Alice Wong Brings "Disability Visibility" to Albright College
Reading, PA (02/09/2022) — Author Alice Wong will lead a virtual discussion about her work as a disability advocate at 7 p.m. on March 3, to kick off a full March 4 Empowering Albright Voices day of panels and activities at Albright College. All Empowering Albright Voices day events are free and open to the public. American Sign Language and closed captioning will be provided during the Alice Wong event.
In her Albright keynote, Wong will highlight the diversity of people within the disabled community and the varying ways that disabled people experience discrimination, leaving attendees with a deeper understanding and inviting them to join the fight for accessibility.
Wong's anthology, "Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century," is a compilation of contemporary, first-hand accounts that chronicle the experiences of disabled persons. Her upcoming memoir, "Year of the Tiger: An Activist's Life," details moments throughout Wong's life that shaped her into a leading figure for the disabled community. It is scheduled to be published later this year.
Holding degrees in English and sociology, Wong works as a writer, editor, activist and more. Her work has appeared in numerous newspapers and magazines, including the New York Times and Teen Vogue. She also founded and directs the Disability Visibility Project, an online community whose mission is to uplift and empower the voices of disabled people and enable them to share their stories.
"Disabled people have always lived on the margins," Wong told PBS in a recent interview. "And people on the margins really notice what's going on, having to navigate through systems and institutions, not being understood."
Albright's twice annual Empowering Albright Voices days celebrate the college's remarkable diversity. This year's "Intersectionality" theme explores how similar and dissimilar ideas and people can interact to create something novel and powerful, as the college strives to build an inclusive and equitable academic community in which all community members thrive, recognize their full potential, engage meaningfully in institutional life, and contribute to the flourishing of others.
Named a top national college by Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education, Albright College (founded 1856) is home to a diverse community of learners who cultivate integrity, curiosity, connection and resilience. Through learning experiences that engage a student's creative and innovative capacities across all disciplines, both inside and outside of the classroom, an Albright College education guarantees that each student learns how to engage the world, understand the world, and is prepared to make an impact on a rapidly changing world. Located in Reading, Pa., Albright is home to undergraduate students, adult learners and graduate students.