Blog – Day Al-Mohamed

UPDATED - Book Research: Ain Adhari

Wed, 13 Aug 2025 03:18:44 GMT

Okay, this is actually a bit of a repost (with additions from me) of a 2017 post about Ain Adhari or Adhari Pool, a freshwater spring in the Zinj area of Bahrain. I was thinking about it in reference to how communities congregate around water, particularly in desert regions. There was a lot of reminiscing and I had been hopeful about the changes happening but it looks like history repeats.

Ain Adhari, was a natural spring that seemed to be the center of a community many years ago. It was fresh water bubbling up from below ground to a large natural pool. There were birds and frogs and all around there grew huge palm trees offering shade for visitors. My father talked about swimming in Adhari pool and there being fish that lived in there as well. Women would come from all over the island with bundles of clothes and do their washing using the natural channels of the spring. Families would have picnics on the grass and swim in the blue waters. All around it was farmland and date plantations, the water would flow through from the sweet water springs through irrigation ditches to supply expansive orchards and fertile gardens. There’s an old story that the waters of Adhari came into being when a virgin dug in the ground in search of water. After she dug but a little ways, the water bubbled up into her hands, fresh and cool and sweet.

When I was a child, the spring was already dying. There were no longer any fish, and the water had turned brackish with moss and algae. There was trash all around and the water no longer fed the channels around it, leaving little but a few palms desperately holding on and some scraggly brush. A few years after that, the waters dried up and it was abandoned completely.

In 2002, the government began to recognize the loss of Adhari park and decided to try and revive the spring and build a park for the community. It was remodeled again in 2006 and further improvements made. A "new" Adhari Park now exists with a “pool” that is 500 square meters…a pool-pool not a natural spring pool. And there are outdoor and indoor rides for people of all ages, a Family Entertainment Center, 10 food outlets at the Food Court, you get the idea. It is an amusement park.

In some ways, I guess it is great that they found a way to preserve some of what was Adhari Park and another part of me

laments what was lost, and what, in many ways, I never got to see - Ain Adhari as a fulcrum of a desert community. Or maybe I'm just romanticizing.

As they say, pictures are worth 1000 words. I put these in what looks like chronological order. It’s amazing to note how this place has changed over time.

UPDATE (August 2025): The world turns and things cycle around. Sadly, it looks like the costs of upkeep and operations of the original spring pool was too much.

These last photos are from almost the same angle but follow Ain Adhari over almost 50 years. From the 70s to the 2000s.

Ain Adhari as a pool in 2016

Below is Ain Adhari in 2018 and then in 2023.

Sadly, as of 2023, it looks like Ain Adhari is again sliding into decay as investors look for more modern and upscale luxury attractions.

PBS’ ‘American Masters’ Launches Visibility, Inclusion and Accessibility Initiative

Tue, 05 Dec 2023 17:58:28 GMT

The new commitment, which aims to increase documentary programming by, for and about disabled communities, will support the disability history series 'Renegades,' and includes a talent incubator and expanded accessibility features for the PBS programming.

‘American Masters’

COURTESY OF WNET/AMERICAN MASTERS

PBS ‘ acclaimed documentary series American Masters has launched a new inclusion effort aimed at supporting stories by, for and about disabled communities.

The Visibility, Inclusion and Accessibility Initiative aims to expand American Masters‘ commitment to stories and creatives within the larger disability community, launching with a new series, Renegades, alongside a talent incubator and expanded accessibility features for programming distributed by the series.

“There is a broad and diverse audience hungry for this content,” said Michael Kantor, executive producer of American Masters . “Thanks to steadfast support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other partners, we look forward to working closely with Day Al-Mohamed and A manda Upson to expand and deepen our commitment to stories for, by and about people with disabilities.”

Debuting in October 2024, the digital series Renegades will highlight and celebrate the lives of diverse American historical figures with disabilities, with five teams of disabled filmmakers producing, directing and writing the episodes. The series is created by FWD-Doc co-founder Day Al-Mohamed, who served as Director of Disability Policy at the White House, produced by FWD-Doc Interim Director Amanda Upson with Charlotte Mangin executive producing.

Upson will also lead the VIA’s Incubator, which will be creating with input from artists, accessibility experts, public media stations and organizations. Focused on driving increased opportunities for disabled filmmakers within the public media system and improving diversity and representation in front of and behind the camera, the incubator will — with American Masters’ support — convene filmmakers multiple times starting in November 2023.

Alongside support for creatives and their stories, American Masters will expand the tools available to access that work for all audiences, starting in early 2024 with Edward Hopper: An American Love Story in early 2024. Following its work creating a more equitable digital viewing experience with films like Becoming Helen Keller, Renegades Pilot: Kitty O’Neil, Elsa, and Protactile: A Language of Touch, American Masters will create accessible online versions of its new programs and accompanying trailers.

Previous projects have featured ASL interpretation and audio description, as well as websites designed with deaf, blind and DeafBlind audiences in mind. Under the initiative, newer releases will continue and grow these efforts with extended audio description, open captioning and onscreen ASL interpretation, continuing to advance the stories in public media that champion visibility, inclusion and access.

Funding for the VIA Initiative comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, with additional support provided by Anderson Family Charitable Fund, Rosalind P. Walter Foundation, The Marc Haas Foundation, Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III and The Philip and Janice Levin Foundation.

Labyrinth’s Archivist (Book Secrets): Braille in a Fantasy World

Wed, 15 Jan 2020 19:42:00 GMT

Notes from my time writing “ The Labyrinth’s Archivist ” and fun tidbits.

Azulea lives in a culture and a family where knowledge and information is revered; where mapmaking and reading and writing is considered an essential skill. But Azulea is blind. No matter how great her memory is, I also needed to make her literate.

Literacy is the ability to read and write. That sounds odd but it makes sense when I tell you, in 1960 more than 50% of blind American children were literate in braille, but today less than 10% of blind American children are taught to read and write in braille.

As a blind woman, I use a computer with a screenreader and yes, my phone talks to me but I also read braille. While using technology for audio output it wonderful and has given me a whole internet full of information that I never had before, living completely aurally is not the same as being able to read and write.

Braille ensures you know how to spell words, and helps to understand their etymology and connections to each other, and in many ways braille allows you to more easily examine your grammar and sentence structure. If you do not have an independent efficient medium to read and write for yourself, then I would argue that you are not literate.

So where does Azulea get braille?

Another character, Davarr, refers to Parascotopetl as the “dark world”. Where better to have a version of braille arise than on a world that is shrouded in darkness?

Now, as for the “book secret”, did you recognize the name “Parascotopetl” ?

Parascotopetl is an homage to H.G. Wells’ short story, “The Country of the Blind.” Nunez is climbing the mountain Parascotopetl in Ecuador and falls down the far side into an isolated valley where all its inhabitants are blind.

You can read the story for yourself here: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11870

And just as a bit of trivia. Did you know there are braille-readers who can read with their fingers at speeds over 200 words per minute?

Labyrinth’s Archivist (Book Secrets) - Ful and Food

Mon, 11 Nov 2019 14:38:00 GMT

Notes from my time writing “ The Labyrinth’s Archivist ” and fun tidbits. This one focuses on the food in the novel, and a breakfast dish in particular.

I wanted the world in the Labyrinth’s Archivist to mirror parts of Middle Eastern culture. I wanted it to have the sounds and smells that are almost but not quite the same as a souq in Egypt, Syria, or Yemen. One of the most powerful identifiers of any culture or community is its food.

One of the dishes that I included in the book is ful, or ful mudammas (spelling may vary slightly). The protagonist, Azulea, has it for breakfast. Ful is pretty common across the Middle East. Fava beans are everywhere, the only difference in the dish is usually what is added and/or the ratios of the ingredients. Fava beans cooked in olive oil with cumin and garlic and lemon juice. Sometimes with parsley and onion, or tahini, or tomato. There are quite a few regional variations.

The image below shows a ful breakfast dish. Although I’ve seen it much more commonly mashed up into a porridge. This seems to be a bit fancier version.

Plate/bowl of ful mostly whole in oil with onion, parsley, red pepper, and a side of lemon and hard boiled eggs.

The version below is most similar to the breakfast porridge that is common in Egypt and is closest to what Azulea eats in the book.

I had to include one last version. This ful below is the one I’m most familiar with. It is with the beans pureed and mixed with tahini, olive oil, and red pepper paste. More of a dip rather than a stew. A lot of recipes online refer to it as “Aleppo-style”.

Oh, and I found a recipe! For those daring souls interested in trying it out themselves:

https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/ful-medammes

Labyrinth’s Archivist (Book Secrets) – Cordyceps III

Tue, 01 Oct 2019 20:39:00 GMT

Notes from my time writing “ The Labyrinth’s Archivist ” and fun tidbits.

Video of a cordyceps infection. I put this in a separate post because it is definitely disturbing. WARNING: Watch at your own risk. I still have the occasional nightmare about this.

If you haven’t already done so, and want more information but less “yuck” you can always just read about cordyceps and the “corpse bloom” in my previous posts: Cordyceps I and Cordyceps II .

Labyrinth’s Archivist (Book Secrets): Cordyceps II

Sun, 01 Sep 2019 00:52:00 GMT

Notes from my time writing “ The Labyrinth’s Archivist ” and fun tidbits.

1. X-Files. Season 2 Episode 9 (Firewalker) – Mulder and Scully, reunited at last, head for an active volcano under a geological study and find a deadly life form that can survive in the searing heat of the crater and is killing the scientists to avoid being discovered. (Yep, it is a silica-based lifeform that propagates similarly to Cordyceps.)

2. The Last of Us. 2013 Video Game. The Last of Us (2013) is now one of the most best-selling video games of all time. It involves characters trying to travel and survive in a post-apocalyptic United States. What was the apocalypse? It was a pandemic where 60% of the population was infected by mutated strain of the Cordyceps. (It looks like there’s currently a television adaptation in the works of The Last of Us for HBO).

3. Parasect. Pokemon Species . – Oh yeah, you read that right. There even is a cordyceps pokemon. Here is the information on Parasect from Bulbapedia:

Labyrinth’s Archivist Cover Reveal

Sun, 30 Jun 2019 01:50:00 GMT

The Labyrinth’s Archivist now has a cover and I love it! What do you think?

Labyrinth’s Archivist Research (Book Secrets): Hypatia

Sun, 14 Apr 2019 13:29:00 GMT

Notes from my time writing “ The Labyrinth’s Archivist ” and fun tidbits.

Remember when I said that the Great Archive in the Labyrinth’s Archivist grew out of the Great Library of Alexandria? Here is one very concrete example to show that this wasn’t just via inspiration.

Yes, the Library of Alexandria inspired the Great Archive but I wanted to hint at a more concrete connection. That hint came in the form of Azulea’s mother’s name – Hypatia.

Hypatia really existed. She was an astronomer, mathematician, philosopher, and teacher at one of the foremost schools of thought in Alexandria. Now the Library of Alexandria was long gone in her lifetime. She lived in about 400 CE, the Library began dying in about 145 BCE and by 270-ish CE there was almost no mention of it in history. However, because of popularity at the time in history, her influence of students, philosophers, and thinkers, and because of her writings on mathematics and astronomy she’s often associated with the Library of Alexandria.

In our history, because of tensions between Christians and Pagans and a political power struggle, she was the victim of a smear campaign and derided as a witch. She was well respected throughout the city of Alexandria and known as a wise counselor. But so overwhelming was this political campaign (one side was trying to get to the other by denigrating her) that she was attacked by a mob of Christians and torn to pieces. It sent shockwaves through the city and actually throughout the entire region. Historically, philosophers and thinkers were considered sacrosanct and were usually not harmed by the many riots and fights that broke out in the cities of the time.

By naming Azulea’s mother Hypatia, I wanted to hint at some connection between our world (and its scholars and thinkers) and hers? Did the Shining City take in refugees from the burning of the Library of Alexandria? Did students of “our” Hypatia make it across the Labyrinth through the Hall of Gates at the Great Archive? Maybe our world and the world of the book are a lot more connected than we think.

Labyrinth’s Archivist Research (Book Secrets): The Great Library of Alexandria

website@sitemodify.com (Website Editor) — Fri, 01 Mar 2019 00:39:00 GMT

Notes from my time writing “ The Labyrinth’s Archivist ” and fun tidbits.

When the opportunity arose to write a novella set in a labyrinth with “gates” leading to a myriad of worlds, the thought occurred to me: What would be most valuable in such a universe with interconnected worlds? The answer was information.

When I was young, I had heard a story about the Great Library of Alexandria; remember, Alexandria was a port city and part of a massive trade route between East and West. The story was that every time a ship docked in Alexandria, the Great Library would send out librarians/scholars to search the ships for any books. They would then take those books back to the library and make copies of them and then return the originals to the owners. Books and scrolls were purchased and brought to Alexandria from all over the known world. The greatest minds would come here to study and research and then teach. It was an archive and academy. The Library of Alexandria was to be the repository of all the world’s knowledge.

So now, I am creating a facsimile except with trade routes spanning not just countries, but also worlds. A Great Archive tasked with collecting the knowledge of these worlds; to craft maps to safely travel the byways of the Labyrinth, and to translate and catalog hundreds of languages, cultures, flora, and fauna. My Great Archive grew directly from the history of the Library of Alexandria.

Permission to Come Aboard, Captain? – Star Trek: Discovery and the #Disability Visibility Podcast

Fri, 29 Dec 2017 22:08:00 GMT

Earl Grey?

There is something about the exploration and adventure and the sense of hope for a better future that really speaks to me.

Alice Wong (who is amazing by the way) hosted Andrew Pulrang of DisabilityThinking and myself, for a conversation about disability representation in Star Trek: Discovery , what we hope to see the from the show in the future, and why science fiction is political.

You can listen to the whole podcast on the Disability Visibility Project website here: https://disabilityvisibilityproject.com/2018/01/01/ep-15-star-trek-discovery/

And if you’re not quite sure…let me give you a couple of quotes:

and

Book Research: The Arab Jeweler

Fri, 22 Dec 2017 01:44:00 GMT

You can tell I’m in research mode as I keep finding little snippets of things that set my mind spinning. And of course, I have to save some of these snippets for fear I shall forget.

Today’s inspiration is an oil painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art called The Arab Jeweler from about 1882 by Charles Sprague Pearce (1851–1914). It is very much in line with the rise of public interest in the “exotic” and Orientalist themes, but I will say, I still found the image striking.

Book Research: Ain Adhari

Tue, 31 Oct 2017 17:44:00 GMT

Okay, this is actually a bit of reminiscing for me. Ain Adhari or Adhari Spring or Adhari Park (as it is now called) was a freshwater spring in the Zinj area of Bahrain. I was thinking about it in reference to how communities congregate around water, particularly in desert regions.

In some ways, I guess it is great that they found a way to preserve some of what was Adhari Park and another part of me

laments what was lost, and what, in many ways, I never got to see - Ain Adhari as a fulcrum of a desert community. Or maybe I'm just romanticizing.

As they say, pictures are worth 1000 words. I put these in what looks like chronological order. It’s amazing to note how this place has changed over time.

These last photos are from almost the same angle but follow Ain Adhari over almost 50 years. From the 70s to the 2000s.

Ain Adhari as a pool in 2016

Random #Research Finds

Fri, 28 Jul 2017 10:50:00 GMT

Working on a project. Doing some research. Collecting information, images, and footage. And had to share this.

AwesomeCon Panel – Trauma & Neurodiversity Images in Comics

Sat, 10 Jun 2017 18:07:00 GMT

Yes, believe it or not, for once I am actually posting about an event BEFORE I attend/present. This coming weekend is AwesomeCon and I will be on a panel about “Trauma & Neurodiversity Images in Comics.” Although I know the focus is on comics, I hope to at least address the presence and representation of trauma and mental health in the recent spate of television series’ based on comic books; Jessica Jones and Legion come to mind specifically.

Reading at East City Bookshop for OutWrite’s “The Future is Queer”

Thu, 04 May 2017 17:35:00 GMT

OutWrite Presents “ The Future is Queer” : An evening of queer speculative fiction. Readings from Sarah Pinsker , Craig L. Gidney , Day Al-Mohamed and Sunny Moraine . Moderated by Marianne Kirby .

I love love loved this entire event. The friendly outreach, the reminders, the fact that the bookshop took care to get in copies of our books, a well prepared moderator, awesome co-readers, and an AMAZING audience. This goes down as one of my most favorite author events ever. If OutWrite or East City Books ever asks for my support for anything, in a heartbeat, I’ll be there.

Just a few quick images from the evening. For anyone interested in reading the short piece I contributed to the evening, you can find it published at Fireside Fiction .

But the best and coolest thing of all….I’ve been memed!!!

Cool Firsts – Writer of the Week (and I learn about a couple of awesome poets – Katie Condon and John Brandon)

Sun, 23 Apr 2017 16:31:00 GMT

Okay, okay, let me take a moment and humble-brag…wait, it’s not a humble-brag, it’s just a brag. Actually, it is a cool “first” and not necessarily one that I would ever have expected but I’m someone’s “Writer of the Week.” That someone is Maudlin House. But more than that it was also an introduction to a press and some writers who I didn’t know and who, frankly, are amazing.

Maudlin House is a Chicago-based literary press which has the pretty cool tagline “times are hard but we can still write weird”. And in addition to their website, they’ve got a pretty active Facebook and Twitter page.

I’m pretty excited to be included with the awesomeness that is Katie Condon , a wicked cool poet whose work focuses on the intersection between family, religion, and sexâ€”particularly the ways conservative religious ideologies obscure and manipulate the ways we understand ourselves as sexual beings. You don’t get much more subversive than that, right? If you get a chance, click over and read her poem, Praying Naked . It is one of those quietly disturbing pieces that is all the more powerful for the truth it imparts, a truth that is real for far too many young women in our society

And John Brandon , who is from just up the way in Baltimore. Almost in contrast, his poetry reflects his Christian beliefs, but is definitely filled with imagery of the Romanticists, and as he says of himself, he “likes writing a lot of floral imagery into his work and has been known to stack nature-scented metaphors atop each other like skyscrapers.” That is very much in evidence in his piece Of Dog and Flower .

You can find out more about them (and me) at the Writer of the Week post . I’m still kind of squee about that. I made someone’s Writer of the Week! Squeeeee!

And if after all of that you’re interested in reading a bit more, one of my favorite pieces up at Maudlin House is from February, Five Different Ways of Doing Monday Morning . It is a fun story that is really more of an old “Choose Your Own Adventure” book.

Media and Disability Representation

Wed, 08 Mar 2017 14:26:00 GMT

It is well understood that film and television are a part of our cultural experience. In fact more than 50 years ago, the Supreme Court observed how film impacts “public attitudes and behavior in a variety of ways, ranging from direct espousal of a political or social doctrine to subtle shaping of thought which characterizes all artistic expression” and that they “are a significant medium for the communication of ideas,” and their “importance as an organ of public opinion is not lessened by the fact that they are designed to entertain as well as to inform.” The representation of disability within film and television should be a part of that cultural exchange.

In the last couple of years we have seen a marked increase in the visibility of disability in the media. Examples include very visible national advertisements that include individuals with disabilities: Swiffer, with a one-armed dad; a blind mom and her use of Facebook, a lesbian couple learning to sign to adopt a child from Wells Fargo, an aunt who is a wheelchair user in a Honey Maid commercial, and the presence of models with Down Syndrome in several Target print ads just to name a few. And of course, one cannot talk about increased visibility and not mention Nyle DiMarco’s win in Dancing with the Stars, the success on Broadway of Spring Awakening with its diverse cast, and of course the television series, Speechless.

What is also visible is where disability is perhaps not treated as well. These include mainstream media commenting critically on the prevalence of disability in Oscar wins. As was noted in one article, “Since Dustin Hoffman won a Best Actor Oscar playing ‘Rain Man,’ a majority of Best Actor Oscars were taken home by men playing the sick or handicapped.” Also, the response to disability protests for films such as “Me Before You” which, arguably only offer dangerous stereotypes that it is better for an individual with a disability to die (usually beautifully and/or tragically) rather than live with the impairment. For the first time, media outside the disability community blogosphere was examining this trend and finding fault.

According to the U.S. Census, there are 56 million people with disabilities; that breaks down to approximately one in five Americans. GLAAD’s 2015-16 study, “Where We Are On TV”, highlights that fact that only eight characters had a disability this season, representing 0.9% of all characters. What is perhaps more distressing is that the percentage and number of series regulars with disabilities has actually decreased. This is not the direction to go.

In response to criticisms within the industry we are seeing strong commitments and investments in diversity; we are seeing the establishment of myriad programs, contests, and fellowships that aim to support diverse filmmakers and actors. Unfortunately, it is rare that ‘diversity’ is inclusive of disability. As such, I am writing to urge the open, named recognition of ‘disability’ within the larger umbrella of diversity, for the recognition of the significant exclusion of disability from many programs and projects focused on addressing the broader issue, and for concrete actions to address this ongoing invisibility of disability. Without direct investment and recognition of disability with inclusion and strong internal mandates there will never be any development of future disabled film and television talents, both in front of and behind the camera. Therefore, I would like to propose 6 Media and Disability recommendations. They aren’t perfect, and they doesn’t cover everything, but it is a place to start.

Six Media and Disability/Diversity Recommendations:

A Place to Begin

1. SPECIFIC INCLUSION. Include “disability” as a named minority status when promoting any diversity initiatives.

Often diversity programs, internships, contests etc. focus on gender or race without recognizing that disability is also a minority status/identity. This exclusion sends a message, “Disability need not apply.” Considering that disability is a fact of life for more than 20% of the American population, it is crucial that disability is explicitly included. Many of these projects do not recognize the intersectionality of disability and that it often exists side-by-side with other statuses. Related to this is the need for accessibility. Creating diversity programs, fellowships, mentoring or networking opportunities, is worthless unless these events and activities are in accessible locations.

2. DATA COLLECTION. Ensure “disability” is included in any surveys or demographic questions for all projects, programs, memberships and other processes.

Without asking, it is impossible to get any idea of the representation of this population. As an example, the Media, Diversity and Social Change Initiative at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism released a study titled “Comprehensive Annenberg Report on Diversity.” The in-depth scrutiny included 109 films released by major studios in 2014 and 305 scripted series that aired on television and streaming services from September 2014 to August 2015. Disability was not included in their examination. On a positive note, Annenberg’s upcoming studies will include disability as a part of the analysis.

The Screen Actors Guild does include disability as part of voluntary data collection and is a key source of information about this population in the entertainment industry. It is unclear how many other associations, fellowships, workshops, and programs actually have members and participants with disabilities because the question isn’t asked. This kind of demographic information, even when only provided voluntarily and even when only viewed in the aggregate, is invaluable to gaining an understanding of who and where these industry professionals are.

3. EXPLORE NEW MEANS OF OUTREACH. Looking for people with disabilities but aren’t finding any? You may be looking in the wrong/same places.

When seeking individuals to fit roles in front of or behind the camera, to participate in programs or internships, or to support your media diversity/disability activities, choose different conferences, consider a different sourcing agency, pick a different place to advertise. Consider creating a fellowship for filmmakers or actors with disabilities or setting up an internship program that connects to a university’s film program or professional film educational/training association. Build partnerships and outreach beyond the “usual suspects”. Actively reach out to professional, academic, or advocacy organizations related to disability and/or media. There are plenty of talented people with disabilities who can bring value to your productions.

4. EXPANDED OPPORTUNITY. Consider instituting a “Rooney Rule” for casting your projects (and make sure your location is accessible).

In football, The “Rooney Rule” requires teams to interview at least one minority candidate when filling a head coaching position. It does not guarantee hiring and is not an affirmative action plan. However, recognizing that discrimination plays a role in individual decision-making processes, such a rule requiring at least one actor with a disability to be auditioned for the role of a character with a disability offers an opportunity for positive change. Although not perfect, over the first three years of the institution of the Rooney Rule, the overall percentage of African American coaches increased from 6% to 22%.

Perhaps more importantly, considering the prevalence of individuals with disabilities within general society, casting actors with disabilities in background and/or as recurring characters, even if the character is not written as disabled, not only increases diversity, it allows your media to reflect society.

I recognize this bullet in my recommendation is about casting, however, I do think it is important to recognize that the Directors’ Guild of America (DGA) has been quietly pushing for a Rooney rule with regard to the selection of directors. Granted, studios and networks rejected the proposition outright, but I have to admit that I think the DGA was on a good track. The difficulty lies, I imagine, in the way films are made. I don’t believe there are broad general “interviews” for directors. Not perfect, but it is a way to increase the opportunity for women and other minority (including disabled) directors.

5. IT BEGINS WITH THE WORLD/WORD. Create more diverse characters to begin with in scripts and storylines, and include more writers with disabilities in the writers’ room.

Our world is filled with thriving diverse communities and when writers create the worlds in their scripts, there is an opportunity to be more inclusive. Writers can and should explore writing more diverse and creative parts for actors/characters with disabilities. Defy stereotypes, change the token stories, flip the narrative. The is also the possibility of implementing a “Geena Davis type solution [2] ” (simply change any character in a script into a woman) for disability.

Writers are often taught that if a character has a disability or is a minority or a woman, it must “serve the story” so there must be a reason for them to exist in the narrative. The truth is that in real life, people have disabilities, women exist, and people of color are just as likely to be doctors, or lawyers, or accountants as they are gangsters, homeless, or victims.It may get taken out. It may get changed later, but it begins with the script and there is no reason not to include diverse characters, is there?

On a related note, when incorporating characters with disabilities or other chronic conditions, reach out to actual people with disabilities. Find consultants who can help you ensure you are “getting it right.” Hire writers and/or directors with disabilities. There are many aspects of culture, technology, relationships, and how people with disabilities relate to society. Outreach to these communities helps you to add, not just accuracy, but depth to your projects (and not just on the subject of disability).

6. SPEAKING OUT. This is your industry too.

Disability/Diversity doesn’t belong to one person. Seek to increase disability in your work, but also speak out, encourage others to act, amplify the voices of filmmakers and actors with disabilities. When you are invited to a festival or a panel, even if you are in the audience, raise your hand and ask about diversity. Ask about the inclusion of filmmakers with disabilities. You are already there; you are already in . The asking isn’t just for organizers; you want every person in the audience and every participant to think about this issue too.

Ask industry members with disabilities to participate in your projects, to judge your contests, to sit on your panels; ask them to talk about everything, not just their disability, ask about the craft . Increasing the visibility of this population within the industry and helping the filmmaking community grow and improve is part of everyone’s job.

…we shall wield our pens as swords…

Thu, 10 Nov 2016 16:51:00 GMT

Just Bought My First Lottery Ticket

Sat, 09 Jan 2016 19:30:00 GMT

My very first lottery ticket! I’ve never really been one for games of chance, but with this week the lottery now stand at $1.3 billion, which I can’t resist. So I give you proof of this “first.”