Reshaping Reality

July 6, 2021

My Open Letter to City Designers

I originally wrote this email for the Des Moines City Council. For the past year, I’ve adjusted the verbiage to reflect what I’ve heard in their City Council Meetings with the Public. I also adjust the bullet points and actions I (and others) wish to see them take. Otherwise, most of the letters are verbatim Continue reading

activism, Author, disability, Race, transgender

ableism, access, accessibility, Accessible Cities, disability, disability justice, Disability Pride, Fight Ableism, Homelessness, No More Ableism
November 30, 2025

Narratives, Pacing, and Conundrum of Ableism

Crossposted to Comradery The day starts cold, the wind brisk, and the pain I feel simmers at the usual 5 out of 10 pain scale. It is rare for it to drop below 5, even with pain meds like Tynelol, but after awhile, the body grows accustomed to the pain, making it an annoying background Continue reading

activism, Author, disability, Labor

accountability, biases, building community, chronic-illness, communication, disability, disability justice, disabled, empathy building, health, labor history, mental health, narratives, oppression, stereotypes
June 30, 2025

Clair Obscur: To be accountable to those that come after

CROSSPOST FROM COMRADERY. Part of a three part series: Disability (part 1), Right to Exist (part 2), and Accountability and Healing (part 3). In my prior essays, I related themes woven through Clair Obscur to show how it can parallel real world complexities and oppression. For the character of Alicia and Gustave (and even Lune Continue reading

Author, Characters, disability, Feminism, Game Writing, Reviews, Writing

abuse, accountability, Characters, clair obscur: expedition 33, disability, Game analysis, game narrative, healing, healing journey, justice, mental health, narrative analysis, responsibility, transformative justice, writing
June 26, 2025

Clair Obscur: That Which Seeks The Right To Exist Temporally and Spatially

THIS IS A CROSSPOST FROM COMRADERY. Part of a three part series: Disability (part 1), Right to Exist (part 2), and Accountability and Healing (part 3). In a world built upon alienation, people seek to be heard and seen. This may happen through social media, video or podcasts, essays like this one, video game guilds, Continue reading

activism, disability, Feminism, Game Writing, History, Philosophy, Physics, Race, transgender

Black people, civil rights, existence, game narrative, genocide, indigenous, Indigenous rights, justice, liberation, necrosecurity, nonbinary, Race, reference frames, revolution, temporality, themes, transgender
June 20, 2025

Clair Obscur Expedition 33 – That which hides hope with scars

CROSSPOST FROM MY COMADERY. Part of a three part series: Disability (part 1), Right to Exist (part 2), and Accountability and Healing (part 3). It may come as a surprise for some players to call Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 a Disabled narrative, and yet that is essential to the core of the story. Several of Continue reading

Blogging, disability, Game Writing, History, Labor, Reviews, Writing

Analyzing Video Games, anti-capitalism, capitalism, Characters, collective care, Culture of care, Deconstruction, disabilities, disability, disability justice, disabled, games, healing, healing from abuse, History of Disability, inclusion, justice, mental health, PTSD, video games, writing
June 17, 2025

Accessibility Zine Completed and Ready for Download

The Accessibility Zine my friend and I worked on is completed! I asked friends and members of the National General Strike group (they have an Accessibility affinity group) to review for errors and readability so I could revise and correct. The Zine covers: It perhaps is more accurately called a booklet due to its length. Continue reading

activism, disability, History, Labor

access, accessibility, disabilities, disability, disability justice, disabled, disabled history, education, Infectious Disease mitigations, justice, Zine
June 16, 2025

The Endings of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 — The Game Who Masks Truth And Lies With Beauty

Let’s explore the endings of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 by examining the ways the game deliberately misleads the player. We’ll also examine the character of Maelle/Alicia in particular to see what evidence we have concerning her Painter ability and of her morals and personality. NOTE THIS IS A CROSSPOST FROM MY COMRADERY. For those that Continue reading

Characters, Game Writing, Reviews

abuse, analysis of game endings, Characters, clair obscur, clair obscur: expedition 33, expedition 33, fantasy, fiction, game narratives, grief, healing from abuse, painting, reality, science fiction, video games
April 15, 2025

Bird’s Disabled Manifesto

I write this truth so all may understand the reality of Disability. Disability is the one category, the one group, the one community that anyone can join at any time in their life for any reason. Disability is defined by people. People can be born disabled. People may become disabled due to an infinite set Continue reading

activism, Author, disability

accessibility, disabilities, disability, disability justice, disabled, Disabled Manifesto, inclusion, intersectional, justice, Manifesto, mental health
April 3, 2025

Disabled Miners 1970s Strikes Strategies

The 1970s miner strikes brought together union and non-union miners in a series of wildcat strikes. Several strategies were utilized to great success. Continue reading

activism, History, Labor

1977/78 mining strikes, American Labor, Cross-movement organizing, Cross-movement solidarity, Disabled Miners, history, Labor movement, Militancy, organizing, politics, solidarity, State Retaliation, Strike strategy, strikes, Union, Wildcat Strikes
February 19, 2025

A History Lesson Part 2: Crawl if we have to

In Part One, I discussed the oppression disabled people faced in America. I then shared specifically two activist actions to show how disabled people and other groups worked in solidarity to win the day. Now let us visit yet another crucial moment in American history: The Capitol Crawl and Fight for ADA. Continue reading

activism, disability, Feminism, History, Race, transgender

activism, Capitol Crawl, demonstrations, disability justice, disabled, disabled history, history, justice, protests, solidarity
February 17, 2025

A History Lesson: Disabled Activists and our Right to Exist in Public

For a History Lesson and reminder of the role Disabled people have played in activism, I singled out a few instances, but there’s hundreds of thousands throughout America’s history. Many of the privileges and rights people have had are due partly to the fight of our disabled ancestors. Continue reading

activism, disability, Feminism, History, Race, transgender, Writing

activism, civil rights, disabilities, disability, disability justice, disabled, disabled history, human rights, insane asylums, intersectional feminism, justice, labor strikes, Race, section 504, strikes, ugly laws