Alice Wong, ‘luminary’ writer and disability rights activist, dies aged 51 | US news
Author and disability rights activist Alice Wong, who was born with muscular dystrophy and inspired others with her independence and writings, has passed away. He was 51 years old.
Wong’s close friend Sandy Ho, who was in contact with Wong’s family, said Wong died of the infection at a San Francisco hospital on Friday.
Ho called her friend “an luminary of the disability justice movement” who wants to see a world where people with disabilities, especially those from marginalized demographics that include people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, and immigrants, can live freely and have full autonomy over their lives and decisions.
The daughter of immigrants from Hong Kong, Wong writes about her story of growing up with a neuromuscular disease, coming into her own, and her activism, and how U.S. policies and systems have failed people with disabilities, queer people, immigrants, and people of color. He used an electric wheelchair and assisted breathing device and described himself as a “disabled cyborg.”
In the memories of 2022, Year of the TigerWong describes the discrimination and bullying she faced growing up in Indiana, fueling her unwavering determination to eliminate systemic disability.
Wong wolf Disability Visibility Project In 2014, it was initially conceived as an oral history project with the aim of collecting stories of people with disabilities. He shared these histories in two books. Disabled Visibility And Disability Proximity.
In an interview with the Guardian in January, Wong recalled one of the moments in his teenage years when he had to defend himself against suggestions from a specialist recommending an invasive procedure. “I knew my body and what I wanted,” Wong said. Finally, the pulmonologist agreed to take a phased approach.
“My activism often focuses on systems, but this vulnerable moment planted the seeds of advocacy for myself as a patient and for others. I’m really proud of young Alice, who didn’t know much, but knew herself,” she said.
Ho shared a statement on social media that Wong wrote before his death; In this statement, she said she never imagined her trajectory in writing, activism, and more would turn out this way.
“Thanks to my friends and some amazing teachers who believed in me, I was able to fight my way out of these terrible situations to a place where I finally felt comfortable. We need more stories about ourselves and our culture,” Wong wrote.
Ho said he advocates “getting people out of institutions and staying in society.” Ho said Wong’s work, including the books she wrote and edited and the Disability Visibility Project blog she started, share her writing, her voice and the perspectives of others.
Wong is a funny person and a funny writer, no easy feat, Ho said. Ho said his memoirs are full of humorous bits but also humanize disability.
The legacy of Wong’s work is that people with disabilities “speak for themselves, and no one speaks for us,” Ho said.
Wong was awarded the MacArthur “genius award” in 2024; This was in recognition of her activism and efforts to publicize the work and stories of other people with disabilities.
Wong said he often feels hopeless and overwhelmed by the political situation. “But then I remind myself that this is by design, that those in power want to erode our resolve. [for us to] “Give up,” he said.
She continued: “The ‘doing’ of activism is neither linear nor smooth, and in times of frustration or exhaustion, I draw on my memories of injustice. I remind myself why I’m doing what I’m doing, and that keeps me going. Anger becomes a charger that gives me strength when I need it so badly.”
Maanvi Singh contributed reporting
