Melissa Blake (writer)

Last updated

Melissa Blake (born 1981) is an American writer, blogger, journalist, and disability activist. She is best known for her blog "So About What I Said", where she discusses relationships, pop culture, and disability. [1] Her work has appeared in The New York Times, [2] Bustle, [3] CNN, [4] Good Housekeeping, [5] among others. She is an alumnus of Northern Illinois University [6] with a bachelor's degree in journalism, and currently resides in DeKalb, Illinois. [7]

Contents

Blake lives with Freeman-Sheldon Syndrome, a genetic disorder affecting her bones and muscles in addition to causing a visible facial difference. Her disability activism has helped her to feel confident and proud of her identity as a disabled woman. [8]

Personal life

Blake was born in 1981. Because of her disability, she spent much of her time in hospitals. To straighten the bones in her legs, Blake wore an Ilizarov apparatus multiple times. She also had an operation on her spine to correct severe spinal cord compression when she was 13. Her last major surgery was a knee fusion surgery at the age of 15. [9]

Blake's father died by suicide in March 2003 after undergoing treatment for sinus cancer. [10]

Career

Blake is an outspoken critic of United States president Donald Trump [11] and was harassed online after writing an article about him for CNN in 2019. [12]

After being told by a troll that she should be banned from posting pictures of herself online, [13] Blake began posting daily selfies on Twitter (now X) [14] in order to promote disability acceptance. [15]

Her first book, Beautiful People, was published by Hachette Go in March 2024. [16] It won an Alex Award from the Young Adult Library Services Association the following year. [17]

Publications

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liz Cheney</span> American lawyer and politician (born 1966)

Elizabeth Lynne Cheney is an American attorney and politician. She represented Wyoming's at-large congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2017 to 2023, and served as chair of the House Republican Conference—the third-highest position in the House Republican leadership—from 2019 to 2021. Cheney is known for her vocal opposition to Donald Trump. As of March 2023, she is a professor of practice at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ivanka Trump</span> American businesswoman (born 1981)

Ivana Marie "Ivanka" Trump is an American businesswoman and entrepreneur. She is the second child of Donald Trump, the president of the United States, and his first wife, Ivana. Trump was a senior advisor in her father's first administration (2017–2021), and also the director of the Office of Economic Initiatives and Entrepreneurship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tammy Duckworth</span> American politician and military officer (born 1968)

Ladda Tammy Duckworth is an American politician and retired Army National Guard lieutenant colonel serving as the junior United States senator from Illinois since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she represented Illinois's 8th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2013 to 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justin Baldoni</span> American actor and director (born 1984)

Justin Louis Baldoni is an American actor and director. He is best known for playing Rafael Solano on the CW telenovela Jane the Virgin (2014–2019) and for starring in and directing the romantic drama film It Ends with Us (2024). He has also directed Five Feet Apart (2019) and Clouds (2020).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Megyn Kelly</span> American commentator and podcaster (born 1970)

Megyn Marie Kelly is an American journalist, attorney, political commentator, and media personality. She currently hosts The Megyn Kelly Show, a talk show and podcast that airs daily on Sirius XM's Triumph channel and has over 3.2 million subscribers on YouTube. Kelly previously worked at Fox News from 2004 to 2017, where she hosted programs including America Live and The Kelly File, and at NBC News from 2017 to 2018, where she anchored Megyn Kelly Today. In 2014, she was named one of TIME Magazine's 100 most influential people of 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louise Upston</span> New Zealand politician

Louise Claire Upston is a New Zealand politician. She was elected as a Member of the New Zealand House of Representatives for Taupō, representing the National Party, in the 2008 general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lizzie Lakely</span> Fictional character from Emmerdale

Lizzie Lakely is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Kitty McGeever. Lizzie is Emmerdale's first blind character, and was played by a blind actress. She made her first on-screen appearance on 28 April 2009. Lizzie's last appearance was on 28 March 2013. McGeever had health problems, but, in June 2013, producer Kate Oates stated there had been plans for her to return. McGeever died in August 2015, however, without having returned to the series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tulsi Gabbard</span> American politician (born 1981)

Tulsi Gabbard is an American politician and military officer serving as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve since 2021. Gabbard served as U.S. representative for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district from 2013 to 2021. She also served as the youngest state legislator in Hawaii from 2002 to 2004. She was a candidate in the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries. She left the Democratic Party in 2022 to become an independent. In 2024, she joined the Republican Party. In November 2024, President-elect Trump selected Gabbard for the position of director of national intelligence in his second term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pete Hegseth</span> American politician (born 1980)

Peter Brian Hegseth is an American author, television host, and Army veteran who is serving as the 29th United States secretary of defense since January 25, 2025, in the second administration of President Donald Trump.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ibtihaj Muhammad</span> American fencer

Ibtihaj Muhammad is an American sabre fencer, author, entrepreneur and Olympic medalist. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, she became the first American woman to compete in the Olympics in hijab, the first American Muslim woman to win an Olympic medal, and the first Black woman to win an Olympic medal in the sabre event, when she won bronze in the women’s saber team event.

Serge Frank Kovaleski is a South African-born American investigative reporter at The New York Times. He contributed to reporting that won The New York Times a Pulitzer Prize for its investigation of the Eliot Spitzer prostitution scandal.

"What U Workin' With?" is a song recorded by American singers Gwen Stefani and Justin Timberlake for the official soundtrack to the 2016 film Trolls. Timberlake co-wrote and co-produced the track with Max Martin and Ilya Salmanzadeh with additional writing from Savan Kotecha and Peter Svensson. The song was first announced on August 22, 2016, with Stefani's appearance being a secret. An urban and dance song, the lyrics talk about having a good time and standing out amongst a crowd.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Candace Owens</span> American conservative political commentator (born 1989)

Candace Amber Owens Farmer is an American political commentator and pundit. Her political positions are mostly described as conservative or far-right.

Carly Findlay is an Australian writer, speaker, and online influencer. Findlay describes herself as an 'appearance activist', and has been outspoken on a number of disability-related issues. She has been particularly vocal on the right to privacy of children with a disability as well as the importance of representation and inclusion of disabled people both in general life, and particularly in fashion. Findlay makes use of social media to document her love of fashion, food, as well as the treatment and ableism she faces because she has ichthyosis, a genetic disorder that affects her skin and hair. She has built a business and personal brand around being disabled.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shooting of Jacob Blake</span> 2020 police shooting in Kenosha

On August 23, 2020, Jacob S. Blake, a 29-year-old black man, was shot and seriously injured by police officer Rusten Sheskey in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Sheskey shot Blake in the back four times and the side three times after Blake opened the driver's door of an SUV belonging to the mother of his children, and attempted to reach inside. Sheskey said that he believed he was about to be stabbed, since Blake was holding a knife. Earlier during the encounter, Blake had been tased by two officers, but the tasers failed to disable him and he continued toward the vehicle.

Caroline Rose Giuliani is an American filmmaker, political activist, and writer. She is the daughter of Rudy Giuliani, the former Mayor of New York City. Giuliani has received national media attention for publicly disagreeing with, and criticizing, her Republican father's politics and political endorsements.

Imani Barbarin is an American writer, public speaker, and disability rights activist who also goes by the username Crutches and Spice. She is active on her website and on social media, such as Instagram, Twitter (X) and TikTok.

Theresa Cheung is an English author who writes on the subjects of spirituality, dreams, and the paranormal.

References

  1. ↑ "Welcome to So About What I Said". So About What I Said. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  2. ↑ Blake, Melissa (February 15, 2017). "Opinion | Disabled, Shunned and Silenced in Trump's America". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  3. ↑ "Melissa Blake". Bustle. October 10, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  4. ↑ Blake, Melissa (October 31, 2020). "Someone told me I'd never model because I'm disabled. I proved them wrong at NY Fashion Week". CNN. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  5. ↑ "Melissa Blake". Good Housekeeping. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  6. ↑ "Melissa Blake, '05, Makes Kindness and Courage Go Viral". www.myniu.com. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  7. ↑ @21stshow (October 15, 2020). "DeKalb Disability Activist, Melissa Blake". Illinois Public Media. Retrieved January 10, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ↑ "Melissa Blake Is Disabled and Proud of It - HealthyWomen". www.healthywomen.org. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  9. ↑ "My Dad Made Me Feel Beautiful". Good Housekeeping. June 5, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  10. ↑ "My Father Committed Suicide, but He's Still My Superhero". Cosmopolitan. April 12, 2016. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  11. ↑ Blake, Melissa (February 15, 2017). "Opinion | Disabled, Shunned and Silenced in Trump's America". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  12. ↑ Blake, Melissa (August 3, 2019). "What if we all unfollowed Trump on Twitter?". CNN. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  13. ↑ "Blogger delivers pointed response after receiving hateful comments online about her appearance". ABC7 San Francisco. July 30, 2020. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  14. ↑ "Melissa Blake Was Trolled for Being Disabled. Then a Viral Tweet Gave Her the Platform to Speak Out". Shondaland. November 4, 2021. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  15. ↑ "What It Feels Like Getting Bullied On Social Media | Ravishly". www.ravishly.com. May 11, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  16. ↑ "Beautiful People". Kirkus Reviews . February 1, 2024. Retrieved January 30, 2025.
  17. ↑ "American Library Association announces 2025 Youth Media Award winners". American Library Association . January 27, 2025. Retrieved January 30, 2025.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.