The Take Another Take: Imani Barbarin on disability rights, COVID and Gaza
Feb 28, 2026
Imani Barbarin, a disability advocate, writer and social creator, speaks about disability justice from her perspective as a Black disabled woman. She explores broad definitions of disability, contrasts medical and social models, and outlines how COVID became a mass disabling event. She also connects ableism to politics, public health and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
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Medical And Social Models Both Matter
- The medical model treats diagnoses as individual problems solved by clinicians, while the social model blames inaccessible environments for disabling people.
- Barbarin advocates melding both models because many conditions need medical care and societal accessibility changes.
Ableism Operates As Systemic Oppression
- Ableism is both interpersonal and systemic oppression shaping policies, stereotypes, and who gets cast as the 'other.'
- Barbarin stresses ableism intersects with racism and economic exclusion and should be treated as its own form of repression.
Approach Ableism As A Learning Journey
- Treat unlearning ableism as ongoing work and stay humble rather than claiming perfect authority on disability issues.
- Barbarin says the best advocates listen to their community and learn from experiences that are not their own.