Cool Cat: Voices from the Disability Community

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Written By The Phoenix Empowered

Unpacking Disability with Meriah Nichols — Podcast Interview
August 2025
Featuring José R. Rosario

In this lively and heartfelt interview, José Rosario joins disability activist and mental health therapist Meriah Nichols for her ongoing series spotlighting powerful voices from the disability community. Together, they explore identity, resilience, and what it means to bring cultural wisdom and lived experience into mental health advocacy.

José shares openly about his journey as a queer Puerto Rican man with cerebral palsy, how activism shaped his career path, and why embracing disability as a source of strength is central to his work. The conversation highlights community-driven healing, cultural trauma, and the urgent need for intersectional mental health care that honors complexity, not conformity.

José Rosario also discusses the mission behind The Phoenix Empowered — uplifting stories, empowering collective healing, and redefining mental health through identity-affirming practices.

Listen to the full interview
https://www.meriahnichols.com/jose-rosario-cool-cat/

The Phoenix Empowered

The Phoenix Empowered is a storytelling-and-education organization dedicated to amplifying the voices of minoritized communities and advancing inclusive mental-health conversations. We believe in the power of connection, creativity, and community to inspire change. Through our platform, we invite individuals to share their stories, explore identity, and engage in vulnerability with no stigma attached. Our work is rooted in the philosophy that “taking stock of who we are gives us power.”

Whether through personal narrative, art, discussion, or activism, The Phoenix Empowered meets individuals where they are — and rises together.

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