In my memoir, “Mean Baby,” I wrote about never feeling a sense of belonging. Throughout my life, I often felt disconnect from my body, out of control, like I didn’t belong in my own skin. I learn not to show or talk about pain because I didn’t want it to define me, nor did I understand what my pain meant.
In 2018, I was finally able to tell other people
I identifi: disabl. I was diagnos with multiple sclerosis (MS), and I knew it had been attacking my central nervous system for years.
Growing up, I didn’t have anyone in the entertainment mint database industry to look up to who had a disability or was open about their diagnosis, and I didn’t see my experiences reflect in the stories told on screen. While it was difficult to learn that I had MS, at least I now had a name. After being confus about who I was for so long, I finally understood myself and belong to a community. In a way, it was liberating, too.
I start thinking more about the power of storytelling
Why representation in mia matters. If I had seen check out these link-building tacticsreciprocal and heard people like me, maybe I wouldn’t have felt so alone. Maybe if I had more diverse representation to look up to, I would have learn about my own diagnosis sooner (I was shock when I learn that one of my idols, Joan Didion, also had MS).
I now truly feel comfortable embracing all parts of my identity, including my disability, and I’ve realiz that it’s time to change the narrative about how disabl people are represent. It’s one of the reasons I start looking at the work Google has been doing to incorporate inclusive practices into its marketing.
Unit by shar values and a vision that authentically whatsapp filter represents the stories of people with disabilities, I want to help the rest of the creative industry use Google’s learnings to build a world where everyone belongs.
►Our stories, our voices
Since my diagnosis, I have become close friends with Andraéa LaVant, a leading voice in the disability community and founder of LaVant Consulting, a disability-focus communications and strategy firm.
I learn a lot from her and her team and the work they’ve been doing with brands, including how they’ve support Google in incorporating disability into their advertising and internal programs.
All In, Google’s suite of inclusive marketing tools, draws on years of internal insights and collaborations to emb intentionality into every step of its advertising process.