Hello DTTS community!
Happy 33rd birthday to the Americans with Disabilities Act. In case you missed it, we’re celebrating Disability Pride Month by recasting an episode of the acclaimed podcast, Ten Thousand Things from our friends at KUOW and hosted by Shin Yu Pai, featuring the wonderful Alice Wong and her reflections on voice.
Also, be sure to check out the trailer for season 7 of Down to the Struts. You’ll get a sneak peek into the voices and stories you’ll be hearing over the next couple of months, starting on August 8. And while you’re in your favorite podcast app, make sure you’re subscribed and do feel free to leave us a review and tell us what you think—we love to hear from you!
You can also drop us a line at downtothestruts@gmail.com. Thank you for listening!
A huge part of disability pride for me has been hearing the stories of disabled ancestors, like Judy Heumann, Brad Lomax, and so many others who made it possible for disabled folks of my generation to live and thrive in our communities. Creating the podcast made me realize the importance of sharing stories to build power for our people. Listening to the experiences of my guests has helped me to understand my own story better. It has shown me that I am not alone in my experiences of ableism, and that together, we as disabled people can demand to be valued and heard with a louder voice than when we advocate alone.
That is why I have been humbled and honored over the last several months to serve as the impact producer for the celebrated documentary film, Unseen, which premiered at the Hot Docs film festival in Toronto, and has won awards at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific film festival and the San Francisco CAAM film festival. Unseen tells the story of Pedro, an aspiring social worker, as he navigates the dual experiences of being undocumented and having low vision.
It is a story that uplifts the humanity of immigrants, people with disabilities, and those grappling with mental health challenges. As the impact producer, I was responsible for creating an outreach strategy that would ensure that the film reaches its key audiences and becomes a catalyst for change. This opportunity offered me a front row seat to witness the unique tool of film to bring stories like Pedro’s to a large audience.
Together, we as disabled people can demand to be valued and heard with a louder voice than when we advocate alone.
I have learned so much from taking on this role as impact producer, thanks to the incredible leadership of Unseen’s director, Set Hernandez Rongkilyo, and producers Diane Quon, Felix Endara, Dorian Gomez, and Day Al-Mohamed. They ensured that Pedro and his story remained at the center of every decision that was made about the film. The members of the film team reflect core aspects of Pedro’s identity, including members who are undocumented themselves, and those who have disabilities. Mental health considerations were always a part of the process—with lots of grace, space, and kindness available for everyone if they were experiencing difficulties, no questions asked.
The film team also centered access as a core imperative of the process, bringing in Cheryl Green and Thomas Reid of the Social Audio Description Collective to design audio description and captioning that would ensure that Pedro and his blindness and disability communities could experience the film.
As I worked more closely with Set and his colleagues, I began to understand why the project they created together was so special—it was built on a deep understanding of stories and how they can allow us to really listen to one another in a way that legal arguments, statistics, and lengthy academic analysis simply cannot.
I witnessed this first-hand when we screened the film for the students in CUNY Law School’s Immigrant and Noncitizen Rights Clinic, where I taught during the 2022-2023 academic year. In class, we discussed how ableism operates in the immigration system. These abstract discussions were brought to life, as the students walked through a snippet of Pedro’s life in the film. The power of storytelling was palpable in the room as the students, many of whom were undocumented themselves or came from immigrant backgrounds, saw their stories reflected on the big screen.
Those moments in the classroom solidified for me the ultimate goal of the impact campaign. It wasn’t a grandiose vision of convincing policymakers to change the immigration laws—it was a far more grounded path to ultimately achieve that goal that needed to be deeply rooted in the communities that the film represented.
When we see ourselves in the stories we consume, we know we are not alone in our experiences. And when we know we are not alone, we realize that change is possible.
I knew then that we had to get the film in front of as many disabled, immigrant, communities of color as possible. Because when we see ourselves in the stories we consume, we know we are not alone in our experiences. And when we know we are not alone, we realize that change is possible because we are more powerful as a collective. I knew then, surrounded by the tear-stained, but determined faces of my students, that this was the kind of changemaking I wanted to be a part of.
For much of my life, my disability was a burden I had to bear, a problem that I alone had to solve. Once I began to hear the stories of other blind people, I discovered that my experience wasn’t unique—others had come before me, and were there to show me the way. That knowledge eased my burden, lightened my load. And when the weight came off my back, I began to realize my own power. I began to speak up and demand access. I would not take anything less than a world that was better-designed to have me in it, because I knew that’s what I deserved. This was possible because I knew there were others standing beside me who demanded the same.
To my disability community on this Disability Pride Month, I hope that you see yourselves in the stories of others, and I hope that Down to the Struts can play some small part in bringing those stories to you, because you deserve to see yourselves in the media you consume. And to the ancestors whose stories we remember this month, may you rest knowing that the power you gave all of us by sharing your lives compels us to carry on your legacy.
You can visit www.unseen-film.com to watch a trailer for Unseen and learn more about the project. Stay tuned for more information about upcoming screenings, and how you can bring Unseen to your community.
In solidarity,
Qudsiya