If Your Equity Events Offer No Free Spots, Congrats, You Have Failed at (Financial) Access!
If you ever wonder why all my workshop offerings are Pay-What-You-Can (PWYC), including FREE, it is because I understand that the vast majority of the learning opportunities I have accessed since COVID-19 hit, has been free, (as I was surviving at least $183,364 in financial abuse at the hands of my ex, Makai Livingstone, of Embodied Support Services, as detailed here), but also because the 3rd principle of the Disability Justice framework that grounds my work is an anti-capitalist politic!🫂
We are anti-capitalist as the very nature of our mind/bodies often resist conforming to a capitalist “normative” level of production. We don’t believe human worth is dependent on what and how much a person can produce. We critique a concept of “labor” as defined by able-bodied supremacy, white supremacy and gender normativity. We understand capitalism to be a system that promotes private wealth accumulation for some at the expense of others."
Our understanding of able-bodied supremacy has been formed in relation to intersecting systems of domination and exploitation. The histories of white supremacy and ableism are, after all, inextricably entwined, both forged in the crucible of colonial conquest and capitalist domination. We cannot comprehend ableism without grasping its interrelations with heteropatriarchy, white supremacy, colonialism, and capitalism, each system co-creating an ideal bodymind built upon the exclusion and elimination of a subjugated “other” from whom profits and status are extracted."
Whether you offer full scholarships or have a free ticket option if needed is of little consequence as long as you are explicit about it, because while I will not hesitate to email you and/or comment on your social media post to inquire about free spots, I know that not all BIPOC LGBTQIA+ disabled folx will have the spoons to do so, especially given how much shame can accompany financial precarity under late-stage capitalism! 💔
The average person may not have an entire webpage detailing why they cannot afford to pay out of pocket for traning as they have not even been able to afford to file their income taxes since 2020, and may require a medically assisted death in due time, but at least my public CV is 30 poges long, so if it comes to that, I only hope my most beloved alma mater, York University will posthumously award me an honourary fucking doctorate! 🔥
My point is that many disabled folx, especially BIPOC LGBTQIA+ disabled folx often navigate more financial precarity than our white straight cis disabled peers, which is why I created the following hermit crab essay in 2024:
While I have still had some biracial middle and upper-class folx attempt mental gymnastics rather than reciprocity with me, I refuse to abandon my commitment to the anti-capitalist politic that is essential for Disability Justice, and wish that more organizations would do better, as far too many folx who could benefit from free spots may be alienated by organizations that fail to think critically about how financial precarity can pose a barrier to access! 👀"
Obviously, not me, because I will even email you to ask the monetary value of your honorarium if not explicit, and do some psychoeducation about how I do not have infinite spoons as a fat brown queer disabled immigrant woman, which is why a post that requires me to reach out for clarification does me a hell of a disservice as someone with disproportionately limited resources! On that note, if this post feels shorter than usual, please know that Perpetual Perimenopausal Purgatory continues to kick my ass, unfortunately! 🥹
Should you benefit from my Disability Justice 101 psychoeducation, I am still presenting on the Disability Justice framework at 830-930 am CST/930-1030 am EST on Thursday, April 30, 2026, so please register to join the American Library Association’s Social Responsibilities Round Table (SRRT) for a virtual summit on “Health Equity in Action," as it is free to attend!🫂
If able to contribute to my survival following my ex's financial abuse of at least $183,364, which further disabled me, alongside white supremacist workplace trauma, e-transfers within "Canada" may be sent to krystaljagoo@gmail.com and funds may be sent via PayPal below, so please consider supporting me! 🙏🏾
BTW, on the off chance that you are looking for a gifted equity practitioner and educator for virtual services like writing, facilitation, and consulting, you are welcome to peruse my CV below, and explore paid services here.
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