Sami Schalk

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Paulius Musteikis

A close-up of Sami Schalk.

Sami Schalk

Sami Schalk, an associate professor of gender and women’s studies at UW-Madison, will sign copies of her new book, Black Disability Politics — a groundbreaking work that draws on the archives of the Black Panther Party and the National Black Women’s Health Project to explore how issues of disability have been (and continue to be) central to Black activism. She also identifies common qualities of Black disability politics, including the need to ground public health initiatives in the experience and expertise of marginalized disabled people so they can work in antiracist, feminist and anti-ableist ways. During the event, $1 from every book sold will go to Disability Pride Madison.

media release: A Room of One's Own is thrilled to host author and professor Sami Schalk for a book signing of their newest book Black Disability Politics!

This is an in person event from 12pm to 4pm.

Black Disability Politics explores how issues of disability have been and continue to be central to Black activism from the 1970s to the present. Drawing on the archives of the Black Panther Party and the National Black Women’s Health Project alongside interviews with contemporary Black disabled cultural workers, Schalk identifies common qualities of Black disability politics and prioritizes an understanding of disability within the context of white supremacy. The book ultimately demonstrates that the work of Black disability politics not only exists but is essential to the future of Black liberation movements.

Sami Schalk is an associate professor of gender & women's studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is the author of Bodyminds Reimagined: (Dis)ability, Race, & Gender in Black Women's Speculative Fiction and Black Disability Politics. Sami is a fat, Black, queer, disabled femme and pleasure activist.