Building off our popular event, Care Work Under Fascism, we’re hosting a Part II! This time, our panelists Topher Ávila, T.S. Banks, and Maria Palacios will move the conversation forward with an in-depth discussion of how care work allows us to forge ahead and dream big when we’re facing ongoing existential threats to our livelihood, communities, and humanity. We’ll answer your questions from our first panel and talk strategies on how to stay connected during profound uncertainty and oppression.
ASL | Deaf interpreters | CART | virtual | recorded
About the Panelists
Topher Ávila, PhD, MA, BA, BEI (panelist and moderator)
Born in México and raised in Tejas, Topher Ávila is a filmmaker, Deaf Interpreter (DI), community organizer, and writer. Topher's LSM/ASL Deaf Immigrant familia planted raíces/roots into the person he is now. Abolition, Disability Justice, and Language Justice all inform Topher's work, blending advocacy with artistic creativity. Topher is a co-author of the Deaf Culture textbook, now in its second edition and a third one on the way! In his free time, Topher loves writing scripts, binge-watching tv shows, and laying in the grass at a park with his rescue dog, Fluffy.
T.S. Banks (panelist)
T. S. Banks (he/him) is a Black & QTDisabled, non-binary teaching artist, poet, and playwright from Madison, WI. He is the Founder of Loud ‘N UnChained Theater Co and LNU Publishing House, which is home to Black mad-Krip, neurodivergent, and chronically ill authors and teaching-artists. His work addresses visioning for Black Liberation, a critique of the medical system, radical care + access, madness, QT Mad-Krip Liberation, disability justice, & abolition. T's chapbooks "Call Me ill" , "Left" & "SPLIT" can all be found at LnuTheaterCo.com. Follow him @LnuTheaterCo on IG or @Call-me-ill on BlueSky
Maria R. Palacios (panelist)
Maria R. Palacios is a disability activist, poet, author and professional presenter whose work and community contributions span over thirty years. She is Sins Invalid’s Spanish Language Community Organizer and in the artistic world, Maria R Palacios is known as the Goddess on Wheels.