{"id":26100,"date":"2016-01-27T10:07:33","date_gmt":"2016-01-27T16:07:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=26100"},"modified":"2016-01-27T10:07:33","modified_gmt":"2016-01-27T16:07:33","slug":"empowered-fe-fes-gives-young-women-sense-of-disability-pride-and-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/empowered-fe-fes-gives-young-women-sense-of-disability-pride-and-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Empowered Fe Fes gives young women sense of disability pride and community"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Rebekah Frumkin<\/strong><\/p>\n

At 21, Alexis Smith already has the r\u00e9sum\u00e9 of someone twice her age. She\u2019s a poet, memoirist and activist working on a short film about inclusivity for people with disabilities. She also has spastic quadriplegia cerebral palsy, for which she uses crutches 90 percent of the time and a power wheelchair the remaining 10 percent.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time we talk about ourselves as being disabled, we\u2019re not looking for sympathy,\u201d Smith says. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing to be sympathetic about.\u201d
\n
\nSmith is one of roughly 16 members of the Empowered Fe Fes, an advocacy and peer support group for young women ages 17-28 with physical, cognitive and learning disabilities, or combinations thereof. The Fe Fes meet regularly at Access Living in River North, a non-profit dedicated to disability rights and awareness. Members\u2019 specific disabilities are not made known to non-members unless they are voluntarily disclosed.<\/p>\n

In its 18-year history, the group has served as a source of affirmation and self-determination for girls whose disabilities often left them feeling excluded at home and at school.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Fe
The Fe Fes sing their opening chant at their most recent meeting. (Rebekah Frumkin\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cYoung kids with disabilities aren\u2019t necessarily born into families where there\u2019s anyone else with a disability,\u201d says Susan Nussbaum, Fe Fes founder and disability rights activist. \u201cThere\u2019s no one else to give them a sense of their history, their culture, their capabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

A baby boomer who came of age during the late \u201960s and early \u201970s, Nussbaum found her passion for activism early in life, aligning herself with the feminist and anti-war movements. But when she suffered a spinal cord injury as a young woman and became a wheelchair user, she felt suddenly adrift.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt alienated from my own life \u2013 strangers in the street talked to me as if I was an infant,\u201d Nussbaum recalls. \u201cAt that time I didn\u2019t understand that disability oppression is part of the system; I didn\u2019t see disability as a political issue at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until Nussbaum found work at a disability rights office that she recovered her passion for social justice. Hoping to spare other young women her feelings of disenfranchisement, Nussbaum applied for and won a grant to found the mentoring group that would become the Fe Fes.<\/p>\n

The 10 inaugural Fe Fes were high school girls of color from low-income backgrounds. They chose to call themselves \u201cFe Fes\u201d after a colloquial term for \u201cfemale.\u201d The Fe Fes met weekly at Access Living to talk about everything from disability rights to sexual health. As word of their meetings spread, their group grew in size.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the Fe Fes, we wanted to help young girls develop a sense of identity and disability pride, as well as self-determination with regards to their reproductive health and sexuality,\u201d says Judy Panko Reis, healthcare policy analyst at Access Living. \u201cPeople need to understand that disability is just a difference and a natural part of life \u2013 it\u2019s not a bad thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Nussbaum helmed the Fe Fes in the late \u201990s and early 2000s, the group entertained feminist and disability rights guest speakers. In the years since, the Fe Fes have maintained their focus on feminism and sex positivity<\/a>, while adding an emphasis on collaborative projects.<\/p>\n

Among their recent accomplishments, the Fe Fes staged an adaptive dance performance in 2012 called \u201cBelieve Your Beauty.\u201d In 2015, the group published \u201cTake Charge!\u201d a reproductive health guide for women with disabilities. At the group\u2019s last meeting, a speaker presented on QueerCrip fashion, or clothing that caters specifically to the needs of queer, trans and disabled people.<\/p>\n

\"Alexis
Fe Fe Alexis Smith inspects the jewelry of guest speaker and QueerCrip fashion designer Sky Cubacub. (Rebekah Frumkin\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cOur mission is two-dimensional,\u201d says Fulani Thrasher, current Fe Fes organizer. \u201cIt\u2019s to have a safe space for young women with disabilities to feel like a part of a community, and it\u2019s to [help them] learn about internalized oppression and channel that knowledge into self-advocacy.\u201d<\/p>\n

All of today\u2019s Fe Fes receive federal Supplemental Security Income and live with their parents or family members. Most are unemployed. For many of them, the group meetings are a rare occasion to express themselves among peers who understand them.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes I\u2019m not that talkative because I\u2019m normally very quiet, so I like being open to everyone,\u201d says Christina Talavera, 24, who has been a Fe Fe for over a year.<\/p>\n

\u201cBelieve Your Beauty\u201d was a favorite project of Fe Fe Brittany King, 25, a dancer before she acquired her disability. King is also excited about the Fe Fes\u2019 current campaign for economic justice, a systematic initiative to raise awareness of the economic hardships suffered by women with disabilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just feel like we\u2019re being pushed through the system and forced to live on Social Security, which isn\u2019t that much,\u201d King says. \u201cSo right now we\u2019re working to change that whole situation up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the Fe Fes\u2019 elder stateswomen is Mayra Puma, 28, who has been a member of the group for the past 10 years. Puma, who is Ecuadorian, described a lonely childhood during which she felt misunderstood by her able-bodied siblings and endured constant bullying at school. Thanks to the Fe Fes, she says she\u2019s acquired a new mission.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a dream to have my own group back home in Ecuador,\u201d Puma says. \u201cI want to help other women who are having the same struggles as here.\u201d<\/p>\n

For many of its members, the Empowered Fe Fes remains an oasis of understanding and peer mentorship. For some, it even serves as a galvanizing force: Alexis Smith is looking forward to finishing her film, which will illustrate the challenges confronted by people with disabilities when using public transportation and moving in academic or professional spheres.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just like anybody else, we have the same dreams and aspirations and we\u2019re just as smart,\u201d Smith says. \u201cI\u2019m sick of the stigma and the stereotypes \u2013 I\u2019m not going to let my disability stop me from doing anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Empowered Fe Fes perform “Believe Your Beauty” in 2012. (Fulani Thrasher\/ACCESS LIVING)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Rebekah Frumkin At 21, Alexis Smith already has the r\u00e9sum\u00e9 of someone twice her age. She\u2019s a poet, memoirist and activist working on a short film about inclusivity for people with disabilities. She also has spastic quadriplegia cerebral palsy, for which she uses crutches 90 percent of the time and a power wheelchair the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":234,"featured_media":26250,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,675,585],"tags":[985,982,987,983,981,598,979,986,107,988,398,984,990,989,980,925],"class_list":["post-26100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-interest","category-social-justice","category-winter-2016","tag-access-living","tag-activist","tag-anti-war","tag-awareness","tag-capabilities","tag-disability","tag-disable","tag-feminist","tag-health","tag-injury","tag-rights","tag-river-north","tag-sex-positive","tag-sexuality","tag-spinal-chord","tag-wheelchair"],"yoast_head":"\nEmpowered Fe Fes gives young women sense of disability pride and community - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/empowered-fe-fes-gives-young-women-sense-of-disability-pride-and-community\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Empowered Fe Fes gives young women sense of disability pride and community - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Rebekah Frumkin At 21, Alexis Smith already has the r\u00e9sum\u00e9 of someone twice her age. 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