I’m marching because Betsy DeVos is absolutely unqualified to be the Secretary of Education. Education is the only thing that allowed me, a young woman with Cerebral Palsy who walks with a limp, not to be defined by my disability in my school years. Succeeding in the classroom allowed me to believe in myself enough to move beyond the shame I felt having a disability, and gave me the tools to dismantle some of the harmful rhetoric and ideology that is used to keep people with disabilities isolated and quiet. I’m marching because the Women’s March is one of the largest gatherings of people with disabilities ever, and being a part of the disability community, finding others with my lived experience, has fundamentally changed the way I relate to the world. I’m marching for my five-year-old self, and for children with disabilities everywhere, to show her (and them!) that disability can be an asset, not a liability. On a more practical level, I’m marching because I can’t drive, but I’ll be spending time in my community over the weekend doing the next best thing: making art.

Alethea Bakogeorge is a theatre artist, arts administrator, and advocate for people with disabilities in the performing arts. Currently, she is completing two Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in Musical Theatre and Arts Administration at Viterbo University. Recently, she was seen as the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet on the Viterbo University Fine Arts Center mainstage. Prior to that, she was an Arts Administration Apprentice at Theatre Aspen for their 2016 season. She fights for equity, diversity, and radical inclusion.