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Activists Around the World: Jen White-Johnson · Stuff Mom Never Told You

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  Speaker 1: Hey, this is Annie Ann Smith Thako stuff I never
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  Speaker 1: told your flicture by HERDIO.
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  Speaker 2: And for our activists around the world. We are in
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  Speaker 2: the midst of Disability Pride Month, which happens to be
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  Speaker 2: in July if you're in the US. So we are
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  Speaker 2: celebrating the works and activism of self described quote disabled,
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  Speaker 2: neurodivergent Afro Latino art activist and design educator jin White Johnson.
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  Speaker 2: And that's from her site. White Johnson was born in Washington,
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  Speaker 2: DC is currently living in Baltimore, Maryland. Her mother a
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  Speaker 2: Puerto Rican woman, and her father from Chicago. White Johnson
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  Speaker 2: has always been motivated to advocate for those most marginalized.
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  Speaker 2: So White Johnson has been diagnosed with Graves disease and ADHD,
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  Speaker 2: so understanding the need for advocating on an intersectional level
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  Speaker 2: is something very important to her, and as a mother
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  Speaker 2: of an African Latino son with autism, she wanted to
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  Speaker 2: find a way to empower the voices of those in
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  Speaker 2: the disability in anti racist communities which we love. She
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  Speaker 2: earned her bachelors in Visual Arts from the University of
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  Speaker 2: Maryland and completed her MSA in graphic design in the
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  Speaker 2: Maryland is to do College of Art and has been
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  Speaker 2: putting her passion into her activism. So again back to
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  Speaker 2: her site, Jen hight Johnson dot com quote my mission,
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  Speaker 2: there is a heart and soul in the journey that
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  Speaker 2: breaks through the stigma of highlighting autistic joy in black
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  Speaker 2: and brown lives. The goal of the space is to
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  Speaker 2: share my creative collaborations while making them accessible to neurodiverse communities.
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  Speaker 2: And again, we've talked about how important accessibility is for everyone,
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  Speaker 2: especially the disabled communities, and we want to make sure
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  Speaker 2: that we are highlighting when people do that, especially when
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  Speaker 2: they focus on that. So accessibility has been something she
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  Speaker 2: has made sure to be in the forefront of in
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  Speaker 2: her works. So back to her site, he writes this,
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  Speaker 2: my work explores the erasure of black disabled community in
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  Speaker 2: digital and literary media. The visuals I make using photos
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  Speaker 2: and designs are my acts of resistance that amplify conversations
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  Speaker 2: with a disability community. It ignites the continued need to
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  Speaker 2: develop anti racist, antiableist media. So a bit more of
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  Speaker 2: information from her side, they write, Jen whit Johnson is
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  Speaker 2: an Afro Latina disabled artists, designer, educator, and activists whose
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  Speaker 2: visual work explores the intersection of content and caregiving with
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  Speaker 2: an emphasis on redesigning of ablest visual culture. As an
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  Speaker 2: artist educator with Graves disease and ADHD, her heart centered
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  Speaker 2: an electric approach to disability. Advocacy bolsters those movements with
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  Speaker 2: invaluable currencies, powerful dynamic art and media that all at
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  Speaker 2: once educates, bridges divergent worlds, and builds a future that
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  Speaker 2: mirrors her autistic Sun's experience. When her son was diagnosed
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  Speaker 2: as autistic at age three, she began to examine the
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  Speaker 2: absence of black disabled children in digital and LIFs media.
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  Speaker 2: This motivated the release of an advocacy photo zine entitled
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  Speaker 2: Knox Rocks, dedicated to her autistic son. And yes, obviously
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  Speaker 2: she has done some amazing things and it's been centered
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  Speaker 2: around her son Knox, which I love and with her
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  Speaker 2: activism comes even more motivation. After the birth of her
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  Speaker 2: son Knox, she wanted to create more visibility and conversations
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  Speaker 2: about autism after his diagnosis, So in the interview with
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  Speaker 2: Lyndscratch dot Com, she says this about her work and
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  Speaker 2: her son. In the Awakening, I found not just a
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  Speaker 2: personal calling, but a vibrant purpose my art and design
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  Speaker 2: practice emerged as a dynamic force, a beacon guiding me
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  Speaker 2: toward a framework of community engagement that transcend the traditional
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  Speaker 2: boundaries of advocacy. No longer content with merely existing, I
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  Speaker 2: became a proactive advocate for the beautiful, diverse world of
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  Speaker 2: autistic communities. Each stroke of my artistic expression, every design nuance,
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  Speaker 2: and every creative endeavor became a rallying cry, a galvanizing
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  Speaker 2: force that resonates with a heartbeat of neurodiversion experiences. As
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  Speaker 2: a disabled parent raising a disabled child, my mission crystallized
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  Speaker 2: to weave a tapestry of vibrant engagement and redefine the
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  Speaker 2: narratives surrounding that neurodiversity. Together, let us celebrate the kaleidoscope
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  Speaker 2: of abilities and perspectives within our community through art and design.
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  Speaker 2: We don't just advocate, we elevate. This is not just
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  Speaker 2: a journey, It's a dynamic, ever evolving dance toward a
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  Speaker 2: more inclusive and vibrant world. With each project, I ask
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  Speaker 2: folks to join me in the symphony of empowerment, where
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  Speaker 2: our collective voices echo the undeniable truth neurodivergency is not
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  Speaker 2: a limitation, but a canvas for balanced possibilities a true
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  Speaker 2: radical act of resistance. In the twenty threety three article
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  Speaker 2: with Lyndscratch dot Com, Why Johnson is talking specifically about
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  Speaker 2: her collaborative exhibit with our Son Knox titled Autistic Joy,
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  Speaker 2: which she described as this our overarching mission to amplify
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  Speaker 2: joy and justice through visual representation reverberated powerfully throughout the events,
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  Speaker 2: Knox inspiring advocate sees the opportunity to forge meaningful connections
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  Speaker 2: and engage in captivating conversations with visitors. Witnessing his comfort
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  Speaker 2: and passionate while discussing the profound joy encapsulated in his
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  Speaker 2: favorite photos was nothing short of extraordinary, A true testament
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  Speaker 2: to our commitment to shatter stereotypes and I love this.
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  Speaker 2: She talks specifically about her experience with people coming to
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  Speaker 2: her and kind of giving like mourning the fact that
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  Speaker 2: he had been diagnosed with autism, instead of understanding it
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  Speaker 2: is not a barrier, it's something that could transcend. So
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  Speaker 2: she really wanted to encapsulate that, like this is not
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  Speaker 2: about changing him or something that's something that she had
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  Speaker 2: to fix, but something that was beyond all that, and
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  Speaker 2: that he was perfect as is and that we could
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  Speaker 2: celebrate who he is and that autism was a part
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  Speaker 2: of him, but not necessarily all of him.
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  Speaker 3: So it was kind of that level.
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  Speaker 2: And I love the way she looked at that and
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  Speaker 2: she understood that at the very beginning of his diagnosis,
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  Speaker 2: which is amazing and such a profound thing to do,
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  Speaker 2: because I know when ableless conversations come about, that is
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  Speaker 2: kind of one of those things like this is a barrier,
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  Speaker 2: we have to fix it.
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  Speaker 3: And she was not about that. So we'd love to
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  Speaker 3: see stuff like that.
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  Speaker 2: And Yeah, she's talked about how her own mother helped
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  Speaker 2: influence her in this a bit from her interview with
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  Speaker 2: nineteenth News dot org about zines specifically because we're going
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  Speaker 2: to talk about more zines. Yes, you mentioned this earlier
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  Speaker 2: who were talking more about zas. I didn't know, y'all.
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  Speaker 2: I didn't know she was the artist, and then I
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  Speaker 2: was like, oh, she's speaking my language right here. But
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  Speaker 2: she talks about her mom and the influence she gave.
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  Speaker 2: My mom would create these really small cards for me.
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  Speaker 2: They were essentially little love letters. She started making a
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  Speaker 2: lot of them when I had gone away to college.
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  Speaker 2: I would come home and she'd give them to me,
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  Speaker 2: or she'd mail, these small love letters and cards. I
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  Speaker 2: considered those the first zines I ever saw. There are
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  Speaker 2: these little notes that would be passed along to kind
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  Speaker 2: of remind me of how unique and special I am.
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  Speaker 2: She didn't really understand my undiagnosed ADHD at the time,
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  Speaker 2: but we had our own ways of being able to
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  Speaker 2: communicate with each other. Later on, once I got into design,
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  Speaker 2: I realized the zines they were like the riot girl
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  Speaker 2: zcenes or the feminist scenes I read later that were
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  Speaker 2: photocopied and created with a typewriter that got at festivals
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  Speaker 2: or concerts. Those scenes were some of the first things
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  Speaker 2: that contain narratives that I resonated with about femininity and chaos.
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  Speaker 2: I got to see a lot of feminist voices that
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  Speaker 2: were being co opted or erased.
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  Speaker 3: And we've talked about the power of zines.
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  Speaker 2: I think we've played this as like classics because we
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  Speaker 2: loved this episode so much, and we'll come back, I'm sure,
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  Speaker 2: and talk about it again. We've talked about the power
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  Speaker 2: that it holds today, even so much so that people
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  Speaker 2: have been arrested for just handling it.
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  Speaker 3: Yep, not even the ones creating it.
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  Speaker 2: Because it was powerful and they say this is propaganda,
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  Speaker 2: this is terrorist propaganda, which is not. So you know,
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  Speaker 2: that's the power of zines. The US's kind of showed
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  Speaker 2: us that right now.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: So in the interview, she talks about her interest in
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  Speaker 2: zines and zin making. She says, I love ze making
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  Speaker 2: because it's such a democratic way to create. I've never
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  Speaker 2: really been a standard design firm, corporate kind of creative,
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  Speaker 2: and I love being able to create my own boxes.
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  Speaker 2: It's always been difficult, and a lot of that has
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  Speaker 2: to do with my ADHD and undiagnosed autism. A lot
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  Speaker 2: of newer diversient people love very linear jobs and very
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  Speaker 2: role based kind of approaches to their work. But I
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  Speaker 2: love being able to bend things. I love being able
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  Speaker 2: to explore multiple worlds of how to make something. I
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  Speaker 2: love that zine making can be approached in a very
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  Speaker 2: non practical, flexible freeway. Is very similar to jazz, and
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  Speaker 2: I love that because when individuals create, it's so different.
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  Speaker 2: They to create what's in their heart. Like I said,
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  Speaker 2: I loved going to little small group meetups where people
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  Speaker 2: would make zines.
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  Speaker 3: I love these, I have a few of them, I
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  Speaker 3: need more. I needmoreial send me your zines.
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  Speaker 2: Anyway, moving on with her education, her passion, and her creativity,
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  Speaker 2: she's been able to communicate and allow for others with
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  Speaker 2: disabilities to communicate.
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  Speaker 3: Through the lens of art and photos.
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  Speaker 2: Because she's also an educator, she wanted to provide a
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  Speaker 2: free and safe space for everyone to be able to
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  Speaker 2: express themselves and represent themselves from these different mediums including photography,
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  Speaker 2: zinies and all those. But with that, she also understood
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  Speaker 2: the depth of communicating the levels of frustration and in
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  Speaker 2: justice she saw the times. In twenty twenty, she designed
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  Speaker 2: the Black Disabled Lives Matter symbol. For the same interview
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  Speaker 2: with The Nineteenth News, she talks about the legacy of
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  Speaker 2: the symbol as well as how it came up about
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  Speaker 2: so she says, I felt like I had to answer
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  Speaker 2: the call. There was a lot that wasn't being said
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  Speaker 2: about black disabled voices, and a lot was being left out.
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  Speaker 2: We were being left out of disabled narratives. But the
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  Speaker 2: reason a lot of black and brown folks were being
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  Speaker 2: victimized and dehumanized was in part because of their disabilities.
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  Speaker 2: Disability just added fuel to the fire. Black disabled folks
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  Speaker 2: get locked in cages. We are constantly misunderstood, We're dehumanized.
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  Speaker 2: We're objectified, reviewed as crazy or angry, when really we
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  Speaker 2: need support. All of those conversations were consistently being less
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  Speaker 2: out of the narrative of Black Lives Matter. I felt
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  Speaker 2: like not enough black disabled folks were being put in
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  Speaker 2: position of authority to help lead these conversations. We know,
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  Speaker 2: with the shooting of Elijah McClain in Colorado, there was
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  Speaker 2: a lot of conversations about this very, very thing, about
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  Speaker 2: the fact that he was a disabled black man who
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  Speaker 2: actually was able to communicate that he had disabilities, but
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  Speaker 2: no one was talking about it. No one was listening
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  Speaker 2: to that, And I feel like a part of that
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  Speaker 2: narrative was shut down because of so many other things.
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  Speaker 2: There are so many injustices. This is one of the
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  Speaker 2: most horrific things that I had seen, and we still
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  Speaker 2: need to talk about it because no justice has happened. Unfortunately,
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  Speaker 2: a lot of injustices happened because things have been kind
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  Speaker 2: of pushed aside or dismissed, and we should not forget.
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  Speaker 2: But he was a victim who was very vocal and
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  Speaker 2: people around him were vocal about his disabilities and how
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  Speaker 2: he was an amazing person, like his disabilities never stopped him,
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  Speaker 2: but he understood the limitations that he may had and
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  Speaker 2: let them know. But heartbreakingly that didn't work. But we
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  Speaker 2: have to remember what he went through, and we have
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  Speaker 2: to remember that he was a victim and he was
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  Speaker 2: murdered because no one was willing to listen to him,
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  Speaker 2: specifically those in authority. So so she goes on to
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  Speaker 2: talk about the process of creating these symbols. She said,
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  Speaker 2: I decided to play with a black power symbol and
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  Speaker 2: created something that really helped intersect the conversation on black
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  Speaker 2: nerddiversity and neudivergic culture. I wanted to make sure the
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  Speaker 2: word disable to actually show up in the art, that
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  Speaker 2: it was not a race from the conversation. I felt
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  Speaker 2: that the symbol helped contribute more visibility to the conversations
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  Speaker 2: that were already being held. I just played a part
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  Speaker 2: in a huge movement that was here before I was
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  Speaker 2: even born, and that will be here long after I'm gone.
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  Speaker 2: I love that so and all of these amazing things
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  Speaker 2: have definitely earned her some accolades, including a twenty twenty
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  Speaker 2: honoree on the divers Abilities D thirty Impact List and
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  Speaker 2: one of the twenty Latina artists to watch in twenty
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  Speaker 2: twenty one by Today dot com. And she has her
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  Speaker 2: orcs archived in different places like the National Museum of
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  Speaker 2: Women in the Arts and the Smithsonian National African American
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  Speaker 2: Museum of History and Culture and many others, so you
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  Speaker 2: can definitely see her works.
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  Speaker 3: She is doing exhibits today. She has so many scenes
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  Speaker 3: right now.
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  Speaker 2: You wanted to go look at her site Jinwhite Johnson
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  Speaker 2: dot com, you can.
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  Speaker 3: She's got some great stuff on there.
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  Speaker 2: I love her art and photography, and I love what
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  Speaker 2: she's doing, And kudos to are bringing attention to that
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  Speaker 2: and having this conversation about the fact it is joy
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  Speaker 2: and finding joy in those moments and making sure she's
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  Speaker 2: sharing that and having NOTx being able to share that.
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  Speaker 3: I just love it.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely well listeners, for sure go check out her work.
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  Speaker 1: But also, yeah, let us know about the scenes. If
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  Speaker 1: you've got a scene. If you make a scene, we
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  Speaker 1: are fans, so let us know. You can email us
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: at Hello at stuff onever told you dot com. You
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: can find us on Blue Sky at Mom's Soop podcast,
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: or on Instagram and TikTok at stuff I've Never told you.
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: We're also on YouTube. We have some merchandise at Coom
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: Bureau and we have a book you can get wherever
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: you get your books. Thanks as always to our super
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: producers Casey Andrima and her executive producer Maya, thank you
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: and thanks to you for listening stuff and told he
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  Speaker 1: his picture of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, you
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