The Colors of Inclusion: they propose the color to make vulnerable groups visible

Color is internalized in our lives by personal choices, but also by our social belonging. However, different social causes have been identified through a color or a pattern, as is the case of the color pink, commonly used by those who show solidarity with people who suffer from breast cancer, or purple and green, which has defined the current feminist movement.

Color is a universal element that has no distinctions, it is at the center of all cultures and has influenced the course of history, from antiquity to the present; For this reason, institutions, academia, civil associations and private initiative join forces to continue making visible those vulnerable groups that are still discriminated against in Mexico through color as a factor of union and identification.

In line with this understanding, the project The Colors of Inclusionpromoted by PPG Comexin collaboration with the Memory and Tolerance MuseumThe Department of Art of the Iberoamerican University and civil association Me too.

The allies of this project undertook the task of compiling the descriptions of some of the priority attention groups in Mexico, a directory of institutions that support these groups, the color with which they are identified, as well as recommendations for inclusive language to address these groups, all this compiled in a book. Given that color is an element of identification and visibility, during the event priority attention groups that are not yet associated with a color were invited to propose one that represents them.

In this first stage of the project, it is contemplated 14 priority attention groups: motor disability, visual disability, gender, older people, children and adolescents, youth, fatphobia, LGBTQ+, domestic workers, people with HIV, anti-Semitism, indigenous peoples and communities, journalists and autism.

Project participants ensure that it is not intended to impose, stereotype or decide for people or groups. In fact, from this proposal we want to point out the existence of unfair situations. “Currently, color is inclusive; today anyone can identify with or prefer more than one color, this being the result of humanity, individuality and freedom. This project intends to promote dialogue about color in the context of different struggles for inclusion that have been identified through a color, based on a proposal that points out the existence of unfair situations that are fought, day by day. day, by many human beings, and how color warns that there are problems to attend to,” said Alberto Soto, director of the Department of Art at the Universidad Iberoamericana.

The invisibility of motor disability

One of the 14 causes that are addressed in this initiative is disability, in this sense, Bárbara Anderson, Co-founder of Yo También expressed, “The invisibility of people with disabilities in Mexico does not presuppose their non-existence. It is incredible that they are invisible, ‘colorless’ more than 20 million people living with a disability or a limitation in our country. It is time to give them their space, their access to their rights and make them visible and what better than colors for it”.

In many ways, discrimination distinguishes, diminishes, and devalues. Disability is a condition that we are used to understanding as a difficulty or challenge to perform activities that would typically be considered normal for a majority of the population. In this sense, people with disabilities (PWD) have historically been seen as differentiated by this condition, but at the same time, devalued, considering that they cannot carry out normal tasks on their own. This leads to structural violence and a repetitive cycle that deepens the gaps.

In Mexico, according to the 2020 INEGI Population and Housing Census, there are an estimated 4 million people with motor disabilities. The State of Mexico is the federal entity that registers the most people with this condition, followed by Mexico City in second place and Veracruz in third. The most prevalent condition among PWD is motor disability.

Motor or motor disability is an umbrella term that refers to osteoarticular and neuromusculotendinous deficiencies and the limitations that derive from these to perform tasks that are considered normal for the majority of the population, without the support of technology, assistive devices or third parties. people. A motor PCD affects their ability to control movements, balance, motor coordination and posture.

In various countries around the world, a characteristic shade of blue is used in the International Symbol of Accessibility to point out and remember the need for spaces to promote the mobility of people who have difficulty or the impossibility of doing it on their own, or who have a condition that requires understanding and social support, for the well-being of a person or group of these.

This color that calls for awareness and respect would have to gradually degrade over the years, that is, society would have to be increasingly inclusive and, therefore, think about the needs of other people.

Institutions that fight for the rights of people with different mobility-related ailments have preferred representation through ivory tones, alluding to the skeletal system, but also to the muscles that make movement possible.

The publication will be available on the PPG Comex web pagesof the Memory and Tolerance Museum and on the portal of the civil association Yo también.

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