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4w ago

Alice Wong, Disability Rights Trailblazer and Author, Dies at 51

Her Disability Visibility Project elevated first-person narratives, reshaping public conversations on access.

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Alice Wong, author of "Disability Visibility."
Alice Wong drinks out of a paper cup at a cafe in San Francisco in November 2019. Wong wrote of the hardships faced by people with disabilities as they navigated everyday life -- and campaigned for change.
Alice Wong drinks out of a paper cup at a cafe in San Francisco in 2019. Wong opposed the elimination of single use cups, noting that ceramic mugs were heavy and could be difficult for some people to hold.

Overview

  • A family statement shared by friend Sandy Ho said Wong died of an infection on Nov. 14 at UCSF Hospital in San Francisco.
  • She founded the Disability Visibility Project in 2014 with StoryCorps, building an oral-history archive now housed at the Library of Congress.
  • In 2013 she was appointed to the National Council on Disability, and in 2024 she received a MacArthur Fellowship recognizing her influence.
  • Her advocacy included co-founding #CripTheVote, pushing for prioritized COVID vaccine access in California, and challenging plastic-straw bans that hinder some disabled people.
  • A prewritten farewell from Wong was posted after her death, as tributes poured in and supporters highlighted efforts to sustain her projects; she is survived by parents Henry and Bobby and sisters Emily and Grace.