For the fifth episode of Back To Reading Credits, Wes Jackson spoke with artist and advocate Lachi about how she and her peers are fighting to make the music industry more accessible. Lachi is a globally touring recording artist, award winning social entrepreneur, GRAMMYs Chapter Board Governor, and host of PBS’ American Masters series ‘Renegades’. Born legally blind, Lachi uses her platform in music, storytelling and fashion to amplify identity pride and Disability Culture. Her U.N.-recognized organization RAMPD (Recording Artists and Music Professionals with Disabilities) has collaborated on disability-inclusive solutions with the GRAMMYs, Netflix, Tidal, SONY Pictures Entertainment and more. • Back to Reading Credits is hosted by Wes Jackson and produced by Khyriel Palmer, Emily Boghossian, Chris Torres, Gabrielle Davenport, and Antoine Hardy, with help from Elyse Rodriguez Aleman, Jose Astorga, Jonathan Ortiz, Charlie Hoxie, and Kuye Youngblood. Our audio engineer was Zak Sherzad, and our director was Raynita Vaughn. 

• Thank you to Arthur Gwynne and Stacie Barker. Ro Johnson, Tadia Toussaint, and everyone who participated in “Dead Rappers Get Better Promotion: The Health Crisis in Hip-Hop, A #BHeard Town Hall” last year. Watch the full Town Hall here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebgJpmxAR6U

Lachi is a globally touring recording artist, award winning social entrepreneur, GRAMMYs Chapter Board Governor, and host of PBS’ American Masters series ‘Renegades’. Born legally blind, Lachi uses her platform in music, storytelling and fashion to amplify identity pride and Disability Culture. Her U.N.-recognized organization RAMPD (Recording Artists and Music Professionals with Disabilities) has collaborated on disability-inclusive solutions with the GRAMMYs, Netflix, Live Nation and more. Her recent song Lift Me Up in homage to Judy Heumann peaked at #29 on U.S. Adult Contemporary radio. Named a USA Today Woman of the Year, an ADCOLOR Innovator of the Year, a “new champion in advocacy” by Billboard, and "a foot soldier for Disability Pride'' by Forbes, her cultural activism has landed her spots on national ads and TEDx stages, discussions with the White House, BBC, Good Morning America and the New York Times.

RAMPD (Recording Artists and Music Professionals with Disabilities) is a professional platform equipping the music and live entertainment industry with disability inclusive tools, programming and strategy. RAMPD also connects the industry to a global directory of peer-vetted music/sound creators and industry professionals with disabilities, neurodivergence and other chronic or mental health conditions, to find source and hire—bringing competitive opportunities, visibility and community to our Professional Members while offering disability inclusion to Industry/Venue partners. RAMPD's Mission is to amplify Disability Culture, promote equitable inclusion, and advocate for inclusive and accessible spaces in the music and live entertainment industries. Founded in May of 2021 (and established January 2022) by award-winning recording artist and cultural activist Lachi, RAMPD came about after a public talk between the Recording Academy and several disabled artists revealed the serious lack of visibility, access, and representation for music professionals with disabilities. RAMPD has since partnered with the GRAMMY's to make music's biggest night more disability-inclusive, helping push for a visible ramp to the stage, ASL, audio description and more at the ceremony, finding visibility in NYTimes and Billboard. In 2022 RAMPD was named a Zero Project Honoree at the United Nations for its innovative solutions, and in 2023 was named a Music Business Association Agent of Change. RAMPD's member development initiatives are fiscally sponsored by the Stacey Park Milbern Disability Justice Fund. Disability Culture: RAMPD defines Disability Culture as the art, music, words, and creative contributions of people who identify as disabled. It is rooted in creativity, determination and problem solving and is a vibrant counter-response to society's marginalization and oppression, and deserves to be celebrated. Disability: RAMPD's view on disability is big tent, meaning we are inclusive of and advocates for all forms of disabilities, including neurodivergence, chronic and mental health conditions, all physical, sensory, cognitive and intellectual disabilities, d/Deafness and hard of hearing, rare diseases and the immune compromised. We do not define disability by diagnosis, but by identity, as not everyone is able to receive a proper diagnosis. Furthermore disability identity is not limited to the medical model lens, but expands to both the social and cultural models of disability.

• TRANSCRIPT: https://shorturl.at/5XbZp

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