The third installment of our Black Trailblazers series puts a spotlight on Lachi, a Pop / EDM singer who is blind as a result of Colobama. Along with singer and violinist Gaelynn Lea, Lachi created the advocacy group Recording Artists and Music Professionals with Disabilities (RAMPD).

The group was founded in May 2021, and was created to address the “lack of visibility, access, and representation for professional disabled artists,” as its website states.

“We’re not here to make folks feel warm and gushy,” Lachi said in a recent profile in the New York Times. “We’re not here to get handouts. We’re here to get gigs. We’re here to get on stages.”

As a Black disabled woman in the music industry, Lachi had been thinking for some time about the intersections of discrimination that she’d encountered. When she, Lea, and other disabled artists shared their experiences in a widely watched Zoom discussion, her inbox was flooded by messages from other disabled musicians who’d faced similar barriers. They all agreed that something must be done, and RAMPD was born.

Check out this profile from the New York Times to learn more about the group’s mission to promote inclusion in the music industry, as we continue our celebration of Black History Month by spotlighting Black advocates for people with disabilities.