Pitch To Our Blog! Disability and Colonialism
We know that the legacies of colonialism are lasting, in our bodies, families and lands. Yet, these stories are so often silenced or unheard – especially here in Britain, the belly of the beast. We are interested in hearing Disabled people’s perspectives on your history and resistance. Do you or your family come from a place that was or remains under colonial occupation? How has this history shaped you, your experiences as a Disabled person and your perspectives on resistance?
Suggested areas of focus:
- How colonialism can be disabling
- Imaginative forms of resistance that spring from being Disabled
- Shame around disability in a colonial context
- How impacts of colonialism may be missed out by mainstream disability movements
- How resisting colonialism and ableism can be connected
- How we can learn from anti-colonial movements throughout history
- Intrinsic connection between disability and occupation
- How the idea of ‘health’ may be driven by colonial/western ideals
These are only suggestions – we understand that this topic is deeply personal (and political!), so want to make sure submissions are able to reflect this. We want you to have the freedom to shape your piece of writing in whatever way feels right for you. It may be a documentation of unknown history, an interview with a family member or personal musings. Whatever it is, we look forward to hearing about it!
Guidelines – Please Read!
We are especially keen to hear from racialised Disabled people, as well as any Disabled person who may personally or through your family have an experience of colonial occupation. We won’t be commissioning pieces from those who fall outside these groups of people – Nothing About Us Without Us!
Payments to writers of each published piece will be £100. If you make a pitch but are not published, we are unable to pay you.
For those with published pieces, we can offer the £100 in the form of a bank transfer or as a voucher. However, please be aware that both options may affect your Welfare Benefits. Read our full factsheet on payments and how they may affect benefits.
Commissioned pieces will be published on Disability Rights UK’s Blog.
We are asking for pitches by Monday 10th November, 5pm. We will hopefully be publishing pieces from mid-November.
To submit your pitch, please fill in the Microsoft Form at the bottom of this page. The link to this can be found here. If you cannot fill in the form for accessibility reasons, please get in touch with us at media@disabilityrightsuk.org.
Please ensure your pitch is no longer than 250 words – you're also welcome to include any information about yourself, activism, your background and why you’re passionate about this topic, separate from this word count. If you have previously published pieces of work, you can also send the links to those.
We are looking to publish blogs between 500 – 1,000 words, although there is flexibility in word count. You must be based in Britain or the North of Ireland.
We are looking for blogs that respond to the theme with your own thoughts, feelings, and experiences if you wish to share them, not for academic or traditionally journalistic articles which may involve research, case studies, and data analysis, but you are welcome to write something that references, or links to, other pieces/sources.
There is the option to publish the piece anonymously or under whatever name/pseudonym you feel comfortable with.
We will try to get back to you as soon as we can after the submission deadline to confirm whether or not we are able to commission your piece.
Thank you for reading – we look forward to hearing from you!
This series was in part inspired by the National Survivor User Network (NSUN), who have been commissioning grassroots voices through their members’ blog. Do take a look at their work – and thank you for the inspiration!