Happy Disability Pride Month

Happy first week of the quarter and Happy Disability Pride Month!  

This July we are excited to welcome Disability Pride month and recognize our relatives with disabilities, along with the rich history of advocacy for equal rights and protections in our country. July commemorates the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act which was signed July 26th, 1990. It is important not only to recognize the rich diversity in visible and non-visible disabilities but equally the value and worthiness of respect our relatives deserve.  

Later this week we will start flying the Disability Pride Flag in recognition of our relatives with disabilities and the advocacy work we must continue to do. Although new in the context of flags and recognition, folks with disabilities, including visible and non-visible disabilities, have always enriched the diversity of our community. The flag that will be flown will include 

• Faded black background to represents “the anger and mourning over the eugenics and the neglect that disabled people have to fight against.” 
• Red represents physical disabilities. 
• Gold represents neurodiversity. 
• White represents invisible disabilities and disabilities that haven’t yet been diagnosed. 
• Blue represents emotional and psychiatric disabilities, including mental illness, anxiety, and depression. 
• Green represents sensory disabilities, including deafness, blindness, lack of smell, lack of taste, audio processing disorder, and all other sensory disabilities. 

Although this year we are unable to hold a formal ceremony due to capacity constraints, we are nonetheless excited to have this flag proudly displayed for our campus and hope that this is the start of a traditional awareness for our institution.  

As a reminder Shoreline College has a dedicated Student Accssibility Service Office that strives to support all students with a variety of accommodations supports and continues to advocate for our students through accessibility focused workgroups and one on one support. A big shout out to Miranda and Clarke for their dedication and the Heart work they bring to our campus every single day.