joint movements.
CART and ASL interpretation will be provided. If you require another accommodation to fully participate in the webinar, please note it in your registration, or contact us at communications@disabilityphilanthropy.org. This free webinar is presented by the Disability & Philanthropy Forum. While the learnings for this webinar are primarily targeted to funders, grantmakers, and philanthropy-serving organizations who are just getting started in learning more about the intersections of disability justice and Black liberation, this session is open to the public, and anyone can register to attend.
About the Panelists
Moderator: Patrick Cokley, Senior Program Officer, Equity & Social Justice Partnerships, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Patrick Cokley joined the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in March 2023 as the Senior Program Officer, Equity & Social Justice Partnerships. As a disability advocate, Patrick has worked to bring issues of inclusion to the forefront of all communities. His past roles include the Chief of Organizing Advocacy and Learning at the youth civic organization Civic Influencers and Director of the Workforce Recruitment Program at the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy. Patrick is a graduate of Howard University and serves on the President’s Board of Advisors for Historically Black Colleges and Universities. He is also a founding member of the Lead On Network. Patrick Cokley is Low vision and the parent of children with disabilities.
Panelist: Mel Brown, Co-Founder, Deep Space Mind 215
Mel Brown is a social scientist and researcher located in the Philadelphia area. Her scope of practice includes building anti-capitalist structures, writing narrative change, research, and systemic carceral navigation & advocacy. Brown’s writings span from personal narrative to meta-theoretical ‘on the ground’ documentation. Brown’s theory around care is centered in explicit consent and direct conflict, with care. Brown received a B.A. in Integrative Art from Pennsylvania State University in 2012 and is a dual master’s degree graduate, class of 2023 at both the Weitzman School of Design and School of Social Policy & Practice.
Panelist: Britney Wilson, Associate Professor of Law and Director of the Civil Rights and Disability Justice Clinic, New York Law School
Professor Britney Wilson (she/her) is an Associate Professor of Law and the Director of the Civil Rights and Disability Justice Clinic at New York Law School. Her legal work focuses on federal class action litigation. Before New York Law School, Professor Wilson was a staff attorney at the National Center for Law and Economic Justice (NCLEJ). Before NCLEJ, Professor Wilson had legal fellowships at the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and in the Racial Justice Program at the American Civil Liberties Union. In all her roles, she has litigated a wide variety of civil rights issues, including discriminatory policing, the criminalization of poverty, the school-to-prison pipeline, abusive immigration detention practices, disability discrimination in healthcare and the provision of home and community-based services. Born with Cerebral Palsy, Professor Wilson has written and spoken extensively about the intersection of race and disability. Her work has been featured or is forthcoming in various scholarly and media outlets including the UCLA Law Review, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, the Journal of Legal Education, The Nation Magazine, and This American Life. She received her B.A. from Howard University and her J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.