Morénike Giwa-Onaiwu is an American educator and autism and HIV advocate. Alongside E. Ashkenazy and Lydia Brown, Onaiwu is an editor of All the Weight of Our Dreams, an anthology of art and writing entirely by autistic people of color published by the Autism Women's Network in June 2017.
Biography
Personal life
Giwa-Onaiwu was born in the United States to immigrant parents from Nigeria and Cape Verde, where the majority of her relatives still live. She states that her early symptoms of autism were possibly misinterpreted as characteristics of "a black person trying to fit into the white environment," especially with more physical symptoms misinterpreted as the "stereotype of the violent or over emotional or sassy black person." In an interview with Quartz, she stated: "Many characteristics that I possess that are clearly autistic were instead attributed to my race or gender. As a result, not only was I deprived of supports that would have been helpful, I was misunderstood and also, at times, mistreated." Giwa-Onaiwu attended United States International University in San Diego, California. She served as an undergraduate working with refugee children in a housing project and as a mentor in public schools. After graduating with a BA in International Relations, Giwa-Onaiwu worked in the non-profit sector with a variety of disenfranchised groups, including women, at-risk teens, and refugee families. She has multiple adopted and biological children, of which the two youngest also have autism. In 2014, Giwa-Onaiwu graduated with a Masters in Special Education from the University of Texas of the Permian Basin.
Activism
Giwa-Onaiwu has launched and led a number of campaigns for human rights, concentrating on HIV and Autism advocacy. In 2009, she began as an active participant in HIV research and advocacy, and she founded the organization Positive Playdates to benefit families affected by HIV. This organization would later be merged into Advocacy Without Borders, an organization she founded in 2014 to support community activists. She has been the chair of the Autism and Race Committee for the Autistic Women's Network since 2014. Since 2016, she has served as a board member of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network. Outside of organizations, she has acted as an individual activist. In 2015, she started a petition to dismiss felony assault charges against a middle school student with autism and delivered it to the court alongside several other autism advocates. In March 2018, Giwa-Onaiwu was featured in the Simons Foundation's Spectrum alongside two other women, all speaking on their various experiences as women with autism. As of 2018, Giwa-Onaiwu speaks at functions to raise awareness and promote the empowerment of girls and women of color with autism and of those living with HIV/AIDS.
