The Reclaiming Our Bodies & Minds Conference is a three-day conference held on Friday, March 1 till Sunday, March 3, 2018. The conference will be held at the Ryerson Student Campus Centre.

Find the full schedule at www.reclaimingourbodiesandminds.com.

Our Theme: Nothing About Us Without Us

Originating out of disability activism, the term “Nothing About Us Without Us” was born out of disability justice movements that were frustrated, angry and ready for change around disability policies. The term has since been used as a source of empowerment and self-autonomy for the people who are most affected by ableist policies, and stating explicitly: You will not create in our name, we will create for ourselves.

The Reclaiming Our Bodies & Minds Conference needs to consistently reflect on the meaning behind the concept of “Nothing About Us Without Us.” As a conference based out of a university and college setting, we run the risk of continuing to privilege and prioritize the voices that historically and currently dominate the conversation around disabled spaces.

Our spaces have and continue to be defined by settler colonialism, cis-hetero-patriarchy and white supremacy. We aim to centre those who have been historically marginalized through these systems of oppression at our conference.

Our conference needs to better represent and reflect the community around us, and recognize that many in our community have been left alone to fend for themselves. Accessibility, community and capacity building of disability justice movements cannot be an afterthought of our conference, nor our movement.

This year’s Reclaiming Our Bodies & Minds Conference is about taking a new direction based on an old principle that we all deserve to be part of the conversation about our bodies and minds. We hope that the Conference will be an opportunity for engagement and action that starts within our communities. Then we can start to build a conference that does not just talk about accessibility and inclusivity but actively reflects it in our structures, discussions and implementation.

We invite you to join the planning committee by emailing [email protected]. 

Accommodations:

When you fill out the registration forms you will be given opportunities to indicate any dietary restrictions, access needs and accomodations. Please feel free to email: [email protected] with any questions or comments.