For our third Trailblazer Spotlight, we’re featuring Leroy F. Moore Jr., a community activist, writer, and poet whose work has expanded platforms for artists with disabilities. Moore has cerebral palsy, and his intersecting identities as both a Black man and a disabled person have deeply informed and shaped his work. 
 
Moore founded Krip-Hop Nation, an organization that uses hip-hop to highlight people with disabilities, and in collaboration with Jane Dunham and others founded the National Black Disability Coalition. The Coalition has been vital in giving voice to Black disabled individuals, while also empowering them through public policy advocacy. 
 
Moore is something of a renaissance man: not only was Krip-Hop Nation awarded an Emmy in 2021, but he has written extensively on music, Black disability, and a range of issues facing individuals in this country who are both black and disabled.  

Recently, Moore wrote a book titled, “Black Disabled Ancestors,” and is currently pursuing a doctorate in linguistic anthropology at UCLA. We celebrate him for his advocacy work, and for building platforms that give voice to so many disabled artists of color.  
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[image description: Leroy Moore Jr. stands on a stage, holding a microphone and reading from a manuscript. Circular lights from a chandelier are visible in the background behind him.]