Name Marta Russell | Role Writer | |
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Books Beyond Ramps: Disability at the End of the Social Contract : a Warning from an Uppity Crip | ||
Marta Russell (December 20, 1951 - December 15, 2013) was an American writer and disability rights activist. Her book, Beyond Ramps: Disability at the End of the Social Contract published in 1998 by Common Courage Press analyzes the relationship between disability, social Darwinism, and economic austerity under capitalism. Her political views, which she described as "left, not liberal," informed her writing on topics such as healthcare, the prison-industrial complex, physician-assisted suicide, poverty, ableism, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
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Biography
Russell grew up in the Mississippi Delta, born into an old Southern family. She was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy as an infant. During her childhood, she underwent numerous surgeries attempting to improve her mobility without success. As a young adult, Marta attended the Memphis College of Art and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. She moved to Los Angeles, California, in her early 20s to pursue a career in film. She attended The American Film Institute (AFI) and worked as a graphic artist, cinematic visual effects artist, and a commercial producer. A notable visual effects role was as Background Composite Supervisor for the film "Tron" (1982), working in parallel with her then-husband.
Marta's identity as a writer and journalist emerged as her disability progressed and she had to navigate the disability policy netherworld to survive. She became more involved with disability rights groups such as ADAPT. A photographer as well as a producer of audio and visual content, Russell was recognized in 1994 with an award from the City of Los Angeles Commission on Disabilities for her contributions to disability society in the media. Russell was co-producer/correspondent for the KCET Life & Times documentary entitled, "Disabled & the Cost of Saying 'I Do", which was honored with a prestigious Golden Mike Award for Journalism (1995).
In 2016, Routledge Press published an anthology dedication entitled, "Disability Politics in a Global Economy: Essays in Honour of Marta Russell". Numerous authors contributed to the piece, which was edited by Ravi Malhotra. In October 2016 a Second Edition of "Beyond Ramps: Disability at the End of the Social Contract" was released in Amazon Kindle format. The new edition features a new foreword by the anthology's editor, Ravi Malhotra.
Russell has one daughter named Georgia Scheele.
Journalism
In addition to writing for New Mobility and the Monthly Review, Russell contributed articles to numerous scholarly and policy journals such as the Journal of Disability Policy Studies and the Socialist Register as well as print and online newspapers such as The Los Angeles Daily News.