Oppresssed – …And the Truth Shall Set You Free.

Can We Not Let History Repeat Itself?

December 5, 2018 The Last HiccupLeave a comment

When an onlooker practices Oralism as the form of bullying, “I demand Cued Speech and Oralism and dumb down American Sign Language (ASL)” is an act of embarrassment. Why ASL needs to be embarrassed?

Did we make Alexander Graham Bell who made America great again? His arrival in Boston around 1871, advocates that listening and speaking method is superior to dumbing down ASL that the ASL users would be third or fourth grade level in reading comprehension. It happens to be a myth. Alexander Graham Bell’s lie with greatest hope to continue bullying, causing painful times for survivors of Alexander Graham Bell’s practices. First of all, the idea of ASL in 1965, had been stolen from the idea and created Cued Speech a year later, both were archived forever at Gallaudet College that time, it was highly competitive.

Dr. R. Orin Cornett, a former Gallaudet University professor, invented Cued Speech, on the own Gallaudet’s intelligent property where Edward Miner Gallaudet as the chief advocate of Manualism also on Gallaudet campus, ASL came first way before Cued Speech could ever able to. Plus, he kicked Alexander Graham Bell’s ass in debate without question.

As for Cornett, he was a vice president for Long-Range Planning at Gallaudet, and Director for Cued Speech programs until 1984. William Stokoe was the head of Sign Language Research Lab (SLR), under President Edward Merrill, Jr’s leadership, and decided to shut down the SLR. Who was Vice President? Cornett, the father of Cued Speech. What happened to Edward Miner Gallaudet’s vision in the first place? Once it was first, it will be always first. It was a history in the making. Never accept to be Alexander Graham Bell’s first choice. ASL is never the second choice.

ASL does not have poor reading skills because ASL is bad. Cued Speech is better? No. That would result in great failure that the claim about reading levels in which language it would portray as? English, the spoken-language and the cousin of Oralism. Where is the information included communication, knowledge, and information explained in ASL for Deaf community?

We cannot let the cycle keep going forward by Alexander Graham Bell that would lead to a bigger foolish thing that would hurt the literacy and language of ASL to go down the hill with literacy skills that is critical part with ASL and why it is critical in the first place.

There are many well-respected articles, professionally and sociologically printed about how ASL is unequivocally powerful in building a literacy culture. Many Deaf people’s lives who were robbed and experienced “intellectual property”, and dealt with Alexander Graham Bell’s Oralism philosophy.

Can we not let history repeat? Like Fascism happened in 1930s, and it is trying to repeat history again at this time in 2018 and soon, 2019 and it is good example that we must continue to resist against practices of Oralism. Claiming that Cued Speech would skyrocket writing in English. Claiming that cochlear implant is a marvelous invention. Listening and speaking is Alexander Graham Bell’s favorite activity. We must not let history repeat what Alexander Graham Bell’s strategics to continue bully against ASL.

The ideas about cued speech pushing for an Oralism culture and power, is scary enough of seeing the deconstruction of Oralism, the members of Alexander Graham Bell, all seeks to create a diagram or data to set up all the social arrangements that are important in economic and social power, to allow state of Illinois to advocate for Cued Speech should all states over in America follow the model bill and to bow to Cued Speech to be above ASL that demands for a social change. When SLR shut down, I am pretty sure that it was great hurt for many Deaf people around DC and across the country. Nothing can deny that. Can we let “hurt” repeat itself?

We must not accept that. We must be highly critical of Alexander Graham Bell as the dominant institution. It is the highest idea that they are secretly setting up entrapment of Deaf people’s well-being and the rights to ASL is our responsibility to stand strong with a resistance against Oralism practices. Folks, can we accept that it is OK for them to set up an entrapment?

-JT

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A Witch Hunt: America 1883

April 13, 2017April 14, 2017 The Last HiccupLeave a comment

Over the last couple of years, I have been meeting some of Deaf people who were colonized by Alexander Graham Bell’s witch-hunt. Words are too great to describe. The practices of Alexander Graham Bell Association bring in the climate of environmental hate. After reading a book, The Colonizer and the Colonized written by Albert Memmi for my Methodology of the Oppressed class in 2011, that day I remember sharing with the class about AGB’s speech in 1883:

Those who believe as I do, that the production of a defective race of human beings would be a great calamity to the world, will examine carefully the causes that lead to the intermarriages of the deaf with the object of applying a remedy.”

One of the classmates I never met before said, “It is the problem that AGB lack human-consciousness.” and that was probably best answer I’ve seen from a hearing ally. Their attitudes do serve to juxtapose the consumptions of Deaf people to that of the inhabitants of Americans; however, I think a further look could possibly be taken.

Within millions of potential allies in America, how is it not possible to see people curb their ignorance about hate crimes? Is it because the Deaf people have a tendency towards more Deaf-centered way of life? The quality of hate depreciation is also real.

Where are hearing allies? We need more allies. The classmate whom I also never met before as well, came up to greet herself and said that she read a book, “When the Mind Hears: A History of the Deaf, one of Harlan Lane’s books for her ASL class years ago in California. The teacher was wise to recommend the book even though it was not required for the class. “Recommend Reading” really makes all the difference. Thank you!

This line and many other examples in media and print reminds me of a Rubik’s cube that finds with hearing allies and those without, as if Deaf people gain a higher sense of self in their differences. We need more hearing allies to pass national hate crime law that targets Deaf people. After all, we need a big group of stronger human consciousness, too.

Friday, April 14th evening, there will be a vigil held at Gallaudet University around Laurent Clerc bust to share their stories what they experienced Audism in their lives.

-JT

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More Than Just Being Boxed In: Attacking Deaf People is a New Norm

February 25, 2017February 25, 2017 The Last HiccupLeave a comment

Boxed In. David Call. 2017.

Cochlear implant industries are out of control. When oppressors throws Deaf soul away in the box, that is the face of discipline—I mean, look at that way, think about struggle for our language and culture that we the Deaf have to deal either through or between financial and emotional is unthinkable; That’s exactly the box—punishing Deaf people—for what? IDEA! Let’s box them! Imagine what is next…..

You see, there are evil eyes aka cochlear implant industries and stockholders out there looking for any flaws to stop the truth about Deaf culture and ASL, they develop underground online camps and install blogs about how wonderful cochlear implants are.

Those haters has attempted or thought they would stall the truth. Piece by piece, word-by-word, eyes by eyes, everything ASL have built in the last 50 years that will not accept to be defeated.

Thousands of Deaf people who were trapped in the box, has met and discovered the journey of Deafhood to set up symbolic messages. They walk out of the box and tell the stories that the struggle for the language and culture as their everyday reality and it is happening everywhere in the lens of Deaf Education today and tomorrow.

The cochlear implant industries attempts to constitute an attack on intellectual life of Deaf people, also attempting to denounce them as human beings. Not only that the box represents Deaf people as intellectual inferiority—causing more problems.

It is not the society’s business to determine when being Deaf is the problem or not. Yes, that’s right, none of their business, really. All the survivors who were in the box, are the champions of defeating gross language hegemony and held those oppressors, for example, cochlear implant industries, cued-speech organizations, and oralism practices responsible for attacking their lives. Isn’t it a new norm for them to attack Deaf people? Enough.

They are the reason they are the miscue of resources as corrupt dictators and seek power as well as wealth in batteries and cochlear implant mapping more than the welfare of Deaf people.

I would ask that, in addition to continue and challenge cochlear implant industries, we need to step in to remedy the rampant human and civil rights violations that continue to occur in Deaf America, that it take punitive measures against cochlear implant industries for such a reprehensible breach of human rights violation that has put their lives in jeopardy. Are we all getting sick of being boxed in? Let’s get out of the box!

-JT

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Ending The Legacy of Cochlear Implants in Media

May 24, 2014February 27, 2017 The Last Hiccup2 Comments

It is time to submit a new legislative bill that will be in the service of truth, fairness, constitutionality, justice and equality under the law as it pertains to America’s thousands of shamed, humiliated, ostracized and persecuted Deaf people. Nancy Rourke, the Deaf master artist painted this image above to show that cochlear implants has spilled toxic water on Deaf children everyday.

Few weeks ago, I was hanging out around National Mall and saw a group of cochlear implant users, the question popped up into my mind thinking, “why cannot people see that cochlear implant companies are the supermall of the confirmation culture, where people are instantly introduced to all of the lies and myths about Deaf people?” That makes a good target for Deaf babies; children and young people for greedy cochlear implant makers. Audiologists, speech therapies, doctors, hospital representatives, stockbrokers, teachers, government agencies and more to list do not listen to Deaf people very well. Aren’t the cochlear implant makers responsible for the “confirmation culture”?

The cochlear implant companies are freighted with insufficiently examined premises. Three examples will illustrate the point. The first is that the sign language is inevitable for the Deaf people. It is not accidental. A second premise underlying the cochlear implant companies broke with Deaf people: Deaf people became oppressed, and their language and culture suppressed. And third, to meet personal needs the Deaf people become supplicants of Audists.

Economic and personal financial ladder climbing is the disease at the heart of our today’s supposedly democratic system. We have forgotten to fight for each other for the benefit of our whole society: Deafhood. Instead, we have been sold on the idea that individual self-sufficiency is the highest philosophy for living one’s life. Cochlear implant makers are the favorite cousins in Capitalism that is anti-democratic by its very nature—destroying Deaf identity. It is the same system that will make those makers rich. Very rich. They control the political power. By using political power to shut up Deaf people is not democratically equal, cochlear implant makers are just another economic terminology that must never be allowed to supersede “greater political equality” in Deaf world. I’d rather live in a society of inefficient than a society of wealthy politicians and power brokers to take advantage of Deaf people today.

There is no technology or means of predicting the future actions of a Deaf person. To hold all Deaf children and people is to hold them hostage to the actions of cochlear implant companies that they have no control over. I know for a fact that the cochlear implant companies are spreading news through government agencies and schools for the Deaf to sell their products. I know that Deaf people had been a subject for a study for very long time. However, we are not rats that run and run through the maze, a little bit faster each time. Are we any closer to determining the reason of “the state of being Deaf?”

-JT

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