“Solely centering Black disabled voices is an intentional, unapologetic action, one that is long overdue to occur and is strongly needed for us to truly be seen and heard without concerning the gazes of others.”

- Vilissa Thompson, Founder, Ramp Your Voice!

Speakers & Talent

  • Abiodun Oyewole

    My name is Abi or Bibi. I have many disabilities. My pronouns are she/they. I've been advocating for disability issues for over 4 years now. I run a small business called Bibipins that focuses on compression items, pins & more all in fun designs.

  • Amaranthia Sepia & Claire Jones

    Claire Jones and her daughter, Amaranthia Sepia, are a Black, invisibly disabled mother-daughter duo who are the co-founders of the grassroots project (not a non-profit!) Sista Creatives Rising (SCR).

  • Anita Cameron

    Anita Cameron is a disability justice activist who has been involved in social change activism and community organizing for 42 years.

  • Arielle Gray

    Arielle Gray is a journalist, writer and artist currently based in Boston. She is a reporter at WBUR, Boston's NPR station, where she covers Black and brown communities through the lens of art and culture.

  • Candace Coleman

    Candace Coleman is a black disabled woman from the South Side of Chicago. She works closely with disabled people affected by the justice system to organize around racial justice and disability.

  • Cara Reedy

    Cara Reedy is the Founder and Director of the Disabled Journalists Association. She spent ten years of her career at CNN producing documentaries as well as writing for various verticals including Eatocracy and CNN Business.

  • Chelsea House

    Chelsea (@TheBlackDisabledFemme) is a consultant, researcher, designer, community builder, and Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC).

  • Clarkisha Kent

    Clarkisha Kent is a Nigerian American writer, culture critic, former columnist, and author of Fat Off, Fat On: A Big Bitch Manifesto. Her writing has been featured in outlets like Entertainment Weekly, Essence, gal-dem, PAPER, BET, HuffPost, MTV News, The Root, and more.

  • Dawn Marie Gibson

    Dawn is a former youth and young adult Lay Chaplain turned writer, health advocate, and family caregiver for dementia, skin cancer, and end of life.

  • Ellice Patterson

    Ellice Patterson is the founder/ executive and artistic director of Abilities Dance, a Boston-based dance company that welcomes artists with and without disabilities.

  • Jen White-Johnson

    Jen White-Johnson (she/they) is an Afro-Latina disabled and neurodivergent art activist, designer, and educator whose visual work explores the intersection of content and caregiving, emphasizing redesigning ableist visual culture.

  • Jumoke Abdullahi & Kym Oliver

    Description goes here
  • Kayla Smith

    A disability justice activist who focuses on the intersectionality within neurodiversity especially autism. I have been doing advocacy work since 2018. I am the creator of hashtag #BlackAutisticPride.

  • Luticha Andre Doucette

    Luticha André Doucette is the author of the groundbreaking book: Cultivating An Intersectional Mindset. She graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology with a degree in Bioinformatics where she developed protein surface prediction algorithms.

  • Morénike Giwa Onaiwu

    Morénike Giwa Onaiwu, PhD is a global human rights and disability justice activist-scholar, consultant, advocate, author, educator, and parent in a neurodiverse, multicultural, twice-exceptional serodifferent biological and adoptive family.

  • Natasha Nelson

    Natasha Nelson is a disability advocate, Certified Positive Discipline Educator(CPDE), highly decorated veteran, nonprofit founder, and Autistic mother to two autistic Black girls.

  • Sarah Thomas

    Meet Sarah Thomas, a seasoned yogi who, inspired by her mother's prenatal yoga classes, embarked on a lifelong journey of yoga and meditation. Guided by her first teacher, she developed a deep passion for the art.

  • Stephanie Williams

    Stephanie, a graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago, has made a remarkable journey from a scientist to a comic book creator

  • T. S. Banks

    T. S. Banks (he/him) is a Black & QTDisabled, non-binary teaching artist, poet, and playwright from Madison, WI. He is the Founder of Loud ‘N UnChained Theater Co and LNU Publishing House, which is home to Black QT Mad-Krip, neuro-expansive, and chronically ill authors and teaching-artists.

  • TaMeicka “Ifasina” Clear

    TaMeicka "Ifasina" Clear (pronouns they/them/Ifasina) is a fat, Black, genderqueer person from Texas living in North Carolina. Ifasina is a Master Trainer and space holder who has over 20 years of experience working with intergenerational and directly impacted groups and teams to lead, process, and make decisions together.

Our Mission

This conference will intentionally center Black disabled perspectives and create spaces to candidly discuss the topics that matter to us, as well as learn about the talented individuals who are a part of our dynamic community.

Our Purpose

At the Ramp Your Voice Conference we will make the unseen seen and form new connections across fields and endeavors, to lift up and support the intellectual, creative, and joyful talent that runs right through our powerful community.

Advisory Board

  • Dr. Sami Schalk

    Associate Professor of Gender and Women's Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

  • Heather Watkins

    Disability rights advocate, author, mother, speaker, and consultant.

  • Keah Brown

    Award winning journalist, author, studying actress, and screenwriter.

  • Sandy Ho

    Program Director of the Disability Inclusion Fund at Borealis Philanthropy.

  • Sarah Blahovec

    Co-Founder and President of Disability Victory. Chronically ill and queer disability civic engagement expert.

  • S.E. Smith

    Northern California-based journalist, essayist, and editor.