News
Many in the global disability community will be sad to learn of the news of American disability activist and author Alice Wong, who passed away last Friday following a short illness.
Born in Indiana in 1974, Ms Wong became a pioneer for the disability community, serving as a member of the National Council on Disability, an appointment by President Barack Obama, from 2013 to 2015, according to the National Women’s History Museum.
The advocate also received a MacArthur Fellowship in 2024 for her decades of advocating for equal rights for people with disability, according to the New York Times.
“As a kid riddled with insecurity and internalized ableism, I could not see a path forward,” Ms Wong wrote in a post to social media.
Living with spinal muscular atrophy, a neuromuscular disorder, the activist’s passion and drive to amplify marginalised voices led her to create the Disability Visibility Project, an online community dedicated to creating, sharing, and amplifying disability media and culture.
In a post on her Facebook
page, Ms Wong’s friend Sandy Ho shared the advocate’s final message to the disability community.
I have so many dreams that I wanted to fulfill and plans to create new stories for you. I did not ever imagine I would live to this age and end up a writer, editor, activist, and more.
Alice Wong
As an author, her works included Year of the Tiger: An Activist's Life, Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century, and Disability Intimacy: Essays on Love, Care, and Desire, according to Penguin Books Australia.
Ms Wong’s message went on to thank the people who believed in her, adding that they gave her the confidence to finally feel “comfortable in my skin.”
Departing the world with one last piece of advice, Ms Wong urged the disability community to continue telling their story.
We need more stories about us and our culture…Our wisdom is incisive and unflinching. I'm honored to be your ancestor and believe disabled oracles like us will light the way to the future. Don't let the bastards grind you down. I love you all.
Alice Wong
Alice Wong was 51.