BLACK, DISABLED, AND PROUD: COLLEGE STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

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  • Home
  • About Us
    • Contact Us
  • For Students
    • For High School Students
    • For Current College Students
    • For Parents & Family
  • Black Lives Matter
  • Resources
    • Disability 101
    • Examples of Black Disabled College Grads
    • Problems with Disability Services
    • HBCU Disability Services
    • Tip Sheets
    • Posters
  • For Faculty and Staff
    • Resources for Disability Services
    • Readings on Race & Disability
  • Privacy Policy

Examples of Black and African American College Graduates with Disabilities

It's rare to hear much about people with disabilities in the movies or on TV, unless they are tragically brave, an object of pity, evil, or "supercrips" who try to show the incredible ways they can overcome their disabilities (as if disability is a negative thing - which it's not).  Disability is part of our diversity as humans, and these people didn't succeed in spite of their disability - the disability helped make them who they are.

It's even rarer to see Black people with disabilities portrayed in a positive way, and African American people with disabilities are especially likely to be victims of violence and police brutality (see also information on the "Disability 101" page and Black Lives Matter section of this website).  You may or may not know all the people listed below, but it's worth noting how many Black disabled college grads have been "out" about their disabilities.  And they all attended college while they had their disabilities! Click on any names of people or colleges to learn more about them.

Want to add someone (including yourself) to the list?  Just contact us. 

David Banner singing into microphone
David Banner
  • Rapper, musician, record producer, actor
  • Depression
  • Southern University
Portrait of Chris Bell at his desk
Chris Bell
  • Disability studies scholar, writer, disability activist
  • HIV/AIDS
  • University of Central Missouri, University of Illinois at Chicago, and Nottingham Trent University

Lil Wayne singing into microphone
Dwayne Michael Carter ("Lil Wayne")
  • Rapper, musician
  • Epilepsy
  • University of Houston and University of Phoenix
Historic portrait of George Washington Carver
George Washington Carver
  • Scientist and Inventor
  • Breathing and Physical Disabilities from Whooping Cough
  • Iowa State Agricultural College and Iowa State University

Patrick Cokely speaking into microphone holding papers
Patrick Cokley
  • Employer Policy Advisor for ODEP at US Dept. of Labor, disability activist, a founder of Lead On Network
  • Visual impairment
  • Howard University
Monica Coleman wearing regalia at Commencement
Monica Coleman
  • Professor of theology, scholar, researcher and activist, ordained elder in African Methodist Episcopal church
  • Depression
  • Harvard University, Vanderbilt Divinity School
Bobby Coward
  • Disability activist
  • Quadriplegic
  • University of the District of Columbia
Antonio Ellis facing camera wearing a nametag
Antonio Ellis
  • Education professor and researcher at the College of Charleston
  • Speech and language impairment
  • Benedict College, Florida A&M University, Howard University

Don Galloway wearing kente stole and headcovering
Don Galloway
  • Disability activist, musician
  • Blind
  • California State University, Los Angeles and San Diego State University
Portrait of Haben Girma smiling
Haben Girma

  • Lawyer, disability rights activist
  • Deafblind
  • Lewis & Clark College and Harvard Law School
Danny Glover wearing ball cap
Danny Glover
  • Actor
  • Dyslexia, Epilepsy
  • San Francisco State University
Claudia Gordon gesturing with her hands as she gives a presentation
Claudia Gordon
  • Disability liasion to the White House, lawyer
  • Deaf
  • Howard University and American University Washington College of Law

Portrait of Cheryl Green smiling
Cheryl Green
  • Yahoo website moderator, author, dean at Eastfield College, motivational speaker
  • Arthrogryposis multiplex congenita (born with deformed lower limbs)
  • Yale University, The Ohio State University, and Southern Methodist University
Ever Lee Hairston at podiumgiving speech
Ever Lee Hairston
  • Blind activist, director of Camden County Health Services in New Jersey
  • Blind
  • North Carolina Central University
Portrait of Jerron Herman
Jerron Herman
  • Dancer in  Heidi Latsky Dance company
  • Cerebral palsy
  • The King's College
LeDerick Horne
(note that video is not captioned)
  • Poet, disability activist, entrepreneur
  • Dyslexia
  • New Jersey City University

Photo of
Dwayne ("The Rock") Johnson
  • Wrestler, actor, producer, football player
  • Depression
  • University of Miami
Barbara Jordan in regalia giving speech
Barbara Jordan
  • U.S. Senator, politician, professor
  • Multiple sclerosis
  • Texas Southern University, Boston University School of Law
Jackie Joyner-Kersee wearing red-white-blue jacket with arms raised after getting Olympic medal
Jackie Joyner-Kersee
  • Track and field athlete, Olympian
  • Asthma
  • University of California, Los Angeles


Ayisha Knight
  • Poet, artist
  • Deaf
  • University of California, Santa Cruz and Gallaudet University

Johnnie Lacy smiling
Johnnie Lacy
  • Activist in Independent Living Movement and race/disability issues
  • Physical disabilities from polio
  • San Francisco State University, UC Berkeley
Action shot of Carl Lewis running on track
Carl Lewis
  • Professional track and field athlete, Olympian, UN Goodwill Ambassador
  • Dyslexia
  • University of Houston
Portrait of Audre Lorde
Audre Lorde
  • Poet, civil rights and lesbian activist
  • Visually impaired, cancer survivor
  • Hunter College
Photo of Lynn Manning wearing dark glasses and hat
Lynn Manning
  • Poet, performance artist, actor, playwright, Judo athlete
  • Blind
  • Los Angeles City College

Photo of Nathie Marbury smiling
Nathie Marbury
  • Professor and American Sign Language researcher
  • Deaf
  • Gallaudet University, California State University Northridge, Lamar University
Photo of Leroy Moore wearing a skull and crossbones t-shirt
Leroy Moore
  • Musician, founder of Krip Hop Nation, journalist, author
  • Cerebral Palsy
  • University of Notre Dame
Portrait of David Paterson
David Paterson
  • Former Governor of New York, politician, radio personality
  • Blind
  • Columbia University and Hofstra Law School
Portrait of Denise Pease standing in front of American flag
Denise Pease
  • Regional Administrator, U.S. General Services Aministration
  • Traumatic brain injury, epilepsy
  • Columbia University

Picture
Zarifa Roberson
  • Founder of i.d.e.a.l. magazine, motivational speaker
  • Arthritis
  • Millersville University and Coppin State University
Picture of Shawn Robinson
Shawn Robinson
  • Professor and researcher in education at Rock Valley College
  • Dyslexia
  • University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, DePaul University, Cardinal Stritch University
Picture
Bonnie St. John
  • Paralympic medalist in downhill skiing, motivational speaker
  • Amputee
  • Harvard University
Picture
Vilissa Thompson
  • Founder and CEO of Ramp Your Voice, writer, activist, social worker
  • Osteogenesis Imperfecta
  • Winthrop University

Picture
Herschel Walker
  • Professional football player, mixed martial artist
  • Mental illness (Dissociative Identity Disorder)
  • University of Georgia
Picture
Sylvia Walker
  • Researcher, scholar, disability activist
  • Visual impairment
  • Queens College, Hunter College, Teacher's College at Columbia University
Picture
Donna Walton
  • Founder and CEO of Leggtalk Inc., founder and director of Divas with Disabilities Project and model for Raw Beauty NYC and Bold Beauty
  • Amputee
  • American University, Syracuse University, and George Washington University
Picture
Heather Watkins
  • Disability advocate, author, mother
  • Muscular dystrophy
  • Emerson College

Picture
James West
  • Inventor, acoustician, scientific researcher, founding member of the Association of Black Laboratories Employees (ABLE)
  • Dyslexia
  • Temple University
Picture
Montel Williams
  • Television personality, radio host, actor
  • Multiple sclerosis
  • U.S. Naval Academy
Picture
Britney Wilson
  • Journalist
  • Cerebral Palsy
  • Howard University
Picture
TyKiah Wright
  • CEO and founder of WrightChoice, Inc., disability inclusion trainer, Commissioner of White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans
  • Muscular dystrophy (CMT)
  • Wright State University
​

Funding for this website was provided by a grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE),
​U.S. Department of Education (Grant #PB116B100141). 

​​

Images on website courtesy of Bigstockphoto.com.  Home page image courtesy Syracuse University and DREAM.  Posters created by Kelsey Duncan.

All pages copyright 2016 the HBCU Disability Consortium and AHEAD.  Permission is given to use content for educational purposes, with acknowledgement.
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