"Disabled and equally capable as before."

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What a powerful expression made by a young woman from the UAB School of Public Health who won the “Say it in 6” competition. Graduate students were challenged to tell a story with only six words and a visual aid about their life, experiences, and things they love or have learned.

The winner, Lindsay Bowe, is a graduate student in the Department of Health Behavior and was able to express in six words one of the most powerful statements I have ever heard in my more than four decades of working in the space of health and disability.

A couple of weeks ago another student with a disability majoring in art, Harper Nichols, devised a creative expression of her self-portrait using her arm – isolated from her head and body – to reflect how she carries things along the shaft of her slender arm, sometimes carrying several items in sync and balance with each other.

It warms my heart to know that these UAB students are creating a unique disability culture that embraces diversity, equity, and inclusion.