"May Day and the Moon" is a playful audio exploration of childhood dreams of adult work. The storyteller, Grant Miller, is a non-binary queer disabled white person born with disabilities and having acquired disability later in life as well. Unlike mainstream disability-related stories, Grant never describes their disability nor names any diagnoses. This is done to invite audiences to trust the storyteller and to disinvite the possibility of an objectifying medical gaze. We approach the idea of work indirectly in a sound-rich audio story, challenging the standard interview format. Rather than overtly discuss unemployment, underemployment, and capitalism, the story focuses on the lack of disabled role models in the working world and lack of family encouragement to consider pursuing adult work. The story concludes with a celebration of the innovation and creativity that Grant has incorporated into their self-empowered, self-directed, joy-filled artistic life.

May Day and the Moon

Transcription (PDF)

Cheryl Green and Grant Miller

Cheryl Green, MFA, MS, is a multi-media digital artist, captioner, audio describer, a 2017 AIR New Voices Scholar, and a member owner at New Day Films. She brings her lived experience with multiple invisible disabilities to creating media that explores stories and politics from the disability community. Her audio and written blog, transcribed podcast, and documentary films are at www.WhoAmIToStopIt.com.

Grant Miller is a queer, white, Disabled artist. They move to de-form existing structures, co-create virtual worlds, and enact an ongoing anti-ableist praxis. Situated on the stolen and unceded lands of the Multnomah, Clackamas, and Kalapooya people —colonial name Portland, Oregon— their work includes solo performance, collaborative devised projects, and institutional change through accessibility initiatives.