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As the new president of the Oregon Association of the Deaf (OAD), I can think of no words to describe the great honor to have inherited the OAD torch with flame that has been burning since 1921. I need first to thank Margi Morgan and her OAD administration for leadership during very difficult social and economic changes. I need also to address an aura of optimism among ourselves who see the possibility of making American Sign Language (ASL) a more dynamic force in communication and instruction for all the Deaf.
The unfolding of history of the Deaf points to nothing more clearly than the vast ignorance of our language and culture, ASL and deafness. In 1880, for example, educators of the Deaf from all over the world convened in Milano, Italy, and drew up a resolution, hence the 1880 Milan Resolution, to ban the use of sign language in communication and instruction for the Deaf worldwide. Whether total or only partial deaf, we are thoroughly aware that numerous barriers to access and development occurred. Deafness is a biological condition that calls for a different channel, that is, sight, through which information, knowledge and communication are conveyed. ASL is therefore a vehicle that articulates and facilitates all subject matters in education and all other responsibilities in life. ASL is the lifeblood of the Deaf community and culture.
While I am fully aware that my message, be it factual or philosophical, must be evaluated in terms of history as the uninterrupted welling of our community in a multitude of currents and countercurrents formed by our ever-changing society. My belief is that our community might be renovated through the principles of happiness, that are deeply rooted in the American doctrine--life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. ASL is our happiness. To those who doubt ASL it is necessary to point out that his or her skepticism or ignorance reveals a blending of audism (the term coined in 1970s to define the belief that the ability to hear and speak is better than being Deaf) and deficit thinking.
By denying or doubting ASL is deficit, inciting the mind to language bigotry and prejudice. If it finds some people unaware, in idle and false security, it captures their mind with secret contrivances of audism. Deficit thinking is, therefore, far from pure "tabula rasa"--we do not exist in the vaccuum. We the Deaf do have language and culture heritage. "It is our hope," as George Veditz says in the 1913 film, The Preservation of the Sign Language, "...we all will love and guard our sign language as the noblest gift God has given to deaf people."
The truth of ASL shall set us free to philosophize. ASL should not be missed as a sense of language, as a living subject--as part of human life. ASL can lift us up and take us anywhere in this vast universe and beyond. Nothing can hold us back from ASL. Now, this message is as a tough read as the English translation of Jean-Paul Sartre in his book, Being and Nothingness: "The being by which nothingness arrives in the world must nihilate nothingness in its being, and even so it still runs the risk of establishing nothingness as a transcendent in the very heart of immanence unless it nihilates nothingness in its being in connection with its own being. The being by which nothingness arrives in the world is a being such that in its being the nothingness of its being is in question." Follow it? No, not me! Yes, it is as confusing as nihilating our being Deaf. Many of the issues in philosophy of ASL are really issues in philosophy of being Deaf.
But it is each person's right to know what being Deaf means. We also need to know where it comes from as well as the activities and attitudes which it describes. If we do not know, with confidence, our part in the whole and our place in a history, we can become frustrated by what we have to do. If we know what being Deaf means, our self-esteem and self-determination would be much surer.
Let me know introduce myself briefly to you. Until 1963 my life revolved around the Dutch culture. I was born Deaf in The Hague, The Netherlands. When I was ten years old, my parents, both Deaf, decided to move to the United States, and I went to Maryland School for the Deaf. After the Model Secondary School for the Deaf at Gallaudet University was opened in 1969, I transferred there and graduated as a class valedictorian in 1971. I enrolled in Gallaudet University, and during my senior year, I became the Thomas J. Watson Fellow (top academic honor) and received the stipend to travel and study abroad. In 1984, I was appointed to work at Gallaudet University, first in public relations and then English Department. In 1994, I was hired to spearhead a new academic program focusing on ASL at Montgomery College in Rockville, Maryland. In 2005, I had an opportunity to teach on Maui, the beautiful, rural island in Hawaii. In 2007, I moved to Oregon where I taught in various colleges and university. In 2008, I accepted the tenure-line position at Western Oregon University where I coordinate the ASL Studies program. I have two adult children, and I live in Dallas, Oregon.
In the next OAD board meeting in November, I plan to propose my leadership agenda for deliberation and assessment. I would like hereby to outline my two year plans to solicit your feedback and support.
The OAD Membership Drive
The OAD is to develop aggressive strategies for membership recruitment and retention efforts. By doing this, I propose that the top OAD officers visit various places throughout Oregon to meet and talk with Deaf people of all walks of life about the OAD. We need to listen and cater to them. We need to bring them to our mini-conference in summer 2010 and state-conference in 2011. We need to make OAD a fun and positive organization to belong.
Bend Mini-Conference Redo
The OAD is to return to Bend to establish a working relationship with Central Oregon Community College (CoCC) to coordinate a mini-conference to be held on its beautiful residential campus next summer. I would like that the conference to focus on the theme (We the Deaf Oregonians) to celebrate our diverse population by promoting and propagandizing talents and interests. Tentative Bend mini-conference schedule: Friday will be for mini-workshops by various interest Deaf groups from all Oregon. Saturday will focus on "In Search of Deafhood" with Ella Mae Lentz, Genie "GG" Gertz, and David "DE" Eberwein.
The Statue of William Stephen Smith Project
The OAD is to make contacts with various organizations and agencies specializing in historical preservation and archives to talk about sculpting a statue to honor William Stephen Smith, a Deaf educator who founded the Oregon School for the Deaf in Salem. The Statue of William Stephen Smith (SWSS) Project will be a long undertaking but I would like to have the statue put on the lawn outside the State Capitol. The general public will be made aware of our Deaf heritage in Oregon.
The OAD Invitational Golf Tournament
The OAD is to create a planning committee for a "customized" invitational golf tournament, the opportunity to generate enthusiasm and interest in the OAD. When playing golf is a pleasure, life is a joy. When playing golf is a duty, life is slavery. The goal of the OAD Invitational Golf Tournament is to provide awareness opportunities to the community, and in the process, to support the OAD both financially and conceptually. I believe that the phenomenal success of the OAD Invitationa Golf Tournament is due to my "funology" philosophy that I created when my Special Education division at Western Oregon University voted me to maintain "fun at work" last year. We need to encourage our members and supporters to have fun by playing golf in this "customized" tournament.
The OAD Youth Movement
When I was young, I was very active. I went to Youth Leadership Camp in Pengilly, Minnesota in 1970. It was when I met Lauren Simms and we became life friends. I was the president of the Junior Natinal Association of the Deaf (JrNAD) chapter at MSSD. At Gallaudet University, I was elected as the Student Body Government president. What I did in my youth is still within my heart. Raisa Grobachev, a Soviet philosophy professor, said, "Youth is, after all, just a moment, but it is the moment, the spark, that you always carry in your heart."The OAD is to set up a planning committee for a state-wide conference for young adults (18-35+) whose purpose is to renew and re-energize talents and interests for networking and social interaction within the OAD.
The 44th OAD Conference (2011 in Salem)
The OAD is to meet and make friends with all groups and programs serving and supporting the Deaf. They are to be invited to participate in the 44th OAD Conference. I would like to reserve both the river front and the convention center for that purpose. I wish to create an environment in the 44th OAD Conference that allows for a little silliness and playfulness in the conference. Hosting a waterfront conference might be a great way to take a break from the typical political meetings. I believe rather firmly that creativity is allowing ourselves to make mistakes; our art is knowing which ones to keep. Friday and Saturday nights during the Conference will be something spectacular. I would like OAD to underwrite "Romeo and Juliet in American Sign Language," and be open to the public.
Please feel free to contact OAD if you have any suggestions and questions. Join us and work hard for the betterment of all the Deaf in Oregon! |
