Striving to remove barriers that prevent us from building Vibrant, Diverse, Inclusive, Accessible Communities!
Alice Wong died in San Francisco on Nov. 14 at age 51. The remembrance opens with her pairing of anger and love—quoting her final message to the community—and follows how readers recognized their own rage during COVID disruptions and chronic pain. Staying with Wong’s words (“I feel very alone w/ so much rage”), the piece treats anger as truthful and connective, a force that moves people out of isolation and toward collective care.
The essay then grounds that feeling in her life story: born in 1974 in Indianapolis to Hong Kong immigrants; an early diagnosis with a form of muscular dystrophy; and memories of “moments of anger and frustration” amid discrimination, pressure to be grateful, and a revival scene misread as miraculous. Instead of quiet endurance, Wong’s stance—“f— that s—!”—and her account of channeling childhood anger into research and writing frame anger as analysis and authorship.
From that analysis came concrete work for access and participation. The piece recounts service on the National Council on Disability, co-founding #CripTheVote, public opposition to mask bans called “ableist & fascist,” and defense of Medicaid while reclaiming “welfare queen.” It also traces cross-movement efforts like Crips for eSims for Gaza with Jane Shi and Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, connecting disability justice to keeping people online in crisis.
Connection is just as central. The remembrance cites Disability Intimacy and Wong’s “Ewwwwww… basic AF” rejection of limiting questions about love, and highlights the Disability Visibility Project with StoryCorps (about 140 oral histories archived at the Library of Congress). Essays, interviews, organizing, and a 2024 MacArthur grant show how her work continues through community fundraising and shared stewardship.
Read the Full Article: The Afterlife of Alice Wong.
By: Rose Angelina Martin
