Imani Barbarin on disability rights, COVID and the war on Gaza
The Take
Al Jazeera
4.7 • 748 Ratings
🗓️ 18 December 2025
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Why does the public understanding of disability lag so far behind reality? TikTok influencer and disability activist Imani Barbarin lays this out for her audiences on social media, where she has amassed nearly a million followers across platforms. In this episode, Barbarin shares her perspectives on disability at the intersection of issues, including COVID and the genocidal war on Gaza.
In this episode:
- Imani Barbarin (@Imani_Barbarin), Disability Advocate
Episode credits:
This episode was produced by Melanie Marich and Haleema Shah, with Phillip Lanos, Spencer Cline, Tracie Hunte, Diana Ferrero, Fatima Shafiq, Farhan Rafid, and our guest host, Kevin Hirten. It was edited by Kylene Kiang and Noor Wazwaz.
Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad al-Melhem. Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Al Jazeera Podcasts. |
| 0:07.0 | Today, rethinking what it means to be a disabled person. |
| 0:15.0 | I think a lot of people really don't realize how much of our policies, how much of our ideas, how many of our |
| 0:23.7 | stereotypes are impacted and influenced by simply how we see disabled people. |
| 0:29.3 | TikTok star and disability activist Amani Barbaran talks ableism, COVID, and the War on Gaza. |
| 0:37.7 | I'm Kevin Horton, and this is the take. |
| 0:44.2 | Before we continue with today's show, |
| 0:50.4 | remember to leave us a comment telling us what you think about this episode |
| 0:53.7 | and what |
| 0:54.7 | stories you want us to do next. |
| 0:56.8 | Or if you're on a podcast app, leave us a review telling us where you're listening from |
| 1:01.3 | and maybe give us a five-star rating while you're there. |
| 1:03.9 | It really does help the show. |
| 1:05.9 | Hi, my name is Amani Barberin. |
| 1:10.2 | I'm a disability advocate and I I'm from outside of Philadelphia area. |
| 1:14.9 | Well, Amani, welcome to the take. A lot of listeners may know you as crutches and spice through your TikToks. |
| 1:22.3 | And as you said, you're a disability rights activist and a writer. I shouldn't say that you've |
| 1:26.4 | described yourself as a black, |
| 1:28.6 | queer, disabled woman from Philadelphia. Meanwhile, I am a white, straight tennis player from Vermont, |
| 1:34.4 | so our lived experiences are very different, but I find your videos absolutely captivating. |
| 1:40.5 | You've created a number of viral hashtags on disability videos. Things like hashtag ableds are weird or hashtag my disabled life is worthy. |
| 1:50.0 | Things disabled people know, things like that. |
... |
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