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Press & Media 

︎ Links below to Press, Media Features and Appearances ︎


︎ What Will It Take? Dismantling Ableist Visual Culture by Centering Black and Disabled Narratives
The 3% Conference 2021, A Decade of Difference November 2-3, 2021 Atlanta, Georgia| During this presentation I’ll be centering the Black & Disabled cultural experience in art and design. Ableist and racist social constructs consistently steal so much joy from the black disabled community, erasing their humanity and existence - even as we tirelessly fight for liberation. In this time of continued uprising I found joy by reclaiming visual narratives - holding space for my art and design as it shifted into a practice of restorative justice. I believe by highlighting elements of community work and scholarship from diverse Black perspectives, and listening to the lived experience of the disability community, we can shift our design practices into a guiding force for good. -- Speaker: Jen White-Johnson, Art and Design Activist and Educator

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︎  Deem Journal Forum Session Two: Neurodiversity
Jan 27, 2022 | Session Two will examine the concept of neurodiversity and its implications in shaping the conditions for equity. This discussion will feature guests Jezz Chung and Jen White-Johnson, and will be moderated by Dr. Yewande Pearse.

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︎  Symposium—Conversations on Access and Design, Bard Graduate Center
March 18, 2022 | Conversations on Access and Design: The Horowitz Book Prize Symposium

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︎ Jen White-Johnson: Why Joy Must Be the Center of Disability Narratives
Disability & Philanthropy Forum
Apr 13, 2023 | Disabled artist, designer, educator, and activist Jen White-Johnson discusses ableist stigma in education and why she prioritizes disabled and neurodivergent joy in in her art, activism, and personal life.


︎ Disability Rights + Disability Justice | Lydia X.Z. Brown and Jen White-Johnson
Nov 21, 2022 | In the third episode of The Adjustable Table, Lydia X. Z. Brown, Jen White-Johnson, and Susan Mazrui discuss disability rights and disability justice.



︎ Designing for Black Disabled Lives with Design Activist Jennifer White Johnson
TECH WRAP QUEEN PODCAST 
April 10, 2021, | Wrap Session 16 Welcomes the amazing Jen White Johnson, Design Activist and Assistant Professor of Visual Communication Design and Digital Media Art at Bowie State University, the oldest HBCU in Maryland. Jen shares her personal journey to understanding her son's disability as well as her own while creating & designing a new narrative in how Black and Brown disabled lives are portrayed in society. 

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︎  Create.Connect.Amplify. Designing with Disability Inclusion, Goethe-Institut Washington D.C.
Feb 25, 2022 | Create.Connect.Amplify. presents stories of urgent and creative problem-solving, creates a place to talk about how designers and design's rigorous research and dedication to efficacy can address pressing problems of our current world, and shares inspiring stories of design's power to achieve radical and far-reaching change. In this interdisciplinary series, you will meet German and Washington, DC-based creatives monthly whose work is making an impact (some global) across design, media, disability, and much more. Sign up to hear their origin story, learn what inspires them, and how connections have and continue to shape their careers. Presenting Design as a powerful tool of change, this series – brought to you by Goethe-Institut, curated by Dian Holton, a multifaceted creative who once resided in Berlin and a current Washington, DC resident – features a disparate collection of 'design practitioners.' We showcase creatives and projects to inspire designers, activists, community leaders as well as anyone else looking to address social problems, especially in places where design has been traditionally unavailable or inaccessible.

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︎ Black Collagists: The Book | With Teri Henderson
Moderated by Jen White-Johnson
Society of Design Arts | AIGA Baltimore | Stevenson University | February 28th, 2022
The Society of Design Arts (SoDA), AIGA Baltimore and Stevenson University held an online conversation about “Black Collagists: The Book” with Teri Henderson, followed by a Q&A session moderated by Jen White-Johnson.

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︎  State of Black Design 2022 | Panel | Amplifying Accessibility & Abolishing Ableism
March 2022 | Amplifying Accessibility & Abolishing Ableism: Designing to embolden Disability Visual Culture: Moderated by Jen White-Johnson,
Featured Panelists: Andraea LaVant- Disability Advocate, Communications consultant, LaVant Consulting, Vivianne Castillo - Founder at Hmnty Cntrd, Humanity in Tech Advocate-Warrior, Regine Gilbert - Designer, Educator, Author, NYU Tandon School. Topic of discussion Holding space for Disability Design Justice in the Black Design Community,Anti Blackness and Anti Ableism in the Design Community, Equitable and Accessible Design in the Black Design Community. Moderated by Jen White-Johnson,
Featured Panelists: Andraea LaVant LaVant Consulting, REGINÉ GILBERT

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︎  Longmore Lecture in Disability Studies: Scholar-Activisim in 2021
March 29, 2021 | Each year, the Longmore Lecture in Disability Studies hosts a speaker who continues Paul Longmore's legacy of scholar-activism. This year's event featured a panel discussion with Aimi Hamraie, Liat Ben-Moshe, and Jen White-Johnson, moderated by Milton Reynolds  Together, these speakers discussed disability justice in and outside of academia, scholar-activism in the pandemic, and more.

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︎ Jen White-Johnson — Advocating and Uplifting Joy. Ep14
Works in Process Podcast
Oct, 2021 | Our guest, Jen White-Johnson a Designer, Photographer, Art Activist, and Art Educator. She teaches as an Assistant Professor of Visual Communication at Bowie State University (HBCU) where her work focuses on the intersection of content and caregiving with an emphasis on redesigning ableist visual culture. When her son was diagnosed as Autistic at age 3 she began to examine the absence of black disabled children in digital and literary media, this motivated the release of an advocacy photo zine entitled "KnoxRoxs." Dedicated to her Autistic son, the zine is a way to give visibility to children of color in the black Autistic community. Since its release, the zine has received national and international recognition, including features in AfroPunk, Today at Apple. It’s for her advocacy and her artistic impact that I have on the podcast, and I hope you enjoy the candid nature in which we discuss her artistic voice and how visuals help advance the conversation around black and brown disabled voices.


A PHOTOVILLE EDUCATOR LAB WORKSHOP
Photoville EDU Lab | Disability / Visibility
Disability / Visibility ResourcesProduced by Photoville Education in partnership with PhotoWings
︎ ︎ Watch Highlights from the day
https://photoville.com/projects/disability-visibility/
Nov, 17, 2022

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︎ MPT DIGITAL STUDIOS
Voices of Baltimore: Black Disabled Lives
Baltimore artist creates viral poster used in protests across several continents.
Aired: 07/23/20

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︎  Autism In Black
Episode 19: Mom Spotlight with Jen White Johnson
Aug, 2020 | Today we are joined by Jen White-Johnson for a mom spotlight. Jen and I have a very candid conversation surrounding raising a child with a disability when you have a disability yourself. We talk about ableism and its impacts and Jen also gives some great resources that you can use to educate yourself.

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︎ Jennifer White-Johnson // Activating the Narrative of Creative Resistance // 2019
  Design Plus Diversity Conference Presenter 
 The Design + Diversity conference explores proactive ways to make the design industry more diverse. This is the only conference that focuses on diversity issues in the design field. This event provides a platform for constructive conversation among those who design, innovate, and lead. We welcome the perspective of diversity and inclusion professionals, designers, and any active enthusiast.

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Jan 2019 | Filmmaker Nasreen Alkhateeb & Sound Editor Kai Keefe are geniuses - you should follow and support them since they can visually capture stories that mean something for all people. It was important in this interview to tell my truth and explain why I marched and contributed artwork for the 2019 Women's March and why I’ll keep marching long after! In addition to marching for disability rights and disability justice for people of color, at the end of the video I mention I’m marching for trans folks. My cousin Denise who was trans, passed away last year. I march in her memory. I hold dear the last few conversations I was able to have with her before she died. Nasreen captured our Women's March art build team for the 5 weeks we spent in the studio and will be joining us at the 2019 Women's March as watched thousands of folks engage with our creations! ・・・ Note From the filmmaker: We made a video in 24 hrs highlighting Jen White-Johnson's work on advocating for #autismacceptance and #disabilityrights. Her work will be featured with four other artists at the WomensMarch in a couple days. #womenswave2019 #womensmarch #womensagenda #autismacceptance #knorxroxs #transrights #disabilityjustice #blackdisabledlivesmatter #blacklivesmatter
Director|DP: Nasreen Alkhateeb Editor|Sound: Kai Keefe

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︎ ︎ Starbucks Global Academy
Third Place Development Series: Disability Justice with Jennifer White-Johnson
This series focuses on Disability Justice with Jennifer White-Johnson, parent, advocate, artist. We will discuss intersectionality of neurodivergence in marginalized groups.

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CNN World Autism Awareness Day 2021: What you need to know
 By Matt Villano, CNN
Fri April 2, 2021

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︎ ︎National Museum of African American History and Culture | Smithsonian 
Artist Profile 

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Juxtapoz Magazine 
︎ Jen White-Johnson: Mothering as an Act of Resistance
July 05, 2023 | in Design
Interviewed by Iris Xie

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 Latina Magazine 
 ︎ Q&A: Illustrator Jennifer White Johnson Brings Disability Justice to Creative Culture
Oct 2021 | SELF CREATOR SPOTLIGHT
By 


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︎ World Institute on Disability 
12 Black Disabled Activists and Advocates You Need to be Following
Feb 21, 2023 | By Charlotte Stasio
Centering the stories of Black disabled people is essential to achieving our vision of a world in which people with disabilities live freely, where access, inclusion, equity, and resilience are embedded throughout every global community. We are proud to highlight Black disabled activists and advocates who are currently making waves in social justice. Here are 12 Black Disabled Activists and Advocates you need to be following.

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︎AIGA Eye on Design | Op-Ed
How the Black Disabled Lives Matter Symbol Took on A Life of Its Own
Black disabled artists and designers are reminding folks that collective liberation can’t be created in a silo
Words by Jennifer White-Johnson | Published on November 11th, 2020

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 ︎ The Pop Culture Collaborative
#BlackDisabledLivesMatter: Q&A with artist Jen White-Johnson
by Alice Wong for Break the Story Volume IV: Disability Visibility
 September 9, 2020