Rest in Power, Alice!

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We are mourning the loss of Alice Wong, a disability justice organizer, author, and visionary who passed on last month. Alice’s pathbreaking activism supported generations of disabled, sick, neurodivergent, and chronically ill people – especially queer, trans, and BIPOC (QTBIPOC) folks – to organize and agitate for our rights, joy, and liberation. Alice’s approach was intersectional to its core: she founded not only the Disability Visibility Project but also co-founded the mutual aid project Crips for eSims for Gaza and was a fierce cross-disability advocate for Long COVID justice.

Alice’s work has been central to TWF’s support for disability justice (DJ) movements. It was Alice who had the original idea to create a fund led by and for grassroots DJ organizers most impacted by ableism - which eventually became our Disability Frontlines Fund (DFF). Thanks in part to that original vision, the DFF has moved millions to QTBIPOC DJ activists and groups across the country. We honor her legacy and extend our deepest care to Alice’s family, loved ones, comrades, and co-conspirators, and to everyone grieving this loss.

Alice wrote this powerful statement that was released on her passing, “Hi everyone, it looks like I ran out of time. I have so many dreams that I wanted to fulfill and plans to create new stories for you. There are a few in progress that might come to fruition in a few years if things work out. I did not ever imagine I would live to this age and end up a writer, editor, activist, and more. As a kid riddled with insecurity and internalized ableism, I could not see a path forward. It was thanks to friendships and some great teachers who believed in me that I was able to fight my way out of miserable situations into a place where I finally felt comfortable in my skin. We need more stories about us and our culture. You all, we all, deserve the everything and more in such a hostile, ableist environment. Our wisdom is incisive and unflinching. I'm honored to be your ancestor and believe disabled oracles like us will light the way to the future. Don't let the bastards grind you down. I love you all."

As DFF Program Associate Nico Fonseca shared, “Thank you, Alice, for lighting the way to the everything and more we all deserve. It is that light that has brought us to the future.” We are committed to keep working to build a world where more disabled people get the abundant, joyful, long, and just lives we deserve. To make a gift in Alice’s honor, you can donate to Alice’s family in support of her legacy, or to Crips for eSims for Gaza.