Cries from the Merry-Go-Round: A Fugue of Shouts from an Anti-Ableist Activist is a work of creative activism that suggests a redefinition of what a shout can be. In this case, the Shouts are literary expressions that call attention to urgent, emergent, or continuing daily acts of micro- and macro-aggressions against people living with disabilities who are resisting oppressive systemic ableism. The Shouts in this collection evoke critical reflections about our societal practices and question our current understanding of diversity, equity, and inclusivity relative to people living with their own “non-normative” physical and mental abilities. These narratives explore instances of the everyday occurrences of life, from seeking or maintaining relationships to dealing with the “little things” that pop into, and interrupt, our daily routines. The common thread between these Shouts happens to be people living with one or more disabilities.
Ultimately, Shouts are imperfect narratives of disabled lives. They are incomplete, not conforming, not conventional, not complicit, not complacent, always contesting, always critical, not exhaustive, never too much, never enough, hard to ignore, hard to hear, not any easier to read… So, why these Shouts? A single Shout, a call for attention, can reverberate and become a call for action, echoing and supporting existing Shouts, while triggering and fostering other emerging Shouts. These Shouts, although similar in their urgency, are unique in their particular experience. Each murmured or ear-splitting Shout resonates with another in a contrapuntal collection of critical tales that call attention to the routine realities of systemic ableism.
About the Contributors
Both the author and editor of these Shouts, like the people presented in this book, are considered and declared to be persons living with disabilities. They call themselves “labeled persons” because of how society-at-large perceives them and their abilities, expecting them to participate in that same society as “normal and fully functioning” citizens of the First World.
Farah Ankaly Aibol is an anti-ableist activist, currently residing in Canada, creating and performing expressions of resistance against ableism and righting instances of discrimination against people living with disabilities. Their Shouts are the result of a lifetime of interactions with non-allied people predisposed to pathologize their non-conformist behavior and expecting them to “act normally or seek a fix.” Their activism work has been performative and ephemeral, often improvised and instantaneous. These Shouts are their first expressions of resistance to become tangible in the form of a book.
Victor R. Rivas describes himself as a person who happens to be blind and navigates the world with the aid of a white cane. His creative activism and research focuses on narratives of resistance from historically marginalized communities, exploring issues of ableism and disability discrimination, Indigenous knowledge and protests in Abiayala, Latin American Testimonios, and other emerging expressions of resistance that advocate for improved diversity, equity, and inclusivity across the Americas. He is the author of Blues in Sol & Other/Otros Tripticos (Fundación Imprenta del Ministerio del Poder Popular para la Cultura, 2007) and Incursiones Culturales: El Testimonio Posmoderno de Alí Gómez García (Fundación Editorial El perro y la rana, Ministerio del Poder Popular para la Cultura, 2016). He is currently an Assistant Professor of Latin American Literary and Cultural Studies at the University of Toronto.