Center for Racial and Disability Justice

Today, CRDJ and our co-signers submitted a public comment opposing OMB’s proposed federal financial assistance rule because it would make it harder for federally funded programs and research to identify barriers, study disparities, protect research independence, and serve the communities they are meant to reach.

The proposed rule risks treating lawful civil-rights compliance, disability accessibility, demographic analysis, community-engaged research, disparity analysis, and evidence-based program improvement as suspect or impermissible. But these activities are core tools for ensuring federal programs are lawful, accessible, effective, and accountable.

Our comment focuses on five key concerns:

1. Accountability requires access
2. Disparate impact is evidence, not bias
3. Research integrity requires independence
4. Accessible research serves the public
5. Stable funding sustains public trust

We urge OMB to withdraw or substantially revise the proposed rule to protect civil-rights compliance, disability accessibility, demographic data collection, disaggregated and intersectional analysis, community engagement, participatory research, accessible dissemination, and program evaluation.

Comments are due by July 13, 2026.

You can read this letter, along with all of our public comment submissions, on our website at https://www.crdjustice.org/public-comment-letters

CRDJ was honored to co-host the 6th Annual Accessible Juneteenth alongside the UIC Disability Cultural Center, the Chicagoland Disabled People of Color Coalition, and Access Living.

Accessible Juneteenth affirms that the celebrations of freedom should be accessible to everyone. Each year, Accessible Juneteenth brings together Black disabled, Deaf, those with chronic illness, and neurodivergent members of the Chicagoland community, alongside family, friends, artists, advocates, and community members, to celebrate Black history, culture, creativity, and liberation.

This year’s gathering was filled with music, performances, community resources, food, conversation, and Black Disabled joy. Just as importantly, it demonstrated what becomes possible when accessibility is treated as a foundation for community, instead of an afterthought. With ASL interpretation, captioning, access doulas, a quiet spaces, optional masking, and multiple ways to participate, the event embodied the principle that everyone deserves to experience celebration, belonging, and collective care.

On Juneteenth, we remember that freedom is not a finished project. Black liberation and disability justice remain deeply interconnected struggles, calling us to build communities where all people can thrive with dignity, access, and self-determination.

Thank you to every performer, exhibitor, volunteer, organizer, and attendee who helped make this year’s Accessible Juneteenth so special. We leave energized by the power of gathering together and committed to continuing the work of creating more accessible and liberated futures.

Pride began as a protest, and for many LGBTQ+ people, that spirit remains as urgent as ever.

This year’s CRDJ Pride playlist, Be Gay. Do Crime., draws on a long-standing phrase associated with q***r resistance and refusal. At a time of escalating attacks on trans people, LGBTQ+ communities, immigrants, and others whose very existence is increasingly treated as suspect or unlawful, this playlist recognizes that simply being who you are has too often been treated as a crime. From q***r punk and trans anthems to Black liberation music and Latinx q***r artists, these songs are about survival, solidarity, joy, and pushing back against systems that criminalize difference. They remind us that Pride, more than a celebration, is about building power, caring for one another, and imagining unapologetic futures.

🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ Happy Pride from CRDJ.

Listen here: tinyurl.com/Pride-CRDJams

Learn about “Be Gay. Do Crime.”: tinyurl.com/Gay-Do-Crime