January 29, 2025
Transcript
The podcast introductory segment is composed to evoke friction. It begins with the sound of an elevator crunching as it goes up. A robotic voice says “floor two.” Then music with a mysterious tone comes on. A series of voices define Contra. Layered voices say:
Contra is friction… Contra is texture… Contra is questions…Nuanced…Collaborative…Contra* is world-changing…Contra is innovation, messy, solidarity, interdependence…Contra is thinking about design critically. Contra is a podcast.
Throughout, there are sounds of typing, texting and Zoom being opened.
Then an electric guitar bass note fades into the sound of a digital call ringing and starting. The intro ends with the sound of a Facetime call ringing and then picked up.
Hi, I’m Kelsie Acton, the project manager for the Remote Access Archive. The Remote Access Archive contains oral histories like the ones featured in this season of the Contra* podcast. But it also contains some very cool documents. This is one of a series of mini-episodes to share some of those documents with you. Today, I’m looking at pictures and documents from the UCLA Hybrid Access Strike. These pictures are from a group of 44 photos. The 44 photos are accompanied by a series of documents - memos, lists of demands and lists of the UCLA administration’s responses to those demands.
On January 31st, 2022, students at UCLA protested and then began a sit-in on the second floor of Murphy Hall. The students were organized by the UCLA Disabled Student Union and the Mother Organizations Coalition. The Mother Organizations Coalition brought a number of different student groups together. These included, the Afrikan Student Union, the Asian Pacific Coalition, the Muslim Student Association, Queer Alliance and many others. These students had a lengthy and diverse list of demands. Here’s just a few of them:
- That UCLA establish an American Indian Living Learning Community. This would be a space where, quote, Native Bruins can be unapologetically proud of our cultures, have access to resources, and learn from the experiences of others. End quote.
- That the university commit to hiring 10 Pacific Islander faculty within the next 5 years as a first step towards establishing a Pacific Islander studies program.
- That all in-person lectures be live-streamed and that no students or teaching assistants are required to attend class in person.
- That students have access to recordings of classes.
- That all student athletes be required to participate in discrimination training annually.
As a memo puts it, quote, “Our diverse set of grievances are unified by one thing: a lack of appropriate resources for marginalized communities. In essence, our demands are meant to rectify the structural violence that UCLA has consistently upheld” end quote. Essentially, the protest put disabled demands for remote access in solidarity with the demands of Indigenous, Pacific Islander, and other members of the UCLA community.
Ultimately, the students vacated Murphy Hall after 16 days, making this the longest sit-in in UCLA’s history. The administration of UCLA made a number of commitments, including providing discrimination training to student athletes and hiring additional staff to support live streaming of classes. Despite some very significant wins, students ended the sit-in vowing to continue to keep fighting, particularly for immunocompromised students who require remote access.
This collection of documents and photos reminds me of the tremendous power of coalition work. These UCLA students knew that, to quote Lorde, we do not live single issue lives. Students who need hybrid learning options also need a campus free from racism, that celebrates and supports many different cultures. They also knew that their voices were more powerful together.
Here’s image descriptions of three of the photos, taken by Rowan O’Bryan, documenting the strike. These image descriptions were written by cavar, a member of the Critical Design Lab team that worked on the Remote Access Archive between 2022 and 2024.
Photo 1: Against a white wall is a poster featuring a photo of a white man in a suit. On the poster are the words “Some talk of a sustainable society. Others build it.” UCLA’s logo is beneath. Surrounding this preexisting poster, printed posters are taped up. The posters read in cap letters “UCLA DOESN’T CARE ABOUT BLACK PEOPLE” “People over profit,” “Vulnerable but still valuable,” and “Students of color are left behind and UCLA Does NOT care”. There is also a large homemade poster reading “Accessible Education Now”.
Photo 2: Three people sit or squat on a hallway floor next to a water fountain. They are snacking and relaxing. The person furthest left is masked, light-skinned, and wearing a green hoodie and brown pants, and is looking at their phone. In the middle, a person wearing flannel crouches with their back to the camera; in front of them is a bag of snacks, a plate of food, and a bottle of water. On the right is a light-skinned person in blue jeans and a hoodie, sitting cross-legged and eating pizza.
Photo 3: A variety of white paper posters, featuring slogans like “#UCLAbleist” and “Vulnerable but still Valuable” hang from and around a set of brown double doors. Below are a variety of pillows, blankets, books, and drink containers.
Thank you for listening. If this document touched you somehow - sparked your curiosity, made you angry, made you feel seen - you can find it in the Remote Access Archive at www.criticaldesignlab.com/project/remote-access-archive. Remember, remote access is disability culture.
[Rhythmic pops. Strings ripple and play as Aimi speaks]
Aimi Hamraie:
You've been listening to Contra*, a podcast about disability design, justice, and the life world. Contra* is a production of the Critical Design Lab. This season's episodes draw on our recent project, the Remote Access Archive, created by a team of disabled researchers collaborating remotely. Learn about our projects, including the remote access archive at www.criticaldesignlab.com.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe on Spotify, rate and leave a review.
This season of Contra* is edited by Ilana Nevins. Kelsie Acton and Aimi Hamraie developed the episodes.
The Contra* Podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons attribution, non-commercial share alike International 3.0 license.That means you can remix, repost, or recycle any of the content as long as you cite the original source, aren't making money, you don't change the credits and you share it under the same license.
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Contra* is a podcast about disability, design justice, and the lifeworld.
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