11/17/25 - Remembering Alice Wong
Hello friends ...
Alice Wong died on Friday. Here are three of the announcements so far:
Quoting my own Facebook post:
Alice Wong was one of the most impactful, intellectually stimulating, and unconditionally accepting friends I will ever have. We met through Twitter, and our friendship grew along side our development of #CripTheVote, along with our mutual friend and colleague Gregg Beratan. I learned so much from that experience, much of it from Alice. Above all I am thankful to have enjoyed her wisdom, rage, sense of humor, and genuine care for her friends and colleagues in disability activism and culture. We have lost one of our anchors. I have lost a unique friend. But I am so happy to have known Alice.
There is also this, in Alice's own words:
"This is Alice's friend Sandy Ho, posting. Per Alice's wishes, this message is being shared at the time of her passing. Hi everyone, it looks like I ran out of time. I have so many dreams that I wanted to fulfill and plans to create new stories for you. There are a few in progress that might come to fruition in a few years if things work out. I did not ever imagine I would live to this age and end up a writer, editor, activist, and more. As a kid riddled with insecurity and internalized ableism, I could not see a path forward. It was thanks to friendships and some great teachers who believed in me that I was able to fight my way out of miserable situations into a place where I finally felt comfortable in my skin. We need more stories about us and our culture. You all, we all, deserve the everything and more in such a hostile, ableist environment. Our wisdom is incisive and unflinching. I'm honored to be your ancestor and believe disabled oracles like us will light the way to the future. Don't let the bastards grind you down. I love you all."
I think the best way to remember Alice here is to share some of her writings that I like the best – three articles, plus links to three books. Unless something really new turns up in the next few days, this will probably be it for links in this newsletter about Alice's passing. I feel like she wouldn't want us to dwell or obsess for too long, but instead get back to sharing, thinking about, and working with each other on other aspects of disability issues and culture, and on justice everywhere.
I'll miss you Alice. We all will.
My Medicaid, My Life
Alice Wong, New York Times - May 3, 2017
Alice on disability policy issues:
"When you are disabled and rely on public services and programs, you face vulnerability every day. This vulnerability is felt in my bones and my relationship with the state. Fluctuations in the economy and politics determine whether my attendants will receive a living wage and whether I’ll have enough services to subsist rather than thrive. The fragility and weakness of my body, I can handle. The fragility of the safety net is something I fear and worry about constantly."
'Year of the Tiger' By Alice Wong Is a Letter to Asian American Disabled Women and Girls
Alice Wong, Teen Vogue - October 10, 2022
Alice on leadership:
"I appreciate the time and vulnerability it took for you to reach out to me. To keep it 100 percent honest with you, I am not your role model, mentor, or friend. I prefer to be your peer, colleague, or fellow troublemaker in the future. Role models create unrealistic expectations and an asymmetrical power dynamic; role models or icons can do more harm than good because they obscure the flaws and contradictions we all have. I’ve become increasingly uncomfortable over the years with the way people perceive me, because it is a lot. I don’t want the fear of disappointing others to influence my decisions, because I am accountable to myself first and foremost. Setting boundaries and being clear about my time and capacity are ways to protect myself, and I encourage you to do the same when you are ready."
Constant Cravings
Alice Wong, Eater - October 22, 2022
Alice on creative ways to make the pleasures of accessible:
"What does the future of my passion for food look like with such uncertainty? Each day I am trying to figure out how to nourish myself beyond my body. As the holiday season approaches, I will sit with my family and eagerly watch them eat. I will enjoy the meal even though it won’t end up in my belly. Instead of joining them in a toast with prosecco, or the dinner of roast duck, wontons, or Shangdongese chive dumplings, I will make eye contact with everyone and give them long cat blinks. This is my love language: sharing space and enjoying the meal with them even though it won’t end up in my belly."
Books
These three books belong on anyone's disability bookshelf:
- Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century (2020)
- Year of the Tiger: An Activist's Life (2022)
- Disability Intimacy: Essays on Love, Care, and Desire (2024)
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