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Sami Schalk Profile picture
Sami Schalk
@DrSamiSchalk
Academic. Pleasure activist. Author of #BodymindsReimagined & #BlackDisabilityPolitics. She/her. Agent: @CCMNTSpeakers
4 subscribers
Dec 12, 2023 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
When I was in high school I intentionally did not apply for scholarships intended to support students of color or students from low income backgrounds. I was determined to show I could do it on merit alone. So it’s ironic now that no matter how many degrees or awards or books, certain folks will say I’m “just” a “DEI hire” & don’t deserve my job when they don’t know anything about how or why I was hired. All they see is a fat Black queer woman & they immediately think “unqualified”
Dec 11, 2023 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
I think it’s telling that a bunch of conservatives are responding to a video of me twerking on stage with Janelle Monáe & asking why this behavior is allowed by a professor on a college campus/class. There’s a reason I teach critical thinking skills & reading in context. In case it’s not clear, Twitter is not my classroom or campus. A Janelle Monáe concert is not (sadly) my classroom or campus. I literally post all my teaching outfits. My syllabi are publicly available. If they truly wanted to know what my classes are like, they could find out.
Dec 2, 2022 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
New #ResearchStudy recruitment #thread: Attention pleasure activists & organizers! I’m beginning a new research project to study the practice of #PleasureActivism by interviewing organizers of pleasure spaces for multiply marginalized people. For the purposes of this study, pleasure spaces are defined as social spaces intended for pleasure, joy, creativity, healing or other positive emotions. These could include but are not limited to dance parties, art shows, hobby or sports clubs, social groups, & kink/sex parties.
Dec 1, 2022 • 4 tweets • 4 min read
Meant to post this yesterday but in its first month on the market, #BlackDisabilityPolitics sold 1,820 copies while being #OpenAccess! For an academic book this is a huge success. Thank you all for your support & for showing that open access doesn’t mean no/low sales! Photo of multiple stacks of... You can download and read the #OpenAccess version here:

read.dukeupress.edu/books/book/309…
Nov 30, 2022 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
Remember when I said COVID would be a mass disabling event with the majority of Americans disabled and people were like “Stop using scare tactics! Stop exaggerating!” But here we are. I want us to prepare for disabled futures not fear them. And when I say mass disabling event, I don’t just mean long COVID. I also mean all the people with psych disabilities, esp PTSD, from the trauma of the pandemic (like front line workers) & everyone who have had medical care denied or delayed in an over-taxes hospital system.
Nov 27, 2022 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
Ummm so this year there are Reese’s trees and ornaments and bells and nutcrackers and mystery shapes and big snowmen and even bigger Santas. My “Reese’s shapes are better than the cups” people, get into it. We can compare notes. Ok, first, nutcracker. They’re tiny. Way higher chocolate to peanut bette ratio, firm chocolate texture like the edges of a traditional cup but all over. Not for me.
Nov 15, 2022 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
I just threw out an entire week of my syllabus & rearranged the rest of it for one class bc my students are so exhausted, so in need of care & rest. My undergrad mentor modeled what it meant to adapt your teaching to the circumstances you’re given & I’m forever grateful. Students can’t learn in this state. I spent more than half of class today just holding space for them to talk about their struggles & their needs right now. Then we collectively discussed self-care plans & how to adjust the rest of the semester.
Sep 14, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
I’m 36 years old & am still very grateful that 18 year old me befriended 3 pre-med students & stuck with them through med school & residency because now I just have 3 accomplished doctors on call. Good job little English & Women’s Studies major me. Do you know how many conversations about O-Chem, MCATS, matching interviews & board certifications I sat through not understanding half of it & able to contribute to none of it?! I deserve this free medical care. 😂
Sep 5, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
My university continues to have terrible bare minimum COVID policies. It’s ableist & unjust. And frankly, as a disability studies scholar who is supposed to be recruiting grad students to come here with me, it’s embarrassing. How can I tell disabled students to come here? How?! I learned today students are no longer required to isolate if they test positive. They also don’t have notify anyone. So you could be living w/ a roommate w/ COVID & not know. COVID positive students will still be in communal bathrooms, dining halls & classrooms if they want. 😱
Feb 3, 2022 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
Ok there are hundreds of responses to this & it truly helped me not waiver in what felt like a clear “just give up on this one moment” so I’m gonna thread some of my favorite replies.
Feb 2, 2022 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
A person I’ve been on 5 or 6 dates with over 3 months just texted: “I'm going to be completely honest with you, you are a beautiful woman, but I don't know how to handle you so it's intimidating.”

What the fuck am I supposed to say to that? Follow up: apparently he doesn’t feel confident with me because he’s not as sexually experienced, especially in regard to kink. Sorry (not sorry) for being a hot brilliant accomplished kinky slut?! Whatever. Who’s next in line? Offer your tributes.
Jan 31, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
*People on SNL do Wisconsin accents*

People from Wisconsin: THEY DIDN’T DO IT RIGHT

Me: I mean… Do you think politicians & celebrities being satirized on the show are like “Yup. Dead on. Can’t even tell the difference between that & the real thing”? lol I’m honestly just amused whenever Wisconsin is being referred to for something other than shit politics.
Jan 15, 2022 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
Alright I got consent from the guy involved who follows me even 15 years later and admits he was an ass for the way this went down (his words!) so let’s remember we were horny dumb 20 & 21/22 year olds. Context: he was my barista at Starbucks over winter break. First time I ever left my number for a guy. He called me that night and I met him for ice cream—immediately smitten. But he’s super Christian & not having sex…
Jan 12, 2022 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
200 mil adults.
61 mil already disabled.
60 mil COVID cases that we know of given how difficult testing access is.
800k deaths & counting (& that’s just COVID not folks dying from other things and/or bc they can’t or are afraid to go to the hospital RN)… THEN: How many people will have new or worsened disabilities unrelated to COVID bc of lack of access to medical care & surgery bc hospitals are full? …
Nov 7, 2021 • 5 tweets • 4 min read
Please elevate the story of #EngraciaFigueroa, a disabled Afro-Latina woman who died from injuries sustained by not having her wheelchair after @united destroyed hers. This is a #BlackLivesMatter issue. Anti- ableism must be part of our work.

newsweek.com/disability-act… Neglect is harmful yall! Removing the things we need to live is violent, disabled or not. It is allowing our death while blaming our bodyminds for being what they are. I’ve only seen #DisabilityTwitter folks talking about this & many not using #BLM but #BlackDisabledLivesMatter!
Nov 6, 2021 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Yall #WereHereHBO has a fucking HOLD on me. Literally therapeutic for my small town raised queer emotional ass. Every single episode has me WEEEEPING. @thatonequeen, @itsSHANGELA, @eurekaohara & their team have created a truly remarkably authentic, good queer show. Basic summary: They go into small towns & do drag shows with local queer & allied people. You witness the visible impact on individuals and communities. A powerful reminder that we are everywhere & that loving queer community is vital to our wellbeing.
Oct 7, 2021 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
OMG I watched one episode of the new Marie Kondo series, got super jazzed to clean & organize my house for like 2 hours then was like “fuck this is exhausting” & went back to watching TV. I know myself, this cycle will repeat until I finish the series. After the first series I went did a deep cleanse of my wardrobe & I continue to do regular closet purges, but I really struggle to apply the methods to the rest of my house. I feel like my house is 30% unfinished projects most of the time.
Oct 5, 2021 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
My social justice lit students discussed the proposed ban on anti-sexism & anti-racism education & the potential effects as part of a creative writing workshop. We read the bill & some of the letters of support & opposition then imagined a world 10 years from now if it passed. We worked out a bunch of details of the world including key events that would happen: student protests, underground GWS classes, professors being surveilled, & a legislative controlled board that has to approve all readings & assignments for UW Madison classes.
Oct 5, 2021 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
3 year anniversary of when, at a campus show, Michael Kosta told a thinly veiled rape joke, mocked the Me Too movement by claiming he’s going to teach his daughter to profit off sexual harassment accusations, used pussy as an insult repeatedly, & told feminists to suck his dick… I booed loudly at the last one out of pure exhaustion with his shitty set. He not only spoke back to me from the stage, but he also felt the need to air his hurt feelings to his followers. He said multiple times in his set that it’s a hard time to be a straight white man. Screenshot of a tweet from ...
Oct 4, 2021 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
I’m beginning the process of getting permanent surgical birth control, likely a tubal ligation. I’m so excited. I can’t wait to never worry about getting pregnant ever again. Today my doctor made the referral to gynecology. Just getting that appointment will take weeks. From there I will hopefully be able to schedule surgery which will take several more weeks. This was just step 2 (step one was scheduling this appointment to get the referral).
Oct 3, 2021 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
The parent friends in my life don’t force their kids to engage with adults & I enthusiastically support it by responding positively, with gratitude, when a child chooses to wave or high five me instead of a hug. I affirm that all the ways they choose to engage with me are good. Even when kids are feeling shy or angry & hid behind parents I will still say bye & that it was nice to see them because it was. Shaming kids, or anyone, for not being in the mood or not having the capacity to perform certain social etiquette norms is damaging & frankly ableist.