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Black Advisory Committee

The Black Advisory Committee supports the analysis of Black experiences interacting with early childhood disability services. Through a relational model of disability, Blackness and disability are both social and political constructs of identity that may affect the ways Black children with disabilities and their families navigate institutions. The committee explores the ways in which the intersection of anti-Black racism and ableism affect the lived experiences of Black families and children interacting with institutions. The committee's role is to support good stewardship of the data from IECSS participants who identify as Black, including analysis, advocacy and knowledge mobilization activities. Our Black Advisory Committee was launched following our February 2022 panel discussion online event on Black Experiences and Disabled Childhoods. Videos from the event are available below. 

Black Advisory Committee

Dr. Janelle Brady

Kimberley Garrett

Sherron Grant

Samantha Hamilton-Rodney

Nerissa Hutchinson

Kevin McShan

Alison Smith (Co-Chair)

Dr. Kathryn Underwood (Co-Chair)

Panelists Kevin McShan, Sherron Grant and Trevor McAlmont discuss the following guiding questions on the ways in which anti-Black racism and ableism affect the lived experiences of Black families and children, and consider the future possibilities of Black disabled identities.

  1. What do you think it means to have a Black disabled identity?
  2.  Based on your experiences, what do you think is unique about Black family experiences with disability? What do you think is unique about Black disabled childhoods?
  3.  How are these unique experiences shaped by early childhood education, care and intervention programs and the schooling system? 
    • How can early intervention programs be culturally safe spaces for Black families?

Sherron Grant, Principal & Co-Founder of the Sawubona Africentric Circle of Support

 (PDF file) Full transcript available for Sherron Grant-Black Experiences and Disabled Childhoods video

Trevor McAlmont, Executive Director of Macaulay Child Development Centre

 (PDF file) Full transcript available for Trevor McAlmont- Black Experiences and Disabled Childhoods video