Dealing with disability in a positive way
Caribbean Life, November 15-21, 2019 51
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
It’s what’s inside that counts.
There’s a sentiment you’ve
heard since you were a small
child: don’t judge someone by
their outward appearances.
Look at their mind, see their
heart, know who they are before
you decide how you’ll act. As in
the new book “The Pretty One”
by Keah Brown, look past what
they can’t do, and see what they
can.
Keah Brown is cute. Check it:
#DisabledAndCute.
It wasn’t always that way:
for much of her life, she’s “felt
average, plain and wrong” and
sometimes embarrassed but
today, she loves her body despite
her cerebral palsy.
And why not? She can’t
escape it, nor does she want
to; in fact, she says her “disability
is not a thing to see past
but instead a thing to acknowledge
and accept...” You don’t
even have to pretend to be PC
with Brown; euphemisms, she
believes, are for the discomforted
able-bodied, not for those
with a disability.
You can, however, apologize
for the way people like her are
treated when they’re minding
their own business, living their
lives. Strangers, for example,
often approach Brown with
unsolicited cures for her CP,
but she’d rather we all use our
energy to help ensure Black
people with disabilities aren’t
“invisible.”
Even better: make sure that
nobody who’s Black is invisible.
Period.
Brown grew up with a brother
and a twin sister and she was
treated the same as they were;
she was a kid who just needed
to take breaks, that’s all, no
big deal. Well into grade-school
before she realized that she had
a disability; she still remembers
the boy who made fun of her,
who cruelly pointed out her CP.
She wonders if he remembers
what he did that day, because
she surely does.
In this book, Brown writes
with sorrow about the years she
Book cover of “The Pretty One” by Keah Brown.
wasted being jealous of her ablebodied
sister, and with gratefulness
that they’re close now. She
tells of the simple “freedom”
that comes with figuring out
how to style her own hair, and
she wonders when she might
find romance. If she can love
herself, then surely someone
else “will follow suit.”
No doubt, “The Pretty One”
is a quirky kind of memoir.
When laying things out
plainly, there aren’t many people
more straightforward than
author Keah Brown. She talks
candidly about her disability,
no beating around the bush or
hinting at anything, and facts
are slapped on the table like a
palm. There’s a dash of humor
inside some of her chapters, and
solid rants elsewhere.
On the other hand, readers
will find some weird, weird
things in this book, including
a chapter in which Brown
gives human names to furniture;
and extended references to
some pretty off-the-beaten-path
pop culture. Neither these, nor
frequent repetition will endear
readers to this book.
And yet, the overall narrative
is quite eye-opening, especially
for able-bodied readers
who squirm in the presence
of a wheelchair or a disability.
Brown admits that she doesn’t
speak for everybody, but “The
Pretty One” has a lot to say
inside.
“The Pretty One: On
Life, Pop Culture, Disability,
and Other Reasons to
Fall in Love with Me” by
Keah Brown
c.2019, Atria $17.00 /
$23.00
Canada 243 pages
“Pretty One” author Keah Brown. Katelyn Shufelt Photography
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