A couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity to meet up with Andrea Assaf and Dora Arreola of Art2Action and University of South Florida's School of Theater and Dance , respectively. They form a team that develops community-engaged theater in Tampa and internationally, with a focus on LGBTQ stories, veterans, and immigrant women. I found out about their work when a friend sent me a link to this trailer of a play about disability and queerness that they had produced. Samuel Valdez (right) is actually disabled, he is not an actor playing someone with something like cerebral palsy. I was immediately impressed by this, because so often, disabled characters are played by able-bodied actors. Beyond that, it was obvious that the play had been staged with deep attention to Valdez' natural "atypical" movements, giving the dialogue and the stage action an authenticity and freshness I seldom see when it comes to disability in the theater. So, I was totally thrilled when

Hey, @FloridaCRC : Privacy protections must stay intact for #reproductiverights CRC's taking public comments now: https://t.co/YbcG3hqhgT http://pic.twitter.com/HRvTKawwkn — amber dipietra (@thebodypoetik) July 21, 2017 from Twitter https://twitter.com/thebodypoetik July 21, 2017 at 02:42PM via IFTTT

 Willard Masa and his wife Marie Menken were experimental filmmakers and poets.

Certainly, many disabled friends prefer #Cripple . It's reclamation. But, they're not using it as metaphor for spiritual deficiency. 2f/2 — amber dipietra (@thebodypoetik) July 7, 2017 from Twitter https://twitter.com/thebodypoetik July 07, 2017 at 12:47AM via IFTTT

felt #crippled anew, as an adult this time, by entrenched metaphors. I just patted his arm and walked away. 2e/2 — amber dipietra (@thebodypoetik) July 7, 2017 from Twitter https://twitter.com/thebodypoetik July 07, 2017 at 12:26AM via IFTTT

them & wait to see if God would strike me, the #Cripple , dead on the spot. Guess I should've told the old man the story. but I 2d/2 — amber dipietra (@thebodypoetik) July 7, 2017 from Twitter https://twitter.com/thebodypoetik July 07, 2017 at 12:25AM via IFTTT

The biblical word filled me with shame. So I'd wish for the pulpit to crush 2c/2 — amber dipietra (@thebodypoetik) July 7, 2017 from Twitter https://twitter.com/thebodypoetik July 07, 2017 at 12:19AM via IFTTT

He said he was from an older generationn. As a kid, they'd talk about the #cripple in church and I'd do an experiment in my kid's mind. 2b/2 — amber dipietra (@thebodypoetik) July 7, 2017 from Twitter https://twitter.com/thebodypoetik July 07, 2017 at 12:16AM via IFTTT

Took him aside & told him to pls consider that the word #cripple is tantamount to saying nigger or faggot to some people. 2a/2 — amber dipietra (@thebodypoetik) July 7, 2017 from Twitter https://twitter.com/thebodypoetik July 07, 2017 at 12:12AM via IFTTT

At an interfaith group today. It was lovely, until an older man started talking about #cripples as metaphor for spiritual deficiency. 1/2 — amber dipietra (@thebodypoetik) July 7, 2017 from Twitter https://twitter.com/thebodypoetik July 07, 2017 at 12:07AM via IFTTT

Venus Xtravaganza, Trans sex workers=purveyors of culture. & when you're murdered bc parts & holes don't fit someone's idea of masculinity. http://pic.twitter.com/92Omar5zNQ — amber dipietra (@thebodypoetik) July 5, 2017 from Twitter https://twitter.com/thebodypoetik July 05, 2017 at 02:48AM via IFTTT

Watched Paris Is Burning on Fourth of July. https://t.co/9os2wG0uMj http://pic.twitter.com/LLkEhSxnpw — amber dipietra (@thebodypoetik) July 5, 2017 from Twitter https://twitter.com/thebodypoetik July 05, 2017 at 02:35AM via IFTTT