Documenting Failure - Episode 4 - Key References
Key references:
Definitions in order of when you may hear them in the podcast.
Maria R Palacios - María R. Palacios is a poet, author, spoken word performer, motivational speaker, social change advocate, disability rights activist, mentor, and workshop facilitator whose work has appeared on numerous multi-media publications, conferences, and live events over the last three decades. María’s work centers around illustrating the power and beauty of disabled people without negating the truths surrounding the ableism and oppression faced by the disabled community.
Sins Invalid - Sins Invalid is a disability justice-based movement building and performance project that celebrates disabled people, centering and led by disabled Black, Indigenous, and people of the global majority, and queer, trans, and nonbinary disabled people.
Small Woman - Dwarfism is a condition of people and animals marked by unusually small size or short stature. In humans, it is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than 147 centimetres (4 ft 10 in), regardless of sex; the average adult height among people with dwarfism is 120 centimetres (4 ft).
Disorder - an abnormal condition that affects the body's function but may or may not have specific signs and symptoms.
Curator - A curator is someone employed by a museum or gallery to manage a collection of artworks or artefacts.
Activist - An activist is someone who campaigns for change and highlights perceived injustices, advocating for usually political or social issues.
Disabled - having an illness, injury, or condition that makes it difficult to do some things that other people do:
Europe - Europe is the western part of the continent of Eurasia, often thought of as its own continent. It is separated from Asia by the Ural Mountains in Russia and the Bosporus strait in Turkey.
Workshop - a seminar, discussion group, or the like, that emphasizes exchange of ideas and the demonstration and application of techniques, skills, etc
Revolution - A revolution is a sudden change in government. It is usually violent and begins with a rebellion of the people. Revolution occurs when large masses of people decide to take power from a government that treats its people unfairly. Revolution, which means “turning around,” changes a government’s social, economic, and political policies.
Community - A community is a word for a group of people who have things in common. They might live in the same area, go to the same school, do the same activities or have similar backgrounds.
Ableism - Ableism is a word for unfairly favouring non-disabled people. Ableism is discrimination and social prejudice against physically or mentally disabled people.
Latin America - Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish and Portuguese. It is defined according to cultural identity, not geography. As such, it includes countries in both North and South America.
United States - The U.S. is a country of 50 states covering a vast swath of North America, with Alaska in the northwest and Hawaii extending the nation’s presence into the Pacific Ocean.
Disability Justice - Disability justice is a social justice movement which focuses on examining disability and ableism as they relate to other forms of oppression and identity such as race, class and gender.
Oppression - unjust or cruel exercise of authority or power for example,… the continuing oppression of the … underclasses. Something that oppresses especially in being an unjust or excessive exercise of power.
Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha - (born April 21, 1975) is a Canadian-American poet, writer, educator, and social activist. Their writing and performance art focuses on documenting the stories of queer and trans people of color, abuse survivors, mixed-race people and diasporic South Asians and Sri Lankans. A central concern of their work is the interconnection of systems of colonialism, abuse and violence. They are also a writer and organizer within the disability justice movement.
Piepzna-Samarasinha is queer, non-binary, and disabled.
Domestic Violence - Domestic abuse, also called "domestic violence" or "intimate partner violence", can be defined as a pattern of behavior in any relationship that is used to gain or maintain power and control over an intimate partner. Abuse is physical, sexual, emotional, economic or psychological actions or threats of actions that influence another person. This includes any behaviors that frighten, intimidate, terrorize, manipulate, hurt, humiliate, blame, injure, or wound someone. Domestic abuse can happen to anyone of any race, age, sexual orientation, religion, or gender. It can occur within a range of relationships including couples who are married, living together or dating. Domestic violence affects people of all socioeconomic backgrounds and education levels.
Goddess - A goddess is a female deity. In some faiths, a sacred female figure holds a central place in religious prayer and worship.
Goddess on Wheels - Maria R. Palacios is a feminist writer, poet, author, spoken word performer, professional presenter, polio survivor, mother and disability activist whose message of hope and empowerment pulsates and breathes through her work. She is known on stage as 'The Goddess on Wheels' and performs her embodiment as a disabled Latina showcasing her sexuality and sensuality onstage and through poetry.
Britain - Britain most often refers to:Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales.
Inaccessible - difficult or impossible to reach, approach, or understand : not accessible.
Italy - Italy,officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern and Western Europe.It consists of a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land border, as well as nearly 800 islands, notably Sicily and Sardinia.
Architecture - Architecture is the study and practice of designing structures, especially habitable ones. It utilizes civil engineering techniques, but is considered a visual art. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings or other structures.
Performative - Having the nature or style of a performance, esp. when intended to impress "His apology seemed more performative than sincere"
Festival - A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristics aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures.
Economic support - Economic support programs are intended to serve people who are unemployed, disabled, have low earnings, or experience other economic or material hardship.
Spanish - Spanish might refer to: Items from or related to Spain:Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain.
Solo Artist - A musician, singer, or performer who works independently rather than as part of a group or band.
Infrastructure - Infrastructure is the term used to describe the interconnected organisational structures that underpin society and enable it to function effectively.
Luxury - indulgence in and enjoyment of rich, comfortable, and sumptuous living.
Privilege - a right or benefit that is given to some people and not to others.
Capitalism - Capitalism is an economic system where productive goods are owned by individuals or companies and used to earn a profit, while workers earn only wages.
Fragile - easily broken, shattered, or damaged; delicate; brittle; frail.
Covid - an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Denialism - Denialism is an essentially irrational human behavior that withholds the validation of a historical experience or event when a person refuses to accept an empirically verifiable reality.
Evil - morally wrong or bad; immoral; wicked
Desirability - the extent to which you would like to have or do something;
Mainstream - Mainstream is a term that refers to the common current of thought held by the majority, meaning that "mainstream" things are those that are currently popular with most people.
Cerebral Palsy - Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of disorders that affect a person's ability to move and maintain balance and posture. "Cerebral" means having to do with the brain. "Palsy" means weakness in or problems with using the muscles.
Polio - Polio is a serious infection that's now very rare because of the vaccination programme. It's only found in a few countries and the chance of getting it in the UK is extremely low.
Crip - slang for cripple, is a term in the process of being reclaimed by disabled people. Wright State University suggests that the current community definition of crip includes people who experience any form of disability, such as one or more impairments with physical, mental, learning, and sensory, though the term primarily targets physical and mobility impairment. People might identify as a crip for many reasons. Some of these reasons are to show pride, to talk about disability rights, or avoid ranking types of disability.
Desexualised - to deprive of sexual characters or power. 2. : to divest of sexual quality.
Motorised - equipped with a motor or motors.
Karate - Karate is a Japanese martial art, or a sport of hand-to-hand combat. When you learn karate, you practice kicks and blows against an opponent. Karate practitioners use their palms, heels, knees, and elbows to strike their opponents' weak spots, and they block blows to their own bodies.
Black Belt - In East Asian martial arts, the black belt is associated with expertise, but may indicate only competence, depending on the martial art. The use of colored belts is a relatively recent invention dating from the 1880s.
Choreographer - The word choreography comes from Greek and means dance-writing. In a nutshell, we can say that choreography is about designing movement in time and space.
Audition - a trial hearing given to a singer, actor, or other performer to test suitability for employment, professional training or competition, etc.
Genetic Disorder - A genetic disorder is a health problem caused by one or more abnormalities in the genome. It can be caused by a mutation in a single gene (monogenic) or multiple genes (polygenic) or by a chromosome abnormality.
Osteogenesis Imperfecta - Osteogenesis imperfecta colloquially known as brittle bone disease, is a group of genetic disorders that all result in bones that break easily.
Bravado - a blustering swaggering conduct, youthful bravado. A pretense of bravery.
Immigrant- someone who has left their home and settled in a new country with the intention of living there permanently.
Selina Thompson Ltd - Internationally-acclaimed, Brummie, Black & disabled-led performance company.
PA - Personal Assistant
Accessible - Able to be used by everyone, including people who have a disability.
Chronic Illness - A chronic condition, also known as chronic disease or chronic illness, is a health condition or disease that is persistent or otherwise long-lasting in its effects.
Access to Work - Access to Work is a publicly funded employment support programme that aims to help more disabled people start or stay in work.
Alice Wong - Alice Wong (March 27, 1974 – November 14, 2025) was an American disability rights activist and writer based in San Francisco, California. Dedicated to amplifying the voices and experiences of the disabled community, her career focused on challenging systemic ableism through storytelling, advocacy, and community organizing.
Disabled Oracles - A "disabled oracle" refers primarily to a metaphorical concept used by activists, notably Alice Wong, to describe disabled people as prescient, insightful figures who foresee the future of society, particularly regarding crises, technology, and health.
COVID - Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice - Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha is a queer disabled femme writer, organiser, performance artist and educator of Burgher/Tamil Sri Lankan and Irish/Roma ascent. This the fifth book of six, a collection of personal and political essays that examines disability justice and interdependence from a queer POC (person of colour) perspective.
Carer - A carer is a person of any age who provides unpaid care and support to a family member, friend or neighbour who is disabled, has an illness or long-term condition, or who needs extra help as they grow older.
Government - an organisation that officially manages and controls a country or region, creating laws, collecting taxes, providing public services, etc.
Culture Central - A collective voice for arts & culture in the West Midlands.
Radical Listening Week - Radical Listening Week brings together cultural workers, freelancers, organisations, and communities across the West Midlands to explore what equity looks like in practice.
Solidarity- Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes.