Feminist activist feature: Isabel Mavrides-Calderon
Isabel Mavrides-Calderon, 18, is a Latina disability justice activist and organizer. Her work focuses on advocating for policy change, accessibility, and anti-ableism. She has hosted numerous campaigns and protests for disability rights bills with the ACLU, Patients Rising and the Center for Disability Rights. Isabel was one of the leaders of a successful campaign to take down CVS vs DOE, a Supreme Court case that threatened to gut the Americans with Disabilities Act. She has also worked as an accessibility consultant for various think tanks and protests, such as the Australian National Climate Strike.
In addition to organizing, Isabel advocates for the disabled community as a public speaker. She has given guest lectures in universities across the country and has spoken at numerous conferences and on news platforms such as NBC. She is currently hosting a series with the ACLU called “Educating for Access” where she breaks down disability history and current events issues. Isabel was named one of Teen Vogue’s 21 Under 21 Revolutionary Youth for her advocacy work. Currently, she is working with Disability Rights International, an organization that is working towards ending institutionalization and ensuring the safety and rights of disabled people in war-torn countries, such as Ukraine.
FEMINIST interviewed the activist in light of her ACLU series “Educating for Access” and her continued advocacy work for disability rights. Learn about her activism journey and what disability justice, rights, and joy means to her. →
Q: As a disabled young latina, how have your lived experiences shaped your approach towards activism?
IMC: As a young person growing up, most of the time when I would hear about disability, it was about finding a cure for disabilities. I never heard about disability from a civil rights, policy, or accessibility perspective.When I became disabled, I thought that my body solely caused the barriers I faced. Being disabled, advocacy wasn’t really a choice, but a survival mechanism, because I needed to advocate for myself in the classroom, the doctor's office, and in every facet of my life to have some sort of access or accommodations. Through advocating for myself, I realized that when I did have accessibility, my barriers suddenly weren’t nearly as big. For this reason, the goal of my activism is never to fix disabled bodies but instead to fix society by focusing on the laws & policies that protect disabled people's civil rights and the access around us.
My lived experiences as a Latina have also impacted how I approach my activism. Within the disability rights movement, our rights are often viewed within a vacuum, despite the fact that historically, landmark policies for disability rights have been passed through movement solidarity. As a result, the way in which intersectional identities impact the disabled experience is rarely spoken about. For this reason, I try to make my activism as intersectional as possible.
Q: Throughout your activism work, do you find that many may have misconceptions about disability rights? If so, in what ways do you combat them?
IMC: I think the biggest misconception that is at the root of so many other dangerous misconceptions is that disabled lives are inherently tragic and that the goal of the disability rights movement is to create a world where disability doesn’t exist. It doesn’t help that there are plenty of disability organizations run by non-disabled people that truly do have this as a goal. I try to combat this first on a small scale by, for example, breaking down the issue with movies like Me Before You that push the idea that death is preferable to disability. Then on a wider scale, I combat this by fighting against policies that are based on this same messaging. For example, during the height of the pandemic, in 23 states, it was legal for disabled people to be denied ventilators. This implies that disabled lives are inherently "less" than those of able body people, which in itself is a violation of human rights.
Q: What does disability rights and disabled joy mean to you?
IMC: I think this ties to my response above. In a world where death is preferable to disability to the point where approximately one disabled person is murdered by their caregiver a week, and these murderers are portrayed as merciful by the media and courts alike, disabled joy is revolutionary. Fighting for disability rights is an act of self-love and joy, because, at its core, it’s a movement that validates our bodies' value and our communities' worth.
Q: How has your activism changed/been impacted by the pandemic?
IMC: It changed my activism drastically. During the pandemic, I saw my community (the disabled community) dying at an increased rate. I also saw how little people valued disabled lives. With so many, saying things along the lines of “ the pandemic isn’t that big of a deal, only disabled people are dying”. This made me double down on the work I was doing. But the pandemic also gave me a whole new avenue of doing activism. I had always done on-the-ground activism, but anytime I was in the hospital, I’d have to put my work on pause. Through the world going remote, activism became more accessible to me. While I was in the hospital after spinal surgery, I was able to work as an accessibility consultant for a major protest in Australia. That showed me that with accessibility, like remote options, I can do so much.
Q: How do you raise awareness for current issues in the disabled community?
IMC: Due to my activism work, I’ve been privileged enough to have opportunities to speak at conferences, universities, and on the news about disability rights issues. However, I truly think I can raise more awareness about issues facing our community through social media. While in conferences about disability rights, the people who generally attend already know or care about disability rights, on TikTok, my videos have the potential to get on the for you page of people who have never heard about the issues talked about before. I take that responsibility very seriously.
Q: From your perspective are disability rights and intersectional feminism intertwined?
IMC: Absolutely, there are so many intersecting issues. For example, Reproductive Justice is critical for both intersectional feminism and disability justice. There was a Supreme Court case, Buck v Bell, which ruled that forced sterilization of a disabled person is legal. That case has never been overturned. Ironically, disabled bodies are so often used as a pawn in pro-life supporters' arguments saying that “abortion is eugenics,” yet instead of trying to overturn Buck v Bell, which is true eugenics, they overturned Roe v Wade. In fact, disabled people are disproportionately impacted by the overturning of Roe v Wade, because disabled people are significantly more likely to face deadly pregnancy complications. Disabled women and AFAB people face unique struggles, from medical gaslighting to increased rates of sexual assault to physical violence. It is critical that issues of disability rights are included in the conversation of intersectional feminism.
Q: Do you feel that disability justice is connected to liberation for all? If so, how so?
IMC: Something I always tell people is, even if you don’t care about anyone other than yourself, you should care about disability justice as an insurance policy because, statistically, most people will become disabled before they die. Beyond that, disability justice benefits everyone. For example, the remote options that disabled people have begged for years, became really useful during the pandemic for non-disabled people and would have probably had fewer hiccups if we had implemented them when disabled people asked for them in the first place. Accessible infrastructure like ramps or curb cuts benefits people with strollers and so much more!
Q: In what ways do you think all people can practice inclusivity, accessibility, and disability awareness past this month?
IMC:
A few tangible things you can do: if you are holding an event, include a way for people to Zoom in & check to see if the location you are holding it at is accessible! Posting a video? Caption it! Listen to disabled people when it comes to disability rights issues.
Unfortunately, disability rights current event issues are rarely spoken about on the mainstream news, so seek it out, do research, and follow disabled journalists and disabled creators.
More than just awareness, we need acceptance and tangible change.
Q: What advice would you give to aspiring changemakers looking to make an impact in their communities?
IMC: Don’t be afraid to admit you don’t know something. Do research, speak to others, find community, and fight! The movement will not crumble by you taking a break! You are not alone.
Q: What do you hope to achieve through your activism work? What does the future of the disability rights and justice movement look like to you?
IMC: My ultimate hope is to create a world where disabled people can simply exist without having to navigate a world that was not created for them. Where disabled people can live without being pitied or discriminated against. That definitely will not happen overnight, but at the very least, I hope people can learn that we don’t need pity; we need policy change.
Right now, there have been so many threats to disability rights legislation that we have had for years. Hence, the possibility that the state of disability rights could worsen in the future legitimately scares me. I also have immense hope for the future of the movement. I’ve seen more and more young people discussing these issues. My hope is that our generation will help bring disability rights into the main
Q: What does intersectional feminism mean to you?
IMC: Intersectional feminism means that every life is inherently equal in worth, equal in value and deserves equal treatment. As a disabled person in a world where disabled lives are not viewed as equal, I need to constantly remind myself of these rights to propel my work and urge others to do the same.
Further your support for Isabel Mavrides-Calderon by following her Journey with activism on Instagram → here.
