Mia Mingus
#asianpacificamericanheritagemonthProfiles
Mia Mingus is a writer and activist whose work is centered around disability rights and transformative justice.
Born in Korea, Mingus was adopted as an infant by white parents and raised in the Caribbean. Her mother was one of a group of women who founded the Women’s Coalition of St. Croix to help victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence. Mingus learned early on about widespread and deeply rooted systems of oppression.
After earning a degree in women’s studies in Decatur, Georgia, she joined a community of activists and honed her skills fighting to protect reproductive rights.
Her more recent activism is focused on disability justice and transformative justice. She helped create the Disability Justice Framework, which centers the priorities and approaches of those most historically excluded groups, such as women, people of color, and people who identify as LGBTQ+.
Mingus is also co-founder of the SOIL: A Transformative Justice Project, which uses political education and strategic collaboration to build “a world where everyone is able to effectively respond to, transform and prevent harm.”
Her tireless activism has been widely recognized. In 2013, she was one of several activists recognized by the White House as an Asian and Pacific Islander women’s Champion of Change in observance of Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.