Today, we’d like to introduce you to Edie Young.
Thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Hi, my name is Edie! I’m a disabled and queer activist who specializes in disability rights, human rights, and gun violence prevention, and I’m an artist! I started We Are Artistic, a community organization, back in 2019!! I started it because I saw how hard it is to get good quality and free support! I also understand how sometimes it can feel like your art isn’t good! I also got inspired to start because I wanted to bring artists together!
In We Are Artistic, we do virtual stuff like artist support posts where artists express interest in each other in the comments, competitions, and collaborations! We also collaborate with other organizations, such as The Cleverly Creatives! In-person, we do card-making events where we have a table, markers, cards, and other art stuff. People make cards for a nonprofit called Cards for Hospitalized Kids! We not only like to bring artists together, but we also love to uplift others! One way we do that is through card-making events! Many people don’t realize how uplifting one card can be for a child in the hospital. It’s always amazing to see the creativity and thoughtfulness that people have!
In addition to art, I also do activism with organizations such as Queer Youth Assemble, where I help put on events and protests!! Not only that, but I co-oversee a Birthday Card Project where we send birthday cards to queer and trans youth!! I also participated in a national gun violence media project where we got an OP-ed published in 50 school newspapers titled “We Will Not Wait For The Next School Shooting.”
At school, I lead a club called the Disability Student Alliance, where we bring together disabled people and their allies by hanging out, playing games, and learning about disability topics! During lunch, we also put on events such as Spread the Word to End the Word in our school’s atriums; it’s part of a national campaign working to end the R-word, as the R-word has many harmful effects!
We also hosted the Disability Justice Fair, which educates people in my school on becoming better allies! We have tables set up with topics such as physical disabilities! It’s amazing to see people coming to learn how to be better allies!
Let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what challenges have you had to overcome?
I would say mostly, but there have been some struggles, just as I was a teen who didn’t know how to start an organization, had to do a lot of work, and kept losing hope when we were losing volunteers or when stuff got hard. Still, I kept going because it’s important to me to support others and watch them feel joy when they are supported.
I was also worried that with my school club, no one would come to our events or join the club, and I was worried that we would not succeed, but I kept pushing because I want all disabled students to feel supported and allies to be able to build community!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
What I’m most proud of is the fact that I have been able to support others! I love supporting people, and I always love finding new ways to support people!
Who else deserves credit for your story?
I want to give credit to everyone who has believed in me and supported me! Honestly, I wouldn’t be able to do it without those people!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.weareartistic.net/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weareartisticgroup?igsh=MTVudGpvbHFkNGN2Mw==
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/j8K7MKYMG1fsqynX/?mibextid=K35XfP
- Other: https://weareartistic.carrd.co/?fbclid=PAAab1lipOwvLlfh8-_zexTQTrF6eyRiu8PSz11H9Sv4p04pJr0P5P3N9OggQ_aem_ATp37YgQHba0RbzPWr5GmLmaxGd7Iy2y3fe0yo55E_VOKNHeggGvRHxrcWB542ACgus
