My name is Anna, I am 20 years old, and I’ve been disabled since I was 16. I live just a half hour outside DC, it’s pained me so much not to be able to go march alongside so many people I love and respect and make my voice heard. I have a number of chronic conditions including dysautonomia, CPTSD, and mast cell activation syndrome. As a disabled woman I’ve been mistreated, shut out, and left behind by people I should have been able to trust. It means the world to me to have a chance to speak out like this. Disabled people, especially women, are so often erased, silenced, and forgotten. We are real, we are valid, we deserve to support ourselves and each other.
After tomorrow the future is going to become an uncertain and scary place for so many of us. I can’t pretend not to be afraid, I’m scared to death. We need to take care of each other, we can do it together. I stand with all of you and send so much love ❤