Open Forum

The crises of the pandemic have made museums acutely aware of their own biases. Among these biases is ABLEISM--a prejudice against people whose minds or bodies are perceived as falling out of the range of normal or acceptable. But ableism affects the lives of many Americans, indeed the lives of almost everyone. Change and difference in one's body or mind are conditions of living. Over our lifetimes, all of us are susceptible to disability, accidents, illness, or aging. Disability is therefore far from outside the norm: disability and disabled people are the norm.

Izetta Autumn Mobley, Ph.D., is Director of Interpretation, Collections, & Education at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture. Dr. Mobley is a scholar, facilitator, and museum educator. Her work focuses on public history, gender, race, medicine, and disability.