(Re)Introducing ThisAbility® Limited
A new era of socially conscious Disabled business. Radical, anti-ableist, anti-racist, interdependent, accessible, healing, and regenerative. Shared in Crip Time.
Hey, friends!
Following the introductory post about this newsletter, I’m delighted to (re)introduce my business to the world: ThisAbility® Limited.
On 22 October 2024, my business will turn eight. So, I am (re)imagining what is possible for us in 2024 and beyond. I get so much joy from my business, but staying afloat and thriving has been an ongoing struggle.
As a Disabled entrepreneur of colour, I don’t have the luxury of not fighting for my business. I don’t have the luxury of not fighting for anti-ableism within socially conscious brands. I don’t have the luxury of not fighting with Disabled people, especially Disabled People of the Global Majority1 (colloquially people of colour), to dismantle ableism for Disability Justice. I do this wholeheartedly, without apology and fear or favour.
I’m not afraid to be curious, compassionate, and courageous. I have to adapt to progress forward. I have never been afraid to adapt my business entirely and reinvent ourselves.
As Founder and Chief Radical Officer at ThisAbility® Limited read on for details about this radical (re)imagining.
I’m so excited to share details about my business’ (re)launch, ThisAbility® Limited. I’m ready to support every socially conscious brand into a fully anti-ableist organisation.
Ownership
Back in September 2023, Mama said another profound thing to me:
[Open Quote] “Why do Disabled people like you create things, but you don’t own things?” [Close Quote]
This felt profound, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since. This particularly resonates with me as a Disabled entrepreneur of colour.
I decided to trademark ThisAbility. So, I am delighted to share that on 8 December 2023, ThisAbility® was registered as a trademark of ThisAbility® Limited at The Intellectual Property Office of the United Kingdom. UK Trademark number: UK00003954170
I will lead ThisAbility® Limited to start owning what we create and start thriving into the future.
(Re)introducing ThisAbility® Limited
Let me (re)imagine my business by formally (re)introducing ourselves to the universe:
Disability, daringly. ThisAbility® Limited is a Disabled and Person of The Global Majority-owned Disability Justice business. Being Certified B Corporation™ means we've made a legally binding agreement to put the needs of our staff, clients, community, and the planet (including flora, fauna, and funga) before the needs of our shareholders.
Our mission is to help socially conscious brands divest from ableism and enact Disability liberation, by integrating Disability culture. We help (re)imagine them to aid collective liberation in business and society.
Our services include public speaking, consulting, creating accessible and liberated ecosystemic design, and creative strategy.
With our innate sense of solidarity and desire for justice and collective liberation, we work tirelessly to ignite, amplify, and invest in Disabled creativity across the globe for a liberated future for Disabled people. In everything, we always centre Disability, daringly.
Our business may be limited in name, but we are unlimited in imagination.
Angela Y. Davis said it best, [Open Quote] “We are not afraid to adopt a revolutionary stance — if, indeed, we wish to be radical in our quest for change — then we must get to the root of our oppression. After all, radical simply means ‘grasping things at the root.’” [Close Quote].
![Image description: Bold, wild, fearless existence. In the middle of an abstract dark blue background is a photo of Sulaiman (a wholeheartedly Disabled AF and British-Pakistani man) lying in bed on his right with a nasal ventilator mask over his face as he works on his MacBook Pro laptop. On the grey case of his MacBook Pro are 7 stickers on the back of the screen via Sulaiman himself and his Disabled global kin (by bond) – Jennifer White-Johnson, Alice Wong, Sandy Ho, and Mia Mingus. Sticker 1 is a circular pink sticker with red text that says “Cripjoy.” Sticker 2 is a sticker with a white background featuring a gradient black to purple text that says “Create More Anti-Ableist Spaces” in capital letters. Stickers 3 and 4 are of cursive text that says “Radical Joy,” one a sticker of pink text with a black outline and the other a colourful holographic sticker. Sticker 5 is a graphic of the black power fist against a white background with the infinity symbol and the words “Black Disabled Lives Matter” written in bold white font placed down the wrist of the fist. Sticker 6 is a graphic of the black power fist against a white background with the infinity symbol for neurodiversity in bold white lines placed down the wrist of the fist. Finally, sticker 7 is an extensive rectangular white background with black text over 4 lines; on lines 1 to 3, the text says, “Access is… Solidarity is… Disability Justice is…” and on line 4, the larger text says, “Love” in capital letters with the “o” replaced with a red heart emoji. Sulaiman is wearing his Bunny Oodie (“like a jumper crossed with a blanket crossed with a cloud”) in purple via @the_oodie, and he feels calm as he works on his MacBook Pro. At the top middle of the image is cursive white text that says, “Sulaiman R. Khan.” Below it, in all caps, white text is “Daringly Integrating Disability.” At the bottom right corner of the image is the social logo of ThisAbility Limited in all white featuring the Adinkra symbol for interdependence. End. Image description: Bold, wild, fearless existence. In the middle of an abstract dark blue background is a photo of Sulaiman (a wholeheartedly Disabled AF and British-Pakistani man) lying in bed on his right with a nasal ventilator mask over his face as he works on his MacBook Pro laptop. On the grey case of his MacBook Pro are 7 stickers on the back of the screen via Sulaiman himself and his Disabled global kin (by bond) – Jennifer White-Johnson, Alice Wong, Sandy Ho, and Mia Mingus. Sticker 1 is a circular pink sticker with red text that says “Cripjoy.” Sticker 2 is a sticker with a white background featuring a gradient black to purple text that says “Create More Anti-Ableist Spaces” in capital letters. Stickers 3 and 4 are of cursive text that says “Radical Joy,” one a sticker of pink text with a black outline and the other a colourful holographic sticker. Sticker 5 is a graphic of the black power fist against a white background with the infinity symbol and the words “Black Disabled Lives Matter” written in bold white font placed down the wrist of the fist. Sticker 6 is a graphic of the black power fist against a white background with the infinity symbol for neurodiversity in bold white lines placed down the wrist of the fist. Finally, sticker 7 is an extensive rectangular white background with black text over 4 lines; on lines 1 to 3, the text says, “Access is… Solidarity is… Disability Justice is…” and on line 4, the larger text says, “Love” in capital letters with the “o” replaced with a red heart emoji. Sulaiman is wearing his Bunny Oodie (“like a jumper crossed with a blanket crossed with a cloud”) in purple via @the_oodie, and he feels calm as he works on his MacBook Pro. At the top middle of the image is cursive white text that says, “Sulaiman R. Khan.” Below it, in all caps, white text is “Daringly Integrating Disability.” At the bottom right corner of the image is the social logo of ThisAbility Limited in all white featuring the Adinkra symbol for interdependence. End.](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F12a325e2-245e-41c4-8215-cf67f4d718a5.heic)
Disability, daringly
Why is “Disability, daringly” our brand slogan/tagline? Simply, because everything we do centres Disability, daringly.
Through ThisAbility® Limited, I am bold, wild, and fearless in curiously, compassionately, and courageously centring Disability and leading socially conscious brands to become fully anti-ableist organisations.
I cannot do anything other than this anymore. I cannot lead my business to do anything other than this anymore.
Why anti-ableism matters
I wish to keep things simple, clear, and focused. As a Disabled and Person of The Global Majority-owned Disability Justice business and a Certified B Corporation™, I am leading my business focus on anti-ableism for socially conscious brands because:
I’m no longer working with brands that aren’t socially conscious.
I’m embedding anti-ableism into socially conscious brands.
I’m dismantling anti-ableism by highlighting how it’s connected to all systems of oppression (especially racism, white supremacy culture, cissexism, and capitalism).
I’m sharing my thoughts on Disability Justice through anti-ableism.
I’m using anti-ableism as the tool for our radical, collective liberation of all of our kin (by blood or bond, our human and more-than-human kin, and our inner and outer selves).
I’m no longer tolerating the politics of palatability.
I’m centring Disabled wisdom and richness by divesting in ableism and enacting Disability liberation.
Like everything I do, this (re)imagining will be explored with interdependence and love in Crip Time2, too.
Also, I am not interested in debating my lived experience as a Disabled AF, British-Pakistani entrepreneur as well, why D&I/DEIJ/Disability inclusion is unhelpful (especially for Disabled people of The Global Majority), and I am not interested in justifying my existence. This is how I lead my business, and we only do work rooted in justice and collective liberation. Without apology, without oppression.
Now is the time
Time waits for no one. Yet, we cannot exclude Disabled people from a justice-oriented future for our collective liberation.
I have had enough of organisations (even Disability-led organisations) who are only interested in so-called “Disability inclusion/representation” without having an intersectional approach that (along with anti-racism) that’s rooted in anti-ableism and Disability Justice.
I have had enough of socially conscious brands not working towards becoming anti-ableism organisations.
I have had enough of not centring Disability, daringly, in everything.
I have had enough of not fiercely wheeling away from organizations that don’t align with our values.
I have had enough of tolerating ableism and racism.
I have had enough of not trusting my wisdom, richness, and love.
I have had enough of our inaction.
Now, I move. For anti-ableism. For anti-racism. For anti-oppression. For Disability Justice. For environmental justice. For social justice. For collective liberation. For love. For Disability, daringly.
Onwards and upwards.
If you dare, let’s dismantle ableism within socially conscious brands and care!
May this new adventure be radical, restful, regenerative, accessible, easeful, healing, nourishing, conscious, abundant, caring, liberated, interdependent, and loving for us. We got you x
People of the Global Majority: coined by Rosemary M. Campbell-Stephens MBE is “a collective term that first and foremost speaks to and encourages those so-called, to think of themselves as belonging to the majority on planet earth. It refers to people who are Black, African, Asian, Brown, dual-heritage, indigenous to the global south, and or, have been racialised as ‘ethnic minorities’. Globally these groups currently represent approximately eighty per cent (80%) of the world’s population, making them the global majority now, and with current growth rates, notwithstanding the Covid-19 pandemic, they are set to remain so for the foreseeable future. Understanding that singular truth may shift the dial, it certainly should permanently disrupt and relocate the conversation on race.” (R. Campbell-Stephens, 2020). This aligns wholeheartedly with my Disabled AF, British-Pakistani existence. It is my way of wheeling away from all systems of oppression, including but not limited to me no longer being capitalism’s plaything, ableism’s commodity, racism’s tool for power, colonialism’s puppet for violence, white supremacy culture’s fetish for manipulation, cis-able neocolonial-racist-supremacist heteronormative patriarchy’s armour for bullying, and oppression’s pawn for harm.