Queer, black and disabled.

In a recent article published by the Huffington Post, a disabled woman wrote: “disability transcends race, ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, and gender identity”. In other words, people with disabilities are a very diverse group of people.

Eddie Ndopu a 25-year-old black, queer-feminist, disability rights activist from Johannesburg is making history in a big way. He was raised by a single mother who fled apartheid South Africa to self-imposed exile in Namibia. At the age of two, Ndopu was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy and given until the age of five to survive.

Since then Ndopu has led an extraordinary life and career. He has held key positions such as Head of Amnesty International’s Youth Engagement Work for Africa, a summa cum laude graduate of Carleton University in Canada, where he served as a research analyst at the World Economic forum.

He is a champion of disability activism or as Ndopu puts it “ I’m the guy on wheels who refuses to rest until every single disabled person in the world until every single beautifully black and brown disabled soul gets a fighting chance at living their best life”.

In his video “In His Own Words” what strikes me about the video is how he challenges the audience to think about their understanding of disability. It’s one of the most inspiring videos I have watched. I hope you enjoy it.