What It Was Like to Be a Black Patient in a Jim Crow Asylum
Mother Jones; Mark Clennon Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.In March 1911, the segregated Crownsville asylum opened outside Baltimore, Maryland, admitting only Black patients. It was the first to house Black people in the state, but when they arrived, their main role wasn’t to…
A New Tool Helps Disabled People Track—and Shape—Laws That Impact Them
Rudzhan Nagiev/Getty Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.In 2010, Barack Obama signed the Plain Writing Act into law, requiring that federal government documents use clear, straightforward language. Despite its passage more than a decade ago, though, getting plain-language information about government policy—ranging from the…
How Accessible Sex Ed Helps Young Adults With Developmental Disabilities Form Healthy Relationships
Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.When he was a teenager, Ben believed that he struggled with friendships and romantic relationships more than others his age. Discerning personal boundaries and finding ways to effectively communicate often bewildered him, and he wasn’t sure what certain signals…
“X” Axed Headlines. That Sucks For Accessibility.
ANP/Zuma; Maxppp/Zuma Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.Yet again, X, the social media firm formerly known as Twitter, has gone through an abrupt design change. As of Wednesday, users can no longer see headlines to links shared on the platform. While it’s a blow to…
For Disabled Workers, Discrimination Is Common—If You Even Get to Apply
Mother Jones; Getty Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.After becoming blind in his late 20s, designer and artist Marco Salsiccia had to learn to navigate the world through assistive technology—like a screen reader, software that speaks digital text and image descriptions aloud. Leveraging that…
In a National First, California May Ban “Willful Defiance” Suspensions
Robin Rayne/Zuma Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.A new bill has reached the desk of California Gov. Gavin Newsom that would bar the state’s public and charter schools from suspending or expelling students in sixth through twelfth grades for “willful defiance,” a largely undefined…