STATEMENTS: Medialia Gallery & The Ethyr Presents: Aim, Destroy, Transform: Play for Change Toy Show :: November 2017 :: NYC :: LEGO Town City Minifigure with statement by André J. Daughtry

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I'm happy to see that there is a Lego toy on the market with inclusion of the disability community in mind. As a 40 something physically disabled Black man i can't begin to express how much a toy like this would have positively impacted my life when i was a child. Instead i was forced to create my own disability narratives with the toys i had on hand.

Not entirely bad because in some cases because it allowed my creativity to grow but in many cases it still did nothing to fill the void i felt or to calm any insecurities i had during my formative years, nor did my burgeoning imagination in any way make me feel any more included in a world that routinely shunned me and made me feel less than just because i was born different. 

I hope that there will soon be an entire line of toys dedicated to nurturing pride and acceptance within the disability community and not just a special edition toy scattered here and there. I'd love for us to reach a point socially where the usage of handicapped is stricken from the lexicon even more so when applied to toys that reflect the great diversity of the human experience.

~ André J. Daughtry


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André J. Daughtry

I'm a disabled gamer and burgeoning streamer on Twitch. I endeavor to use my privilege and platform to provide a safe space for other disabled gamers to communicate, network and form lifelong bonds through a mutual appreciation of gaming and gaming culture, You can check out some of what i do at twitch.tv/trippingcrutch and also find me on twitter @tripping_crutch where among other things i discuss issues affecting the disability community as well as sharing personal anecdotes about disabled life.


AIM, DESTROY, TRANSFORM: Play For Change: A group show of toys, games and figures at Medialia Gallery