Bill Peace was a disabled person, activist, scholar, and professor who the disability community lost last week. Professor Peace was a wheelchair user who spoke up about the bioethics of the disability community and the effects of becoming ill. He argued adamantly against cure culture and for the dignity of people who have a disability.

We lost many disabled scholars this year from Carrie Ann Lucas in February to Bill Peace in July. More than ever, we need more staunch advocates to continue to change the healthcare industry conversation. I hope we remember the work of Bill Peace, Carrie Ann Lucas, and so many other disabled people we lost this year, as we continue to advocate for people with disabilities. In addition, I also hope we start considering mentoring more youth with disabilities for the future of the disability justice and rights movement.

As an advocate myself — also vocal about the cure culture, as well as fighting for the rights of Autistic people to live autonomous lives, regardless of what kind of impairments they have — I am a big believer in interdependence, not independence. This may shock people because everything may seem like independence when you get up out of bed in the morning to go to school or work; however, in order to get up and go out into the community, we all rely on some kind of support, no matter what. No one is truly independent.

Bill Peace: A Professor Who Professed Disability Activism