Affirm Black Women Portrait Series: April Dunn

“I want to help people. People like me.” - April Dunn

April Dunn proudly walked across the stage to receive her high school diploma but found only a certificate of achievement for her perfect 4 year attendance. She was heartbroken.

Dunn had maintained a 3.5 grade point average and made honor roll each grading period. But Dunn had not passed exit exams and was ineligible for a high school diploma.

April Dunn was born with fetal alcohol syndrome, cerebral palsy, and developmental disabilities. She’d been fighting against the odds since birth.

Dunn enrolled at Baton Rouge Community College. But because she had not earned a high school diploma she could not obtain a college diploma. Without them it was difficult to find work despite her qualifications.

Dunn was determined to help others avoid the same fate - people like her.

In the following years Dunn developed relationships with fellow disability activists and legislators. As chair of the Louisiana Developmental Disabilities Council she testified before legislative committees asserting that disabled people had a right to accessible opportunities in their communities and a living wage. (Current laws allow employers to pay disabled employees less than minimum wage.)

Due to her advocacy, Louisiana passed Act 833 and Act 303, which created a path for disabled students to obtain a high school diploma without standardized tests. It also provided a way for disabled people to retroactively earn the high school diplomas they’d previously been denied.

Dunn went on to work at the Governor’s Office of Disability Affairs to promote hiring people with disabilities.

During a work trip Dunn contracted the coronavirus. Like many others with disabilities Dunn was more vulnerable to complications, something she addressed in her last Facebook post stating, “Only the vulnerable will be at risk. Your ‘only’ is my everything.”

April Dunn died on March 28th, 2020 at the age of 33 from COVID-19, much loved and highly respected for her determination to make sure disabled people had access to every facet of their communities. On June 3, Gov. Edwards renamed Act 833 the April Dunn Act.

View the complete Affirm Black Women portrait series here