Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

This is a special post written by Charles Warren, Curriculum Developer at Triangle. Charlie is also a member of Triangle’s Racial Equity Committee. As part of our commitment to the work of our Racial Equity Committee, we will be sharing more information with you on subjects related to racial equity and disability justice. This post continues our series dedicated to calling attention to the contributions of people with disabilities to American history.

September 15-October 15 is Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month! This month, Triangle’s Racial Equity Committee (REC) is celebrating Hispanic and Latinx Americans who are focused on increasing awareness and empowerment for people with disabilities. The REC’s posts strive to honor intersectionality and highlight people of color with disabilities whose lives cross over multiple identities and issues ALL at the same time.

Lillian Gonzales Brown

Lillian Gonzales Brown is the co-founder of the Institute on Disability Culture, whose mission is to promote pride in the history, activities, and cultural identity of individuals with disabilities throughout the world. Gonzales Brown began her career in the Independent Living Movement at the Center for Independent Living located in Berkeley, California.  She participated in the design of the original Independent Living Curriculum. 

Over time, Gonzales Brown’s experience working in direct service in the areas of peer support, sexuality, goal planning, and independent living skills training developed into an expertise in Sexuality and Disability.  At the University of California, San Francisco, she became an associate staff member in the Sex and Disability Unit.  In the course of this work, Gonzales Brown provided community education, organized and presented at conferences, lectured at colleges and universities, and created continuing education programming for health professionals, while developing curriculum for specific groups within the broader disability community.  She has taught internationally in countries across multiple continents, including Europe, Latin America, and Asia.