Welcome to The Black Disability Institute at New Disabled South!
The Black Disability Institute serves as a bridge between the research community and the black community, through partnering on change strategies and initiatives, conducting community education, and serving as a trusted source of information on the issues that matter most to our community.
The Big Vision
Our aim is to shift narratives and expand the dialogue around what it means to be disabled and black and to increase funding for and focus on assessment of the issues that keep black disabled people locked out of equal opportunities for self determination, quality care, and economic independence.
We are creating a table where we will invite major players in the world of research and policy to sit in on our company and hear what our experts are producing.
What We Know
We know that there is deep distrust in the black community around research because of the traumatic history of black people being abused and used by researchers.
We also know that black people remain marginalized or excluded from major research initiatives, even those that directly impact our communities.
Because of the intersecting issues that impact black disabled people, there are many barriers to participation in research and generally widespread lack of knowledge about the importance of research on improving the material condition of black disabled people’s lives.
What We Do
The Issues We’re Researching at BDI
The research we’re doing is foundational to creating the world we want to exist, and we know in order to do that we have to work from the world that currently exists.
The people we work with are actual power holders and power brokers – including and sometimes especially those who are “on the other side” of the aisle and issues.
Under the New Disabled South umbrella, Black Disability Institute has three priority pillars: Employment + Poverty, Criminalization, and Democracy, with a current three-year focus on Employment + Poverty.