poster for Disabled activist burn out (and how to avoid it)

A collage commissioned for Emma H at the uni of Manchester for her study project, about burn out / running out of energy within activism / political spaces.

The top of the image I focused on the barriers keeping us back from more public life, basic services and stigma.

Towards the bottom of the image, I wanted to include more of the things we can do to combat burn out. For example, working together, meeting people, and not taking the world on , on your own.

ID: a collage of various cut-out papers and images, featuring themes of disability rights and activism. The background is a dark, textured surface, created with soot from fire.

Several pieces of text are visible, including "Disabled activist burnout" which is displayed at the top, partially burned. Fragmented text mentions “hierarchy of impair", "volunteers, candidates", "helping them get involved in politics", "sorry there's no subtitles", "disabled people fightback” “equality nothing about us without us", and "defend disabled people - we are the hardest hit don't cut our services". There are images of people in wheelchairs, signs indicating "ELEVATORS ARE FOR EVERYONE" with universal accessibility symbols, and a protest sign reading "PUBLIC TRANSPORT MEANS ME TOO!". Braille text is also visible. Several battery icons with decreasing charge levels are present, symbolizing dwindling energy or resources, or energy limiting conditions like M.E. (Which have been described as like “recharging a broken battery” The collage also includes images of people, some with masks, and hands pointing. There are also elements that suggest struggle, like the text showing “no subtitles” and construction barriers as a visual metaphor to those faces by disabled people fighting for our own rights in society.