A change is gonna (going to) come
She twirled her fingers at us, writing in the air with dancer’s fingers. Then she wrote with a borrowed pen (all pens are borrowed) on the bar napkin in front of us “I AM A DANCER. ARTIST.” She also added, “ANGER” above “DANCER” and grimaced and smiled at the same time. We are in a [...]
The N-Word terrorization: To boldly go where black men are not welcome
I woke up this morning to a lovely conversation about the N-Word. I immediately had this idea about the word. The idea is to terrorize using the N-Word. Before I delve into terrorizing using the N-Word, I want to share the conversation with you. The conversation began with a thought about the evolution of [...]
I am a man in a hoodie and Trayvon Martin didn’t have to die.
I am a Black man in my hoodie. I live in Washington, D.C. I am Hard of Hearing (HoH). I am educated. I am a man, brother, father, uncle, friend, and a human being. No matter what propaganda is put in the media about the Black man to defame, demolish, squash, belittle, or portray me [...]
The Republic of You
Do you think it shocking that when I turned eighteen I found my vote never existed no of course not why because according to the republic of you i’m an unfit child I’m an unfit mother Do you think we didn’t notice how ironic it’s a corporatocracy that ordering at a mcdonald’s is much [...]
Finding My Name Sign
My first name sign was given to me by a hearing person. The A handshape tapped squarely in the feminine area on my cheek. It weathered years in a mainstreamed classroom, and traveled with me to the deaf school in eighth grade. The deaf school was also my eye-opening immersion into Deaf culture and [...]
Deaf Spotlight/Seattle Film Festival (March 30 – April 1, 2012)!!!
Seattle, WA- GET YOUR TICKETS FOR THE SEATTLE DEAF FILM FESTIVAL! Eleven different, exciting, and inspiring programs, including five feature-length films, will be shown at the Seattle Deaf Film Festival, beginning Friday, March 30th, and ending Sunday, April 1st, 2012, at Kane Hall 120 on the University of Washington campus. It is [...]
Time for the “ASL Cobra” to Come Out?
Today, Martin Luther King is well-respected – they’ve even given him a statue in Washington, DC. Even as MLK is respected, another Black leader of his time, Malcolm X, is not so highly regarded by many, and even ignored, forgotten or relegated to a moment in history. But if Malcolm X had never existed, [...]
ventriloquist dummy
She said it sounds funny when you say that Say it again And it made her laugh So I said it again that funny sound He said no that’s not how you say it The ‘g’ is silent And he said you have a beautiful voice And when I said what I said they [...]
Signing Hands Across the Water
Signing Hands Across the Water An International Festival of Sign Language Poetry from the United Kindom and the United States On March 16th – 18th 2012, Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, USA, celebrates sign language poetry. Sign language poets from Britain and America will come together and explore this rich and beautiful art form with members of College, the [...]
Feeling Stupid or ‘Smart-for-Deaf’
I work in an environment where one’s intellect is often a proxy for self-worth. I’m not endorsing this view, mind you, but it is hard to escape it. Deaf and hard of hearing people have a special version of this: what I call the ‘smart for deaf’ version. That is, we acknowledge that there is [...]