Miss-Delectable
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Inside Gallaudet - Gallaudet University
More than 150 people from all walks of life and all parts of the East Coast came to Kendall Green on November 22 to attend the Black Deaf Expo. Throughout the day, the visitors streamed through Foster Auditorium and the Jordan Student Academic Center (JSAC) to attend workshops, meet black deaf business owners, peruse information booths, watch performances, and witness the Black Deaf History and Arts Exhibition, which displayed the artwork of black deaf artists from the Model Secondary School for the Deaf (MSSD), Gallaudet, and the community.
The Black Deaf Expo, established and coordinated by Fred Beam, president of National Black Deaf Advocates, and hosted by the performance group Invisible Hands, Inc., is a yearly event designed to promote deaf African American economic development and to offer companies large and small the opportunity to access a lucrative, oft-overlooked market. It is also a family-oriented event that exposes the community to business opportunities and cultural resources of the black deaf community.
Emcee and performer Ogden Whitehead explained to expo visitors at an opening ceremony that the unique impact of the event is the opportunity it provides to promote black deaf arts and businesses. Black Deaf Student Union (BDSU) President TaWanda Barkley called it “a one-of-a-kind event that must be hosted every year so that we can learn much more about our own community.”
Other speakers during the day included Beam; Warren Snipe, vice president of Invisible Hands, Inc.; and Aarron Loggins, vice president of D.C. Area Black Deaf Advocates. In addition, Jonelle Thames, Miss National Black Deaf Advocates, shared her experience as Miss Michigan and Miss Black Deaf America, and described how she used her art to empower the community.
Two workshops were presented. The first was “Black ASL: The Socio-Historical Foundations,” a presentation of research findings made by Joseph Hill and Roxanne Dummett, graduate research assistants in the Department of Linguistics. Then, Christopher Robinson, an interpreter from Boston, Mass., presented “Black Name: Copyright Your Creative Work.”
The highlight of the event was the showcase of black deaf performing artists. Lighting up the stage with creative signed songs were Whitehead, Loggins, and Erica Harper. The Wild Zappers/National Deaf Dance Theater danced their way to the audience’s heart with the piece “Wind Beneath My Wings.” Dip Hop (deaf Hip Hop) rapper Warren Snipe, African dance performers Lateefah and Ameena Patterson, and the signing/dancing brother and sister Troy Miles and Tara Downing also inspired the audience with their talents. At the end, Ronnie Bradley got the audience on their feet, teaching them African dance movements.
Invisible Hands hosted the Black Deaf Expo with support from Gallaudet groups and community groups, including the University’s Department of Education, the BDSU, MSSD, Campus Activities, D.C. Area Black Deaf Advocates, and the D. C. National Alliance of Black Interpreters. The organizers with to thank these supporters as well as the individual volunteers who helped make the day possible.
More than 150 people from all walks of life and all parts of the East Coast came to Kendall Green on November 22 to attend the Black Deaf Expo. Throughout the day, the visitors streamed through Foster Auditorium and the Jordan Student Academic Center (JSAC) to attend workshops, meet black deaf business owners, peruse information booths, watch performances, and witness the Black Deaf History and Arts Exhibition, which displayed the artwork of black deaf artists from the Model Secondary School for the Deaf (MSSD), Gallaudet, and the community.
The Black Deaf Expo, established and coordinated by Fred Beam, president of National Black Deaf Advocates, and hosted by the performance group Invisible Hands, Inc., is a yearly event designed to promote deaf African American economic development and to offer companies large and small the opportunity to access a lucrative, oft-overlooked market. It is also a family-oriented event that exposes the community to business opportunities and cultural resources of the black deaf community.
Emcee and performer Ogden Whitehead explained to expo visitors at an opening ceremony that the unique impact of the event is the opportunity it provides to promote black deaf arts and businesses. Black Deaf Student Union (BDSU) President TaWanda Barkley called it “a one-of-a-kind event that must be hosted every year so that we can learn much more about our own community.”
Other speakers during the day included Beam; Warren Snipe, vice president of Invisible Hands, Inc.; and Aarron Loggins, vice president of D.C. Area Black Deaf Advocates. In addition, Jonelle Thames, Miss National Black Deaf Advocates, shared her experience as Miss Michigan and Miss Black Deaf America, and described how she used her art to empower the community.
Two workshops were presented. The first was “Black ASL: The Socio-Historical Foundations,” a presentation of research findings made by Joseph Hill and Roxanne Dummett, graduate research assistants in the Department of Linguistics. Then, Christopher Robinson, an interpreter from Boston, Mass., presented “Black Name: Copyright Your Creative Work.”
The highlight of the event was the showcase of black deaf performing artists. Lighting up the stage with creative signed songs were Whitehead, Loggins, and Erica Harper. The Wild Zappers/National Deaf Dance Theater danced their way to the audience’s heart with the piece “Wind Beneath My Wings.” Dip Hop (deaf Hip Hop) rapper Warren Snipe, African dance performers Lateefah and Ameena Patterson, and the signing/dancing brother and sister Troy Miles and Tara Downing also inspired the audience with their talents. At the end, Ronnie Bradley got the audience on their feet, teaching them African dance movements.
Invisible Hands hosted the Black Deaf Expo with support from Gallaudet groups and community groups, including the University’s Department of Education, the BDSU, MSSD, Campus Activities, D.C. Area Black Deaf Advocates, and the D. C. National Alliance of Black Interpreters. The organizers with to thank these supporters as well as the individual volunteers who helped make the day possible.