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Alice Wong, Disability Justice Trailblazer, Dies at 51 From Infection

Her project centering first-person disability narratives reshaped policy conversations, earning her a 2024 MacArthur fellowship.

Overview

  • She died Friday at a San Francisco hospital from an infection, according to close friend Sandy Ho, who was in touch with her family.
  • Ho shared a farewell Wong wrote in advance that began, “Hi everyone, it looks like I ran out of time,” noting dreams and projects left in progress.
  • Wong founded the Disability Visibility Project with StoryCorps to collect oral histories and amplify disabled people’s voices.
  • She served on the National Council on Disability after a 2013 appointment and worked for more than a decade as a UCSF staff researcher.
  • Born with muscular dystrophy, she used a powered wheelchair and breathing device and became a leading voice on access, pandemic inequities, and everyday barriers in San Francisco.