Keah Brown
Journalist and Writer
As a Lockport-based freelance journalist and writer, Keah Brown has written articles and essays for a variety of publications, including Lenny Letter, Teen Vogue, Catapult, Lit Hub, Harper’s Bazaar, Essence Magazine, The National Eating Disorders Association and more.
In February 2017 Keah, who has cerebral palsy, created a viral hashtag, #DisabledAndCute as a place for people with disabilities to celebrate themselves and each other. The hashtag is a place for positivity and community where they share pictures of themselves and promote self-love. She also recently created the hashtag #SayFourThings that encourages all people across all social medias to say four things they like about themselves using the hashtag and encouraging the people they know to start and end the day with positive thoughts of themselves.
She is in partnership with Tommy Hilfiger on their new Tommy Adaptive line that is a line of clothes for people with disabilities. And this recent graduate – in 2013 Keah graduated from SUNY Fredonia with a B.S. in Journalism and a minor in creative writing – is writing her first book as well. This collection of essays, “The Pretty One,” discusses her life. It will be published through Atria Books that is an imprint at Simon and Schuster.
In her role as a journalist, Keah interviews other writers, and celebrities about their movies and TV shows, which is a dream come true for this young woman. For her the most memorable was her interview of best selling author Roxane Gay. As a writer, Keah writes essays about being a black disabled woman and the way she navigates the world.
Keah is proud that her work seems to connect with people. She says, “I am writing about my personal experiences but people gravitate toward them as if they [were] universal and that makes me feel wonderful as a writer. I just strive to be as honest and true to myself as possible. I want to make sure that I don’t lose sight of who I am and my quest for proper representation for people with disabilities.”