Breaking barriers: What does disability mean today, and how can we work towards disability justice?

One of the 10 principles of disability justice is a commitment to cross-movement solidarity. This means that social movements need to better understand ableism and also understand how it is linked to other oppressions. How do we understand disabilities in our society and how can we be in solidarity with people living with disabilities? As people committed to justice, what forms do you think this solidarity can take? What are the risks of continuing to sideline this important issue? This public conversation aims to examine our collective understanding of disability justice and to explore how advancing this cause can strengthen our feminist, anti-capitalist and anti-racist struggles.

Guest:

• Nelly Bassily is a queer disability justice advocate and intersectional feminist, anti-racism, and sexual rights activist and media maker with more than 15 years of experience in the non-profit sector. Born to Egyptian parents in Tioatià’ke, immigration, diaspora, and identity also inform her activism. In 2021, Nelly received the Top 25 Women of Influence award.

• Marie-Eve Veilleux is a disability rights activist. Creating communities exchanging information and support is at the heart of her activism. In addition to occasionally publishing open letters in magazines such as À bâbord, Marie-Eve has been a member of the teams behind such visible initiatives as the Promenades de Judy, inaugurated in the summer of 2023, and the Transport médadapté Facebook group, which has been bringing critical attention to issues related to transportation accessibility in Quebec for more than ten years. She has a bachelor's degree in microbiology and immunology, a certificate in translation and a specialized graduate diploma in translation from McGill University. Professionally, she is the translation coordinator for the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging. Since 2020, Marie-Eve has served on the Projet Montréal Board of Directors as Vice-President - Organization.

• Moderator: Alicia Pauld (she/her) is a Montreal-based activist, public speaker and educator, writer, content creator, organizer, artist and sociology and sexuality studies graduate. As a disabled queer Black woman, a lot of her work centres around disability, gender, sexuality and race.

About University of the Streets Café

As a flagship program of Concordia University’s Office of Community Engagement, the public bilingual conversations are free and open to participants of all ages, backgrounds and levels of education. Since its inception in 2003, University of the Streets Café has hosted over 400 bilingual public conversations. 

Follow us on our Facebook page or visit us at concordia.ca/univcafe to learn more about our programming and last-minute scheduling updates.