Hi Everyone:
Praise and hallelujah! .... Praise! Praise! ...... (end sarcasm).... Sigh... Once we ask for donations, somehow someone wants to label us as being like religious fanatics...
I find it amazing that some Deaf people are unable to see the forest for the trees and they spend all their time debating little side issues rather than looking at the bigger picture. There are many organizations and movements which request donations to help with overhead expenses, including rent for the facility of the venue, expenses for flyers, honorariums for presenters, etc., including, for example, the Red Cross, the NAD, GLAD, Art and Video Foundation, Deaf Hope, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, the IFC (Independent Film Center)--and also my future film project. Just because any or all of these groups asks for money, should that mean they should be automatically labeled as being like religious fanatics? Of course not. It is normal for groups hosting workshops to make a request for donations to pay for rent for the facility and overhead expenses. And the donation that was requested was not made at Ella's request. The hosts of the workshop were the ones who made the request. Sharing a helpful proverb is a very common thing to do for many people that were inspired by the presentations and to be shared with the rest of those in attendance. A proverb (according to Wolfgang Mieder) is a "phrase, saying, sentence, statement, or expression of the folk which contains above all wisdom, truth, morals, experience, lessons, and advice concerning life and which has been handed down from generation to generation."
I find it awesome to read what Paddy Ladd wrote in his Deafhood book that so eloquently describes what is going on in the Deaf community. My question: Is it because the medical-audiology-education establishment has spent enormous amounts of time focusing or zeroing in on the ear, that this perhaps, explains why we adopted the habit of focusing on tiny details, rather than looking at the bigger picture? I wonder what would have happened had the establishment viewed us Deaf people as being whole human being since birth. Would we have instead adopted the practice of looking for and seeing the bigger picture?
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7 comments:
Way to GOOOOO, Aidan!
What a wonderful message! I completely agree with you.
Hopefully we all can come and work together. We need to move on (unite) and focus on discussing how we can protect our future generations.
Thanks,
Ali
Sojourner,
We would be better off by saying "protect our future generation" which will contribute to more "identity politics".
Just simply say "respect and embrace our unqiue linguistic and cultural minority status to live among the society at large" in non-threatening language.
I always say on my comments -
human beings are very adaptable creatures which he or she could adapt to any missing function/sense to lead the fullfilling life.
Just play smart than sticking to the ideology to the end.
Robert L. Mason (RLM)
Aiden, Good post... I've asked around about the Deafhood workshops because a group of us here in Virginia are hoping to set one up here... You are absolutely right - it is *us* - the hosts - asking for donations and sponsors so we can pay the very reasonable fee for the workshop presenters to provide a this training, for free, for the deaf community at large.
And by the way, I regularly host workshops as part of my job description... the fees the Deafhood presenters are asking are very standard among most professional presenters, and in some case, much cheaper than other well known presenters.
I have been shaking my head at all this discussion about Deafhood and comparing Deafhood to a religion or to a cult or ugh! what have you... because the presenters are earning money doing this? It so doesn't make sense!! Join the real world! Any workshop presenter (myself included - I charge for workshops I present on, too) has a right to be paid for work completed... We have to earn a living and why not earn a living doing something beneficial to the deaf community at large while something we enjoy and something we are good at? What's is wrong with that? This occurs in the "hearing world" and in academia - and yes in the religious world - all the time and with little discussion - it's a fact of business.
But still, a cult??? I don't know how that came in... In the corporate world, many employees regularly go to motivational seminars as part of their professional and personal development... the speakers are paid, and the seminars are often based on a book (for example, Anthony Robbins, is a well known presenter and author) - would we daresay Anthony is brainwashing us, or a leader of a religious cult??? NO! That's an utterly ridiculous concept if you've ever read his books or seen his TV shows...
The same thing of Paddy Ladd's book - that it's a religious cult is an utterly ridiculous accusation!
One saying comes to mind during all the DBC/DH discussion all summer is: "We're fighting the dragon only to be killed by mosquitoes".
It's seems so true sometimes... obsession over smaller these details - and many inaccurate perceptions based on hearsay and gossip - and failure to see the bigger picture (the advocacy for basic human rights for all Deaf babies to have natural language from birth) is hurting all of us... but that obsession also an indication of small minds in our midst that we need to contend with - but that will always be the case.
Luckily for us, mosquitoes have short life spans.
Plus there's "Deep Woods OFF!" Although, some people prefer "Skin So Soft... Whatever works! Spray away!
*Winks!*
Praise!!
Good discussion/message!
BTW, your landscapes looks so GREEN! For your info and be prepared when you come to Seattle very soon... Don't expect Seattle to be much greener than what you have in your background landscape. Im not kidding ya!
Welcome to Seattle and who knows we may cross into eachother?!?!? I will not be attending Seabeck that week
Agreed! we always find small negative flaws to make a big scene out of it.
Same goes out to the real world with the medias. They find something bad about the people and make a story on them.
Aidan,
Your point is well made re: donations. I disagree with the labelling of deafhood as a religion because it is NOT a religion.
You're correct that people are so busy looking at small parts of the picture. I can't help but think of this saying:
One cannot see the forest for the trees.
Again, well-put, Aidan!
Shel
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