semi-accurate account based on my hazy memories, medical records, photos

September 12, 2022 3:39 PM

Disability justice organizer Alice Wong's memoir Year of the Tiger: An Activist's Life was published this month to critical acclaim. Interview (podcast + transcript).
Wong also had a hellish summer that she detailed in My ICU Summer: A Photo Essay:
"At this point I had to confront my greatest fears: twin invasive procedures, a tracheostomy and a feeding tube. My neurologist and pulmonologist suggested them prior to my medical crises. Both emphasized the benefits and risks of the procedures and how they would prolong and increase the quality of my life. Intellectually I knew these interventions were logical and inevitable. This was the next iteration of my cyborg existence."

Wong previously on Metafilter.

posted by spamandkimchi (7 comments total)

Alice Wong is a fucking treasure. I was lucky enough to work with her on a project a few years ago; she is a unrepentant badass, entirely focused on making the world a better place - I guess she is a "disability justice" organizer, and she tells stories from her own experience, of course... but she stands in solidarity across struggles and movements. She's the best.
posted by RajahKing at 4:20 PM on September 12, 2022 [10 favorites]

Alice Wong is the coolest and kindest person ever, huge gift to the world.
posted by yueliang at 4:58 PM on September 12, 2022 [1 favorite]

I came in to say the above; I've not worked with her but have worked with people who have and she is by all accounts an utterly stellar person.
posted by gauche at 5:58 PM on September 12, 2022

Her work is absolutely awesome (and so is she), not least because she works so hard to bring so many different people's perspectives and voices (along with her own) to a wider audience. Every time I read another piece posted on the Disability Visibility Project, I always come away with a completely changed perspective on one thing or another.

So yeah, definitely reading Year of the Tiger.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 6:04 PM on September 12, 2022 [1 favorite]

Here is her gofundme so she can continue to live in the community.
posted by Mavri at 9:42 PM on September 12, 2022 [4 favorites]

Alice Wong is amazing, can’t wait to read this!
posted by ellieBOA at 1:35 AM on September 13, 2022

Her will to live is stronger than the cables holding up the Golden Gate Bridge.

After reading her words and seeing the intermediate pictures in My ICU Summer…, at the end I simply could not believe the vitality I saw in the face of the person who had gone through all that.
posted by jamjam at 2:52 AM on September 13, 2022 [1 favorite]