Rights Not Charity - Protest Textiles and Disability Activism

Textiles have long been part of the fabric of disabled people’s lives and history. In common with banners of the women’s suffrage movement and trade unions, disabled activists have embraced banners as a form of protest and resistance, communicating messages about identity, pride, unity and justice. Rights Not Charity tells the stories of these banners. Curator Gill Crawshaw explores this history through the protest banners and political artwork of disabled people’s rights movements, taking in political responses to charity, accessibility, and government cuts, among other causes. The zine considers banners and protest textiles from a wide range of disabled people’s organisations and demonstrations, including DAN: the Disabled People’s Direct Action Network, Disabled People Against Cuts, the National League of the Blind, and The Campaign for Accessible Transport. It also explores art installations such as ‘DWP Deaths Make Me Sick’ and exhibitions such as the People’s History Museum’s ‘Nothing About Us Without Us’.