Marissa Spear

Marissa Spear

Contributor

Marissa J. Spear is a disabled writer, emerging historian, community health advocate, and program evaluator based in Northwest Arkansas. She received her BA in Health Equity Studies with a minor in Public Health from Goucher College and a Certificate in Professional Achievement in Narrative Medicine from Columbia University. Her work has appeared in Journal of Extension, Preventing Chronic Disease, All of Us (the Disability History Association’s peer-reviewed blog), Monstering Mag, and Chronically Lit. In her spare time, she enjoys writing young adult fiction, reading fanfiction, analyzing the quality of public restrooms, diagnosing her friends with chronic pelvic pain, and researching the Baltimore branch of the Black Panther Party. Find links to her work at www.marissaspear.com.

History

“I Don’t Have Very Much Faith in Doctors”: Black Women, Reproductive Health, and Black Disability Politics

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In January 2022, my Instagram feed was flooded with posts mourning Aubrion Rogers, a 30-year-old Black woman who died after her endometriosis went untreated for years. When she was rushed to emergency surgery, doctors removed a burst right ovary, appendix, endometriosis, and fibroids. In 2021, she shared on Facebook: “At what point will my situation… Read more →

History

Reading Disability History Back into American Girl

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I recently spent a series of afternoons digging through closets at my parents’ house, searching for my sisters’ and my once beloved American Girl collection. In boxes and boxes of doll clothes, furniture, and accessories, I found Molly McIntire’s nightstand, complete with a doll-sized hot water bottle inside. The hot water bottle was adorned with… Read more →