A much loved and inspiring figure of disability movement Stacey Park Milbern, 33, passed away due to complications from a surgery, leaving a mourning community of followers and admirers behind.
Stacey started the Disability Justice Culture Club in her home in Oakland, California, as a place where queer, disabled Black, Indigenous, and people of color could gather and organize.
Recently, after the coronavirus pandemic hit, she organized members of the group to make and distribute hand sanitizer and provide mutual aid to the community. Earlier this month, Stacey Park Milbern spoke out against an effort by the hospital and assisted living lobbying groups in California to receive immunity from any kind of liability during the pandemic.
Stacey Park Milbern said last month: “There have to be checks and balances on hospitals and nursing homes. Otherwise, disabled people, especially people of color, are left alone in a system that already doesn’t care about us. Everything that we have right now in terms of community living and appropriate medical care didn’t happen by itself. Disability rights advocates and racial justice advocates fought long and hard for it.”
She passed away late last month drawing several messages and news reports celebrating her work on disability inclusion and justice.
