SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 Alice Wong, a disability rights activist and author whose independence and writing inspired others, has died. She was 51.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wong died Friday because of an infection at a hospital in San Francisco, said Sandy Ho, a close friend who has been in touch with Wong\u2019s family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ho called her friend a \u201cluminary of the disability justice movement\u201d who wanted to see a world where people with disabilities, especially ones of marginalized demographics who were people of color, LGBTQ and immigrants, could live freely and have full autonomy over their lives and decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The daughter of Hong Kong immigrants, Wong was diagnosed as a small child with a progressive neuromuscular disability. She used a powered wheelchair and an assistive breathing device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On social media Ho shared a statement Wong wrote before her death in which she said never imagined her trajectory would turn out as it did, to writing, activism and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was thanks to friendships and some great teachers who believed in me that I was able to fight my way out of miserable situations into a place where I finally felt comfortable in my skin. We need more stories about us and our culture,\u201d Wong wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She advocated \u201cgetting people out of institutions and remaining in the community,\u201d Ho said. Wong\u2019s works \u2014 including books she authored and edited and the Disability Visibility Project blog she started \u2014 shared her writing and voices and the perspectives of others, Ho said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wong was a funny person and a hilarious writer, not an easy skill, Ho said. Her memoir \u201cYear of the Tiger: An Activist\u2019s Life\u201d is filled with humorous snippets but also humanizes disability, Ho said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The legacy of Wong\u2019s work is that people with disabilities \u201cspeak for themselves and that nobody speaks for us,\u201d Ho said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wong was among the 2024 class of fellows of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, recipients of the \u201cgenius grant.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n