Remembering Alice Wong

The SDA community mourns Alice Wong and celebrates her legacy. She has done so much to shape the disability justice movement internationally and our local Bay Area disability community.

We at SDA treasure the memory of partnering with Alice in 2024: After she spoke out about the lack of Covid protections she experienced when receiving treatment at UCSF, SDA's Masks for Equity group joined forces with her in our quest for mask requirements in healthcare. Alice gave a powerful speech at our action at the SF Department of Public Health that April. We were moved by Alice's down-to-earth humility — she never wanted her ideas to dominate, despite her status as a renowned leader — as well as by her passion and her energy.

We also honor Alice’s investment in getting more access to transit and public events for SoMa and the Tenderloin, low-income neighborhoods in San Francisco, close to where she lived. The elevator going down to the Powell St BART/Muni station and the Hallidie Plaza event space had been broken for many years. After SDA organizers got access improvement funding on the ballot in November 2024, Alice attended meetings to put more pressure on the City to ensure the proposed ramp would be designed to meet the needs of all disabled people. She was deeply committed to improving everyday life for local disabled people, even as she reached people around the world with her writing and other leadership.

Our hearts are with all who knew and loved Alice. In Alice's honor, we encourage everyone to read or re-read one of her books, Resistance and Hope, Disability Visibility, Year of the Tiger, and Disability Intimacy, or listen to old episodes of her Disability Visibility podcast.