On December 27, 2022, we lost Talina Jones, a passionate advocate for disabled children and their families and an activist and scholar working at the intersection of ableism and racism. We share in the grief of her family, friends, and colleagues, and send our deepest sympathies to all her loved her.
Talina became a member of the disability community when her son Kariem, “Tajee” or “Taj” was born with a disability. Talina quickly understood that Taj and other disabled children – and particularly disabled children of color – face barriers and experience cruelty caused by ableism and its intersection with racism. Her love for Tajee and inherent drive for equity and justice led her to advocate for Taj and other children in school and health care. In 2007, she joined the New York State Early Intervention Coordinating Council and became its chair in 2013.
In 2012, DREDF leaders met Talina at a U.S. Department of Education conference, when she spoke up about the harsh and disproportionate discipline experienced by disabled Black children in Syracuse public schools. We invited Talina to speak at a 2015 forum called “Breaking the School-to-Prison Pipeline,” cosponsored by the National Council on Disability and DREDF. We were delighted when Talina agreed to join our board in 2016.
Talina embodied the saying, “speaking truth to power,” and modeled it for hundreds of families in New York and beyond. She sat at tables with families to defend their disabled children who were being wrongly disciplined, suspended, or expelled because of schools’ failures to provide them with the supports and services they deserved. She also sat at tables at the state and federal levels to make sure that disabled children were at the forefront of decisions made by policy makers.
We will miss Talina’s curiosity, brilliance, and drive for justice. We mourn for everyone’s loss.
A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help Talina’s family with cremation costs. Your help is greatly appreciated.