Nina was diagnosed with a Learning Disability and began to stutter while in elementary school. She struggled to deal with teachers who underestimated her abilities, teasing from peers and family members, and issues of self-esteem. Nina was raised in the Oakland area and attended UC Berkeley where the roots of the Disability Movement took place, solidifying her identity as a person with a disability, one she sees with cultural and political empowerment. This coupled with supportive parents has helped Nina not to overcome her disability but to overcome the attitudes about what women and girls with disabilities can achieve.
Keith Bowers of the SF Weekly sums Nina up best, Nina G. grew up with a stutter. A couple of times each minute, a certain syllable will hang her up. She'll stall, repeat the same sound a few times – like the word is literally trapped – but then she'll get it out and move on. All her life people have given condescending advice on how she can cure the condition if she just tries hard enough. Others haven't been so kind. To this day grown people mock her and laugh at her expense. But Nina G. doesn't hide. In fact she'll tell you stories about publicly embarrassing people who've laughed at her. She'll tell you these stories from the stage. See, Nina G. is a comedian, and she deals in comebacks. So if you meet her in a cafe or on a BART platform and want to put her down, think hard on that. (Really. We've seen her. She's fierce.)
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