Today we’d like to introduce you to Donna R. Walton.
Hi Donna, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
As I dance high upon the stage—my body squeezed into a red satin dress; my beautiful, long, beige, shapely legs exposed at the sides; my dark brown hair perfectly coiffed my face adorned with makeup—the spotlight follows me. I sing at the top of my lungs into the microphone I hold in my hand. The applause reverberates throughout the room, and I smile inside, my heart pounding with excitement and joy. Yes, this was the me I had imagined for years. It was who and what I wanted to be. It was my dream. Unfortunately, as often happens with dreams, something got in the way before it came true—a little something called reality.
I was confident and hopeful, with dreams of international stardom. But for an eighteen-year-old, all it took was one diagnosis to turn my life upside down. A dangerous form of bone cancer, osteogenic sarcoma, threatened my life—and forced the amputation of my left leg above the knee.
After the crisis that took my leg, I was left a broken shell of who I used to be. But it wasn’t long before the young, Donna embarked on an important journey—one that would demonstrate the power of reinvention and give me a new lease on life.
A Black woman with disabilities in a white, able-bodied man’s world, I had had to overcome what I consider “triple jeopardy” to get where I am today, but I continue to live by the motto “What’s a leg got to do with it?”
At the time, the nation was divided by race, and I was on the side with the least opportunity. Although the greatest divisions were in the Deep South, the city of my birth, the nation’s capital, was not immune. Dwight D. Eisenhower was president, and he would be followed by John F. Kennedy, who would be assassinated, and then by Lyndon B. Johnson.
My birth was just about three years after the US Supreme Court handed down its landmark unanimous decision on Brown vs. Board of Education on May 17, 1954, declaring state laws that established separate public schools for whites and blacks unconstitutional.
“Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal,” the Court declared.
Still, while the ruling technically outlawed segregation, enforcing it was a different matter.
In the year I was born, Governor Orval Faubus of Arkansas attempted to block black students from entering Little Rock Central High School, and in 1963, when I was 6, Governor George Wallace of Alabama stood in the doorway at the University of Alabama’s Foster Auditorium to prevent two black students from enrolling.
“Segregation now. Segregation tomorrow. Segregation forever,” he defiantly declared.
The governor would not step aside until forced to do so by the Alabama National Guard under orders from President Kennedy.
In the struggle to truly end segregation and gain equal rights for blacks, there were sit-ins by blacks and their allies at whites-only lunch counters, freedom rides and marches, riots, en-masse jailing of civil rights proponents, and even lynchings of blacks. In 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till was brutally murdered in Mississippi for speaking to a white woman in a store. On September 15, 1963, Ku Klux Klan members blew up a church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four young black girls and injuring twenty-two other people. Several black civil rights leaders were assassinated: Medgar Evers in 1963, Malcolm X in 1965, and Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968—all shot down in the prime of their lives.
Many people in this nation wanted to keep blacks “in their place” by any means necessary. They did not want us to rise.
The nation was also a battleground for women’s rights in the 1960s and ’70s. Women were still second-class citizens in many ways, and many people wanted to keep us “in our place.” That sometimes meant “barefoot and pregnant.” It sometimes meant “paid less for the same work.” And it sometimes meant that they did not want women to rise above a certain level in the workplace.
As a young black woman growing up in the United States in the 1960s and ’70s, I therefore knew that I had two strikes against me when it came to pursuing an education, a career, and any dreams I had.
“My journey began over 40 years ago. It’s not about what happens to you, it’s how you deal with the challenges. I knew it wasn’t all about me. I know it was God guiding my ship.”
“I not only want to impact change, I want transform people’s lives.” Why is my story so different? It is not the story it’s the messenger. People recover from illness all the time but what makes my story unique is that it happened during a time when cancer was death sentence and there few examples of how to live my life as Black woman who happen to be an amputee with an aspiration to be a performer.
Today, I am the Founder and President of the Divas With Disabilities Project ( DWD) I founded the project in 2012. “[It began] with women with disabilities connecting with the topic and meeting other women like themselves, The project strives to reshape the perception of what a “disability” looks like by promoting Black and brown with visible disabilities through an array of media platforms. DWD works toward this goal by providing opportunities that increase the participation of Black and brown women with disabilities in mass media industries. The organization creates and hosts programs, events and initiatives that promote social justice and civic engagement and empowerment to accomplish its goal. One of the most promising initiatives is the creation of a talent pipeline of qualified actors with disabilities from which casting agencies and film directors can hire Black and brown women with disabilities. Divas who already are present in certain arts use their platforms to amplify and magnify the stories of women of color with disabilities.
DWD has grown into a nationwide movement with a global reach, with more than 2k members and supporters. It was extremely eye-opening to see the project’s success. It was fortifying to know that I was not alone on this journey. I was reassured by the fact that there were other women who had the same vision as me, to see themselves portrayed in mass media and film, where their disability is just a detail of their character rather than their sole defining trait. I notice the lack of role models and not seeing myself reflected in mass media on a regular basis as the impetus for the creation of the initial DWD.
As I dance high upon the stage—my body squeezed into a red satin dress; my beautiful, long, beige, shapely legs exposed at the sides; my dark brown hair perfectly coiffed my face adorned with makeup—the spotlight follows me. I sing at the top of my lungs into the microphone I hold in my hand. The applause reverberates throughout the room, and I smile inside, my heart pounding with excitement and joy. Yes, this was the me I had imagined for years. It was who and what I wanted to be. It was my dream. Unfortunately, as often happens with dreams, something got in the way before it came true—a little something called reality.
Before a dangerous form of bone cancer, osteogenic sarcoma threatened my life—and forced the amputation of my left leg above the knee, I was confident and hopeful, with dreams of international stardom. But for an eighteen-year-old, all it took was one diagnosis to turn my life upside down.
To my chagrin, life before my disability was plagued by race and gender discrimination that forces me to live today, at the painful intersection of a trifecta of discrimination. Yet, despite the disappointments and rejections, I refuse to give up on my dream to become an actress.
Why I am passionate about acting?
The answer to that questions is simple. It has been a dream that refuses to die in me and I refuse to give up on me. You see, when I lost my leg, there were no positive examples to show me how I could live my life in the midst of shattered dreams and broken pieces and still maintain the original me. There were no stories about how I could thrive in a society that lauds physical attractiveness. There were no Raw Beauty NYC exhibits that showcased photographs of women with various disabilities who represented beauty, sensuality. There were no television shows, such as Dancing with the Stars, or magazines with glossy covers depicting vibrant women with amputation dancing, acting, and performing. Regrettably, there remains dearth of actors with disabilities seen in film and television. Black and brown women with visible disabilities are rarely seen on television; cast seldom in acting roles for film or theatre, or hardly-ever featured in the glossy pages of fashion magazines. That’s because seeing people who look like me—a Black woman with a physical disability— in mass media probably isn’t something the industry thinks about often. It is my passion to see others like me, cast in film and TV shows simply, not because we have disability, but because we can act and we happen to have a disability
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
By no ways has the road been smoothed. There have been numerous speeds bumps along my journey, the main one being that I face a trifecta of discrimination (Black, Female, Disabled). And I never know which one is working against me.
For example, my story is important to talk about because I am one of the one-in-five Americans who has a disability in the United States. While polls show that most of them want to work, 70 percent of working-age Americans with disabilities are outside of the workforce. If we do not employ people with disabilities in Hollywood, we ignore and fail to employ 20 percent of Americans.
By increasing representation of women of color with disabilities in media, I am working hard along with the Divas With Disabilities Project to influence these statistics.
Defying the statistics, DWD and I as role models make a big difference in setting high expectations for youth with disabilities. People with disabilities of all backgrounds can be amongst the highest achievers on earth.
As you know, we’re big fans of The Divas With Disabilities Project. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
The Divas With Disabilities Project (DWD) is a 501(c)3 organization which started as a digital movement created to amplify the images of African American women with physical disabilities. Images have power. They influence our perceptions of others and ourselves. By using the power of images, DWD helps shape the perception of what “disability” looks like by promoting Black and brown women and girls with disabilities through various media platforms. Our mission is to amplify Divas- Dynamic, Illuminating, Victorious, Achieving Sisters- voices by providing a community and network that identifies opportunities for inclusion in mass media and by partnering with organizations who have demonstrated a commitment to the inclusion of Black and brown women and girls with visible disabilities. Our vision is to ensure that DIVAS are portrayed and represented throughout the media. (Television, Film, and Advertising). Our Tagline: Showing up unapologetically to reshape what visible disability looks like. Our Pillars/Our Core Values are: Diversity and Inclusion | Empowerment | Image Transformation| Social Justice | Perseverance | Civic Engagement
Our Goals
1. Provide opportunities for DIVAS to be included in mass media outlets (TV, film, and advertising).
2. Create and host programs, national/local events and initiatives that promote civic engagement and female empowerment.
3. Provide opportunities for DIVAS to engage in industry networking events, leadership development and career advancement workshops.
4. Serve as a resource or pipeline for Casting Agents, Film Directors, and other media industry organizations to identify DIVAS for opportunities in front or behind the camera.
Our Programs and Initiatives include our Global Divas Ambassador Program (GDAP) Our global ambassadors are volunteers who carry out the mission of DWD through events, initiatives, and programs within their region. Each initiative focuses on one of the core values of DWD; Our monthly Diva Conference Calls provide a safe and powerful space for DIVAS to share their lived experiences as women living with visible disabilities. Guest speakers are invited to each call to speak on topical issues that provoke discussion and engaging conversation.
Social Media Impact and Influence
Contact: [email protected]
Facebook: 2K+ followers
Instagram: 1.5K+ followers
What’s next?
I am working on my acting, trying to perfect my craft. I am also working on a film that documents the lived experiences of Divas living with disabilities, and I am looking forward growing DWD into an international movement.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: .https://www.divaswithdisabilities.org
- Instagram: Divas With Disabilities
- Facebook: @TheDivasWithDisabilitiesProject
- Twitter: DWD_Project
- Youtube: The Divas With Disabilities Project
Image Credits:
Paul Morse Rick Guidotti Rene Alston
