My name is Julia Métraux, and I’m Mother Jones’ disability reporter. While I’m a twentysomething Gen Z, I do live with disabilities myself, including vasculitis and a traumatic brain injury.
My lived experience led me to want to look into how people with complex health issues thrive with complex disabilities while they also experience aging—people like Daniel Reilly, now in his late 50s, who takes over 30 pills a day to manage his HIV. No one expected him to live this long. He’s one of many people with complex health issues who are living longer than previous generations would expect. While formal safety nets in this country are a joke, to put it lightly, the people and experts I spoke with really highlighted the importance of positive relationships.
I hope you’ll read my piece here. I’m also hoping to do more reporting on aging adults (so, 50+) affected by changes to Medicaid. If this is you, please feel free to reach out to jmetraux@motherjones.com.
—Julia Métraux
P.S. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court dealt a death blow to the country’s most important civil rights legislation, the Voting Rights Act of 1965—the law that defeated Jim Crow. Garrison Hayes spoke with colleagues Ari Berman and Pema Levy about the Supreme Court, the Voting Rights Act, and democracy. They were clear: This is bad. Be sure to watch their analysis.
