@affecttheverb.com
Affect is a grassroots disabled-led movement to amplify multiply marginalized people of color and advocate for disability justice. We run Disabled And Here, the Community Care Awards, and the Covid + Health Resource Library. affecttheverb.com 📍: PDX
Because the Disabled And Here: Possible Futures series was created out of love and grief for Alice, we focused on disabled dreams of what could be and less on usual stock imagery “practicality.”
As always, the new image is now available for download and usage under Creative Commons attribution (Sunmi for Disabled And Here):
affecttheverb.com/gallery/disa...
Sunmi explains, “In my ideal, gender-liberated future, everyone can have a personal hot tub or go to fully accessible saunas to ease their physical pain and relax. In this illustration, I imagined that through an ergonomic, magical bath with special features and healing water.”
Digital illustration featuring the side profile of an East Asian person with shoulder-length hair soaking in a hot tub of magical, healing water. Steam and sparkles envelop the person’s head as well as their hand, which rests atop their chest while they lie back with eyes closed. In the background, potted tropical plants adorn a checkerboard tile floor.
Disabled And Here’s second glimpse into a Possible Future comes from Sunmi (IG: sunmi_comics), drawing from their experiences with Korean saunas and taking it to the magical, fully healing level.
affecttheverb.com/2026/sunmi-i...
March 1st is Disability Day of Mourning (DDoM). DDoM centers disabled people who are victims of filicide.
DDoM is the influence behind me creating In Mercy’s Shadow.
Listen to this episode of @angryblacklady.blacksky.app & I regarding #disability & true crime.
rewirenewsgroup.com/2026/01/29/i...
A Black Man with loosely curly Afro walk with sunglasses and white cane. The background is green, red, and yellow blocking that reads - “WHO MADE IT POSSIBLE? BLACK INVENTIONS THAT IMPROVED ACCESS”
In my house, discussing Black brilliance is a 365 matter.
This year, I'm dropping the Who Made It Possible? series.
#Accessibility colliding with Black (& Women's) History? Give it to me!
Playlist ➡️ www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
#BlackHistoryMonth
#BlackInventors
#Access
#Disability
The first of the new Possible Futures series of illustrations for @affecttheverb.com is live! affecttheverb.com/gallery/disa...
This series was borne out of grief *and* love for Alice. I’m excited that we’ll actually finish publishing in time for Alice’s birthday.
Liz says, “I am still learning and internalizing Alice’s expansive understanding of disability as abundance; as time travel; as a portal to new worlds. I think these new worlds are within us and Alice’s words and way of being encourages me to tap into them…”
affecttheverb.com/2026/lizarti...
This mini illustration series will have 4 new interviews and 4 new illustrations overall.
We wanted to commemorate our friend Alice (Wong) and her passion for sci fi and disabled futures, so this series is about disabled imagination and possible futures.
Illustration of three disabled people of color at a solarpunk apothecary stall. On the left, an East Asian person with a cleft lip sits in front of the stall, enjoying a cold cap. On the right, a South Asian person using a power wheelchair grinds medicinal plants. Within the stall, a Black person with a mechanic monocle uses a forearm crutch to reach for a plant on a pulley device. The stall has a solar panel and plant bed on its roof and is equipped with a healing tank, medical tech library, and medicine exchange stand.
Disabled And Here: Possible Futures is starting off with Lizartistry (lizar_tistry on IG)’s depiction of a world “closer to a liberatory horizon that embodies disability wisdom and abolition infused with solarpunk aesthetics.”
affecttheverb.com/2026/lizarti...
Black Futures Month. Activists Creating Black Disabled History Right Now Pt. 1. Disability Culture Lab.
Lachi (she/her) is a legally blind recording artist, producer, author, and CEO who uses art to amplify disability culture and pride.
Lachi responds to the question “What does Black disability liberation look like?”, describing Black power and disability joy.
Lachi responds to the question “What does Black disability liberation look like?”, calling on the community to uplift Black disabled people.
Our first feature for Black Futures Month is @LachiMusic.bsky.social. She is a legally blind recording artist and author. She describes Black disability liberation as Black disabled power and joy, and calls on the community to “amplify the flavor, grit, soul, and Big DIS Energy in our ranks.”
In light of everything, a reminder:
"The most visible layer as a Black disabled person is our Blackness, which is constantly under the threat of scrutiny, assumed guilt, and, as logically follows, persecution." - Tinu Abayomi-Paul in #TheBlackAgendaBook
"One group member admitted that she followed ICE vehicles while honking loudly so often that her car horn broke."
Photo of our popup library setup, including an air purifier in front of the table, free mask kits, free Sip masks, and nitrile gloves.
For Portlanders: the COVID + Health Resource Library popup is still open @ APANO Open Studios until 8pm!
Open Studios are drop-in mask-required events.
📍8188 SE Division St
A reboost as the popup is happening *this* Friday!
This program was made possible through a multi-year general operating grant we got from the Northwest Health Foundation.
CHRL is starting small, but we definitely want to hear from folx and figure out what else would be useful to offer through the library.
Promo graphic reading: INTRODUCING THE COVID + Health Resource Library (CHRL / "choral") In the center, a text box explains: “a new resource for disabled BIPOC where you can get • free specialty filtering masks (i.e. duckbill N95s, strapless Readimask, SIP airtight valve) • lab-quality molecular COVID tests to borrow for home use (Metrix)” Details for our first popup / collab are on bottom right: Fri 2/20, 4-8pm APANO Open Studios 8188 SE Division St (cross street 82nd) In the background, illustrations featuring masked BIPOC can be seen.
Here’s the official announcement and promo for our newest program, the COVID + Health Resource Library! It’s an experiment that we’re developing as we go, but the first popup will be 2/20, as we join up with APANO Open Studios in SE Portland.
A dark skinned wheelchair user with long hair and a beanie sits at a small table, using their laptop to participate in a video meeting. The laptop screen is shown to their right, with the call being live captioned. The main speaker is a dark skinned person wearing a hijab and glasses, and 3 other participants are at the bottom of the screen, in smaller windows. In the bottom right corner, a yellow service dog bounds towards the wheelchair user.
I've been looking for an excuse to use the inclusive stock images from @affecttheverb.com since 2021 and finally got a chance with a flyer for a panel on orientation and mobility training at work.
My colleague described it as the cutest graphic she's ever seen!
Lastly, the Community Care Awards will return, and we’re currently aiming for Spring this year. Awards will be distributed through community nominations per usual!
CHRL is partnering with APANO and joining their Open Studios event on 2/20. More details to come soon!
We also have a new experimental program launching, called the Covid + Health Resource Library (CHRL for short).
It’ll be a community resource for disabled BIPOC around Portland, offering specialty masks / respirators for free and molecular diagnostic COVID testing tools for home checkout and use.
2026 update! We have lots of to share, starting with a mini Disabled And Here release later this month. This illustrated series is called Possible Futures, created in memory of Alice Wong, who we’re still mourning, now and always, and is about cultivating our imagination and hope for what could be.
As of 12/24/25, USPS changed policy on when they postmark mail. Mail dropped off is no longer guaranteed a same-day postmark. Tax returns & other time-sensitive items are now stamped when they reach a regional processing center, which may be days later. Plan deadlines accordingly to avoid penalties.
llps.substack.com/p/alice-wong.... what is remembered lives. @pipagaopoetry.bsky.social and me wrote our assess off on our Crips for eSims memory song for our beloved @sfdirewolf.bsky.social . #AliceForever
Photo of me (an Asian genderfluid person in my long hair femme days) alongside Alice (an Asian woman wearing a BiPAP mask and sitting in her power wheelchair). We are both smiling at the camera.
Alice and I sit outside a cafe and smile for the camera. Alice (an Asian woman) has a BiPAP machine and a power wheelchair while I (a genderfluid Asian person in my long ombré red hair days) am leaning towards her awkwardly in my travel mobility scooter.
With many people covering Alice’s impact and legacy, the Alice Wong I want to remember is the woman behind all the bodies of work. The super blunt, funny, and empathetic human that I was able to be friends with for a little while.
bits.elea.fyi/alice/
Illustrated portrait of Alice Wong and Ashanti Fortson, surrounded by dreamy purple clouds and shooting stars.
Heartbroken to learn of Alice’s passing. I looked up to her immensely, and I was so grateful for her patience, grace, creativity, & insight as a collaborator. I will miss her fierce kindness & her sharp wit so very much.
I drew this portrait of us in 2021 for CommunityAsHome. Rest in power, Alice.
This is the GoFundMe that will support Alice’s family and ongoing projects: www.gofundme.com/f/alice-wong...
Screenshot of Alice’s Instagram post. It has a statement from Alice’s family, reading: “"Alice Wong passed away on Friday, November 14th at UCS Hospital due to an infection. She was 51 years old. Alice lived in San Francisco and grew up in Indiana. Alice was the daughter to Henry and Bobby. The elder sister to Emily and Grace. The cat mom to Bert and Ernie, and a dear friend to many. She will be remembered as being a fierce luminary in disability justice, a brilliant writer, editor and community organizer. Her work can be found at Disability Visibility Project. As we mourn the incomprehensible loss of Alice, we share the words she gifted us with from her memoir, Year of the Tiger. "The real gift any person can give is a web of connective tissue. If we love fiercely, our ancestors live among and speak to us through these incandescent filaments glowing from the warmth of memories." We would like to invite her friends, community, and her many fans to contribute to Alice's GoFundMe to continue the legacy of her work." The caption for the image clarifies that it was posted by Sandy Ho.
For those not on Instagram, here is the statement from Alice Wong’s family: