Comedian, actor, and disability advocate Maysoon Zayid said that in a hypothetical Oppression Olympics, she would win the gold medal.
“I am Palestinian, I’m Muslim, I’m a woman of color, I am divorced, I am disabled, and I live in New Jersey,” she said. “But I don’t want anyone in this room to feel bad for me, because I got 99 problems and palsy is just one.”
Zayid appeared at the American Library Association’s 2023 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Chicago on June 24 to discuss her forthcoming graphic novel for children Shiny Misfits (Scholastic, 2024) and how society can work to mainstream visible and invisible disabilities.
“Part of mainstreaming disability is about destigmatizing disability,” she said. “There is no shame in not walking or in using any mobility device that frees you. Too often we’re told that using a mobility device is giving up.” Zayid pointed out that she uses a wheelchair, walks, and tap dances, and that no part of this continuum makes her cerebral palsy fake.
She also stressed that disability does not discriminate: “You can join us whether you want to or not at any time, regardless of religion, race, gender, age, economic status, or who you love.”
Born before the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 was enacted, Zayid said that her parents had to advocate hard for her when she was a kid, even pushing administrators to allow her to attend public school.
“My immigrant father had to fight for my disabled rights when they didn’t even exist yet. I’m telling you, he’s a trailblazer,” she said. “When an angry Arab man walks into your office with his daughter on his toes invoking Allah, you better listen,” she joked.
“That is the power of one person,” Zayid continued. “You have the ability to be that one person.”
Unable to afford physical or occupational therapy as a child, Zayid turned to tap classes and piano lessons as an outlet. Her dream was to one day “bring in the noise, bring in the funk, with Savion Glover on Broadway,” she recalled. When she shared this aspiration at a youth dance convention, another girl told her: “You’re a cripple, find another dream.”
“I held onto my dream, but I created a backup dream just in case,” said Zayid, who went on to appear on the soap opera General Hospital, have a successful career in comedy, and write a memoir, Find Another Dream. But she said she has been passed over for many acting roles over the years, including a character with cerebral palsy.
“Hollywood has a despicable, despicable history of shunning disability,” Zayid said. “If a wheelchair user can’t play Beyoncé, then Beyoncé can’t play a wheelchair user. And she can slay anything, but just not that!”
When the entertainment industry does attempt representation, the tropes can still be harmful, Zayid said. This made her particularly conscious about story and design choices for her new graphic novel Shiny Misfits, illustrated by Shadia Amin. For instance, she chose a font that is friendly to kids with dyslexia and was conscious of introducing other characters’ disabilities, such as neurodivergence and diabetes, so that her main character Bay Ann didn’t appear to live in a bubble.
Zayid closed with advice for library workers looking to improve services for disabled patrons. She encouraged them to make their buildings more accessible and post signs that encourage users to ask for help or accommodations.
“Invite your community in. Learn what other people would want,” Zayid said. “We all need different things.”
