Cerebral palsy is a group of motor disorders that impact a person’s body movement, muscle tone, and coordination. Thousands of children are affected by cerebral palsy in the United States alone. According to the CDC, cerebral palsy is found in approximately 1 in 345 children, and is one of the most common childhood disorders in the United States.

Cerebral palsy is the most common motor disorder among children in the United States. While a cerebral palsy diagnosis comes with many life adjustments, proper treatment can improve a child’s quality of life.

Arthrogryposis multiplex congenita (AMC), or arthrogryposis for short, is a diagnosis characterized by multiple joint contractures or stiffness of the joints. A contracture occurs when a joint stiffens, resulting in a fixed bent or straight position and restricting its overall movement.

Sometimes, the smallest incidents have the most significant impact on our lives. For little Ikem, swallowing a grape whole changed his and his family’s lives forever.

Although she couldn’t verbally identify the names of all the colors, my daughter Valentina before the age of three could pick her clothes, bows and shoes to match to perfection. Rarely did I ever have to make her change her outfit, nor did she clash fashionably like so many children her age do when allowed to pick their own clothes.

We are reminded this month, and every Black History Month, that, while we strive to be one nation indivisible, we do not achieve this end by erasing the contributions, experiences, and perspective of Black and Brown people. Two centuries of such erasure and the privileging of false white assimilation and incomplete mestizaje narratives have consequences for the racially inclusive future we say we seek.