Note: This event is being hosted by Medical Students for Disability Health and Advocacy (MSDHA). 

Speaker Bio: Tameka Citchen-Spruce

Ms. Citchen-Spruce has a strong passion for disability advocacy and media. She was the 2021 ARC Detroit Advocate of the Year Awardee, 2022 NACCD's Betty Williams Equal Opportunity Awardee, and 2022 Disability 30 List nominee. Her journey started at 21 years old, as Ms. Wheelchair MI 2006. As Ms. Wheelchair MI, she spoke out about supporting women with disabilities who are being abused. She has been advocating for over 15 years for access to affordable and accessible housing, fighting against voting oppression towards people with disabilities, racial and gender injustices, and health equity.

Because of the combination of her journalism knowledge, and activism she learned the importance of telling a person's story. Her short film, Justifiable Homicide, has been nominated and won an award and her My Girl Story documentary has been selected for film festivals.

Besides her film accomplishments, currently, she's the Co-Director of LEAD, a leadership development program for BIPOC disabled individuals and their parents for the Michigan Disability Rights Coalition. And she volunteers for Warriors on Wheels of Metro Detroit working on criminal justice reform for people with disabilities.

Both professionally and personally she has see the connection between race, gender, and disability. She read the statistics, heard the stories, and experienced the barriers that exist in her community. So she seeks to advocate, educate, and create media representation of the BIPOC and disability communities in engaging and thought-provoking ways.