October 31, 2018 - 01:29
"Heard the One about the Disabled Muslim Comic from New Jersey?"
"The stand-up comedian Maysoon Zayid likes to joke that if there were a competition called the Oppression Olympics, she would win gold. 'I’m Palestinian, Muslim, I’m a woman of color, I’m disabled,” Zayid, who has cerebral palsy, tells audiences, before pausing a beat to hang her head, her long dark hair curtaining her face, “and I live in New Jersey.”
"After Zayid’s TED Talk went viral, she became one of the most booked speakers at the huge talent agency WME, and used her bigger platform to push questions forward: Where were the visibly disabled news anchors and talk-show hosts? Why, outside a handful of shows — among them “Switched at Birth,” “Breaking Bad,” “American Horror Story,” and “Speechless” — were visibly disabled actors largely absent from television? Why was it O.K. for nondisabled stars to play disabled characters — a practice nicknamed “CripFace” — and win big awards?"