International Women’s Day Designer Spotlight

This Women’s History Month, we are spotlighting three amazing women designers. And, in a world that silences the voices of so many, we are highlighting women from groups that have traditionally been underrepresented. Stay tuned to learn how they are using their voices to bring to light inequalities in design and are devoting their talents and their lives to making change.

Jennifer White-Johnson

Jennifer White-Johnson is a Baltimore-based designer, photographer and activist. As a disabled Afro-Latina designer living with Graves Disease and ADHD, White-Johnson’s art creates conversation around the intersection of disability rights and anti-racism.

White-Johnson’s son Knox was diagnosed with Autism and inspired her advocacy Zine, Knox Roxs, and pictures his joy while being a commentary on the underrepresentation of children of color in neurodiverse communities. 

“My definition of Mothering as an act of Resistance means to redesign ableist visual culture. The sole intention is to empower and activate change encouraging communities to engage in conversations about acceptance, rooted in how Black Neurodivergent children are valued and seen.”

The Zine has received international recognition and is permanently archived in the Libraries at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The National Museum of Women in the Arts, and Firestone Library at Princeton University. White-Johnson is a guest lecturer around the country and is a professor at Bowie State University. 

“My work explores the erasure of black disabled children in digital and literary media.

The visuals I make using photo and design are my own reflections that amplify conversations with the Disability community. It ignites the continued need to develop anti-racist, anti-ableist media.”

Read more about White-Johnson and see her work at jenwhitejohnson.com.