Good Morning Boys and Girls!
Today we are going to talk about manipulation and exploitation. I trust that each and every one of you have done your homework and are ready to get into the seriousness of our classroom discussion today.
Who can tell me what the word manipulation means?
"Pick me, pick me!"
"I know, I know, I know."
"Mrs. Robinson, let me answer."
Alright, Jerome, can you please tell me what manipulation means?
"Manipulation means you get 'em where ya want 'em and when you've got 'em where ya want 'em, you can beat 'em and win your game. Yeah! That's manipulation!"
Ahh,..Jerome, can you give me an example of this:
"Ummm,..okay,..let's say I make a movie with some documentation of a historic moment and then tell everyone I decided to burn all copies of the movie except a handful of them. I call and tell my friend that I saved 5 copies and will be willing to sell one for 75 dollars when I actually have all copies to sell. The lie of burning them helps me profit more and sell faster."
Alright, Jerome, that's a pretty good example. Now, who knows what the definition of manipulate means?
"Let me tell you."
"Me, me, Me, me, Me."
"umm, umm, umm,..."
What is the definition of manipulate, Dominic?
"Manipulate is a verb that means to control or influence cleverly, unfairly or unscrupulously."
Wow, Dominic! That is a good definition. Where did you find the definition?
"My daddy showed me what it means. I learned from his example."
Oh, okay Dominic, thank you for your answer...Alright class, can anyone give me some examples of manipulators?
"Alexander Graham Bell!"
"Cochlear Americas."
"The United States Government!"
(!Extreme Baby Extreme!)
Wow, *ahem* I am impressed with you all today. You're hitting every nail on the head and you just seem to have done your homework. Good for you! Now I want you to tell me what exploitation means and you will need to give me examples of this.
(Insane! Insane in the Brain! Insane! Insane in the membrane!)
"When people ask my Daddy about my hearing aid or my being hard of hearing. My Daddy takes them through a conversation that became pretty much routine for the two of us. Yes, I have seen his lips say the same words and his fingers pointing to me and his ear. I have seen it many times. Daddy is telling them how my hearing aid works and how I've learned to speak. Daddy is proud of his son who was born deaf. He can speak. It was true, I could speak. So Daddy would have me stand there and ask me to say something to the person he was talking with.
I'd say something like,'Hello, I'm Rachel and it is nice to meet you.'
(Polly wants a cracker!)
My audience would either be surprised or uncertain, and there he was, at it again. Daddy is explaining the way things are about my speech and hearing. It's routine and I just stand there watching the words fly by while being asked to say something like a dog is asked to hand a paw.
Of course...
If it wasn't Daddy, it was a teacher, if it wasn't a teacher, it was a friend's parent, and if not them, it was a stranger. Those every day people who just don't know the difference between being and letting be. I was exploited by an oppressive ideology.
Exploitation is something these people do unbeknownst to themselves. Habit? Society? Ignorance? I don't know.
I've been exploited by them and my parents have been manipulated by them.
And 'by them', I mean those manipulators we talked about earlier."
*snap*
All is still in the classroom. Not a sound stirs and the air is stuck with a dense sensation to it. The second hand on the clock continues in its trance, tick, tick, tick, tick. There is a stunned look on the faces of these children. Mouths agape. Eyes wide. A bead of sweat drips from the teacher's forehead as she stares at the kids reaction to Rachel's testimony and explanation of what exploitation means to her.
Alright, Thank you Rachel, for sharing with us your meaning of the word exploitation. Can anyone give me another example? I am interested in seeing other examples and would like for you to share it with the class.
"But,..But..."
"Hey Miss, I want..."
"I feel bad."
What's the matter? Is there something wrong? Please tell me what is going on.
A brave and tough looking girl in a bright yellow dress stands up in front of her classmates and addresses the teacher's question with a sense of confidence.
"Mrs. Robinson, this whole school thing is not right if what they're doing to us is wrong. I just realized that what Rachel explained with everything, is just the same for all of us. They want us to use our signs for the holidays but they don't care to learn it. It looks pretty but that's all it is to them, just pretty. They don't see how signing is essential to us and when they want to show people, 'normal' people, things, they treat us like dogs. Sit. Down. Shake. Speak. They want us to come to this class to be normal. I'm tired of this cochlear implant because it doesn't work for me but I am forced to wear it or else my audiologist will give my parent's a guilt trip. And after that guilt trip who gets the blame? ME!
This whole discussion about manipulation and exploitation has me pissed off because it is wrong and I don't understand why it is still going on. Somebody needs to tell their parents to snap out of it and speak the truth against their lies and false hopes."
"Yea!"
"That. That."
"Serious True."
Wow, sigh, do all of you agree with what Jeanne just said?
All of a sudden, the whole class is rooting and roaring, hootin' and hollering, jumping and dancing. The students had finally reached a point in their psyche that they would no longer abide by the rules and laws of the oppressor.
Mrs. Robinson slowly sat down at her desk with great satisfaction. She had finally been able to get her students to see what it was she was trying to have them understand in the beginning.
You know, in being a teacher for the State, you're not encouraged to reveal the Truth. That's not what a teacher does in accord to those oppressive rules and laws laid before them. A teacher is to teach children what they want you to teach them. Not what nature wills them to learn.
Okay class, class! Calm Down class!
The students are still causing a ruckus and the commotion only grows louder as Mrs. Robinson, tries to get them quiet. The hands of children fill the air. Desks are overturned. A paper airplane cuts across the view. A couple of kids are merrily wrestling on the floor while supporters cheer them on. A boy is whining about gum being in his hair. A girl is screaming at a black spot on the wall. Everyone is everywhere and into everything.
Class, Class!
*lights flashing*
Still the students ignored the teacher and the flashing lights. Immediately after Mrs. Robinson flashed the lights for a third time, the Principal was standing in the doorway with his huge and ugly arms crossed in front of him.
Mr. Graham was not a nice man and he was known for being the meanest principal in all of deaf education. He had beady eyes in a big old head full of stiff grey hair that went undisturbed every time he'd shake and shout.
"WILL YOU ALL SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP!?!?"
The students slowly began to stop what they were doing and eventually all of their eyes were laid upon this grumpy and groggy principal who, once again, shouted at the class.
"DID YOU HEAR WHAT I JUST SAID?"
The students laughed at the puzzling articulation of Mr. Graham's words and resumed their state of pandemonium.
"DO YOU HEAR ME?"
One little boy, Donald, looked at the principal and walked up to him. He tugged him on the pant leg and waved to the principal. Mrs. Robinson, now wary of Mr. Graham, grabbed Donald's shoulder and asked him to stand clear of all the confusion.
"YOU. WILL. LISTEN. TO. ME."
Right then and there, the children went still. Silence was playing on the breeze when the students looked once at each other, then turned to look at the principal, and with a collective grimace, they gave him chorus of raspberries.
Pfffft!
That day changed the lives and attitudes of those deaf children. The students never forgot the day they realized the lies they were taught adopt and believe. From that day forward, they learned to tell the truth instead dragging around the lies that they were thrown.
As for the audist establishment, the practices of exploitation and manipulation continues to engulf families with deaf children.
Still...
Mrs. Robinson was fired.
Mr. Graham is still in charge.
And I am crazy.
Moral of the story:
You fuck with them once,
then you've fucked with them one time too many.
Triple T:
Tell The Truth.
Can you now realize that real eyes see real lies?
Cut that shit out.
chicp
Friday, July 30, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Gone to Hell. Yours truly, A. G. Bell.
Ahhhh, an update from Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
"You don't say?"
A-yup,..those guys finally stood up to say something "new" only to fall back down on what we all know to be OLD! Old as in "same old". Of course, let me give you a little heads up before you carry on further down. You see, this week was the week history was made in beautiful British Columbia. The week that the International Congress on the Education of the Deaf declared with much regret that the Milan Resolution of 1880 was downright wrong. Wrong!
"Are you serious?"
Yes'ir and yes'm...that is the right there bottom line truth! The INTERNATIONAL congress (hearing folks included) declared that such a resolution was very destructive and oppressive to deaf people and get this, it took them 130 years to come forward and admit such.
"Why so long?"
Well,..that there brings me to tell ya like it is: AGBell is a big bad bully with lots of lunch money in his pocket and is willing to do whatever it can to continue to be that big bad bully who is hooked on collecting lunch money from the likes of innocent people. Parents and children, that is!
"Is that the truth?"
Uh-huh,...sho nuff,..I got a way to give you a little glimpse of this truth. So,... are you ready? Are you prepared to see how they milk it? (Was it lunch money or milk money?..I forget) Ahh, you know what I'm talking about.
"I'm READY!
Take it away!"
Awright,..here we go...*clasping my hands*
Below is a statement made by AGB in an update newsletter on Friday, June 23, 2010. Please read carefully as I will point out some sticky corners, for them, that were disregarded.
Read on...
International Congress on the Education of the Deaf Addresses 1880 Milan Conference
[On July 19 at its meeting in Vancouver, Canada, the International Congress on the Education of the Deaf (ICED) issued a statement to address events that occurred at the 1880 Milan ICED conference which determined that the pure oral approach was the preferred method of instruction for children who are deaf. According to ICED, “This statement ‘A New Era: Deaf Participation and Collaboration’ was introduced to Congress participants as the beginning of a dialogue to promote healing and set the path for future collaboration.” In part, the statement “calls upon all nations to ensure that educational programs for the Deaf accept and respect all languages and all forms of communication.”]
There it is,..and WOW,...do they think we, Deaf people, are fucking stupid? I don't know because they cropped a sentence to make it sound like a good thing. As if it were to support them and their bullshit.
"What do you mean?"
Well, okay. I would like to stress something here in regards to the statement made by AGB. They do not properly quote what the statement of principle says which is to: "Call upon all Nations of the world to REMEMBER HISTORY and ensure that educational programs accept and respect all languages and all forms of communication." You can see clearly that their statement has a twist in it which is aimed to divert the reader from understanding the truth behind ICED's statement of principle.
If we are to "REMEMBER HISTORY", we will see that for the past 130 years sign language has been looked down upon and regarded as an incompetent means of educating the Deaf. In my own eyes, the authors of this statement of principle are putting a protective measure FOR sign language rather than other modalities of educating the Deaf. So when I read the statement by AGB, I see that they are doing what they have always done. Divert, detract, and manipulate the parents and people who are involved.
In short, it has historically been AGB and it's cohorts that have not accepted and respected sign language, a language and a competent means of education and communication. Now, when one reads AGB's statement in regards to the ICED's statement of principle, they should recognize the dishonest nature of an ideal that has failed millions of Deaf people across the world and for those who are struck with disbelief by such evidence against AGB, let me say one thing: believe it!
This is, indeed, a "New Era" for an effective and just means towards the education, participation, and collaboration of the Deaf.
Hey Bell...
How's life in hell?
nyuk! nyuk! nyuk! nyuk!
Finally,...I hope you can see how they have been playing their cards for well over a hundred years.
*tsk* tsk* tsk*
The time is here...
The time is now...
Let's Blitz those naysayers with more truths like these, eh?
Whaddaya say?
*pufffin' on me stogie*
"You don't say?"
A-yup,..those guys finally stood up to say something "new" only to fall back down on what we all know to be OLD! Old as in "same old". Of course, let me give you a little heads up before you carry on further down. You see, this week was the week history was made in beautiful British Columbia. The week that the International Congress on the Education of the Deaf declared with much regret that the Milan Resolution of 1880 was downright wrong. Wrong!
"Are you serious?"
Yes'ir and yes'm...that is the right there bottom line truth! The INTERNATIONAL congress (hearing folks included) declared that such a resolution was very destructive and oppressive to deaf people and get this, it took them 130 years to come forward and admit such.
"Why so long?"
Well,..that there brings me to tell ya like it is: AGBell is a big bad bully with lots of lunch money in his pocket and is willing to do whatever it can to continue to be that big bad bully who is hooked on collecting lunch money from the likes of innocent people. Parents and children, that is!
"Is that the truth?"
Uh-huh,...sho nuff,..I got a way to give you a little glimpse of this truth. So,... are you ready? Are you prepared to see how they milk it? (Was it lunch money or milk money?..I forget) Ahh, you know what I'm talking about.
"I'm READY!
Take it away!"
Awright,..here we go...*clasping my hands*
Below is a statement made by AGB in an update newsletter on Friday, June 23, 2010. Please read carefully as I will point out some sticky corners, for them, that were disregarded.
Read on...
International Congress on the Education of the Deaf Addresses 1880 Milan Conference
[On July 19 at its meeting in Vancouver, Canada, the International Congress on the Education of the Deaf (ICED) issued a statement to address events that occurred at the 1880 Milan ICED conference which determined that the pure oral approach was the preferred method of instruction for children who are deaf. According to ICED, “This statement ‘A New Era: Deaf Participation and Collaboration’ was introduced to Congress participants as the beginning of a dialogue to promote healing and set the path for future collaboration.” In part, the statement “calls upon all nations to ensure that educational programs for the Deaf accept and respect all languages and all forms of communication.”]
There it is,..and WOW,...do they think we, Deaf people, are fucking stupid? I don't know because they cropped a sentence to make it sound like a good thing. As if it were to support them and their bullshit.
"What do you mean?"
Well, okay. I would like to stress something here in regards to the statement made by AGB. They do not properly quote what the statement of principle says which is to: "Call upon all Nations of the world to REMEMBER HISTORY and ensure that educational programs accept and respect all languages and all forms of communication." You can see clearly that their statement has a twist in it which is aimed to divert the reader from understanding the truth behind ICED's statement of principle.
If we are to "REMEMBER HISTORY", we will see that for the past 130 years sign language has been looked down upon and regarded as an incompetent means of educating the Deaf. In my own eyes, the authors of this statement of principle are putting a protective measure FOR sign language rather than other modalities of educating the Deaf. So when I read the statement by AGB, I see that they are doing what they have always done. Divert, detract, and manipulate the parents and people who are involved.
In short, it has historically been AGB and it's cohorts that have not accepted and respected sign language, a language and a competent means of education and communication. Now, when one reads AGB's statement in regards to the ICED's statement of principle, they should recognize the dishonest nature of an ideal that has failed millions of Deaf people across the world and for those who are struck with disbelief by such evidence against AGB, let me say one thing: believe it!
This is, indeed, a "New Era" for an effective and just means towards the education, participation, and collaboration of the Deaf.
Hey Bell...
How's life in hell?
nyuk! nyuk! nyuk! nyuk!
Finally,...I hope you can see how they have been playing their cards for well over a hundred years.
*tsk* tsk* tsk*
The time is here...
The time is now...
Let's Blitz those naysayers with more truths like these, eh?
Whaddaya say?
*pufffin' on me stogie*
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
La Otra!
You know down in Mexico. Life is a lot different. It's cool a place with lots of color and culture. However, if you're truly a foreigner to the land, the people, and the language, you'll pretty much stick out like the obvious, a person out of place. And say, if you got blonde hair and blue eyes,...whoo-ey! Sore thumb of a sight in the land south of the border. A bulls eye. A sure shot. Bang!
Turista...
The little boys swarm all around you offering gum. A newspaper. A shoeshine. Heck, a green iguana! Outside of this swarm are the hustlers on the street corners with you in their sights. Trapped in the plaza and wrapped by la raza. There is a nervousness in the air and the pigeons feel it as you blink your eye.
Mira a el gabacho, buey! Vamos a hablar con el, que no?
The shady men from the street corners gather around in conversation by an old statue of Benito Juarez. Some old women pass by them, crossing themselves. Padre, Hijo, y Espiritu Santo. You're walking over to a bench to soak it all in. You feel awkward. You don't really know Spanish but you speak a lot of English. Heck, you're just here because you wanted to cross the line. "Go to Mexico".
Hola Senor, chu wanth sometin?
You look at the one man that came up to you from the group. He's talking to you in your language but his accent makes it seem so foreign. You, the foreigner, get so damn antsy and mutter in response:
"No hablo espanol."
The man asks you if you want something again. You say a quick "No!" and look past him towards the group. The man before you smiles as the gold of his teeth shine with a glimmer of sun. He seems to chuckle at your being in such a jittery state of mind and confusion.
Quieres Marijuana? Quieres la cocaina? Quieres yerbas de el desierto?
You and your honky assed self sit there like a fool with no idea what this hustler is asking you. You move your knees in a furious manner and you see the group of men laughing at you while one holds a knife in the sun. Ah, the gold and the silver and shit if I know. You're scared.
"No Garcias!" is your fucked up response because you can't roll your R's. You tinkle a little in your pants and in a hasty motion you're out of your seat and away from the gold toothed man. You go across the plaza to the church and then behind the church you're walking fast and turning back every 3 steps or so. From the looks of it, you've half shit yourself.
Ja! Ja! Ja! Orale, 'mano, ese gringo no tiene huevos para Mexico! No tiene ganas. Pendejo...
I shake my head at Izaak and crew knowing those fools just love scaring a poor old white boy. I know, I am one. They love it and yeah, its kinda funny because everything is already foreign and if you want have a fun on the border,... just add a little salsa picante.
De Nada.
Anyway,.. what I intended to talk about was this: I had a friend go with me to Mexico once and we went down to Chihuahua for a few days. We stayed in a hotel in the downtown district and chilled in that area. Checking out women, food, and museums (the finer women are there). This is for me, just another trip to Chihuahua City, the capital city of Mexico's largest state. For me buddy, he's walking next to me as if he needs me to hold his hand. Lord, this guy was terrified of the third world. Never seen it.
The poverty freaked him out and the ninos de calle really got to him. Street kids. They were the city's survivors. Scavenging food. Hustling for money. Shoeshining. Bubblegumming. Kids that have already been drunk and they're not yet 11. Kids who have been beaten up and kicked around by drunkards and druggies. I'm talking like SERIOUSLY freaked him out.
All the while, the working class and the upper class and the lucky few with pocket change walk right passed them, los ninos de calle, to tend to the day's chores and necessary purchases from the market.
Christopher was impaled by a truth he'd never seen. He pitied them and felt sorry for them. It was almost like he saw those kids as failures and rejects forever. You know, that is what he saw and sure, I can't blame him for thinking that way because heck, we, gringos, were raised with soft conditioning and sheltered living. Raised with convenience and with demand for the self. These kids, they don't have choices. They gotta survive and if it means scraps from the trash or someone's discarded moldy tortillas, so be it. Gotta live, dammit!
Truth!
On our return to Presidio, Texas, he kept wondering about those kids. He kept thinking how they will never be anybody. He was telling me they need to get to a shelter or to a community center. I listened and I wondered. Then I thought to myself, Chris will never understand that they are not going to abandon their means of survival AND independence. They got thrown on the street as kids, unwanted babies, addicts for parents, or Mama and Daddy be dead. Abandoned. Kids taking care of kids, y'all. They have the KNOW-HOW from kids before them and those kids before them and so on! A center or a shelter means abiding to an adult. They'd rather live with a struggle than to succumb to authority.
The way it struck Chris with his way of thinking, had me pondering on his innocence. His not knowing. Not understanding. His ignorance. He grew up sheltered and with parents who follow this American Nightmare. They put caps on his soul and got him wired to work a certain way. The way they want you to think.
It never occurred to him, Christopher, that maybe one of those kids will become the next big leader. Or a man of vast knowledge. Or a man of great music. Or a man of great prose. Never once, did he think they could beat the odds. His narrow way of seeing told me that our country is full of some people who will always wear blinders to Reality and hold themselves superior in their reality. This got me thinking about the hearing world and the hearing loss consumers. Brainwashed. Hogwashed. Whitewashed.
FOOLS!
Quite frankly, we are all the same yet the only difference is,.. some can see the Truth in Living and some are just in denial. That denial benefits them and their reality. Their pride. Their greed. Their, oh yes, power! They ain't letting go of that. No Siree! Uh-Uh. (shaking me finger)
That is where "freedom" is actually a prison that keeps us from seeing things for what they are. It wraps the mind with your wants and desires and takes you away from what is fundamental and necessary for all of us. It corrupts the community. (Who is dropping bombs?) You are the I-Me people.
Democracy.
Capitalism.
Free Market.
Bullshit.
Can you hug someone who hasn't had a bath in a month? Can you shake hands with a person who hasn't had a roll of toilet paper in a week? Can you smile to the kid with the shit stained shorts? Can you wave to the skinny girl with bruises on her face and arms? Can you take off that fucking shield called comfort and actually free yourself from any judgment made upon or against such?
Can you, for once, let go of yourself and think about Reality? Truth? Justice?
I wonder...
Turn the TV on.
Rent the latest DVD.
Upgrade your phone.
Download the latest hits.
Take pictures of yourself. (barf!)
Selfish and numb you are.
That's why it is so hard for you to see why you should just let the things be, the way they be. They are better off left in the hands of the creator instead of bent to fit with the ideals of a system, man's system. But what do you know...
Pffft!
"A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth." -Prophet Isaiah.
Turista...
The little boys swarm all around you offering gum. A newspaper. A shoeshine. Heck, a green iguana! Outside of this swarm are the hustlers on the street corners with you in their sights. Trapped in the plaza and wrapped by la raza. There is a nervousness in the air and the pigeons feel it as you blink your eye.
Mira a el gabacho, buey! Vamos a hablar con el, que no?
The shady men from the street corners gather around in conversation by an old statue of Benito Juarez. Some old women pass by them, crossing themselves. Padre, Hijo, y Espiritu Santo. You're walking over to a bench to soak it all in. You feel awkward. You don't really know Spanish but you speak a lot of English. Heck, you're just here because you wanted to cross the line. "Go to Mexico".
Hola Senor, chu wanth sometin?
You look at the one man that came up to you from the group. He's talking to you in your language but his accent makes it seem so foreign. You, the foreigner, get so damn antsy and mutter in response:
"No hablo espanol."
The man asks you if you want something again. You say a quick "No!" and look past him towards the group. The man before you smiles as the gold of his teeth shine with a glimmer of sun. He seems to chuckle at your being in such a jittery state of mind and confusion.
Quieres Marijuana? Quieres la cocaina? Quieres yerbas de el desierto?
You and your honky assed self sit there like a fool with no idea what this hustler is asking you. You move your knees in a furious manner and you see the group of men laughing at you while one holds a knife in the sun. Ah, the gold and the silver and shit if I know. You're scared.
"No Garcias!" is your fucked up response because you can't roll your R's. You tinkle a little in your pants and in a hasty motion you're out of your seat and away from the gold toothed man. You go across the plaza to the church and then behind the church you're walking fast and turning back every 3 steps or so. From the looks of it, you've half shit yourself.
Ja! Ja! Ja! Orale, 'mano, ese gringo no tiene huevos para Mexico! No tiene ganas. Pendejo...
I shake my head at Izaak and crew knowing those fools just love scaring a poor old white boy. I know, I am one. They love it and yeah, its kinda funny because everything is already foreign and if you want have a fun on the border,... just add a little salsa picante.
De Nada.
Anyway,.. what I intended to talk about was this: I had a friend go with me to Mexico once and we went down to Chihuahua for a few days. We stayed in a hotel in the downtown district and chilled in that area. Checking out women, food, and museums (the finer women are there). This is for me, just another trip to Chihuahua City, the capital city of Mexico's largest state. For me buddy, he's walking next to me as if he needs me to hold his hand. Lord, this guy was terrified of the third world. Never seen it.
The poverty freaked him out and the ninos de calle really got to him. Street kids. They were the city's survivors. Scavenging food. Hustling for money. Shoeshining. Bubblegumming. Kids that have already been drunk and they're not yet 11. Kids who have been beaten up and kicked around by drunkards and druggies. I'm talking like SERIOUSLY freaked him out.
All the while, the working class and the upper class and the lucky few with pocket change walk right passed them, los ninos de calle, to tend to the day's chores and necessary purchases from the market.
Christopher was impaled by a truth he'd never seen. He pitied them and felt sorry for them. It was almost like he saw those kids as failures and rejects forever. You know, that is what he saw and sure, I can't blame him for thinking that way because heck, we, gringos, were raised with soft conditioning and sheltered living. Raised with convenience and with demand for the self. These kids, they don't have choices. They gotta survive and if it means scraps from the trash or someone's discarded moldy tortillas, so be it. Gotta live, dammit!
Truth!
On our return to Presidio, Texas, he kept wondering about those kids. He kept thinking how they will never be anybody. He was telling me they need to get to a shelter or to a community center. I listened and I wondered. Then I thought to myself, Chris will never understand that they are not going to abandon their means of survival AND independence. They got thrown on the street as kids, unwanted babies, addicts for parents, or Mama and Daddy be dead. Abandoned. Kids taking care of kids, y'all. They have the KNOW-HOW from kids before them and those kids before them and so on! A center or a shelter means abiding to an adult. They'd rather live with a struggle than to succumb to authority.
The way it struck Chris with his way of thinking, had me pondering on his innocence. His not knowing. Not understanding. His ignorance. He grew up sheltered and with parents who follow this American Nightmare. They put caps on his soul and got him wired to work a certain way. The way they want you to think.
It never occurred to him, Christopher, that maybe one of those kids will become the next big leader. Or a man of vast knowledge. Or a man of great music. Or a man of great prose. Never once, did he think they could beat the odds. His narrow way of seeing told me that our country is full of some people who will always wear blinders to Reality and hold themselves superior in their reality. This got me thinking about the hearing world and the hearing loss consumers. Brainwashed. Hogwashed. Whitewashed.
FOOLS!
Quite frankly, we are all the same yet the only difference is,.. some can see the Truth in Living and some are just in denial. That denial benefits them and their reality. Their pride. Their greed. Their, oh yes, power! They ain't letting go of that. No Siree! Uh-Uh. (shaking me finger)
That is where "freedom" is actually a prison that keeps us from seeing things for what they are. It wraps the mind with your wants and desires and takes you away from what is fundamental and necessary for all of us. It corrupts the community. (Who is dropping bombs?) You are the I-Me people.
Democracy.
Capitalism.
Free Market.
Bullshit.
Can you hug someone who hasn't had a bath in a month? Can you shake hands with a person who hasn't had a roll of toilet paper in a week? Can you smile to the kid with the shit stained shorts? Can you wave to the skinny girl with bruises on her face and arms? Can you take off that fucking shield called comfort and actually free yourself from any judgment made upon or against such?
Can you, for once, let go of yourself and think about Reality? Truth? Justice?
I wonder...
Turn the TV on.
Rent the latest DVD.
Upgrade your phone.
Download the latest hits.
Take pictures of yourself. (barf!)
Selfish and numb you are.
That's why it is so hard for you to see why you should just let the things be, the way they be. They are better off left in the hands of the creator instead of bent to fit with the ideals of a system, man's system. But what do you know...
Pffft!
"A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth." -Prophet Isaiah.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
A Meeting of Truths.
I remember one time when I was walking around downtown El Paso waiting for my bus to come in, I was approached by a black man who was trying to talk to me. I hadn't realised that he was there until he roughly tapped my shoulder.
"Can you spare me a cigarette?"
Sure, that is not a problem.
Take two.
Then he started smiling and seemingly trying to start a conversation with me. (Yea, I talk to bums because I am one.) I emphasized that I was deaf and couldn't hear for shit.
"You read lips?"
yeah, sorta.
I started ranting, as usual, about "all these fucking hearing people who try to make us like them" and the trouble with the Greyhound staff when using sign language. "Us deaf fools are a minority, fool."
He looked at me with cocked eyebrow and twist in his neck as if his head were hanging off his shoulder.
"Boy, you don't know shit about being a minority."
He exhaled a cloud of smoke through his nose and sat down at his spot, which was a bus stop bench. He suddenly slouched and looked grim. He shook his head in a violent manner as if he were shaking bugs off of him.
"I've seen some pretty fucked up stuff, man. You a white man and you got no issues with people discriminating your ass for having colored skin. Minority my ass,..youse white, boy."
I take a long drag from my cigarette and look at him in the eyes. I seen what he seen but yeah,..different circumstances and different reasons. He stared back at me and wasn't sure what was going on in my head.
I asked him if he met a deaf person before and his reply was,
"No".
I began to explain to him the hows and whys of a certain discrimination, one that is often difficult for the hearing to see and because of that, they dismiss the issue. One that is clearly present in every new approach and encounter. One that is not based on color but of sound. And the majority of them are,...you guess it,...hearing. I am a minority.
He looked at me with a sincere face and he said he was sorry for what he said.
I told him it was "all good".
We hung out at that bench together for another hour before I had to get on my way to Los Angeles. I earned his respect and he earned mine, brothers. We talked a lot about how the world is actually full of good people and how the system seems to be corrupted by the bad. We ended on a good note. I told him the good always prevails. He nodded in profound agreement. I gave him another cigarette and a hug in closing.
You take care. I'm glad I met you. I know I done good, because there's one less ignorant fool walking on the planet. I'm out. V
Before I could walk away he gestured to me a "thank you" with a tip of his hat and he pounded on his heart several times then pointed to me. It was a powerful meeting of Truths. We shared.
Audism is real yet compassion is eternal.
"Can you spare me a cigarette?"
Sure, that is not a problem.
Take two.
Then he started smiling and seemingly trying to start a conversation with me. (Yea, I talk to bums because I am one.) I emphasized that I was deaf and couldn't hear for shit.
"You read lips?"
yeah, sorta.
I started ranting, as usual, about "all these fucking hearing people who try to make us like them" and the trouble with the Greyhound staff when using sign language. "Us deaf fools are a minority, fool."
He looked at me with cocked eyebrow and twist in his neck as if his head were hanging off his shoulder.
"Boy, you don't know shit about being a minority."
He exhaled a cloud of smoke through his nose and sat down at his spot, which was a bus stop bench. He suddenly slouched and looked grim. He shook his head in a violent manner as if he were shaking bugs off of him.
"I've seen some pretty fucked up stuff, man. You a white man and you got no issues with people discriminating your ass for having colored skin. Minority my ass,..youse white, boy."
I take a long drag from my cigarette and look at him in the eyes. I seen what he seen but yeah,..different circumstances and different reasons. He stared back at me and wasn't sure what was going on in my head.
I asked him if he met a deaf person before and his reply was,
"No".
I began to explain to him the hows and whys of a certain discrimination, one that is often difficult for the hearing to see and because of that, they dismiss the issue. One that is clearly present in every new approach and encounter. One that is not based on color but of sound. And the majority of them are,...you guess it,...hearing. I am a minority.
He looked at me with a sincere face and he said he was sorry for what he said.
I told him it was "all good".
We hung out at that bench together for another hour before I had to get on my way to Los Angeles. I earned his respect and he earned mine, brothers. We talked a lot about how the world is actually full of good people and how the system seems to be corrupted by the bad. We ended on a good note. I told him the good always prevails. He nodded in profound agreement. I gave him another cigarette and a hug in closing.
You take care. I'm glad I met you. I know I done good, because there's one less ignorant fool walking on the planet. I'm out. V
Before I could walk away he gestured to me a "thank you" with a tip of his hat and he pounded on his heart several times then pointed to me. It was a powerful meeting of Truths. We shared.
Audism is real yet compassion is eternal.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Music to my Eyes.
Something happened today that does so happen often with me. I'd like to share with you a few thoughts regarding this recurring happenstance.
You see...
...many a time I catch people trying to see if I'm really deaf. These people usually do so approaching me from behind or when I'm preoccupied with something. They like to do it when they feel they have the chance to do so without being caught and it doesn't really bother me because I understand that they are either puzzled or confused with my telling them that I am deaf.
Same old story, same old explanation.
It's doesn't matter how many times or how many ways you can educate them about what being deaf is, in one's case, really all about. It matters little how much expertise, experience, or research you have done as that person of a people, namely the Deaf.
Smile.
You will be discredited either way because you're not representative of the Deaf and neither are you representative of the hearing. You're pretty much busy with answering the same old shite that they keep forgetting they had already asked.
How'd you become deaf?
Were you born deaf?
How come you can talk?
They want to get kids, deaf kids, to speak and hear. By saying hear,..they want to get them to respond to sounds whether or not the sounds are representative of those the hearing hear.
Ha! Twisted Twizzler.
You get a deaf child, let say with a "moderate" to "severe" hearing loss and you get them to use hearing aids and speech therapy. You get 'em quacking and yapping and mimicking and mirroring and you tell 'em that is the way it is to be "normal". You do this from the age of 2 to about High School. You get 'em smart and "successful" and then you tell them to go out to the world and be free.
ha ha ha ha
HA HA HA HA
Then you get those questions. Time and time and time again. Then you get those tests they do behind your back. Then you get 'em asking those same fucking questions that you answered the last time you saw them.
"Now, Jeff, were you born deaf?"
Yes, Jerry, for the third time,...I was born deaf.
"Well,..umm I just don't see how you can read my lips because you speak so well."
Ahem,...I'll tell you what,...maybe I should start bullshitting you, Jerry, and just stop using my voice and start signing. Let's say we do that and I'll maintain the same level of conversation with you only I will be using sign language. If we do that, are you honestly going to be as patient with me as I have with you and the rest of the god damn hearing world?
"Jeff, I think I understand what you mean and I respect you for being you because you have a gift. Sometimes I wish I were deaf because you know, there are times you just don't want to hear a thing. You know what I mean?"
LOL...LMAO!
Alright, so you, my reader, you see where I am getting at. Damned if I do and damned if I don't. The main idea is, hey, even if you get 'em, deaf children, talking and able to use a piece of technology, they, 'em herring, will STILL not believe you are telling the Truth. You can't be deaf. You must be hard of hearing. You must be hearing impaired. You're lying.
Cops asking me stuff in the dark with a flashlight in my face.
Homeland Security pulls me over at the checkpoint cause I asked them to repeat the question three times.
Local talk has it that I'm scamming them about my being deaf.
Then the in-betweens and the uncertain,...
They test me and they get caught.
Yep, ain't it so!
OR:
I had a buddy, Carl, who hollered my name about the same time I felt compelled to look back. Look back I did and there we go again. "See...you can hear!"
No nah naw
Hey now!
That's Bullshit.
Now lets go in another direction. I decide to sign and not use my voice. I maintain, or try to maintain, my patience. I'll sign and teach them. I'd put 'em on the boards like I would a racehorse. What are the chances this horse is gonna keep running? Will they quit? Will they continue?
I have yet to bet on a winner.
You see, because I speak so well and because I was trained so well to communicate with the hearing. I'm stuck and damned by them and their doubts. Always testing, or for others, always hoping. They want a child to become assimilated or immersed in that crap while the Sad Sun shines.
It's really a trip!
And say, did I ever tell you about the time I was 24 and riding in the car with my old man. There was some loud noise outside or on the radio or something that startled him and I reacted to his reaction. Well, can you guess what he asked me:
"Did you hear that?"
Sigh.
Forgive them for they know not what they do. And I try to do that every day. I try to let it slide and let it go but the more I think about that "hearing impaired" kid in the front row of his/her classroom at a "mainstream" program. Lined up like he/she were just like them. That's a LIE! The children, often, believe in that lie because it is, after all, a hearing world. It is easier to get them to believe that shit if you get at them when they're younger, try the Easter Bunny or Santa Clause. Not a hard one to understand, aye?
So should I sit down and shut up?
Should I let parents listen to the "specialists" and the "experts"?
Should I not care?
Am I supposed to forget what they told me to be true, which in the end, wasn't true?
The same lies their spreading to this day.
Honestly, I can't let this go unsaid. I can't afford to let another set of parents be manipulated and another child twisted up. It is a shame that they continue to allow this to happen.
Twist and Shout!
C'mon! C'mon! C'mon!
Baby Now!...
And you wondered why there are so many pathological liars in the deaf community...
Howdy!
Adios...
If you can feel the rage in my writing then you need to share this with parents of deaf children because I'm sure as hell they don't want their child to be like me. I want them to understand that what they might be choosing for their child can amount to some years of unpleasantness. You should listen to the soul of the deaf child before you throw them into the hands of the arrogant hearing world order. You, as parents, deserve to understand when a deaf person says:
A visual language is music to my eyes.
You see...
...many a time I catch people trying to see if I'm really deaf. These people usually do so approaching me from behind or when I'm preoccupied with something. They like to do it when they feel they have the chance to do so without being caught and it doesn't really bother me because I understand that they are either puzzled or confused with my telling them that I am deaf.
Same old story, same old explanation.
It's doesn't matter how many times or how many ways you can educate them about what being deaf is, in one's case, really all about. It matters little how much expertise, experience, or research you have done as that person of a people, namely the Deaf.
Smile.
You will be discredited either way because you're not representative of the Deaf and neither are you representative of the hearing. You're pretty much busy with answering the same old shite that they keep forgetting they had already asked.
How'd you become deaf?
Were you born deaf?
How come you can talk?
They want to get kids, deaf kids, to speak and hear. By saying hear,..they want to get them to respond to sounds whether or not the sounds are representative of those the hearing hear.
Ha! Twisted Twizzler.
You get a deaf child, let say with a "moderate" to "severe" hearing loss and you get them to use hearing aids and speech therapy. You get 'em quacking and yapping and mimicking and mirroring and you tell 'em that is the way it is to be "normal". You do this from the age of 2 to about High School. You get 'em smart and "successful" and then you tell them to go out to the world and be free.
ha ha ha ha
HA HA HA HA
Then you get those questions. Time and time and time again. Then you get those tests they do behind your back. Then you get 'em asking those same fucking questions that you answered the last time you saw them.
"Now, Jeff, were you born deaf?"
Yes, Jerry, for the third time,...I was born deaf.
"Well,..umm I just don't see how you can read my lips because you speak so well."
Ahem,...I'll tell you what,...maybe I should start bullshitting you, Jerry, and just stop using my voice and start signing. Let's say we do that and I'll maintain the same level of conversation with you only I will be using sign language. If we do that, are you honestly going to be as patient with me as I have with you and the rest of the god damn hearing world?
"Jeff, I think I understand what you mean and I respect you for being you because you have a gift. Sometimes I wish I were deaf because you know, there are times you just don't want to hear a thing. You know what I mean?"
LOL...LMAO!
Alright, so you, my reader, you see where I am getting at. Damned if I do and damned if I don't. The main idea is, hey, even if you get 'em, deaf children, talking and able to use a piece of technology, they, 'em herring, will STILL not believe you are telling the Truth. You can't be deaf. You must be hard of hearing. You must be hearing impaired. You're lying.
Cops asking me stuff in the dark with a flashlight in my face.
Homeland Security pulls me over at the checkpoint cause I asked them to repeat the question three times.
Local talk has it that I'm scamming them about my being deaf.
Then the in-betweens and the uncertain,...
They test me and they get caught.
Yep, ain't it so!
OR:
I had a buddy, Carl, who hollered my name about the same time I felt compelled to look back. Look back I did and there we go again. "See...you can hear!"
No nah naw
Hey now!
That's Bullshit.
Now lets go in another direction. I decide to sign and not use my voice. I maintain, or try to maintain, my patience. I'll sign and teach them. I'd put 'em on the boards like I would a racehorse. What are the chances this horse is gonna keep running? Will they quit? Will they continue?
I have yet to bet on a winner.
You see, because I speak so well and because I was trained so well to communicate with the hearing. I'm stuck and damned by them and their doubts. Always testing, or for others, always hoping. They want a child to become assimilated or immersed in that crap while the Sad Sun shines.
It's really a trip!
And say, did I ever tell you about the time I was 24 and riding in the car with my old man. There was some loud noise outside or on the radio or something that startled him and I reacted to his reaction. Well, can you guess what he asked me:
"Did you hear that?"
Sigh.
Forgive them for they know not what they do. And I try to do that every day. I try to let it slide and let it go but the more I think about that "hearing impaired" kid in the front row of his/her classroom at a "mainstream" program. Lined up like he/she were just like them. That's a LIE! The children, often, believe in that lie because it is, after all, a hearing world. It is easier to get them to believe that shit if you get at them when they're younger, try the Easter Bunny or Santa Clause. Not a hard one to understand, aye?
So should I sit down and shut up?
Should I let parents listen to the "specialists" and the "experts"?
Should I not care?
Am I supposed to forget what they told me to be true, which in the end, wasn't true?
The same lies their spreading to this day.
Honestly, I can't let this go unsaid. I can't afford to let another set of parents be manipulated and another child twisted up. It is a shame that they continue to allow this to happen.
Twist and Shout!
C'mon! C'mon! C'mon!
Baby Now!...
And you wondered why there are so many pathological liars in the deaf community...
Howdy!
Adios...
If you can feel the rage in my writing then you need to share this with parents of deaf children because I'm sure as hell they don't want their child to be like me. I want them to understand that what they might be choosing for their child can amount to some years of unpleasantness. You should listen to the soul of the deaf child before you throw them into the hands of the arrogant hearing world order. You, as parents, deserve to understand when a deaf person says:
A visual language is music to my eyes.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Hear Ye! Hear Ye!
I write the following not out of hatred or distaste for the average hearing person but for the sake of telling the truth of the average deaf person. You see, in our rich human history, we, as deaf people, have been chastised for our lack of hearing. We have been labeled to smithereens and displaced as a whole. We are, as they have it, not normal and are a liability to the world. We are the rejects of a “normal” society and thus we fight such normality. And so it goes, in the eyes of humans, all MUST be normal yet in the eyes of Creation, everything IS as it should be, a part of the whole.
Hmm…
Is it not true that our American government has discriminated against other races? Is it not true that women have suffered from a male domineered ideology? Is it not true that the disabled have been limited in their abilities because of the assumption that they are a lesser variety? Tell me, my friends, is it not true?
Now, if you would, please allow me to share with you some quotes to help you see our history:
“Earlier today, we heard the beginning of the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States: "We, the people." It's a very eloquent beginning. But when that document was completed on the seventeenth of September in 1787, I was not included in that "We, the people." I felt somehow for many years that George Washington and Alexander Hamilton just left me out by mistake. But through the process of amendment, interpretation, and court decision, I have finally been included in ‘We, the people.’”
-Barbara C. Jordan, July 25th, 1974
“We are not fighting for integration, nor are we fighting for separation. We are fighting for recognition as human beings. We are fighting for human rights.”
-El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, 1964
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but my the content of their character.”
-Martin Luther King, Jr. December 11th, 1964
“If we accept and acquiesce in the face of discrimination, we accept the responsibility ourselves and allow those responsible to salve their conscience by believing that they have our acceptance and concurrence. We should, therefore, protest openly everything that smacks of discrimination or slander.”
-Mary McLeod Bethune, 1944
“If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place.”
-Margaret Mead, 1935
“Only to the white man was nature a “wilderness” and only to him was the land “infested” with “wild” animals and “savage” people. To us it was tame. Earth was bountiful and we were surrounded with the blessings of the Great Mystery. Not until the hairy man from the east came and with brutal frenzy heaped injustices upon us and the families that we loved, was it “wild” for us. When the very animals of the forest began fleeing from his approach, then it was that for us the “Wild West” began.”
-Luther Standing Bear, 1933
“The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in the insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding.”
-Louis Dembitz Brandeis, 1932
“Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is in an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.”
-Frederick Douglass, 1886
“The prejudice against color, of which we hear so much, is no stronger than that against sex. It is produced by the same cause, and manifested very much in the same way. The Negro’s skin and the woman’s sex are both prima facie evidence that they were intended to be in subjection to the white Saxon man.”
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, February 18th, 1860
A’ight!
These are just a few of the many examples there are to be found regarding certain discriminations and injustices that have been laid before us. I could give you so much more but I believe the above should offer you enough to actually think AND feel.
Now, Now, Now…here we go:
Deaf people are often discriminated because of their inability to hear perfectly and speak impeccably. They are not truly included as a part of the nation. They are restricted to the boundaries of vile assumptions that we are incapable, broken, and thus rejected. Would it be fair for me to say that hearing people are unable to learn signed languages or empathize with those of us who cannot hear? I should hope not. And why do they blatantly put hearing men and women at the risk of losing their hearing when they can replace them with those who are already deaf? Surely, deaf people can be given an equal opportunity to serve their country. Yet the answer is no. We are the oppressed and they the oppressors. You see, it is more profitable, for them, to increase the number of potential consumers in the hearing loss market than it is to diversify the country with various abilities. Shall we march alongside the fascist pigs? Nay I say!
Ahh, such ignorance!
The lukewarm and moderates are perfectly fine with the idea that the hearing are above us and they, being who they are, continue to reinforce that very ignorance which forces us to the subjection of a false authority. They are wrong and it is rather unfortunate that many cannot see this. I pray that they may one day awaken to the self evident Truth.
We deserve to be heard and by that I mean listened to. By that I mean felt. By that I mean understood. And ultimately, accepted as we are.
We will not stop our good fight.
We will not falter.
We will not die.
You will continue to have deaf babies come into the world. You cannot deny that truth. It is our place to be here so that you, the ignorant, may see that everything is a part of the whole. We are not gods! That includes you and your bullshit.
To reject your own truth is to deny your existence.
Be ye watchful of the things to come…for this is the dawning of a long awaited enlightenment for all deaf people in the world. The closed society is no more.
Watchful I say…watchful…
Hmm…
Is it not true that our American government has discriminated against other races? Is it not true that women have suffered from a male domineered ideology? Is it not true that the disabled have been limited in their abilities because of the assumption that they are a lesser variety? Tell me, my friends, is it not true?
Now, if you would, please allow me to share with you some quotes to help you see our history:
“Earlier today, we heard the beginning of the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States: "We, the people." It's a very eloquent beginning. But when that document was completed on the seventeenth of September in 1787, I was not included in that "We, the people." I felt somehow for many years that George Washington and Alexander Hamilton just left me out by mistake. But through the process of amendment, interpretation, and court decision, I have finally been included in ‘We, the people.’”
-Barbara C. Jordan, July 25th, 1974
“We are not fighting for integration, nor are we fighting for separation. We are fighting for recognition as human beings. We are fighting for human rights.”
-El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, 1964
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but my the content of their character.”
-Martin Luther King, Jr. December 11th, 1964
“If we accept and acquiesce in the face of discrimination, we accept the responsibility ourselves and allow those responsible to salve their conscience by believing that they have our acceptance and concurrence. We should, therefore, protest openly everything that smacks of discrimination or slander.”
-Mary McLeod Bethune, 1944
“If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place.”
-Margaret Mead, 1935
“Only to the white man was nature a “wilderness” and only to him was the land “infested” with “wild” animals and “savage” people. To us it was tame. Earth was bountiful and we were surrounded with the blessings of the Great Mystery. Not until the hairy man from the east came and with brutal frenzy heaped injustices upon us and the families that we loved, was it “wild” for us. When the very animals of the forest began fleeing from his approach, then it was that for us the “Wild West” began.”
-Luther Standing Bear, 1933
“The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in the insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding.”
-Louis Dembitz Brandeis, 1932
“Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is in an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.”
-Frederick Douglass, 1886
“The prejudice against color, of which we hear so much, is no stronger than that against sex. It is produced by the same cause, and manifested very much in the same way. The Negro’s skin and the woman’s sex are both prima facie evidence that they were intended to be in subjection to the white Saxon man.”
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, February 18th, 1860
A’ight!
These are just a few of the many examples there are to be found regarding certain discriminations and injustices that have been laid before us. I could give you so much more but I believe the above should offer you enough to actually think AND feel.
Now, Now, Now…here we go:
Deaf people are often discriminated because of their inability to hear perfectly and speak impeccably. They are not truly included as a part of the nation. They are restricted to the boundaries of vile assumptions that we are incapable, broken, and thus rejected. Would it be fair for me to say that hearing people are unable to learn signed languages or empathize with those of us who cannot hear? I should hope not. And why do they blatantly put hearing men and women at the risk of losing their hearing when they can replace them with those who are already deaf? Surely, deaf people can be given an equal opportunity to serve their country. Yet the answer is no. We are the oppressed and they the oppressors. You see, it is more profitable, for them, to increase the number of potential consumers in the hearing loss market than it is to diversify the country with various abilities. Shall we march alongside the fascist pigs? Nay I say!
Ahh, such ignorance!
The lukewarm and moderates are perfectly fine with the idea that the hearing are above us and they, being who they are, continue to reinforce that very ignorance which forces us to the subjection of a false authority. They are wrong and it is rather unfortunate that many cannot see this. I pray that they may one day awaken to the self evident Truth.
We deserve to be heard and by that I mean listened to. By that I mean felt. By that I mean understood. And ultimately, accepted as we are.
We will not stop our good fight.
We will not falter.
We will not die.
You will continue to have deaf babies come into the world. You cannot deny that truth. It is our place to be here so that you, the ignorant, may see that everything is a part of the whole. We are not gods! That includes you and your bullshit.
To reject your own truth is to deny your existence.
Be ye watchful of the things to come…for this is the dawning of a long awaited enlightenment for all deaf people in the world. The closed society is no more.
Watchful I say…watchful…
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Truth Floods
You know, out here in the desert, when it rains it pours. Every crack and crevice fills with water and flows. Every wash becomes a river while the roads turn into muddy bogs. If you get more than half an inch of nature's blessing, then you know it is time to consider using the four wheel drive. You see, our road isn't a bad road but, hey when it rains, it isn't a road at all. If you're wise enough, you'll wait for a couple more hours to let the Sun shine but if you have to be somewhere and you can't back out. I reckon that is when you have to consider the time needed to start walking the distance.
Got yourself a pair of boots?
Yea? Let's go...
Now, walking in the desert during or after a rain isn't the easiest thing to do. The first thing want to do is stay out of low places such as washes, draws, creeks, and valleys. Like I said, when it rains, it pours and when it pours it flashes.
Flood!
A prickly pear floats by...
Your boots get soaked and caked with mud. Hot spots surface on your feet. You don't see 'em but you sure feel 'em with the squishing and sloshing and the squeaking. Up a hill. Down a hill. Around a bend and through the acacia with their catclaws. Passing millipedes and tarantulas, who like me, are warring with the rain and mud. You wipe your wet face and trudge on with each boot weighing 10 pounds.
Gotta do whatcha gotta do.
Places to go and tasks to complete.
It's like that.
I'm thinking through it all.
D/deaf.
You know, yes, I am a Texan.
Yes, I am a Deaf person.
I got all that understood but I really don't need to be worried about that kind of crap when the argument starts from deafness to deaf to Deaf to deaf and back to deafness. I think we all understand that and if we do, why the hell are we still poking with it?
There are bigger fish to fry, ya know?
You can diss me with "disability".
You tell me, I speak well.
You can audit my audibility.
You tell me, I suck at ASL.
You can vilify me all you want and that is, as I've probably said before, mighty fine with me. I ain't gonna blame you for doing what you do because it's not your fault. You know whose fault it is but I know you won't stand to point the finger. It's also not your fault that you are like that. No worries, mateys.
I will keep walking and talking. I will keep sharing what no one can take from me and that is my deafhood. My deafhood is just as much my childhood and personhood. You wanna argue about languages and words. Fuck! If I signed this shit you would be standing there with bricks dropping out of your ass because it is not just ASL or English or whatever communication option I was brought up with. It's the Truth that even hearing people will understand.
Now you ask me where I get the confidence and the ego?
Ha! says the puppet poster boy.
Not bragging here, but man, I can get any person to listen to me and I can clear any argument with them when it comes to talking about the psychological and emotional side effects that come with the demands of a "superior" being. In this case, hearing people. So you as a hearing person, what do you know about people who don't listen? What do you know about not being able to hear in the midst of it all? That kind of ignorance! Know this, it is actually humbling to have these conversations.
Sure, it's a fact that they are many and we are few but that doesn't mean shit to me because there is more to live for than their vanity of sound. (Please note, individuals are not the system and we the people is more like wee the people)
The rain has stopped. The dirt is still and the mud is dry. Everything is clean! I'm still walking and I'm still talking while she listens.
I'm pretty CERTAIN that there will be a time when we are recognized and respected to a point that even the naysayer will side with the Truth and stand honestly comfortable with their being a Deaf person. Until that point, I'm still going to share my stories about my deafhood and I know you will continue to do the same. It is ongoing, never ending and the best thing about it, you can't have it taken from you whether you identify yourself as a little d, Big D, hard of hearing, or hearing impaired. No one can take the experience of being you, a person with less than perfect hearing, away.
It's yours and I think that is a pretty simple thing to grasp. If you want to get into semantics, I'll leave that to the people who want to avoid the truth and I'll move clear out of the way.
I don't need to be washed away in a flood of confusion. I know where I'm going and much credit for that goes to our creator. Remember, I may be human and I am far from being perfect, but I know I'm doing what I've been sent to do. I can't deny that Truth.
Got yourself a pair of boots?
Yea? Let's go...
Now, walking in the desert during or after a rain isn't the easiest thing to do. The first thing want to do is stay out of low places such as washes, draws, creeks, and valleys. Like I said, when it rains, it pours and when it pours it flashes.
Flood!
A prickly pear floats by...
Your boots get soaked and caked with mud. Hot spots surface on your feet. You don't see 'em but you sure feel 'em with the squishing and sloshing and the squeaking. Up a hill. Down a hill. Around a bend and through the acacia with their catclaws. Passing millipedes and tarantulas, who like me, are warring with the rain and mud. You wipe your wet face and trudge on with each boot weighing 10 pounds.
Gotta do whatcha gotta do.
Places to go and tasks to complete.
It's like that.
I'm thinking through it all.
D/deaf.
You know, yes, I am a Texan.
Yes, I am a Deaf person.
I got all that understood but I really don't need to be worried about that kind of crap when the argument starts from deafness to deaf to Deaf to deaf and back to deafness. I think we all understand that and if we do, why the hell are we still poking with it?
There are bigger fish to fry, ya know?
You can diss me with "disability".
You tell me, I speak well.
You can audit my audibility.
You tell me, I suck at ASL.
You can vilify me all you want and that is, as I've probably said before, mighty fine with me. I ain't gonna blame you for doing what you do because it's not your fault. You know whose fault it is but I know you won't stand to point the finger. It's also not your fault that you are like that. No worries, mateys.
I will keep walking and talking. I will keep sharing what no one can take from me and that is my deafhood. My deafhood is just as much my childhood and personhood. You wanna argue about languages and words. Fuck! If I signed this shit you would be standing there with bricks dropping out of your ass because it is not just ASL or English or whatever communication option I was brought up with. It's the Truth that even hearing people will understand.
Now you ask me where I get the confidence and the ego?
Ha! says the puppet poster boy.
Not bragging here, but man, I can get any person to listen to me and I can clear any argument with them when it comes to talking about the psychological and emotional side effects that come with the demands of a "superior" being. In this case, hearing people. So you as a hearing person, what do you know about people who don't listen? What do you know about not being able to hear in the midst of it all? That kind of ignorance! Know this, it is actually humbling to have these conversations.
Sure, it's a fact that they are many and we are few but that doesn't mean shit to me because there is more to live for than their vanity of sound. (Please note, individuals are not the system and we the people is more like wee the people)
The rain has stopped. The dirt is still and the mud is dry. Everything is clean! I'm still walking and I'm still talking while she listens.
I'm pretty CERTAIN that there will be a time when we are recognized and respected to a point that even the naysayer will side with the Truth and stand honestly comfortable with their being a Deaf person. Until that point, I'm still going to share my stories about my deafhood and I know you will continue to do the same. It is ongoing, never ending and the best thing about it, you can't have it taken from you whether you identify yourself as a little d, Big D, hard of hearing, or hearing impaired. No one can take the experience of being you, a person with less than perfect hearing, away.
It's yours and I think that is a pretty simple thing to grasp. If you want to get into semantics, I'll leave that to the people who want to avoid the truth and I'll move clear out of the way.
I don't need to be washed away in a flood of confusion. I know where I'm going and much credit for that goes to our creator. Remember, I may be human and I am far from being perfect, but I know I'm doing what I've been sent to do. I can't deny that Truth.
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