This week in history:
On February 16, 2016, Aaron Philip’s book “This Kid Can Fly: It’s About Ability (NOT Disability)” was published. At the time Philip was 14 years old. The book tells the story of her family immigrating to the Bronx from the island of Antigua to find better medical options for her. They lived for two years in a homeless shelter because of her expensive medical bills.
She wrote the book, “to help people understand that just because you have to use a wheelchair to get around or have a physical disability, it doesn’t mean you can’t dream like other kids. You still have talents and desires. This chair that I use to get around doesn’t define me or what I do in life.”
Aaron (pronounced A-Ron) became a teen sensation a few years later becoming the first disabled, gender-nonconforming, trans woman of colour to land a magazine cover.
Learn about Aaron and other people with disabilities who have been overlooked or left out of history books in
Al Etmanski‘s Disability Digest: https://aletmanski.com/power-of-disability/disability-digest-6/