This Black History Month, we’re featuring quotes from contributors from the AWN anthology All the Weight of Our Dreams: on living racialized autism (editors Lydia X.Z. Brown, E. Ashkenazy, and Morénike Giwa-Onaiwu)
Image descriptions from top down.
[First image text:
“Claiming a heritage and culture is not only about color. It’s about lived experience, attachment, feelings, tradition, home, and love.”
-E. Ashkenazy, “Foreword: On Autism and Race,” All the Weight of Our Dreams: on living racialized autism, an AWN anthology available now on Amazon
Background photo in low-saturation color is a group of tree roots]
[Second image text:
“I came to understand that autism was not something tragic or shameful…. I was born right the first time.”
-Finn Gardiner, "Letter to People At the Intersection Of Autism and Race,”
All the Weight of Our Dreams: on living racialized autism, an AWN anthology now available on AmazonBackground photo of a blooming flower in purple hues]
[Third image text is
“We who exist anyway,
Our selves proof of a
revolutionary survival power.
We who must keep breathing and
breaking bleeding recreating.”-Mikael Lee, “Revelation,” All The Weight of Our Dreams: on living racialized autism, an AWN anthology now available on Amazon
Background image is a grayscale dandelion]
[Fourth image text:
“Yeah, I notice.
I notice that I’m different from other blacks
because I’m autistic.
I notice that I’m different from other autistics
because I’m black
I notice
Do you?“-COBRA, “Confessions of a Black Rhapsodic Aspie,” All the Weight of Our Dreams: on living racialized autism, an AWN anthology available now on Amazon
Background photo in low-saturation color shows the back of a person’s head and shoulders]
[Fifth image text:
“If I had a time machine and could go back to my school days, I wouldn’t try so hard to mold myself into a person whom I was not meant to be.”
-Kristy Y., “Burnout in Recovery,” All the Weight of Our Dreams: on living racialized autism, an AWN anthology available now on Amazon
Background is a faded photo of a chalkboard]
[Sixth image text:
“I’m Black. I’m a woman. I’m the child of immigrants. I’m a mother. I’m autistic. And I know there are more people like me somewhere.”
-Dee Phair, "Unpacking the Diagnostic TARDIS,” All the Weight of Our Dreams: on living racialized autism, an AWN anthology available now on Amazon
Background is a closeup photo of a small child’s hand holding an adult’s hand]
knitting in the dark 