Organizing Chair, Butch Zein, announces the Foundation is very close to achieving the goal of $50,000 to give out our very first grant (approximately $1000). More information to come later.
ASLIronGal shares her observations and experience attending a Deafhood workshop led by Deafhood Foundation board member Kathy Say.
NEWS RELEASE
Press Release [Download PDF Version]
The Deafhood Foundation
Contact: Kathy Say, Marketing Chair
kathysay@deafhoodfoundation.org
THE DEAFHOOD FOUNDATION CELEBRATES 1st BIRTHDAY ALONG WITH RIVETING PRESENTATION ON EUGENICS BY EDWIN BLACK, VIDEO NOW AVAILABLE ON WEB SITE!
Over 500 people attended the presentation on Eugenics and its implications for the Deaf community given by author and researcher Edwin Black. This event was held at California School for the Deaf’s Little Theater on Friday, February 11, 2011. This night marked the first time the Deafhood Foundation provided livestream of the presentation and over 215 people watched the show from beginning to end.
The video of presentation is now available on the Deafhood Foundation’s web site with thanks to Nick Horn and Joey Baer.
Later in the evening, the Deafhood Foundation celebrated its first birthday at private clubhouse nearby with over 100 people in attendance. The Foundation also unveiled new logo on its website as well as glossy postcards emblazing the new logo designed by Deaf graphic artist Matt Daigle.
Edwin Black talked about the ugly truth behind eugenics movement, and how it evolved into today’s genetic engineering as well as its implications for the Deaf community. Black has published over 80 books, and “War against the Weak: Eugenics and America’s Campaign to Create a Master Race”.
Eugenics is a pseudo-science with a goal of “bettering” the human race, or in other words, creating a superior race without any defects or weaknesses. Black said that Alexander Graham Bell was involved in the eugenics movement.
In his presentation, he said the Deaf community should seriously consider pushing for a national law called “Deaf Culture Protection Act” that gives the Deaf people their right to American Sign Language and culture.
A panel of Deaf experts joined Edwin Black to discuss eugenics and the Deaf community was skillfully moderated by Dr. Genie Gertz, Recording Chair of the Deafhood Foundation. The panelists were: Dr. Thomas (Tom) Holcomb, professor of Deaf culture at Ohlone College, Ms. Nancy Baldwin, Deaf survivor of US internment camp for Japanese Americans and Dr. Patrick Boudreault, professor and researcher on Deaf Genetics.
This event was chaired by Deafhood Foundation’s Fundraising Chair, Kevin Clark, who was key person in making the first contact with Edwin Black. This resulted in Black helping out the Deaf community with A.B. 2072, which some considered Mendoza’s eugenics bill, that aimed to divert referrals and key information to being dispensed by audiologists. Clark said, “Many people in our community do not realize the true history and negative impact of the eugenics movement. When you also add in the fact that Alexander Graham Bell himself was involved in this speaks volumes. The organization’s complete and utter disregard for Deaf child’s human right to express themselves freely through American Sign Language needs to be stopped.”
Clark also added, “This event could not be possible without wonderful team of volunteers and Deafhood Foundation board members as well as our sponsors.”
Over $1,100 in donations were raised in a single night for the Foundation, and an audience member, Joey Baer, challenged everyone in the audience to consider making recurring monthly donations. Baer said, “No matter how small your donations are, they will add up and eventually snowball into something big for our community!”
Organizing Co-Chair Ella Mae Lentz said, “We were thrilled with the turn out, and I believe we will do more of this type of events with live stream available for everyone to watch.”
The Deafhood Foundation thanks the wonderful line up of sponsors for making this evening possible, and they are: ASL Wave, Bay Area Chapter of California Association of the Deaf, CONVO, and Gallaudet University Regional Center (GURC) at Ohlone College. In-kind sponsors are California School for the Deaf at Fremont, DCARA, Sweetwater Media and Ohlone College Deaf Studies Division. In addition, the Foundation thanks these individuals: Jeanne Ewald for organizing the clubhouse where the anniversary party was held, and the interpreters Aaron Brace and Patricia Lessard.
The Deafhood Foundation has raised over $34,000, bringing us closer to the $50,000 mark when the Foundation will issue its first Deaf-centered grant ever in areas of activism, arts, education, media and research.
For more information, visit www.DeafhoodFoundation.org
Enjoy this great adaption by Adrean Clark based on “Whip My Hair” song by Willow Smith.
Press Release
The Deafhood Foundation
Contact: Kathy Say, Marketing Chair
kathysay@deafhoodfoundation.org
Deafhood Foundation Press Release
THE DEAFHOOD MONOLOGUES PERFORMANCES A HUGE SUCCESS IN FREMONT!
The Deafhood Foundation held its first showing of The Deafhood Monologues which drew over 900 people over the weekend of December 3-4, 2010 at California School for the Deaf Theater in Fremont. The impressive cast and crew worked for weeks to prepare for the performance, and audience has reacted positively.
The performances raised over $12,000 for The Deafhood Foundation.
Sheri Farinha, Director of NorCal immediately tweeted on Twitter after the Friday’s night performance, “Theatrical, Powerful, Inspiring! KUDOS to All!”
Producer and founding member of the Deafhood Foundation Patrick Boudreault e-mailed his cast and crew, “This was a fabulous weekend for everyone, including for those who enjoyed our performances. You did great and I am very grateful to
work with a such extraordinary team [...] for future generations of our Deaf and hearing ASL users, Hearing Allies. I believe that our production has reached a level of professionalism unattained by a community performance and it is because
of your commitment since the beginning.”
The Deafhood Monologues is an episodic play of Deaf experiences, chronicles and reflections delivered through poetry, stories, and presentations in American Sign Language. The performance was inspired by “The Vagina Monologues” and
“Understanding Deaf Culture: in search of Deafhood,” by Dr. Paddy Ladd.
Ella Mae Lentz who authored the Deafhood Monologues and Organizing co-Chair of the Foundation, said, “This production has been an amazing and inspiring example of beautiful collaboration on all levels and all sides. It all started with the few of us meeting and sharing ideas, leads and stories back in 2005 and revised over the time in the ensuing productions that helped make the script stronger and clearer. The recent production was a result of those several years and productions and the wonderful cast and crew, director and producer, bringing in all their talents, commitment and love. The result was simply awesome!” Ella Mae Lentz is also a founding member of the Deafhood Foundation.
Cast member Kristen Weiner, owner of Deafhood Yoga also tweeted, “Immense inner journey with The Deafhood Monologues play, cast, crew & community this weekend.Thank you all [with] love & compassion.”
Dr. Paddy Ladd, author of “Understanding Deaf Culture: In Search of Deafhood”, said, “We think of history of something that has happened in the past. But history is also what we choose to do in the present time, that influences the future — we ‘make history’.”
Ladd continued, “And that’s what we’re doing on this Deafhood journey of exploring our past and our present, working to understand ourselves and each other and the world around us — and how each has affected the other — so that we can build a better future for Sign Language Peoples everywhere.”
The Deafhood Monolgoues was produced by founding member of the Deafhood Foundation board, Patrick Boudreault and directed by renowned JAC. The cast members are: Natalee Franck, Melinda Harrison, Shira Grabelski, Jon A. Kastrup,
Don Lee Hanaumi, Melvin Patterson, Alyce S. Reynolds, David O. Reynolds, and Kristen Weiner.
A total of 12 sponsors lined up to support The Deafhood Monologues, and they are: California School for the Deaf, Convo, Purple, Sorenson, Alternative Solutions Center, Sweetwater Media, ASL Films, ASL Presents, DeafNexus, Deafhood Yoga and University of San Francisco.
“Our sponsors truly embraced the idea that our community’s journey to Deafhood is an essential step towards realizing true freedom from oppression and audism, and the Deafhood Foundation thanks each one of them for their amazing support,”
said Butch Zein, Organizing Chair of the Foundation.
Butch also added, “Not only that, we had a great number of people attending Encore gathering both evenings and they got to meet the cast, crew and board members of the Foundation. It was a wonderful time together. Their extra dollars
made it possible for the Deafhood Foundation to raise even more money. Thank you to all who went!”
Over ten cities across the country has expressed interest in staging The Deafhood Monologues in their city, and the Foundation is now studying the best possible way to bring this to as many people as possible.
In 2010, the Deafhood Foundation has raised over $30,000, bringing us closer to the $50,000 mark when the Foundation will issue its first Deaf-centered grant ever in areas of activism, arts, education, media and research.
For more information, visit www.DeafhoodFoundation.org and www.DeafhoodMonologues.com
This vlogger with screenname ASLFreedom discusses his journey of shame and then embracing his multi-identities including being Deaf. Warmly and painfully honest.
beautiful imagery and symbolism by Mark Myers (heeheeluck) about Deafhood and audism.
from pdurr at youTube. Excerpts from Dr. Paddy Ladd’s presentation at National Technical Institute for the Deaf / Rochester Institute of Technology. This is Part 1 out of 3 parts. The presentation was done April 2, 2004. In this part, Dr. Ladd discusses:
1) dedication of speech to Marie Philip and Marvin Marshall
2) To set up Deaf Studies is to give space and time to focus on reflecting upon Deaf culture, to see it in a big picture, to look at its history, philosophy, arts, etc.
3) Most of books discussing the Deaf experience tend to focus on the experience of oppression
4) The need for a new framework to study Deaf culture–checking out other fields and applying to Deaf Studies
5) We need to look at and learn from post-colonialism studies from South Africa, India, etc. where liberation happened, and people started to reflect upon their own identities and their roles on Earth
6) Harlan Lane did pioneering work in applying the concept of colonialism to Deaf people (1993) from which Dr. Ladd explored in depth
7) Colonialism in the United Kingdom happened at the Deaf school and Deaf club
8 ) Oralism = clear Colonialism of Deaf schools, more specifically, Deaf people’s bodies
9) Oralist colonialism was systematic (planned and widespread) — different from general oppression
10) one result of colonialism — cutting Deaf people, especially children, off from Deaf history, traditions, culture, knowledge, etc.
11) Not all “hearing” people are responsible for the colonizing of Deaf people– only a special group or specialisits are responsible. The others who are NOT colonialists are hearing “lay people.”
12) Liberation permits the colonized group to explore themselves as a culture, to be able to revisit their dream of what an ideal world would be, to begin to run their own business in that world, etc, FREE FROM EFFECTS OF COLONIALISM.
13) One area is to reconstruct Deaf Education, not just make small modifications, not to restrict only on language development, but also to include moral and spiritual education. Hearing parents not familiar with Deaf culture will not be able to do this, so it will be an important purpose of Deaf education.
14) Reconstruction means making our Deaf picture big again, requires us to ask big questions expecting big answers about ourselves, our world, our roles, etc. before colonialism, and where we can go in the future after being liberated.
15) Deafhood as a word is a way to bring us the big picture. Opposite of the word “deafness”.
16) Deafhood is the way each Deaf person views him/herself and his/her role on Earth. Not only that, the whole Deaf community too and all the Deaf nations.
17) Deafhood needs to be taught and learned. It does not come with just being Deaf.
18) Important to understand the differences between being member of a Majority Culture from being member of a Minority Culture.
