It started with my electric wheelchair.
The accessory kit for the wheelchair included an umbrella holder. I like shade. I spend a lot of time outside in my chair, and an umbrella is very helpful to sensory regulation.
When shopping for an umbrella to go with the chair, I came upon this rainbow one and knew I’d found my match. When I roll outdoors, I roll umbrella up and out, flying the colors of queerBeing queer means constantly questioning what's considered "normal" and why that norm gets privileged over other ways of being. It means criticizing who sets these norms and recognizing the privilege... More and neurodivergent
Neurodivergent, sometimes abbreviated as ND, means having a mind that functions in ways which diverge significantly from the dominant societal standards of “normal.”NEURODIVERSITY: SOME BASIC TERMS & DEFINITIONS Neurodivergent is quite... More pride and acceptanceAcceptance means training mental health service providers to look at autism and other disabilities as a part of a person's identity, rather than a problem that needs to be fixed. Acceptance... More.
Meanwhile, we’d been searching for a logo for Stimpunks
Stimpunk combines “stimming” + “punk” to evoke open and proud stimming, resistance to neurotypicalization, and the DIY culture of punk, disabled, and neurodivergent communities. Instead of hiding our stims, we... More. When I turned to my cousin and fellow cripSome people with disabilities call themselves “crips.” “Crip” used to be a mean word for disabled. It is short for “cripple.” But some disabled people call themselves “crips” on purpose.... More, designer Becky Hicks, she suggested we do a vector drawing of a 3/4 view of the umbrella wheelchair as a placeholder.
I love this design. I deployed it immediately to stimpunks.com and social media, where it remained as our icon and logo, until yesterday.
Yesterday, we updated our logo to this final design.
The umbrella remains.
We like the umbrella as a symbol of shelter, sanctuary, respite, community
What I have always been hoping to accomplish is the creation of community.Community is magic. Community is power. Community is resistance.Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century https://www.amazon.com/Disability-Visibility-First-Person-Stories-Twenty-First-ebook/dp/B082ZQBL98/ https://www.amazon.com/Disability-Visibility-Adapted-Young-Adults-ebook/dp/B08VFT4R9T/... More, inclusion, and pluralism
Pluralism refers to people of diverse and conflicting beliefs coexisting peaceably, linked by their adherence to a shared social contract which commits members of different groups to treating others fairly... More. The umbrella emanates from and covers U and PUNKS, evoking our mission.
We exist for the direct support and mutual aid
Put simply, mutual aid is a form of political participation in which people take responsibility for caring for one another and changing political conditions by building relationships, networks of reciprocity,... More of neurodivergent and disabledThe label "disabled" means so much to me. It means I have community. It means I have rights. It means I can be proud. It means I can affirm myself... More people.
Source: Mission – Stimpunks
Staying alive is a lot of work for a disabled person in an ableist
able·ism /ˈābəˌlizəm/ nounA system of assigning value to people's bodies and minds based on societally constructed ideas of normalcy, productivity, desirability, intelligence, excellence, and fitness. These constructed ideas are deeply... More society…
Source: Disability Visibility: First Person Stories from the 21st Century
The Stimpunks umbrella evokes…
Crip Space and Electric Belonging
The Stimpunks umbrella evokes crip space and the electrifying feeling of belonging.
It is very rare, as a disabled person, that I have an intense sense of belonging, of being not just tolerated or included in a space but actively owning it; “This space,” I whisper to myself, “is for me.” Next to me, I sense my friend has the same electrified feeling. This space is for us.
Members of many marginalizedFor me this space of radical openness is a margin a profound edge. Locating oneself there is difficult yet necessary. It is not a “safe” place. One is always at... More groups have this shared experiential touchstone, this sense of unexpected and vivid belonging and an ardent desire to be able to pass this experience along. Some can remember the precise moment when they were in a space inhabited entirely by people like them for the first time.
Crip space is unique, a place where disability is celebrated and embraced-something radical and taboo in many parts of the world and sometimes even for people in those spaces. The idea that we need our own spaces, that we thrive in them, is particularly troubling for identities treated socially as a negative; why would you want to self-segregate with the other cripples? For those newly disabled, crip space may seem intimidating or frightening, with expectations that don’t match the reality of experience-someone who has just experienced a tremendous life change is not always ready for disability pride or defiance, needing a kinder, gentler introduction.
This is precisely why they are needed: as long as claiming our own ground is treated as an act of hostility, we need our ground. We need the sense of community for disabled people created in crip space.
How can we cultivate spaces where everyone has that soaring sense of inclusion, where we can have difficult and meaningful conversations?
Because everyone deserves the shelter and embrace of crip space, to find their people and set down roots in a place they can call home.
Source: “The Beauty of Spaces Created for and by Disabled People” by s.e. smith in “Disability Visibility: First Person Stories from the 21st Century“.
All human beings have the same innate need: We long to belong.
And finally, if you go back to Abraham Maslow, he identified “belongingness needs,” stating that, “if both the physiological and the safety needs are fairly well gratified, then there will emerge the love and affection and belongingness needs.” Psychological safetyPsychological safety is a condition in which you feel (1) included, (2) safe to learn, (3) safe to contribute, and (4) safe to challenge the status quo—all without fear of... More is a postmaterialist need, but it is no less a human need than food or shelter. In fact, you could argue that psychological safety is simply the manifestation of the need for self-preservation in a social and emotional sense.
Clark, Timothy R.. The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety . Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Peer Respite
The Stimpunks umbrella evokes peer respite.
Afiya strives to provide a safe space in which each person can find the balance and support needed to turn a difficult time into a learning and growth opportunity.
Source: Afiya Peer Respite
Community: Magic, Resistance, and Power
The Stimpunks umbrella evokes the magic, resistance, and powerThe 20th Century political scientist Karl Deutsch said, “Power is the ability not to have to learn.”I quote this statement often, because I think it’s one of the most important... More of community.
What I have always been hoping to accomplish is the creation of community.
Community is magic.
Community is power.
Community is resistance.
–Alice Wong
Source: Disability Visibility: First Person Stories from the 21st Century
For and With
The Stimpunks umbrella evokes creating for and with each other.
We urgently need to bring to our communities
That’s What
That’s what the Stimpunks umbrella means to us. It started with a wheelchair accessory and became a logo, symbol, and reminder to foster inclusion, belonging, and pluralism.
“Embracing pluralism is good citizenship. Democracy demands equal accommodation.”
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