the_abi_spin

12/06/2023

"As a disabled person, it’s rare for someone on reality television to look like me"

22/02/2023

I’m super excited to share my creative showreel! 📽️

It’s a small selection of my activism, broadcasting, commercial and journalistic work that I have produced to date that I’ve enjoyed working on.

Disability is so often left out of the Diversity conversation, and ethnicity is so often left out of the Disability conversation - especially when it comes to black disabled people. 👩🏾‍🦯

I believe that the power is behind the lens, which is why you mostly won’t see me, but I do however believe that I have things that are worth hearing. 🎤👂

Which is why intersectionality is a conversation that I’ve been pushing for in my work for so long.

As a black disabled female care leaver, my construction of identity was massively impacted by a lack of representation in the media, which is why authentic representation of disability and race, both on and off screen, is so important to me.

👉🏾 There are more Black and Asian disabled people in the UK than our white British counterparts.

But when you think about it: How many disabled people of colour do you see regularly on TV, Fashion and advertising? - Let's talk ratios. ☯️🖤🤍🤎

👉🏾 disability is the largest diversity group in the world - we are not a minority.

👉🏾 As a woman, I represent 51% of the UK.

So we’re hardly a minority but we are underrepresented. It’s not like we don’t exist. We’re excluded and always have been. It’s that simple. It’s a very sobering realisation.

I don’t wait for opportunities, I create opportunities, in which I've succeeded and excelled - and it’s about time that we reframed the conversation around versatility when we think about diversity in the creative industries – it’s about survival and determination, not indecisiveness. 👌

If you have any contacts in the broadcasting industry that would benefit from seeing this, tag them in the comments below or if you have any opportunities I’d love to hear from you. ’sWork 🤝

Thank you!❣️

Also, massive love and appreciation for everyone who I’ve had the pleasure to work with or who have supported me, my work and activism - our community is iconic! ♿️

14/12/2022

🎾 - MoveNow x 🏅

Train with Paralympic wheelchair tennis pro in an accessible training series, (ep 1 of 3), made with the International Paralympic Committee and co-created by people with disabilities.

Drills made with YOU in mind ♿️ 😌… finallyyyyyyy, am I right? 😜



See previous post for full cast list ❤️‍
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04/12/2022

We all deserve to fully access the - but for many people with disabilities this can seem easier said than done. 😣

We want to get ahead of the curve!

x have created a campaign - and hopefully a movement – that aims to tackle the attitudinal and access barriers to sports enabling young people with disabilities to MoveNow and get active on their terms. The campaign features fully inclusive and accessible multi-format training plans to help young people with disabilities to access a more active lifestyle.

This film (1 of 3) includes the incredible Paralympic Shot Putter Mary Fitzgerald alongside our Day1ers Amelia and Daniel. Cannot stress how incredible it was to work with these gems✨

Hope the films give disabled viewers a way to get active that truly considers your access needs, whilst also encouraging training providers and coaches to in terms of making grassroots to professional level sport more inclusive of all 🪐

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Stats: Disabled adults are almost twice as likely as non-disabled people to be physically inactive (42.4 per cent vs 22.6 percent, despite four in five (77 per cent) of disabled people who would like to be more active.
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See full list of crew in previous post ♥️

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18/11/2022

. Recognise anyone👂🏾😊 New AD-VoiceOver, script consultancy and wardrobe styling work!

x present MoveNow, a fully inclusive and accessible multi-format campaign to help young people with disabilities access a more active lifestyle. This film (1 of 3) features the incredible Paralympic long jump AND 100m champion alongside our Day1ers Finn & Flo. Can't stress enough what a pleasure it was to spend a day with these glorious humans. A lot of fun was had.

Shout out to our next level crew who totally elevated this project, many living with physical differences - the word disability couldn't seem more apt in all the best ways. It was, quite simply, a fantastic bunch of talented and hardworking individuals coming together as an inclusive & well organised unit. It's time to focus on how we can do what we can to make film shoots more accessible for everyone moving forward.

/producer




David Welch
&

.carol.actor




Giulia Balsamo


Ni Ferreira
.boomer //
// James Hawkins
Kiff McManus
Jennifer Cham



Joy Okoro-Thompson
Sam Mines
Brandon Young
Gregg Baxter
Chris Seward







.bejawn

Big love to .london and many others no doubt!

01/08/2022

Representation matters.

If we’re not being shown diversity, how can we aspire to reach the same heights, have the same goals?

There’s much, much further to go in gaining equality (not only for women, of course!).

For tonight, I’ll be cheering on England against Germany in the Women’s Euros and celebrating just how far we have come in this version of the beautiful game ⚽️

Score predictions, anyone? I’m going for a tight 2-1 win for England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

16/07/2022

Chloe Johnson gives an insight into some TikTok accounts which regularly share life hacks for disabled people, including hair and make-up tips, as well as ways to tackle tricky parts of life

13/07/2022

13/07/2022

Today, along with RNID, we handed in our petitions to call for Video on Demand streaming services to be made accessible for all.

Over 20,000 of you signed our petitions – we couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you to each and every one who called on the Government to make on-demand TV accessible!

[Image description: RNIB and RNID staff, volunteers and RNID’s ambassador Samantha Baines are standing outside the Houses of Parliament holding placards and banners demanding for equal access to on-demand TV.]

Image credit: Exposure Photo Agency

27/06/2022

Happy refugee week!

The theme of last weeks was healing.

Refugee Week celebrates the contributions of refugees and people seeking sanctuary in order to challenge negative stereotypes and create a space where refugees can be seen and heard beyond their experience of displacement - through the belief that everyone has a contribution to make, and rejecting the idea that people seeking safety should have to ‘prove their worth’ more than others in society.

From , working with young unaccompanied minors is about supporting them to know that we all have the right to be safe.

We are so much more than our trauma.

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24/06/2022

Cinderella never asked for a prince. She asked for a night off and a dress.

23/06/2022

Always wear your invisible crown 🪄👑

Fab night at the may ball celebrating my besty graduating from Cambridge, so proud of you

20/06/2022

Diversity and inclusion in fashion: what does it mean for you?

So excited to have the privilege to be able to share a stage with these incredible forces of nature in the fashion industry.

Victoria Jenkins Founder of Unhidden Clothing
Alice Cracknell founder of Origin Africa
Chamiah Dewey founder of Chamiah Dewey Fashion

BUSINESS DESIGN CENTRE
Friday 1st July, 10:30 - 11:30
ISLINGTON, N1 0QH

Make sure to follow these lovely ladies to keep up with what they‘re up to ❤️uk


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14/06/2022

Dog days are over 🐾💕☀️

13/06/2022

Everything has changed and yet, I am more me than I've ever been.🍃

Shot by
Hair by
Make up by
Nails by

26/05/2022

Everyone’s got a story, this is mine 📖💪

Was fab to work on this project promoting the importance of being able to see yourself in the world around you.

’s photography exhibition, “Mirror Mirror on the Wall, We Are Beautiful After All,” in aid of , highlights the need for more representation, diversity and inclusion in the fashion, beauty and media industry.

Creating works that continue the conversation around diversity and inclusion, and empower expression of individuality. We challenge the suffocating, unrealistic beauty standards peddled by society and the media by campaigning for more brands to work with under-represented models of all shapes, forms, colours, abilities, genders, and identities across the globe. 🗺


Hair
Make up
Nails

DiversityInAdvertising

19/05/2022

This project was a joy to be a part of, from start to finish, can you tell by my face 🤩

This week is Face Equality Week, an annual event to raise awareness about the prejudice experienced by people with visible differences - this year the theme is ‘stop the stare’ – but it was so great to be a part of this beauty exhibition inviting people to stare, on my terms.

So honoured to speak on the panel with these incredible humans, discussing the importance of increased representation in advertising and the importance of a better understanding of inclusivity and diversity that transcends beyond our own personal experiences.

My INTERSECTIONALITY:

Being a black, disabled woman, it would be impossible to dissociate from any of the three aspects of what makes me ME.

Disability representation has come a long way, but it is often very white washed still.

As much as diversity includes disability, disability needs to include diversity.

Which is why I was so extremely grateful to be a part of ’s charity photography exhibition, “Mirror Mirror on the Wall, We Are Beautiful After All,” in aid of charity, to highlight the need for more representation, diversity and inclusion in the fashion, beauty and media industry.

Creating works that continue the conversation around diversity and inclusion, and empower expression of individuality. We challenge the suffocating, unrealistic beauty standards peddled by society and the media by campaigning for more brands to work with under-represented models of all shapes, forms, colours, abilities, genders, and identities across the globe.


your Beauty standards

16/05/2022

Life isn't perfect, but your hair can be!

hair by my fave hair wizard 🪄💇🏾‍♀️
Make up & nails by my girls 💄💅🏾

An amazing shoot with and the gang, can’t wait for the exhibition tomorrow 😁🖼


diversity is Power

10/05/2022

Mirror mirror on the wall, we are all beautiful after all. 🪞

So often society's idea of beauty or who is beautiful impacts the individual and their behaviour. At work, many will employ or promote based off what they’re told is beautiful, many will date based off who they’re told is beautiful, how many treat each other is often based off of aesthetics.

I told my Mum age 4 ‘I wanted to be white’, because of what the world told me beauty was.👸🏻
I didn’t need to see to know that I, in societies eyes, was inherently wrong.

I can’t change me, and I now no longer want to.

But what we can do is reframe the conversation around disability and difference, which is why I am so excited to have been involved in Amanda’s incredible Mirror Mirror campaign.

The authenticity and the bravery of everyone involved 🥰

Please feel free to come along to the exhibition next week at Fiume Restaurant on the 17th of May at 6pm

RSVP @amandaakokhia.com

Much love x



@

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27/04/2022

Go bold or go home💄👠

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make up by my babe
shot bye


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23/04/2022

So many people can’t see the beauty in difference.

And I think it is, not a skill…

Because that seems like, it’s something like, oh my God like, you have to really try to be it.

But I don’t think everybody does see The beauty in difference.

And it takes certain people, like Amanda, like Kelvin, like all the people involved, to actually show people how to see the beauty in difference. because, some people, it just comes naturally.

But often, because people have never seen it, they don’t know what they are missing, in terms of diversity. And people are like, “Do you think the people are missing it?

But no

You can’t miss what you’ve never had.

So if we’ve never had real representation, how can they know, how powerful it is, how valuable it is.

And I think that’s where the industry is, currently. They just don’t know what they’re missing.

And it was so beautiful to kind of see, you know, where, The trajectory of where we want to go with the industry, and seeing what we’re doing.

It was so powerful to be a part of.”

P.S. I found out that models earn an average of £1000 a day, and now, of course I’m going to be chasing the bag 👩🏾‍🦯💰😂

Private viewing yesterday

Main exhibition: May 16th - 22nd. Venue to be confirmed.

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[Video description]
Black woman with dark hair looking contentedly at herself in the mirror, then she’s in a photography studio taking a picture. A spacious and luxurious room leading to a stairway.
Female models looking at the camera. Some contemplative, some happy.
Black woman with camera, talking to white shaved head woman without camera. Same women taking pictures and posing. Black photographer talking then taking pictures of multiple female models, smiling. Grand staircase, rooms and hallway.

21/04/2022

Follow the direction of your smiles, that will always tell you where you belong 🗺📍

Great couple days with and these beautiful humans I got the pleasure of spending a couple of days with 📸

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17/04/2022

Unhidden is strictly ‘pyjama-free Adaptive Fashion and we love it! 😻

As a disabled person, I’ve often felt like my fashion choices have been restricted by clothing brands' lack of consideration, whether that’s in terms of adaptive clothing, lack of representation of disabled models, in accessible websites and buildings, the list goes on. 📜

Anyone else? 🤔

Enter our workshop with a difference: ask all your DIY adaptive clothing questions to the legend herself

Kicking off at 6 pm on Tuesday 🙌

Link to join the workshop in stories 💖

[Video Description]
Shots of models with different diversities modelling Victoria’s adaptive clothing range - Unhidden at London Fashion Week

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08/04/2022

She believed she could, so she did. 💪🏾

Brand launch:
Photographed by the lovely team:

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30/03/2022

My advice to those wanting to enter this industry; bring it, come. You have just as much right to contribute as everyone else. Let’s face it, the industry needs you. But you can’t wait for the call. Just do it! 💫

We have an absolute responsibility to ensure our media represents everyone. Right now, there’s a long way to go, but we shall start here today.”
These were the words that resonated with me, and they were said by Shelley Bishton, the Head of Creative Diversity at NewsUK, in the first opening statement at the first Disability and Journalism Forum in the world. And it only got better from there...

Stay tuned for some incredible footage from the day, really enjoyed working as a consultant picking all the best bits 😁

Thanks to for the opportunityyy and starting this fab initiative! 💖

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social media

17/03/2022

Ever said ‘it’s so hard to get a job’? Try being disabled. 🥱

The barriers to gainful employment is often an invisible problem faced by people with disabilities.

Smashing the barriers requires sustained effort from people, employers and trade unions UK-wide. 🇬🇧

Words are not enough.🙅‍♀️

To tackle accessability, inclusion and employment barriers, we are building a community that gives us a voice and control over our lives. Providing disabled people with a collective voice powerful enough to influence policy at a national level.

People with disabilities face barriers from our society, policies and systems. The employment rate is 81% in the general population, 52% amongst the disabled population excluding sight loss and 27% for people registered blind and partially sighted 😱

These are complex challenges that no one organisation, group or company can tackle alone. They are collective issues that require a collective response - which is why we need you. 🙋

Comment who’s views and experiences you resonate with most:

💜 Not getting employment despite persistence and experience
💙 We need to remove the stereotype that disabled people don’t want to work
💚 Excuses around reasonable adjustments

🤍 Add your own

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disability

03/03/2022

Dots are what you need to make a point. 🦯❣️

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Wearing a Beautiful blouse
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[Picture Description]
A photo collage with 5 pictures
Abi, far left, strutting down the runway cane in hand wearing a white blouse with large red polka dots - The other 4, 2 of which, are plus size strut and pose down the runway also wearing workwear

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28/02/2022

And now that’s how you walk the talk, literally! 👩🏾‍🦯

[Video description]
Short clips flash across the screen, tick-tock style. Showing a male model in a loud patterned outfit, a male model with vitiligo, a black visually impaired model walking with her cane
androgynous and gender fluid looking models and a plus size lady in a bikini and Samantha, a wheelchair user and the organiser of the event all strutting their stuff and posing on the runway.
As the music builds into a crescendo – A woman wearing a neon yellow Princess dress spins, fabric billowing around her as the crowd looks on in aur.
Followed by various models (various sizes & ethnicities) and a model with Down syndrome. Cut to a clip of a BSL interpreter signing as they’re filmed transmitting live coverage for the event, and finally a Mail Online article praising the event for its inclusion. And marking it as the pivotal changing point for the Fashion industry as a whole.

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24/02/2022

Couldn’t wait to share this with you. I have so many amazing photos and videos coming your way from London Fashion Week but if I could sum it up in one post it has to be these ones.🤭

Promoting inclusive, universal fashion to the mainstream fashion industry whilst hanging out with some of the best people, sharing the biggest, most genuine belly laughs as we all worked ourselves silly to push for a world where we would no longer be ignored.

More content coming soon, but for now here’s this joyful moment that shows the bond and love this community has for each other as, united, we fight to be UNHIDDEN.

Proud moment for me personally, I walked the runway using my cane for the first time 👩🏾‍🦯🙌

When you live with an invisible disability—or a dynamic disability, where your daily symptoms fluctuate—you tend to have this habit of diminishing the impact your condition has on you. unlearning ableism and learning to love my mobility aids was a massive part of my self-love journey especially as a disabled woman of colour

Hope these posts help you to embrace being wonderfully you 😍

[Picture description]
Picture 1, 3 and 4 show Abi
whilst wearing a red easy pull on T-shirt and suit trousers from unhidden clothing, as she poses confidently, putting her cane at jaunty angles, as she has her hands on her chin, then her hip and looks over her shoulder.

Pic 2) Abi, a visually impaired black cane user, leans her arm on Sandy, a wheelchair user as they both pose at the top of the runway as the crowd claps at either side of them

@ London_represents