Keah Brown
As seen in:
Medium,
The New York Times,
Yahoo Life,
Yahoo News,
Los Angeles Times,
NBC News,
Barnes and Noble,
Fast Company,
Substack,
The Strategist
and
Author. The Secret Summer Promise out now! lit rep: @abuckslater film/tv: @RachMiller she/her 🏳️🌈 created #disabledandcute
Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Keah Brown
‘Disability Intimacy’ starts a long-overdue conversation
Worker hired for food service job reveals she was fired before her training started for awful reason The worker was told by the management that they didn’t 'want to set you up for failure' before they asked her to leave. While life has already become …
'Disability Intimacy' starts a long-overdue conversation
To whom does desire belong? How about love and care? These are the questions at the heart of “Disability Intimacy,” a new book of essays and ephemera collected by the San Francisco activist Alice Wong, and the answers are painfully obvious: Those human experiences are for everyone. What’s less obvious to many, and acutely painful to some of us, is that those questions needed to be asked and answered. This book needed to exist.
THE SECRET SUMMER PROMISE
Tamika Katon-Donegal narrates this breezy romance about Andrea, a queer disabled teen who's determined to have the best summer ever--even if it means falling out of love with her best friend, Hailee, who she's not sure returns her feelings. Katon-Donegal is fantastic when it comes to capturing all of Andrea's excitement and butterflies-in-the-stomach feelings.
July is Disability Pride Month
Jul 05 2023 July is Disability Pride Month Printer-friendly version July is Disability Pride Month, marking the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act passing into law in 1990. The month is dedicated to celebrating people with disabilities, increasing visibility, and fighting ableism. We’re starting this month’s Disability Pride coverage with a list of books written by disabled authors! Some authors on this list have visible disabilities. Many of them use mobility aids.
Blink And You’ll Miss It
More often than I would like to admit, I find myself chasing after the next thing, I don’t often let myself celebrate even the small wins or successes in my professional and personal life. I find myself eager to push myself past my limits and keep going until I achieve the thing I want and then when I achieve it, I don’t know how to sit in the achievement. In therapy I talk a lot about the other shoe dropping never about the size of the shoe or the type of shoe but the shoe will drop nevertheless.
Tell Me Everything...
Hey friends! I am so happy you are here! welcome to the first TME newsletter. Let’s get some basics out of the way. TME is a weekly newsletter about pop culture, disability, queerness and Blackness. Every Wednesday you’ll get a newsletter in your inbox that may include: a story about something or someone on my mind, a song, movie, or show I’m loving, 4 things I like about myself, and more! So, let’s get to it! I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the way we communicate with the people we love.
The Secret Summer Promise
Login OR login with: Don't have an account? Sign Up For Free! Forgot Password Please type in your email address in order to receive an email with instructions on how to reset your password. Processing Please Don't Refresh the Page The Secret Summer Promise has successfully been added to your shopping cart
Picture Books on Audio That Celebrate Black Children and Families
Picture Books on Audio That Celebrate Black Children and Families Each of these picture books on audio—written and read by Black authors and narrators—celebrate the beautiful, creative, and adventure-packed way children see the world. From soothing bedtime tales to tips on activating your own superpower (capes optional), these audiobooks are made for listening together with your little ones. Read by the author.
The Secret Summer Promise by Keah Brown — Levine Querido
by Keah Brown THE BSE (Best Summer Ever) LIST! Blueberries Art show in ShoeHorn Lizzo concert Thrift shop pop-up Skinny dipping at the lake house Amusement Park Day! Drew Barrymarathon Paintball day Oh, and …. Fall out of love with Hailee. Andrea Williams has got this. The Best Summer Ever. Two summers ago, she spent all her time in bed, recovering from the latest surgery for her cerebral palsy. She’s waited too long for adventure and thrills to enter her life.
The Secret Summer Promise|Hardcover
THE BSE (Best Summer Ever) LIST! 1. Blueberries 2. Art show in ShoeHorn 3. Lizzo concert 4. Thrift shop pop-up 5. Skinny Dipping at the lake house 6. Amusement Park Day! 7. Drew Barrymarathon 8. Paintball day Oh, and …. 9. Fall out of love with Hailee Andrea Williams has got this. The Best Summer Ever. Two summers ago, she spent all her time in bed, recovering from the latest surgery for her cerebral palsy. She’s waited too long for adventure and thrills to enter her life.
The Secret Summer Promise
"THE BSE (Best Summer Ever) LIST! 1. Blueberries 2. Art show in ShoeHorn 3. Lizzo concert 4. Thrift shop pop-up 5. Skinny Dipping at the lake house 6. Amusement Park Day! 7. Drew Barrymarathon 8. Paintball day Oh, and …. 9. Fall out of love with Hailee Andrea Williams has got this. The Best Summer Ever. Two summers ago, she spent all her time in bed, recovering from the latest surgery for her cerebral palsy. She’s waited too long for adventure and thrills to enter her life.
Elspeth Lorraine
It's the last Book review of 2022 and it's a cute one! Ack! Sam’s Super Seats is just about one of the most charming books you’ll read this year. Sam is a self love queen with cerebral palsy. Mommy takes Sam and her friends back to school shopping at the mall where they try on outfits, get matching friendship bracelets and laugh.
SAM'S SUPER SEATS
by Keah Brown ; illustrated by Sharee Miller ‧ A child with cerebral palsy describes how resting helps them to have fun. Every morning, as Daddy combs Sam’s hair, Sam, a Black child sporting glasses, lists qualities they like about themselves. Today, Sam likes their dance skills, their eyes, and their fingers, which are slightly crooked on their right hand. But cerebral palsy makes Sam’s legs tired if they overdo things.
"Sam's Super Seats" by Keah Brown and Sharee Miller
If the details of this book are incorrect you can update Open Library's information about "Sam's Super Seats". Buying options in the US Not in the US? Choose a different country for more relevant buying options. We found new copies of this book available from Blackwell's and World of Books.
I have cerebral palsy and am grateful Beyoncé and Lizzo changed their lyrics. I'm still frustrated we hold Black artists to higher standards. Original
When fans called Beyoncé out for using an ableist term in her song "Heated," she changed the lyric. I'm grateful for the swift action, but the continued pile-on frustrates me. I want society to give Black artists as much grace as non-Black artists when they make mistakes. Over 3 million people read Morning Brew ; you should too! Loading Something is loading.
SAM'S SUPER SEATS
by Keah Brown ; illustrated by Sharee Miller ‧ A child with cerebral palsy describes how resting helps them to have fun. Every morning, as Daddy combs Sam’s hair, Sam, a Black child sporting glasses, lists qualities they like about themselves. Today, Sam likes their dance skills, their eyes, and their fingers, which are slightly crooked on their right hand. But cerebral palsy makes Sam’s legs tired if they overdo things.
Today's Kids in Motion Magazine
Superhero stories have a disability problem By Keah Brown In both our real and superhero-filled worlds, the fear of anything imperfect and different is seen as something to fix or destroy. Disabled people don’t get to be superheroes. We often only get to be villains. In the larger cultural landscape, we view disability as punishment and cannot see or make sense of the full spectrum of disability. We fear disability instead of trying to understand it.
Judy Heumann: Seeds of Revolution
Author Keah Brown speaks with Judy Heumann, fellow disability activist and subject of the documentary Crip Camp, in celebration of Heumann’s work and the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. In our current cultural landscape, I am often looking for things to become excited about, to keep me moving forward with a feeling of hope, joy, and possibility. We need that now more than ever.
Sam's Super Seats|Hardcover
Keah Brown is a journalist, author, and screenwriter. She is the creator of #DisabledAndCute, and her work has appeared in Teen Vogue, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire UK, and The New York Times, among other publications. Her debut essay collection The Pretty One (Atria Books) published in 2019, and her writing has appeared in the anthologies Disability Visability edited by Alice Wong and You Are Your Best Thing, edited by Tarana Burke and Brené Brown.
Did Buying This Keyboard Cure My Depression? Time Will Tell.
Keah Brown is the author of The Pretty One and the forthcoming Sam’s Super Seats. Photo: The Strategist; Photo COURTESY One thing the past two years of a global pandemic has taught me is that the little joys matter just as much as the big ones. In December, I was in the midst of an exhausting mental-health low and talking to my therapist about finding ways to make myself feel joy again. In fact, I was desperate for something that made me feel less despair and more, dare I say, hope.
Perspectives on Disability
Skip content Disabled-owned bookstores Check out this directory of disabled-owned bookstores to find a store near you, or somewhere to support virtually. Find a store Designing Libro.fm with an Accessibility-First Approach Learn more about how Libro.fm ensures our website and iOS and Android apps are designed to be accessible for every listener.
Fashion Rarely Designs Clothes for Me, so Finding the Right Fit Can Feel Magical
Fashion, at its best, is about self-expression. But the industry still denies too many people that freedom—especially in sustainable fashion, where accessibility and inclusivity are oft-repeated buzzwords but rarely the reality. When the stars align, though, things can get a little magical. In this essay, the author, screenwriter, and #DisabledAndCute creator Keah Brown recounts one night of surprises, glamour, and sartorial success—and how much that means. What to wear to the Hamptons?
Vilissa Thompson and Keah Brown In Conversation About Disabled Black Girl Magic
When CaShawn Thompson created #BlackGirlMagic in 2013, it was meant to be celebratory—to spotlight and honor the Black women often left in the margins, including impoverished Black women, dark-skinned Black women, and disabled Black women. Though the phrase has been both commodified and picked apart over the years, its essence remains. And few people embody the spirit of its message more than Keah Brown and Vilissa Thompson, both writers and disability activists.
Superhero stories have a disability problem
Disabled people don’t get to be superheroes. We often only get to be villains. In the larger cultural landscape, we view disability as punishment and cannot see or make sense of the full spectrum of disability. We fear disability instead of trying to understand it. People with disabilities are never the guy that gets the girl, the person who saves the day, or the hero who gets the victory parade.
The Superhero Issue
“I want to know what it is that a superhero can offer me, what problem a superhero solves for a skeptical black queer woman with a book and a customer service job. I want to know what I need a superhero for, exactly.”
ComiXology Features 6 New Comics Including 3 DC Digital First Releases
There’s six new comics available now on comiXology. That includes 3 new comics from DC alone! Start shopping now or check them out below. Legends of the Dark Knight (2021-) #11 Written by Becky Cloonan Pencils Dike Ruan Inks Dike Ruan Colored by Dave McCaig Purchase THE CURSE OF SLAUGHTER SWAMP! Batman tries to stop Solomon Grundy as he attacks crime bosses in Gotham City.
Selma Blair Interview About Cruel Intentions, Legally Blonde & Multiple Sclerosis Original
Long before we met, I thought I knew who Selma Blair was. As a pop culture buff, I’d watched her work, and I believed I could surmise what her life was like through red carpet photos, magazine covers, and movie screens. I came of age, and Blair rose to stardom, in an era before social media, when fans put public figures on a pedestal and projected a grandeur onto their every moment. On a recent Saturday night Blair and I met over Zoom.
Incredible Books by Differently-Abled Authors
Haben Girma is the first deafblind person to have graduated from Harvard Law School, but don’t let the title of her book fool you, because it is about so much more than Harvard. In her memoir, Girma discusses her extraordinary life experiences, demonstrating determination, resiliency, spirit, and grace. These include building a school in Mali, developing a text-to-brail communication system, climbing an iceberg in Alaska, and meeting a U.S. president.
How I Learned to Love Celebrating My Disability
December 3 is International Day of Persons with Disabilities. I have never known a life without disability. I was born with cerebral palsy, which, in my case, impacts the right side of my body. This means delayed motor skills, reaction times, limited range of motion and walking with a visible limp. Cerebral palsy is and looks different for every person and every body.
Makeup Is a Form of Empowerment
This story is part of The Beauty of Accessibility, our series on inclusivity and representation for people with disabilities in the beauty industry and beyond. One thing about living through a pandemic is — at least for those of us looking to protect ourselves and others by wearing masks and only going out when necessary — we spend a lot of time staring at the same four walls of bedrooms, living rooms, and bathrooms.
Makeup Is a Form of Empowerment
Refinery29 EVERY Black Friday Beauty Sale Worth Shopping As hard as it may be to believe, 2020 is almost over. If you ask us, nothing pairs better with extra helpings of leftover potatoes and pie than a little virtual shopping for deals on our favorite beauty brands during the biggest sale season of the year. Ahem, Black Friday and Cyber Monday.With major markdowns to be enjoyed, you won't want to hold off until next week to restock your skincare cabinet or snap up a bold new eyeshadow palette.
Old Friends
Whenever I see the sun I think of my grandmother’s smile. I assume that she is hovering the way angels do. She hovers just next to him like they are old friends She tells him stories of us, things we did as kids. I think she may be able to read our minds now. Isn’t that something Angels can do? she keeps our secrets that’s why they’ve got the name. Whenever I see the sun I assume he is back from a coffee date with my grandmother.
Experiences of Disability: Our Guest Editors in Conversation
Sarah Fawn Montgomery: Editing this Brevity special issue, Experiences of Disability, has been an interesting process that reminds us of the power of language and the privilege of publishing. Can you both talk about why you initially wanted to edit this special issue, as well as the ways the emergence of COVID-19 and our current social and political response shaped your mission? Keah Brown: The process has been interesting, I agree.
‘Disabled People Love Clothes Too’
But #disabledandcute influencers say the fashion industry has been slow to embrace them. Jourdie Godley, a fashion consultant, models products from FFORA including the Essentials bag in Tangerine. July 26, 2020, 5:00 a.m. ET This article is part of a series exploring how the Americans With Disabilities Act has shaped modern life for people with disabilities. I have always believed that fashion is the window to the soul.
Netflix Queue | Judy Heumann
SEEDS OF REVOLUTION Author Keah Brown speaks with Judy Heumann, fellow disability activist and subject of the documentary Crip Camp, in celebration of Heumann’s work and the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. By KEAH BROWN ART BY BROOBS In our current cultural landscape, I am often looking for things to become excited about, to keep me moving forward with a feeling of hope, joy, and possibility. We need that now more than ever.
The Pretty One
INTRODUCTION The Pretty One Hey, friends! My name is Keah and I’m cute as hell. I love popular culture, music, cheesecake, cheeseburgers, and pizza. I dance in cars with my friends and again at their weddings. We sing songs down store aisles and play cards for hours. I live-tweet TV shows and laugh at my own jokes. I text my friend Danielle Sepulveres about Christmas movies and watch the Hallmark Channel for hours. When I am alone, I thoroughly enjoy playing The Sims.
My Joy Is My Freedom Original
Embracing my own joy now means that I didn’t always. Hope is my favorite word, but I didn’t always have it. Unfortunately, we live in a society that assumes joy is impossible for disabled people, associating disability only with sadness and shame. So my joy—the joy of professional and personal wins, of pop culture and books, of expressing platonic love out loud—is revolutionary in a body like mine.
What Reality TV Taught Me About Ending a Friendship | Keah Brown
Before our friendship fell apart, Pat and I found each other on Tumblr, commiserating over our love of the show Glee. On the day that we became friends, I had likely finished a day of classes at my SUNY college and popped onto Tumblr before going to dinner with my friends. I always checked the website during those hours, scrolling and reblogging while I waited for someone to get ready or to get out of class.
What Reality TV Taught Me About Ending a Friendship | Keah Brown
Before our friendship fell apart, Pat and I found each other on Tumblr, commiserating over our love of the show Glee. On the day that we became friends, I had likely finished a day of classes at my SUNY college and popped onto Tumblr before going to dinner with my friends. I always checked the website during those hours, scrolling and reblogging while I waited for someone to get ready or to get out of class.
Catapult | keahbrown
Keah Brown is a reader not a fighter. A lover and a writer. She has a BA in Journalism from The State University of New York at Fredonia. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Toast, Femsplain, Catapult, and Atticus Review among other publications. She laughs at her own tweets @Keah_Maria.
Lizzo Is Too Good to Cancel, but Fatphobic People Are Still Trying
Lizzo performs onstage at the 2019 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 21, 2019 in Indio, California. (Photo credit: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Coachella) I just took a DNA test, turns out I’m 100 percent allergic to the hypocrisy that drives the criticism lobbed at Lizzo, an artist I’ve been listening to since a friend recommended Coconut Oil, her 2016 EP, to me in a group chat.
The Pretty One
From the disability rights advocate and creator of the #DisabledAndCute viral campaign, a thoughtful, inspiring, and charming collection of essays exploring what it means to be black and disabled in a mostly able-bodied white America. Keah Brown loves herself, but that hadn’t always been the case. Born with cerebral palsy, her greatest desire used to be normalcy and refuge from the steady stream of self-hate society strengthened inside her.
I’ve asked to work remotely for years. It’s painful to watch companies finally comply
By Keah Brown3 minute Read “I have questions,” was my first thought when I learned at the beginning of March that so many publications were switching to remote work due to COVID-19. I’m not saying this was the wrong thing to do. Far from it. Ensuring that writers and editors can work remotely is imperative to helping everyone stop the spread of the virus. Social distancing is keeping people like myself, who are the most vulnerable, much safer.
Name a Woman: Pioneering Drag King Gladys Bentley
by Keah Brown 12m ago In honor of Women’s History Month, NewNowNext is spotlighting five LGBTQ women whose contributions to society and culture changed the course of history. By the end of this week, you’ll be able to name a woman—and an LGBTQ pioneer, no less—without breaking a sweat. Gladys Alberta Bentley was born on August 12, 1907, which makes her a Leo. I won’t pretend to know enough astrology to deduce any meaning from this, but it felt important to note.
A New Disability Story: Crip Camp Review - Disability and Media Alliance Project
As a black disabled woman, I went into the Crip Camp premiere with a lot of preconceived notions. As a journalist and critic, I know better than to do so, but as a disabled woman, that knowledge muddled a bit. Let me explain, I went to a press screening of Crip Camp during Sundance 2020 certain I’d leave having watched yet another film filled with inspiration porn, praise for the nondisabled people in the documentary, and a list of the dead disabled people to precede the credits.
People Who Helped Me Come To My (Bi)sexual Awakening: A Short Thank You List
I came out as a bisexual icon on National Coming Out Day last year, October 11, 2019. As a freshly out bisexual Black woman, I’m doing all of the cliché things: searching high and low for bisexual merch to buy, tweeting about being bi, excessively using the rainbow emoji, and panicking about if anyone will love me. You know, the usual.
How the Women's March Is Trying to Be More Accessible This Year
The fourth annual Women’s March is happening on Saturday, January 18. The first three marches garnered some criticism for not being inclusive in multiple ways, including toward people of color, trans women, and those with disabilities. This year, Women's March, Inc. is making some necessary improvements to rectify those ills, including offering virtual attendance options, captioning, and ASL interpreters on live feeds.
The “New York Times” Validated Ableism with Murder-Suicide Love Story
(Photo credit: RUNSTUDIO/Getty Images) On December 29, 2019, the New York Times published a story titled “Sweethearts Forever. Then Came Alzheimer’s, Murder and Suicide” that explored Richard and Alma, a longtime married couple whose relationship ended beyond tragically. Richard fatally shot Alma and then shot himself because his wife had Alzheimer’s.
puresound letter 002: remembering everyone
image description: an outstretched hand holding a bright carton of fresh blueberries. i have drawn cartoon yellow “light” lines surrounding the berry carton. overlaid text: “puresound letter 002” “remembering everyone” image credit: againstcotton I meant to publish this newsletter in August, so some of these things might seem a little outdated. Life is hard and I’m not gonna apologize for it because I keep holding myself to unrealistic deadlines and I gotta stop doing that.
How This Woman Quit Being Self-Conscious of Her Cerebral Palsy: ‘I Used to Hide Away’
Author and social media influencer Keah Brown writes about her journey toward body acceptance while living with cerebral palsy. By Keah Brown September 05, 2019 There are three things that I know to be absolutely true in this world: Cheesecake is delicious, Paramore is one of the best bands ever, and women are way too hard on themselves. OK, fine. The first two are just my humble opinions. But the last one I learned through years and years of anecdotal evidence.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Keah
Contact Keah, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack