Barbara Stewart - Black History Month 2025💫

Mary_Scope

Part One - Black History Month 2025
Part Two - Claudia Jones
Part Three - Ade Adepitan

Barbara Stewart was born in 1956 and was a poet, audiovisual artist, performer and disability rights activist.

She was also a poet and community activist and wrote about her experiences as a Black disabled woman in Britain. Her most acclaimed work is My Shape and is a collection of 21 spoken-word poems that chronicle her life and create a deep and impactful experience for her audience. Through her art, she showcased the realities of racism and disability discrimination and used creativity as both expression and activism.

Barbara became known for only showing her hands in photographs and in the audiovisual performances of her poems as she chose to highlight and celebrate her disability rather than hide it. She used her writing to challenge perceptions and explore identity with honesty and courage to create change.

Barbara lived in Tower Hamlets, London and worked relentlessly to raise awareness of disability rights and to challenge an unjust benefits system for disabled people.

She was also a Hate Crime Champion and worked extensively to address disability hate crime in her borough. Barbara also volunteered as a Disability Benefits Advisor where she helped thousands of people access the support they needed.

Barbara died in 2016 but she used her life as a disabled Black woman to spark vital conversations about disability, identity and race. Her work empowered others to embrace their intersectional identities and challenge society’s assumptions about what it means to live, create and thrive as a Black disabled person.