“If you’re not branding yourself, you can be sure others do it for you.”
-Unknown
“The value of an idea lies in the using of it.”
— Thomas Edison
If change is the only constant then the question is: in what direction?
Take Action Today. Why Wait?
Don’t know where to begin?
Here are some examples… about 15 of them.
Malala Yousafzai
Youth: Because today’s generation will always live in greater comfort than the last, you are less burdened and more free to tackle the next level of injustice. This is why you are the natural born revolutionary.
Youth:
You have more incentive than anyone else to create a better world because you’ll be living in it the longest.
Because of Social Media, you now have more power in effecting changes than anyone else because change always begins with an idea, requires massive dissemination of an idea, and you love to talk to each other..
Without you, there is no #BlackLivesMatter movement.
Without you, the Tulsa Rally prank would never have happened.
Now imagine leading the #NewFrame movement, what would it look like?
What can you do?
Do you believe in your innate power?
Are you aware of the old frame and do you understand that you can create a new one?
How well do you know yourself?
Do you understand that life has no inherent meaning and that you are free to create your own meaning?
Do you understand that you are not too young to make a difference and that you are already making an impact?
Are you aware of the impact that you are making right at this moment?
Some Ideas…
TikTok
TikTok Generation. Some of you have huge following. Leverage this by creating content within the New Frame and inspire your followers to think differently about you as a Sumain.
I’d be happy and honored to serve as a sounding board for ya.
Social Experiment
How do you interact with hearing people? Do you point at your ears and say, “I can’t hear”? Or do you smile pleasantly, use sign language to see if they happen to know some signs and if not, use your phone to text? Do a social experiment and see what kind of reactions you get - it’s a great learning & growing experience!
Why Wait?
It’s funny. People usually ask you, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Right? Well, some of you are ready at a young age to be “somebody”! You don’t need to wait till you get older, go ahead and get started at being you today! Write a book. Become a chef. Start a business. Whatever it is - if you’re curious and ready, go for it now!
Educators:
In old English, deaf means empty, barren. Thousands of literature have consistently characterized deaf people as dumb. Among all categories of students in the State of California, deaf students scored the lowest: California School for the Deaf - Fremont
However, there is no evidence that links deafness with intellectual inferiority - in fact, it’s the opposite: deafness and sign language enhance cognition.
The root of the problem is this: The idea of deafness. The idea that if you don’t speak and hear, you cannot communicate, develop intelligence, obtain a job, and contribute to society. Therefore, you aren’t worth the investment.
This ideological fallacy has affected all of us on many levels.
What can you do?
Does your school promote and embrace a culture of Critical Thinking?
Do the students know themselves?
Do the students understand their potential?
Do you feel confident and secure as a person and as an educator?
Are you familiar with your state’s State Performance Plan and its ramifications for your school, students, and your employment?
Does your school promote and embrace a culture of emotional intelligence development (maturity process)?
Do all the students understand the capacity of their brain power once they believe in themselves?
Do you believe in all of your students?
Do you believe in yourself?
Are you comfortable with the reason why you decided to become an educator?
Do the students understand how interpreting process work and how to work with interpreters?
Do the students understand the “hearing culture” and how to negotiate in the world?
Facundo Montenegro
Educators: You wield the power to nourish individual freedom.
Some Ideas…
Think, not Memorize
Replace Academic Bowl Team with Debate Team. One promotes memorization, another promotes critical thinking. And then compete nationally.
For inspiration, watch “The Great Debaters.”
Interp. Ed. for Deaf
Offer courses on dynamics of power in interpreting, policy and rights, and processing.
With an increased understanding, we’ll be able to better leverage ourselves when working with interpreters and present our value. All communications are negotiations of power.
It is About Trust
Do your students trust you? If not, learning doesn’t happen. Take risks along with your students and explore the uncharted territories.
Teaching is an act of love. For inspiration, read Paulo Freire’s “Pedagogy of the Oppressed.”
Christine Sun Kim
Artists: You are the Architect of Ideology.
Artists:
Artists have always been the catalyst of social movements because you are natural born deviants. You simply do not conform to conventions - it’s just how you’re wired. Art requires freedom of thought and that is a threat to status quo. To change an ideology, an artist exposes the status quo and lays out the message of a better world.
What can you do?
First, you are already doing it. The question is, do you know what frame you’re operating within?
Can you identify the difference between the “old frame” and “new frame”?
Are you integrating your intersectional frames into your work?
Understand that ideological shift requires that millions of people are exposed to all of our art, repeatedly. This is why Mass Media is so powerful. Work together in teams and figure out ways to send your messaging in art out to the world.
Do you have the support you need to get your work out there?
Some Ideas…
A Picture is Worth…
Create an illustration (or other mediums) that shows the change Before & After (Old Frame v. New Frame) to demonstrate the transformative power of conscious change.
Storytelling
Create a story of how the Old Frame affects a person. Spend time on the character development so the story has intricately layered depth to help the world understand the damaging impact of the Old Frame.
Intersectionality
Intersectionality matters. Illustrate the experience you have had within the highly diverse Sumain community and share your vision on what an embrace of all frames would look like if we are all self-aware?
Organizations:
There are multiple powerful and influential global organizations run by Sumains. Communication Service for the Deaf is the largest deaf-owned and run nonprofit organization in the world with an average annual operating budget of $50 million. Greek organizations have members all around the world. Entities such as World Federation of the Deaf, National Black Deaf Advocates, Council de Manos, and Rainbow Alliance of the Deaf, again, to name a few, represent a full spectrum of beautiful human beings within the Sumain community. And then, we have National Association of the Deaf as the civil rights organization and National Deaf Center armed with researchers deploying important data that articulates the narrative on deaf people’s overall well being.
The list of organizations serving Sumains is long and offers vast potential and resources.
The questions are:
What framework are we all operating within?
What is the highest purpose that we all are working towards?
Most importantly, are we all unified under a common banner?
No. We are not.
What can you do?
Are you conscious of the framework you are operating within?
Do you want to begin the process of moving away from the old frame and transforming into a new one?
Are you open to collaborating with other organizations, creating a joint effort?
Are you investing in your employees and members on their individual growth and maturation?
Are you open to re-evaluating the programs and projects you are currently working on and determining if they align with the new frame?
Are you open to pooling your resources and money with other entities towards a joint effort on creating a massive shift in perception of deaf people (Sumains)?
Organizations: You are the backbone of community as the resource curators.
Some Ideas…
Co-Produce Films
Form a coalition of talents representing each org and produce film series.
Or, pool in resources and contract with an entity to lead the productions.
Sponsor a Writer
Sponsor one author per year and help her/him/them publish a book.
Stories are catalysts. When we have diverse Sumain authors, we offer a spectrum of narratives, enlightening the world in the process.
Apprenticeship
Offer apprenticeship for Sumain youth. Invest in them early - they are capable of so much.
Haben Girma
Policymakers:
Have you seen the movie by Ava DuVernay: "13th”?
The Black community has been very successful at creating an ideological shift, so successful that the Black culture is a multi-billion dollar commodity and influential in every aspect of White people’s lives… and yet, Black people are also among the most persecuted population on Earth. Why? Law & Policy.
Slavery. Jim Crow laws. “War on Drugs.” Bill Clinton Crime Bill of 1994 (mandatory minimum sentencing). Politicans have built wealth and advanced their careers on the backs of Black people.
Conversion “Therapy” Laws for the LGBTIQ community. Immigration Laws and its subhuman treatment of the Brown versus White immigrants.
Early “Intervention” policies concerning deaf babies are extremely harmful to the whole child development, depriving generations of their linguistic right. There are an assortments of laws & policies in place that have been dehumanizing for deaf people (Sumains).
What can you do?
Are you aware of and understand the ramifications of State Performance Plan - particularly the Indicators 5 and 6?
Revisit laws such as ADA and IDEA, re-evaluate through the lens of a new frame: How shall the existing laws be rewritten in ways that confirms and affirms our humanity?
Would you run for an elected office?
Revisit policies such as those of newborn screening process at hospitals: How are they written? What is the frame? What are the procedures?
Proactively participate in the global and local policy deliberations on the ethics and parameters of genetic engineering: Are we to be edited out? Will the eugenics be government sanctioned and funded or restricted to private sectors? What is legally allowable, bioethically?
Understand the policy and economic driven relationship between hospital personnel (Doctors/Surgeons) and cochlear implant corporations: Why are the parents of newly identified deaf (Sumain) babies constantly being harassed and threatened by doctors to agree to implantation procedure?
Understand that the relationship between Interpreters and Sumains is tenuous and historically unhealthy because of the legal and structural nature of compensation. In short, deaf people do not pay for interpreting services and thus do not have the real power in legitimatizing the profession itself. Create a federal line item (perhaps within the TRS fund?) that Sumains have an access to so they may negotiate for services *and* make determinations on the value of the interpreting service and who gets paid. Once the compensatory power is in the hands of deaf people, the interpreting profession transforms overnight.
Lawyers: You are Ideology’s last line of defense.
Some Ideas…
Elected Official
Run for an office.
Lobby for a Cause
Figure out a way to mitigate the State Performance Plan Indicators 5 and 6 so that school districts don’t get penalized for sending students to deaf schools.
Litigate
Offer pro bono work filing lawsuits on behalf of Black and Brown Sumain students and their families.
Segregation in education continues today for deaf children.
Architects:
The difference between the space being “deaf-friendly” and one designed with DeafSpace principles is one of adjustment for our sensibilities and one that was designed by us from the beginning.
Our culture and people are of diasporic nature. Architectures immortalize a community, giving them presence and strength. With an advent of medical advancement coupled with questionable ethics and non-affirming ideology, our existence is being threatened. By designing permanent structures that proudly proclaims and affirms the value of our community, we make ourselves seen and known. The buildings take on the role as storytellers, historians, and teachers, easing the burden off of us and freeing us up to stabilize as we continue to build our legacy.
What can you do?
If the federal mandate regarding State Performance Plan does not change, our deaf schools will be forced to shut down in few short years. What’s the contingency plan? Can we build our own schools that operate without Special Education funding?
Are there opportunities with your place of employment or organizations to build visibility?
Do you know that DeafSpace architectural principles are not only for Sumains but also benefits all other people?
What are the other ways the DeafSpace principles can be translated into to enhance specific areas - such as governing, organizational structuring, or even art?
Architects: When we build a place, we create an ideological permanence.
And done. Pick a project and execute. That’s it.
The world did not build itself.
S