My Win As The First Disabled Black Woman On The Oscars Red Carpet

BY ANDRAÉA LAVANT via https://www.essence.com/

ANDRAÉA LAVANT MIGHT HAVE BEEN THE FIRST, BUT SHE’S DETERMINED NOT TO BE THE LAST.

Sunday evening, when my rhinestone-lined wheelchair tires rolled onto the iconic Oscars red carpet, I inhaled deeply, embracing the fact that I was making history as the first visibly disabled Black woman at the Academy Awards.

It’s rare that I entered a space and felt like I could bring all of me without rejection and exclusion. At my Black church, I was the disabled girl. At my all-disabled summer camp, I was the Black girl. I never saw anyone who even remotely resembled me in the media.

Because I didn’t feel completely welcome anywhere, I tried to remain invisible. Then, in what felt like a blink of an eye, I realized that my inability to see myself had nothing to do with the fact that people like me didn’t…

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