This March, after months of planning, the Council of Students of Disabilities (CSD) hosted disability rights and inclusion activist, Imani Barbarin. Imani has a large following across multiple social media platforms under the username Crutches and Spice. This speaker event resulted from the group’s desire to further the conversation about disability from an intersectional lens at Michigan State.
CSD was grateful to work with the Associate Students of Michigan State University (ASMSU) to provide funding for the event. CSD, alongside their Advisors, Colleen Floyd and Virginia Rutan spent months planning out the details to ensure the event was impactful.
Over 60 people attended both in-person and virtually and were able to engage with Imani during Q&A. Imani covered topics such as growing up disabled, accessible healthcare, disability in higher education, and more. She provided invaluable advice and insight on navigating life as a disabled person, making key connections to current events.
CSD hopes this event can help spur further conversations about disability and cement MSU’s understanding of disability as diversity. This was CSD's first large-scale speaker event, and they look forward to hosting more in the future!