Thread by @ToYouISurrender

@singa4hire @GHMansfield I used to feel that way too. I was made to feel ashamed in grad school for a scooter. I still have a hard time being photographed in it, but more so because I have always hated seated photos.

I love my manual & power wheelchair. I feel empowered. While the world has made it

@singa4hire @GHMansfield impossible to enjoy at times because of the barriers, especially of transporting them, the times I felt freedom & complete joy, especially when I "surrendered" my anxieties & hesitancies (#ReclaimingThatWord). I was able to let myself go of external sources of guilt.

I think...

@singa4hire @GHMansfield with having intersectional identities, it feels similar to the external shame, I internalized about my own heritage & culture, where I was made to feel shame about being brown or dark-skinned, or having a family who was different. Letting go and taking pride changed everything.

@singa4hire @GHMansfield Guiltily, I'll admit: I loved one of the few trips I have gotten to take in my powerchair was to Orlando, where I mercilessly ESTABLISHED MY DOMINANCE by elevating the chair high & going full speed everywhere around theme parks. Parents were clutching their children finally. LOL.

@singa4hire @GHMansfield NO ONE, bumped into me or tried to stop me or made me feel less than. Not one person crossed in my path. I felt like Her Royal Highness, Queen Beyoncé... if only she could rock a power wheelchair like mine 😂👑👸🏾👩🏾‍🦼😉 #Flawless #ITookTheTopOffMyWheelchair #Wheelie #PowerForce

@singa4hire @GHMansfield I actually owe that confidence to a previous trip taken in my scooter alone after a conference in grad school (having experienced the trampling at ground level).

I saw a woman & her partner holding hands in the same chairs I have now, doing the same. I knew what I needed.