If you have twenty minutes ( I know you have twenty minutes, you spend more than that on Facebook) take the time to read this little excerpt, but more than that watch this video!
Maysoon Zahid is a disabled Arab-American female comedian (talk about the intersections of oppression) who spends this Ted Talk talking about her life with cerebral palsy and dissecting the ways that society continually ignores the largest majority in the world–those with disabilities. This fourteen minute clip will simultaneously make you smile, laugh, and bring you to the brink of tears again and again. Zahid’s open and candidness of everything that she has had to deal with in order to be considered “normal” or to work within a society that labels her as dysfunctional is heartrendingly funny. She calls on Hollywood to understand that if a character is disabled they should be played by a disabled person not a superstar “acting” in that capacity. I don’t want to say anymore so that you take the time to actually watch…so what are you waiting for? Go!!!