02/03/2026
During Black History Month, Paraquad will profile Black Leaders in the disability movement.
Today, we celebrate Johnnie Ann Lacy. She was a black disability rights and civil rights advocate, community leader, and activist. Through her activism, she brought to light the intersectionality of race and disability and worked to tackle ableism in the Black community and racism in the largely white-dominated disability community. She attended segregated elementary schools in the South. At 10, her family moved to California, which had integrated schools, but she still faced informal segregation. When she was 19, she was diagnosed with polio and used a wheelchair.
She was a leading advocate for the independent living movement and helped found the country's first Center for Independent Living in Berkeley, California. She later served as the director of Community Resources for Independent Living (CRIL), a nonprofit in Hayward, CA that provides advocacy, mentoring, and other services for people with disabilities.
Lacy served on the California Attorney General's Commission on Disability, Hayward's Commission on Personnel and Affirmative Action, and the Mayor's Disability Council for the city and county of San Francisco. Lacy passed away in 2010 as a trailblazer for disability rights and a powerful voice for Black people with disabilities.
Johnnie Lacy was a Black disability rights activist integral to the independent living movement. Through her activism, she brought to light the intersectionality of race and disability and worked to tackle ableism in the Black community and racism in the largely white-dominated disability community.
