The University of Colorado at Boulder will hold its second annual disability cultural forum from noon to 9 p.m. on April 2 in the University Memorial Centers Glenn Miller Ballroom on campus.
The forum, which is free and open to the public, will bring together poets, writers, activists and artists to celebrate and raise awareness of disability culture.
People with disabilities share common experiences related to disability and a common history of being overlooked by society, said Mark Miller, a work-study student in the Office of Disability Services and one of the organizers of the forum. The cultural movement promotes a sense of pride, belonging and renewed strength for the expression of shared experiences, truths and values.
Steven E. Brown, founder of the Institute on Disability Culture, will speak at 1 p.m. A writer and poet, Browns publications include Independent Living: Theory and Practice, and Pain, Plain -- and Fancy Rappings: Poetry from the Disability Culture.
Robin Stephens, a community organizer and a recognized leader in the disability rights movement, will speak at 2 p.m. She coordinates a national advocacy effort called, Not Dead Yet, which speaks out against physician-assisted suicide.
Laura Hershey, a writer, poet, activist and consultant, will speak at 3:30 p.m. Hershey recently served as principle research associate for a comprehensive study of the Denver metro areas disability community.
Writer-producer Billy Golfus will speak at 7 p.m. He wrote, co-directed and co-produced When Billy Broke his Head . . . and Other Tales of Wonder, which was broadcast on PBS and in nine other countries.
Artists participating in the exhibit include Gretchen Schaper, Greg Massey, Gerry Leary, George Rivera, the Carmel Art Collective, Stanley Bell, Lenny Vitale, Mark Miller and Alonzo Clemons.