@russdembin
Parent of two, educator, administrator, editor, writer, dramaturg, and scholar dedicated to anti-oppression; accessibility; diversity, equity & inclusion • Ph.D., UT Austin • (Formerly @Dramaturgs) • he/him • russelldembin.com
Today the arts camp where I work (and which I once attended) staged Into the Woods—my first time seeing it performed by students since becoming a parent and since returning to K-12 teaching. The finale’s “Children Will Listen” section is even more poignant when children sing those lyrics. #Sondheim
Kevin and @bcdreyer.social: Would you count Romeo and Juliet? In addition to West Side Story, there’s the Terrence Mann-Jerome Korman musical Romeo & Juliet and one or two others (or more) from this list: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categor...
I’m honored to be part of the @howlround.bsky.social starter pack. What incredible company! I’m grateful to be on this list.
2025 is a great year for you to start captioning your images with alt text if you haven't yet. It helps people with low vision and blindness experience more of the web, gives your images a wider audience, and even enhances searchability of your posts!
Perkins has a good "why" and "how" intro guide:
Ah! Of course.
Has anyone mentioned curate? @joshuajfriedman.com
A reminder:
Alt text is primarily an accessibility aid for those using screen-readers.
However, it is also helpful to provide additional context for images or memes you post - especially where it isn’t clear what it is you are showing.
Please use alt text.
Useful tips for organising ALT text. 📝
Happy Indigenous Peoples Day! If you don’t know the work of @bethanyhughes.bsky.social, definitely check it out. She is an excellent scholar, and her upcoming book (Redface:
Race, Performance, and Indigeneity) promises to be a valuable contribution to the studies of performance and identity.
do you know that many public libraries will accept book order requests from residents?
a really great way to support writers/translators is to ask your libraries to get books so they're more widely available.
plus in some places like Canada, we get a license fee for having books in libraries
I haven’t read this piece in full, but it is very much worth checking out. Thanks for sharing it, @jessesword.com.
It turns out that New York Public Library cards are available (for free) to even more people than I realized: anyone who lives, works, goes to school, or pays property taxes in New York State. If you meet any of these qualifications and don’t have a card, you can apply for one here:
HEY YOU. YES, YOU!
Do you wish your library had more queer trans books? Did you know you can make that happen?
Go to their website, or visit in person with a list and REQUEST THOSE BOOKS! They will almost certainly order them, and then you and other library patrons can read them!
🌍 Celebrating the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples!
We honour Indigenous cultures, histories, and contributions globally.
#IndigenousPeoplesDay #IndigenousEditors
Love this. Do you have any particular favorites from the past few years? (And I hope your recovery is going as easily as possible!)
The database for books featuring trans & enby MCs by trans & enby authors is live. It's still small, but new submissions are coming in as I speak so it will get bigger 💜 I'm sorry I couldn't make it much fancier, but I'll keep researching ways to make it a little better.
transenbybooks.carrd.co
Today I submitted my first copyedit in a while. Every time I work on a freelance editing assignment I have renewed gratitude that free remote access to The Chicago Manual of Style is available through the New York Public Library—and that any state resident can get an NYPL card. #AmEditing
Please stop putting links in your alt text. They can't be clicked and screen reader users are stuck listening as it reads out h t t p : / / ... Etcetera.
Thankyou 💖
Happy centennial, WNYC! @npr.org
Lately a more recent post on this topic came up in my feed; I’m having trouble finding that one now, so I’m resharing this post. In terms of #accessibilty, is there a preference between #PascalCase and #camelCase (the latter beginning with a lowercase letter)? @matthewoliphant.com @catmachine.com
Thanks to @kslivensky.bsky.social for sharing this post.
secondbeatsongs posted: somehow instead of saying "as a treat", I've started using the phrase "for morale", as if my body is a ship and its crew, and I (the captain) have to keep us in high spirits, lest we suffer a mutiny in the coming days. and so l will eat this small block of fancy cheese, for morale. I will take a break and drink some tea, for morale. I will pick up that weird bug, for morale. I'm not sure if it helps, but it does entertain me hidefdoritos replied: OP I hope you know that this changed my life and nearly eliminated my guilt over enjoying things. And I've delighted almost everyone I know with the phrase, leading a few of them to use it back to me. Anyway just letting you know about this little sparkle of wonder. For morale.
You need this today. For morale.
Also apropos of it being disability pride month - another easy thing you can do to make your social media posts more accessible is to use camel case, effectively capitalising each word in hashtags. This is easier for everyone to read and can be processed by screen reading software.
Thank you so much. Yes, that’s one of our favorites.
I’m back for more recommendations: What are your favorite black-and-white or other high-contrast books for babies? cc @sujeilugo.bsky.social @gennie.bsky.social @kellyweill.bsky.social @kacy-h.bsky.social @parkergoodreau.bsky.social @mindyreads.bsky.social @samanthalf.bsky.social
🌌 A cover of Blackbird done by Emma Stevens in traditional Mi'kmaq for the International Year of Indigenous Languages that the UN held in 2019
youtu.be/99-LoEkAA3w?...
"This [long-forgotten slave narrative], scholars who have seen it say, is unique for its global perspective and its uncensored fury, from a man living far outside the trans-Atlantic network of white abolitionists who often limited what the formerly enslaved could write about their experiences."
It seems the URL changed after I posted it, so I’ll share the new one. @capnjoy.bsky.social
I haven’t heard the whole episode, though based on what I’ve caught so far, the latest installment of Notes from America with Kai Wright, “What ‘The Wiz’ Was and Is to Black Culture,” is very much worth checking out. #TheWiz #Broadway #musicals
What an exciting opportunity to acquire new books and to support independent stores. Today, in addition to purchasing the upcoming title from Karen Yin through Karen’s Bookshop.org store, I ordered several great baby books recommended here while supporting a colleague’s new bookstore in my area. 📚