A moment of silence. A day of silence. What if you had to endure a lifetime of silence. Today, the Electronic Village will provide some information on African Americans who are deaf. What does it mean to be African American and deaf? Have you considered the difficulty faced by a person who is both African American and deaf?
Whatever difficulty exists in 2007 was multiplied exponentially in the Jim Crow days during the middle of the last century. Segregation was also prevalent within the deaf community. In 1952 Miller vs. Board of Education was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia forcing the integration of Kendall Elementary School for the deaf located on Gallaudet University campus. There are a number of challenges faced by African American deaf children.
Perhaps it is not surprising that the son of the plaintiff in that 1952 case is Gerald Miller. Mr. Miller serves as the treasurer of the National Black Deaf Advocates (NBDA).
The mission of the National Black Deaf Advocate is to promote the leadership development, economic and educational opportunities, social equality, and to safeguard the general health and welfare of Black deaf and hard of hearing people.
The National Black Deaf Advocates (NBDA) is the oldest and largest consumer organization of deaf and hard of hearing Black deaf people in the United States. Black deaf leaders were concerned that deaf and hard of hearing African Americans are not adequately represented in leadership and policy decision-making activities affecting their lives so they established NBDA in 1982. NBDA is a growing organization with 30 chapters.
NBDA deals with the silence in their minds with excellent programs such as their annual conference, youth empowerment summit, senior citizens network, family support network, Miss. Black Deaf America pageant, Black deaf history archives and much more. Some villagers may see NBDA president Thomas Samuels starring in a television commercial as part of Disney’s efforts to attract diverse groups of people to experience Disney Parks. The commercial runs through May 9, 2007.
There are other notable African American deaf people who live in silence. Curtis Pride is a deaf African American athlete known in both the deaf and hearing worlds. Connie Briscoe, former managing editor of American Annals of the Deaf, wrote two novels. C.J. Jones is a deaf male African American performer; Michelle Banks is a deaf female African American performer. Kenny Walker was a professional deaf football player. One well-known deaf African American in history is Andrew Foster.
Villagers, try to sit in silence right now. Just sit. Close your eyes. Silence. See how impossible it is to truly live in a silent world by choice. Imagine if you lost your hearing. Silence wouldn't be a choice ... it would be a lifetime challenge.