Photo by Caroline Whalen
Ariana Matthews
News Reporter
Freshman Melissa Shang is a disability-rights activist whose success includes speaking at national conventions, publishing books and articles, and launching a viral petition.
Shang, born with Charcot-Marie-Tooth, a disease that damages nerves in the arms and legs, has made it clear that her life will not be defined by her disorder.
As her older sister, Eva Shang explains, at the age of ten, M. Shang started a viral petition directed at American Girl to produce a disabled doll that was featured in Buzzfeed, CBS, Oprah Magazine, and garnered 150,000 signatures.
“So many people were passionate about seeing girls with disabilities featured in children’s toys and their lives,” E. Shang said.
Furthermore, in October 2014, M. Shang entered an essay contest about her beliefs and what she stands up for, so she wrote about “being an activist for disabled girls.”
Shang won the contest, and was selected to introduce Malala Yousafzai when Yousafzai received the Nobel Peace Prize at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
With the help of E. Shang, M. Shang then self-published a children’s book on Amazon entitled “Mia Lee is Wheeling Through Middle School.”
“As a child, I had never seen a disabled girl story and I know that a lot of disabled girls do not feel represented because of this,” M. Shang said.
The book centers around how sixth grader Mia Lee is a stop motion filmmaker, and thus is not focused on her disability.
“Often disabled girls feel like they’re not represented in books or movies, and I’ve also learned that sometimes they feel out of place.. in everyday life,” M. Shang said. “It’s really important to bring representation to them so they don’t feel like that.”
Instead of expanding upon on the protagonist’s disability, the book is lighthearted and humorous, and targeted for children in grades four through six.
M. Shang’s most recent accomplishment includes being featured in the New York Times three separate times, in the last few months, for an opinion piece she wrote on why stories about disabilities do not necessarily have to be sad.
“ She has such a fresh and important take on stories about disability because she wrote one herself,” said E. Shang.
E. Shang cites that M. Shang’s fearless attitude has allowed her sister to grow into the activist she is today and inspire many who live with or without disabilities.
“It’s up to me to speak for people who can’t speak for themselves,” M. Shang said.
On November 2nd at 7:00 pm, Melissa will be reading her book at South and speaking about her experiences and accomplishments.
One of Melissa’s New York Time articles is linked below: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/21/opinion/stories-about-disability-dont-have-to-be-sad.html
Visit melissashang.com for more details.
