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Some of you may have watched my earlier video about systemic racism. I asked, how can we/you guys help dismantle it? I have thought about what was said in my earlier video. I have come to realization that the system cannot run on its own. It is impossible for the system to operate on its’ own. Therefore for it to be addressed, we would need people in the system, such as the schools, governments, communities and various positions in the higher place and most of all elected leaders and policy makers to do some deep soul searching and unpacking their biases before trying to repair the system. That is called self-accountability. People with negative attitudes would often look down on others in any form of “ism” such as racism, sexism, audism, and ableism. This includes all the other “ism” that I may not have listed above, those people would need to self-evaluate and let the biased thinking (prejudice)about others go. Do the work. Fill your heart ♥️ and soul 💝 with empathy, sympathy, and compassion, then our system can and will change. It all starts with YOU. 🤟🏾💞

Greetings from Colorado! Like many of you, I was surprised when Gallaudet announced Dr Anderson had been appointed as President of the Board of Trustees. I decided to give myself a few days to digest what I know and to share my thoughts before going public. Like many of you I have great respect for Dr. Anderson and his accomplishments, but I also acknowledge I am human. I am a human with flaws, I am not perfect. I have a full range of emotions. I feel surprised, I feel joy, I feel blessed, and happiness. On the flip side; I feel sadness anger, I feel betrayal, I feel depressed. Theses are the emotions that make us human. I’ve heard people this week say, they were happy, hopeful, hurt, shocked, betrayed and angry. You are human. The Black community is diverse. We are not all going to feel exactly the same. The announcement left me feeling puzzled, angry and determined. Was I completely shocked? No. Puzzled yes. I had felt for weeks Gallaudet was going to approach members of the Black Deaf Community. In fact as some of you have seen on TPV I myself was approached. I believe I was eliminated in the process due to being outspoken and an independent thinker. I knew Gallaudet would go shopping for someone more laidback and moderate. On racism I will never bend. As Dr. King said in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, “justice too long delayed is justice denied”. My being puzzled came from the person being Dr. Anderson. This is where my being human steps in. Gallaudet has screwed him over once. He should have been the President long ago. Racism definitely played a part in his not being appointed during Gallaudet’s second protest. The human me would have said; ‘I’m out of here ! figure this one out yourself “. My first thought was this is like Obama going to work for Trump. My mom would have said “They got more nerve than a wisdom tooth!” My anger comes from the very calculated and manipulated actions to appoint him and the seemingly innocuous way of announcing the renewal of President Cordano’s contract at same time. The fact is the contract was done before Dr. Anderson came on board. My determination comes from making sure this does not become an issue about Dr. Anderson. It is and remains an issue about race, discrimination, and oppression. As much faith as I have in Dr. Anderson the climate at Gallaudet will not change without 100% investment and commitment of Gallaudet’s leadership to change. For now Gallaudet May feel they scored. Until things change there are no winners. I hope and pray Gallaudet appreciates Dr. Anderson and does not continue to use black bodies as a shield for racism. Thank you for watching! Sheryl Emery

To white people who don't think racism does exist.

Racism leaves a long-term mental health impact on people. Evelyn shares examples of racism she has experienced, and talks about the moment of realization she had when the bubble burst on her view of the world as a happy and friendly place. Transcript in comment section below. #blacklivesmatter #blackdeaf

Transcript: Tar Gillman walking toward to screen: Hello everyone! I have to reminding y’all to TIMEOUT! There is a lot of white people with privileged start to come forward and made vlog to apologize for their wrongdoing action in the past. No way… TIMEOUT! Nope… Nope…. There is also some comment were made under their vlogs to praise them and appreciate for their apologize vlog.. TIMEOUT, They don’t have no place in saying anything about that.. A big NO to them as well. On behalf of myself, I said NO! Any apologize vlogs for their past wrongdoing is not acceptable. I don’t want to watch them just talking while there is no action. I have seen them who made high earnings and riding with their heavily white privilege. Now, all suddenly, they decide to make vlog to apologize for their action??? TIMEOUT, Where have they been? I haven’t seen them get involved with different communities beside their privileged community. They didn’t get involved with People of Color (POC) community to show their support and push them over the hill, didn’t involve with women community to make sure their access to be equal with men. Even didn’t involve with LGBT community to support them, even Black/Asian community, and many more that is below from your damned privileged. In your vlog, you keep claim that you’re apologize and acknowledged your mistake with all cheapshot talking with no action. We are tired of that. It’s really good to see more people is being call out therefore, they should start to ACT! The action to help out the different communities. You with the highest earnings, you can use your power platform to invest and help different minority communities. I want to see for those who made vlog just to apologize to make fool out of yourself start to joining BLM (Black Lives Matter) protest/march in different cities. I want to see you to get involved with them and walking with them to show your support which it means you really showing your care for them… OOHHHHH Right… You don’t do that. It’s because we caught you in the spot. You were FORCED to make vlog to apologize. What about several years ago? You had an opportunity to make vlog to apologize and own it up. You could have unpacking your privilege which you could have own it up! Nope, you didn’t do that! You waited too long for someone to caught you and expose you in the public so, you had to make vlog… Geez, you just lost me right there! Thinking you are enabled to make apologize in your vlog for what you did.. NOPE! TIMEOUT….. Stop doing that.. You got to start ACT! I want to see more ACTION in your parts.. Start to walking your talking. Right now, I am going watch you to act and if the communities is satisfied with your devote to the action and time for you to make vlog to own it up. Then so be it… I still want to see all of your action on that damn table right there! Right now, I don’t see anything on that table and you’re still talking… That is the long history of practices that white people with privileged used the apologize card so, it will be easy for them to get away with it. NOPE! NO WAY… We need start to grab them and hold them accountability. We need to stop the bad habit of accepting their apologize with no action. NO WAY!!!! THANKS

Hello everyone, My name is Pamela Lloyd-Ogoke. Greetings to you all and this message is intended for every single person. Whether you are Deaf or hearing or whether you are black, white or brown. The last few weeks have been hard. I’ve heard you all. Like many of you, I grew up living a life with daily racism and oppression. Like you, I’ve seen racism and oppression in our Deaf community. And like many of you, we find strength through our families, our friends, and our faith. The death of George Floyd and the multitude of deaths before him has been difficult. Some of us have experienced that knee on our neck, that torture in our heart, that pain of injustice. Some of us survived because of that support. We must vent, we must self-analyze, we must push for – no demand – the removal of systematic racism in our community. This is a message for every organization that serves people who are Deaf. For example, our Deaf schools. Our children enter schools at a young age and should have every right to experience people that looks like them, people who can guide their education, people who can be their mentors and their role models. But where are their role models? Leaders, teachers, teachers’ assistants who are Black or POC are scare. What happens to our Black and POC who have no access to leaders, no role models and no incentive to strive for academic excellence? What happens when that student’s family has not seen leadership that will help them reinforce to their children the possibilities of success? Now is the time for true change. For years we heave heard schools saying they cannot find qualified teachers and leaders. We have also heard of qualified teachers and leaders being denied job opportunities and promotions. Two different stories! Schools and organization – its time! You have listened for the last few weeks to the painful vlogs, examples of racism and oppression so now is time for us to listen to your plans Our Deaf organizations such as VRS providers {such as Sorenson, Purple,) CSD, NAD, state Commissioners or their equivalents, VR, I occasionally check your website to glimpse the face of your organization. Black and Brown people representative a large percentage of American population. We will not be a “minority” for long. Yet your website showing your organization leadership is mainly white Deaf or white hearing. LEADERSHIP – yes leadership roles are we you have the capacity to influence, have the capacity to empower, have the capacity to be a part of change. Leadership roles matter. Yes, all roles in an organization are important and some organizations have Black and POC Deaf people in roles but leadership… where are they? Where is the true commitment to equity, diversion and inclusion? Placing one person in a role for tokenism is not acceptable. Where is your true commitment to show your values? There is inequity within universities and organizations. True partnership between the Black Deaf community and you must be genuine. The foundation for success will rely on genuine respect, genuine commitment, strategic planning and follow through. -Accountability will now matter – excuses will not.

Transcript: “Well… Hello beautiful people. Um, I want to say thank you – to many of you who shared really kind words about the loss of my cat yesterday. It really, honestly happened very fast. It has been tough on my family and I. So thank you to those who messaged me online. That was much appreciated. Hold on, I just need to adjust the camera down a little bit. Shhh (to someone right off-camera) Ok. Ok sorry. I have had oh I feel like – about a week, or week and a half of almost no sleep, tossing and turning. Of course about Black Lives Matter and the chaos with KP and with, with Gallaudet University, and many people going at each other and throwing blame. There is a LOT of fighting, and a LOT of very angry people. We all know tension is really high right now. Many people are feeling very excited about many things. Um… As I’ve been watching all this, I decided to look at certain things again – some good points, some ridiculous but we know better, and some pose interesting questions. Uh, but I need to… ask you a question. I will expand a little bit on the reason why I’m posing this question too. We know about people in general. Again, tension and sensitivity is high right now, so people are sensitive to so many things. And sometimes a sentence, or a post, can be misconstrued (/twisted/misunderstood) so fast without people asking for clarification on what was meant or intended. Or, sometimes someone does clearly understand what was meant, and it is offensive. Ok, alright. You know. So… we’re angry. We’re confused. We are distrusting of one another. But here’s my concern. Someone… or…. Actually let’s put it this way. I’ll give a brief example of what I’m talking about. “KP” Kappa Gamma, the fraternity body. We already know there are some Black Deaf involved – POC involved, and we know many white. We know about the posts that said “We’re sorry for everything that happened” and everything like that. NOW we have people reacting to how you react to that – their post. Some people refuse to believe or accept it, some people are ok with it, some say they’re not really sure if they ‘buy it’, kinda hard to trust it. Some people are just plain mad and trying to outdo one another and go at each other, calling for resignations, and all sorts of things. I understand! Ok – I get it! I’m reading it and – you can’t NOT say that, I get it.

It ain’t your platforms! Transcription Roy Jones in green tank top. Hello. I had so many thoughts running through my mind. It’s really long list. I have to make many different blogs about my thoughts. There were several of great importance and I had to create vlogs to ensure I won’t forget, adding more vlogs and it’s a lot to do. This specific vlog I’m doing, I have to say this. I noticed POC vocalizing what they saw and call out people of white privileges. Calling out to stop, and to take actions, and to end discriminations. Calling all of them to wake up. Making sure enough is enough. That is what POC can do, black, their platform to call out racists. Now for all of you white people, all of you have no right to call out other white people out. Nope. You are just white people on equal level with other white people. Big no. White people and POC? POC are oppressed, they can call out to white people because it’s not fair to POC. That’s their rights. You white people just stand by and LOOK, see what is going on and see how white people are called out. Then white people can talk to these called out, to ask them if they will change or not. Sharing members of POC’s message, to reflect their concerns, make correct comments. To ensure their feelings are validated, but for white people looking to call out other white people who used to be oppressor is not their job. It is WHITE people who had history of behaviors that leads to oppression of POC, that is racism. Skin colored is different from whites. As for hearing and deaf, deaf get oppressed, that is audism which is other different issue of oppression. This is about racism, black color. We have many disasters going on so we have Black Live Matters, our rights are not equals yet! We worked hard to get that privileges white people have had. But now you white people? Calling out other people on different issues, making it difficult, influencing more distractions, it takes away our powers and our voices. Forcing more of white people adding on calling out to more white powers losing the purpose of our movement, this need to stop! FINISH. Leave POC alone to do their things, let black call out by themselves. You white people needs to sit down and be quiet! That’s it. Sit, watch, and LISTEN. You know that you white person, you call out white person for racism and you are white person. It makes you racist in that scenario. You abused our community by getting out of way preserving your own white privileges by calling out racism to other people do focus won’t be on you anywhere. You wouldn’t see what your actions does to others because you were busy distracting others and not paying attention to yourself. Deep inside yourself, you have had history of racism. You don’t know because you were not allowing yourself to be called out by pointing to other whites. You can’t see, you aren’t analyzing. Once you call other white person out, you are racist. Finish, sit down and analyze yourself. Let all of us and others take care of this. Got it?

EDIT: I deleted the word "visual" from the "visual description" because that word is oppressive for some people who are blind and/or Deafblind who do not rely on visual culture. [Description: Jesse Jones III, a dark-skinned man with locs pulled back, a beard, and blue eyes, wearing off-white long-sleeved buttoned shirt, in front of white cupboards.] TRANSCRIPT: Hello, my name is Jesse Jones and I’m a Black Deaf person living here in San Diego. I want to voice something about DCS - Deaf Community Services - here in San Diego, CA. There was a video made recently about Black Lives Matters from DCS, but I felt that they were hypocritical because of the awfully bad systemic racism there at Deaf Community Services (DCS). Examples (of systemic racism) include their hiring; Black Deaf people tend to have a hard time getting hired for jobs. If Black Deaf people by chance get a job there, they’re probably the first to go. If Black Deaf people by luck get a job, their chance of getting promotions is very slim. Those problems are symptoms of systemic racism currently still existing there. DCS, for the past week, laid off two Black Deaf employees, which is of consequential severity. There were altogether of only three, before this week’s two layoffs, ONLY THREE Black Deaf employees there. Now, with the two layoffs, imagine how that one remaining sole Black Deaf employee must feel. Think they feel safe? Also, the two Black Deaf employees who got laid off will have difficulties finding employment. Now, look at other BIPOC people who may attempt to apply for jobs there at DCS- that will be difficult. Their attempts at getting promotions will be difficult. They’ll also probably be the first to go. My heart aches for them. There are a few BIPOC Deaf staff working at DCS. I ask that the DCS executive team, and I ask that the DCS Board of Directors must develop action plan how you WILL dismantle systemic racism at DCS. Show that you will earnestly do the work to ensure that systemic racism is not there anymore, dismantled for good. Systemic racism has to go because Deaf community is important. Black Deaf people, BIPOC Deaf people are both a big part of the San Diego Deaf community. Deaf Community Services serves Deaf community, which is very diverse. Deaf Community Services (DCS) is being led by a hearing person. This is NOT OK. I ask the hearing executive director of DCS to please resign now. Deaf Community Services needs a Deaf executive director. Thank you. #RepresentationMatters #BlackLivesMatter #BlackDeafLivesMatter #SystemicRacism

It has been difficult for me to post this video on my platform. My heart is broken into pieces to see our community is divided by two groups of people who support and not support the basic principles of justice. Don’t lose focus on the big picture of what we are fighting for.....fight against the systemic racism. Coretta Scott King’s quote stated: “ Struggle is a never ending process. Freedom is never really won, you earn it and win it in every generation.” Transcript Credit to Emily Friedberg: 0:00 For the past two weeks, I’ve had a chance to view various posts and vlogs about stories relating to Black History, #BLM, GF (George Floyd), Gallaudet, KG (Kappa Gamma), PKZ (Phi Kappa Zeta), African American, American-born… After viewing them all, I was not sure where to start. Have you noticed that Black Deaf People have started to share their stories relating to racism? Have you noticed that when they start to share their stories, they confess that it is painfully difficult yet they need their stories heard and to be shared. Some of their stories were buried deep in their souls for a long time. Now it’s the time to stop holding back their stories and time to tell what has been happening thus far relating to their experiences growing up: School, work, organizations, and various settings. 1:00 What saddens me the most about this. America is one of the MOST diverse places. I have traveled around the world. I’ve had a chance to visit different countries. Most of the countries I’ve been to have “one culture”, “one homogenous race”, all of them identifiable through each country. In America, we are beautifully diversified, Latino, Black, White, Deaf, Hearing, and many more, Gay, Lesbians, LGBT, Straight, and MANY more groups in one beautiful place in America. It’s really one of the CHAMP places. But sadly, when it comes to Justice, it’s very archaically unjustified. 1:44 I have been cautious about how I present my posts and my stories. Perhaps too cautiously…. People are living in fear and I get it. Some of you know me as a teacher, SIGN1News Anchor, friend, family member. My name is Candace Jones (sign name). People who share their stories have been called out, ridiculed, lambasted, and more on their platform of concerns. Factedly YES. I have no doubts or dissuaded them from sharing their stories. It is their experience and THEIR journey. I completely get it. It is akin to Hearing people trying to tell Deaf people what is best for them, their concept of better education, telling them what to do, that speech/spoken language is better for the Deaf people. Hearing people’s indoctrinations after indoctrinations upon Deaf people. Deaf people are saying ENOUGH, stop telling us what is best for us, or tell us what to do. It is MY (Deaf person) journey, MY experience, and I know what’s BEST for me. Allegorically akin to the Black Deaf people. Maybe you all don’t get it 100% yet how truly a Black person feels inside and what they had to endure in their daily lives 24/7. Just as a hearing person doesn’t understand a Deaf person’s life 24/7 of daily oppression, manipulation, and assumptions. Do hearing people understand it 100%? No, not really. Never! However they can develop SOME empathy and a degree of understanding, learn as they go along, thus providing better justifiable support. This allegorical comparison parallels our Black Deaf people AND Black people needs.

Hello, my name is Demara. My namesign is Open B handshape to A handshape near right forehead (demonstrated twice). I am the former NTID Ebony Club (EC) president from 2016. Did I feel like I was “PRESIDENT” – no! Instead I saw us as one big family. We were a collective entity – EBONY CLUB. We were like any big family unit. We would all feel equally welcome to bring any issues to the table to share our feelings, experiences, and put our heart out for all to see. I noticed a pattern to these issues being brought forth, a commonality. We were constantly asking “Where is the access?” “Where is the diversity?” “Where is the inclusion?” There was none around campus. None. Thus, we felt it was time to address these issues and to solve them. We wanted to face them to improve our access and our sense of belonging within the NTID community. And this was not only desired by EC alone – the Latin American Deaf Club, Asian Deaf Club, and other groups had this in common with us. We all looked at each other and agreed YES this is a repeated pattern of exclusion that we share and we EC decided we needed to do something about it. We decided to write a letter. Yes, indeed. We put it all together and when we were done we felt, “yes, this is important to inform NTID President GB (namesign for Gerry Buckley) and all of the NTID community so they are aware of what is going on within our community. Not only were we concerned about the Black and Brown community – no, we were inclusive of all People of Color too. We sent this letter and there was some bustle and an urgent meeting was called. We re-affirmed that YES everything we wrote is the truth and we poured out our raw feelings and experiences, confirming that yes we totally see there is a problem here. Case in point, there are not many diverse faculty/staff members. Where are the people who are the same as us, who fit us? There are little to none. For example, myself as a Black Deaf woman, there are no counselors who really get my personal issues. When I scan the NTID counselors, all I see are White counselors. No Black or Latinx counselors. There is no one like me. I don’t feel any good matches. There is no comfort zone for me there. I have to vent and process my issues to with my friends or my family but with family members there is often communication barriers. NTID is the perfect place to have full access to language via sign language, plus if the person also had the same cultural background as me and similar lived experiences, that would be so beneficial. We really feel the time is now on this. Another issue we expressed is the lack of any Black ASL course offerings. We have a right to know where we come from, our roots. So where, where are these courses for us? Not only BASL but other sign languages and cultural courses. We all agreed and wanted to see NTID be truly inclusive for all. We wanted to see our rights met in a variety of settings such as counseling, clubs, employment and educational along with language rights so we could fully be included. They should not be excluding us. How things transpired – it started with the letter, people talking about it, having meetings, a committee was formed DEI (Diversity, Equality and Inclusion). DEI was formed and the team shared ideas and reviewed different plans with a diverse group of people. It was growing and generating ideas – was it successful? I don’t know but I really hope you keep up the good work, don’t give up. Keep fighting for our COMFORT and sense of HOME. NTID should be a second home because language and communication is there along with friends and a sense of family as we find our common ground and what we have to offer. Where I stand – yes it is TIME to address the need for diversity & inclusion. We were successful in getting the Chief Diversity Officer post created, where Stephanie was hired. A Black Deaf Woman took the post! And we started to see more diversity here and there. That is where we started to see a good effect on NTID’s community and I hope it will continue to grow more and more in the future – for Black, Latinx, Asian, many different races involved. This includes all types of people – different sexual orientations, etc. We really want to include everyone. That is how things started while I was President of EC. We just gave it our all – It wasn’t me alone – it was an amazing team of unity. Remember we all become ONE family and this is our home. Bye bye.

KAPPA GAMMA BROTHERS, where are u boys?

Institutional Racism, a kind of systemic violence, in the College of Transcript: Everyone congratulated them and I hoped that their awards would show that their positions are so important to keep. Nope. They shut down the position. The administrative team did not care. They don’t care about diversity and inclusion in SLT. They closed the assistant director position first. Here is the story behind this. The assistant director used to be the advisor for the Ebony Club (EC), a fully Black Deaf organization/club. EC wrote up 6 demands and sent it to the administration. The EC advisor, a white man, joined them to give them perspectives and act as a sounding board for ideas. The Ebony Club executive board was the one who wrote the demands and worked on clarifying the language. The advisor just worked to support that. For some reason, the administrative team found out that that person was the EC advisor and closed that position as a retaliation, not hiring that person again. That completely threw me and students off. We were extremely upset that they closed the position. We needed that position! That position is critically needed, their services and responsibilities are needed. When they cut that off, it threw off so much. To be clear, I know that the administration said they closed it because of financial issues, which is not true. NSC at that time was led by white LGBTQIA students. Those NSC leaders had a dialogue with the administration and made it clear that money is not the issue here. They lied when they blamed it on financial issues. Its not true, simple as that. SLT was struggling with money and understaffs, and they know they need to expand, period. That is when the 2-year position was opened, as a way to pat our heads and hands, to shut us up. Did they plan to keep that position after two years? Not at all. So now, both positions are closed. The system became unstable and unhealthy. After the two year position was closed, they reopened the assistant director position and hired a white person with a PhD. He had no knowledge of community-based leadership. They took that position and shut the wall between them and the community. Many students objected and put in complaints. I don’t need to expand on it further, it is done. We are not satisfied with the current assistant director. Who is their supervisor? NTID administrators, especially VP of Student Affairs and Academic Services. That woman, white woman, allowed that kind of behavior to happen. We’ve already seen clear examples of racism. Any support is quickly cut off and diminished. They control our lives, our voices, our movement, our beliefs. They are aggressively controlling. Now I will move on to another topic. I will talk about my current experiences. When I was president, my NSC VP was a white man. He had an idea to change community structures, and the idea was to label groups. For example, ALANA means race, such as Latinx, Asian, Indigenous, Black people, etc. He wanted to lump them all together and give them one vote. Before they could vote as individual organizations, getting one vote each. He wanted to change that. I stepped in and did not permit that to happen. I knew it would cause many problems and reduce accessibility and would increase miscommunication. I have seen racist systems pit together groups to cause more problems. When I said no to this idea, it became more hostile for me. It got to the point where I did not feel safe. He had to leave. We had to heal and fix this mess. Thats why the community meetings name is NTID Student Congress Assembly (NSCA) was not entirely supported by both of NTID community members and club representatives. There was a lot of missing information. A lot of ownership problems and ego mentality. How did this come up? It goes back to the administrative team, the same three administrators I mentioned before. They loved the idea and the VP of Student and Academic Service, white woman, fully supported it. She went to Student Government calling to change the structure of my community meetings. Does SG know about my community? Absolutely nothing. SG, NSC VP, and the VP of Student and Academic Service had that dialogue without me. I told NSC VP that I said no to this idea. He decided not to tell SG that I said no. They went on without me. When I arrived to the meeting, my NSC VP was not there and when I told them that I said no to this idea, they were shocked and disappointed. It was a huge mess, very bad. The NSCA name was wrong, it used to be called NSA, NTID Student Assembly. This was originally set up by the community, with no influence from the administration, and no influence from SG. The NTID Deaf community decided on this. In this situation, it was not the same. It was not fair. They wanted to show that community meetings are owned and are operated under NSC. It is impossible for them to be structured like that. They must share authority, communicate with each other equally. One cannot control the other. They are like a life force, a breathing living thing, that must share and live together, period. The same concept applies to the Student Life Team department. SLT cannot overtake NSC, and NSC cannot dictate and punish SLT. Both departments must work together. Why? Both of them share resources. Once both have built a stronger relationship, it will become more healthy. Then they can succeed together. If the SLT department is ineffective, then NSC will be struggling. Is that clear? So back to that situation, when the administrators found out- I will back up. As NSC president, working my VP, we can often talk with the VP of Student and Academic Service alone or with other people on either side. When my NSC VP left, I remain stand with my voice and beliefs. I knew I wouldn’t back down, I would keep going. After the administrators found out about that, VP of Student and Academic Service never met with me alone. She always had more than two people to meet with me in the room. Occasionally I would bring in NTID Senator and NSC director of Academic Affairs. But most of the time I would butt heads with the HR lawyer person. Keep in mind, I was only 24 years old and a college student. They treated me as if I was a lawyer myself. That’s how I feel battling with them. It was an ongoing hostility for me. That interaction was no good. It got to a point where enough was enough. I was done. The only witnesses of this were NSC advisors, the director of diversity and inclusion saw this happening too. The director of diversity and inclusion are not here too. They already saw this. It is very concerning and very frightening. That is why the current SLT team is not healthy and not stable. Why? They are choked. They cannot breathe. They cannot get support from the administrators because they are against each other. That is institutional racism. That impacts students of color the most. Back then, the population was majority white, but now it is changing to be more diverse and healthier. But the admin wants to spite that and suppress it. Hiring clueless people, closing positions, weakens SLT’s ability to support all students’ needs. The SLT team already knows they need more staff, but they are controlled by the administrative team. It is hostile for SLT too. That is my perspective.

Transcript: Hello, my name is Franly, here is my sign name. Some people know me as (different sign name), because it is an old sign name. I am ok with both sign names. I want to talk about institutional racism in the College of NTID and RIT. Both, yes. Before I begin, I want to acknowledge and be aware that there has been a lot of false information spreading. Often, those are lacking information, and students and people perceive half of the information, and there are no other perspectives provided. Who spreads that information? NTID administrators, faculty & staff, students, and alumni. Those 4 groups of people reinforce institutional racism. I want to be clear: those situations you’ve heard about are typically not true, and there are a lot of misconceptions that are causing confusion and stickiness. It is difficult to address that. That chaos is becoming more violent. It is at the point where trust has been broken at many levels, between me and other white students who hold positions. There is a lot of hidden information that the community doesn’t know. I am choosing not to share because it is not my goal to expose each individual. I am not going to be a part of hunting for others, holding others accountable. Why? That hunt is a part of institutional racism. They are playing us against each other. I want to be clear about where I stand. So now, I want to expand on my background. I served in several different leadership positions. First, I was NTID Student Assembly (NSA) speaker and ran community meetings. Second, I became involved with Latin American Deaf Club, LADC. I also was the student advisor for NTID Student Congress. Lastly, I was also the president of NSC, NTID Student Congress. Those 4 positions plus my job experience. I served on the Student Life Team, SLT. If you don’t know them, you can look at their website. I served one year, but with two different job titles. Each semester was a different title. I also worked as an ambassador, leading tours for prospective students who were curious about the RIT campus and what it looks like, what NTID looks like. That was one of my jobs. I’ve won many awards from community votes. One award, the NTID administration, academic chairperson from different departments voted to pick me as an NTID delegate for RIT’s graduation ceremony in 2015. This is important because RIT has a total of 9 colleges, and their delegates represent them on stage. The NTID delegate, who was me, sits in front of the RIT graduation crows, over 3,000 people, deaf and hearing people mixed. Those people will see the delegates on stage, and each delegate gave a speech on behalf of their college. This meant I gave a speech during the NTID graduation ceremony only. I also forgot to mention that I have also served for Student Government, SG, as a NTID senator. My role focused on the college of NTID as a whole, and any issues within, academic issues, teachers, academic committees, etc. I participated with that and also made sure that NTID had access to other RIT courses by working with senators who represented other colleges.

hello all. How are you? Hope you all are doing well. I am well. My name is Antines Davis, known as NuNu…. from where? Of course! Maryland!!!!! The reason why I’m making this vlog is I want to get a pulse/do some crowdsourcing on what? Deaf institutes/schools to get a feel for/see the school systems around the USA with three important questions. I’m curious to know if yours are the same. First question is what? Your deaf institute/school- is it under the state department of education or not? Second question – does your deaf school have a good/strong union that can protect their employees or no protection? Third question – Does your deaf institute/school have a Board of Trustees? If yes – is it a good Board of Trustees that gathers information from parents, students, staff, deaf community all across that state? Can grievances be brought to the Board of Trustees to be recognized and is action taken or does the Board ignore the grievances? Which? That is what I want to ask you. I am very curious. Now I want to discuss the first question – the state department of education. I am an alumni of Maryland School and am a proud graduate of the Class of 1985. (*smiling* ~asl many many good memories – that year champ~?) I love that class. Wow. Now I wonder – this bothers me. FYI – Maryland School has two campuses – (signing the names for the two campuses - Frederick and Columbia) – Frederick, MD and Columbia, MD. Two deaf institute/school campuses I wonder if you’re aware that Maryland School for the Deaf does NOT fall under MSDE (Maryland State Department of Education)? I didn’t know that. Maryland School for the Deaf true biz is cut off/independent of MSDE. I have a letter to prove this. (showing printed letter with address of receiver redacted/blacked out). *scratching ear* Let me read to you *putting glasses on and adjusting them* Excuse me. Okay. It states “Maryland State Department of Education and Maryland School for the Deaf are separate.” Maryland School for the Deaf does what? Runs on their own. *scratching nose* “Any questions you want to know or (related to) structure, how it is run, any questions reach out straight to who? Maryland School for the Deaf administration and Board of Trustees.” That’s it. *nodding head* Wow. I want you to know about this. *shaking head with a slight smile* okay… I’m confused. This is not clear. I want to understand this. Maryland School for the Deaf is on its own and is separate from MSDE. Remember MSDE stands for Maryland State Department of Education ok? Will abbreviate it all the way for the rest of this vlog. MSDE is separate…. Ok fine… Now I wonder *who* is watching Maryland School for the Deaf? Who is facilitating and supporting the school? Who? Maryland School for the Deaf is independent of MSDE. Ahhh clear! Makes sense. I’ll tell you who – that is OAG watches Maryland School for the Deaf. OAG is who? Office of the Attorney General. That letter I showed you has the information. *waving paper* I will expand on this. Excuse me while I get my glasses to read. *putting glasses on and adjusting them* OAG – Office of Attorney General… OAG assigns an Assistant Attorney General – abbreviated AAG. AAG does what? Advises Maryland School for the Deaf administration and Board of Trustees. AGG’s role is independent. Independent. So if Maryland School for the Deaf wants to know specific questions, information, etc, they can ask OAG. *reading* OAG itself. Now second question – union and third question – board of trustees are no good/weak. No wonder they have no strength because of OAG/AAG… FYI – OAG/AAG do do? Focus on the top at Maryland School for the Deaf – who? Administrators. Others at Maryland School for the Deaf – staff, teachers, teachers aides, dorm supervisors, janitors, cafeteria workers, etc etc are insignificant/pushed to the side. That explains why union and Board of Trustees are weak *nodding/head shake* Oh and OAG more of protects Maryland School for the Deaf administrators not the “other/lesser” employees. That is why the union and Board of Trustees are so weak. For example, remember on June 26th 2020? Do do? Maryland School for the Deaf Board of Trustees meeting *takes glasses off* - during meeting, they went from open to closed to open to closed sessions and pushed away/ignored the Black deaf staff’s list of demands that had been submitted. What to do about that? Something is not right. *shaking head* I want to show you something important associated with the OAG/AAG. Doesn’t make sense. *brings paper with an organizational structure on it – two sections are circled – one in the middle and one in the upper right hand corner* *points to upper right hand corner* *rubs nose* *puts glasses on* *points to middle of paper* The Division of Early Intervention and Special Education Services for the whole state for the State of Maryland *points to middle of paper* *points to upper right hand corner* - OAG. Since Maryland School for the Deaf is separated from MSDE, right? *pushes glasses up* but…… *points to middle of paper (Division of Early Intervention and Special Education Services) – now where to go? *same paper but with a maroon arrow pointing up from Early Intervention to OAG* OAG. No wonder OAG has more control. That is why Board of Trustees and union struggle – can’t stand, can’t voice or fight due to OAG/AAG who ignores them and pushes them aside to focus only on top Maryland School for the Deaf administrators. *clasps hands, kissfist, praise, thumbsup, push aside lesser people* That’s a problem. Why? Maryland School for the Deaf consistently has problems/issues because of that. So what is the solution? You tell me what to do. I want to show you something. A video…. vlog. That person vlogged on last June 3rd, 2020. I want you to watch. His name is James E. Tucker, Superintendent of Maryland School for the Deaf. *nodding* JET vlog starts: ‘Hello, MSD community. I have a letter in front of me by the camera so I will be looking a bit off camera to read it. Okay. We now grieve at the recent passing of three individuals – Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, as well as many many other Black individuals who passed away over the years. These deaths caused a lot of pain for many Americans who already are traumatized by a long history of senseless killings in our country. MSD stands to collaborate with the Black community, including our Black staff, students, and families in protest against racism, bigotry, and systematic violence against Black individuals. We support the Black Lives Matter movement and we hope that movement will form a new path to start as many dialogs among ourselves and begin systematic reforms of American institutions to eradicate racism for once and for all.’ NuNu: Well! See the vlog I just shared – see what he said? *shaking head* My mind is blown because this does not fit in with his actions/behavior over the years. He said MSD stands strong against racism, bigotry, blah blah blah blah…. *scratching behind her ear with pained expression* (pause) I don’t get it. (pause with puzzled expression looking off camera with hand on lower face) Thirty years total *shaking head*

Hello everyone! This is my RAW vlog about Phi Kappa Zeta. I pledged the sorority in 2016 during my last semester at Gallaudet University for about four months. I didn’t want to deal or participate with PKZ right after I graduated in 2016 but, I contributed to it anyway. I was silent about it for a few years but now is the time for me to share with you about PKZ. I’d like to thank Maggie Kopp for doing a transcript and caption for me. I apologize for the light due to the sunset in the video. TRANSCRIPT - Hello, my name is Isabella Albert, *sign name*. I identify as a Black Deaf woman. My pronouns are she, her, hers. *deep sigh* You know, right now, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement is elevating right now and everyone started to open up, share stories, discuss. I just joined FB last week, am overwhelmed but yes, I’m trying to take everything in. All your stories are heart-wrenching. Powerful, and I understand. This oppression is finished. Enough is enough. After some thinking, I feel it’s time for me to open up about my experience with racism at phi kappa zeta. I’m a pkz alumni, not a proud sister. The reason I joined? I wanted to do something new, something different, challenging, you know? I asked some BIPOC sisters/alumni what they thought of the sorority. They gave me a thumbs up. Told me it’s a rich & positive experience and I should join. I said fine, but they didn’t share the negative parts. So it seemed a good idea to me. You know, get out of my comfort zone. I applied, got accepted, and pledged in 2016…during my last semester of Gallaudet University. Just a little cute four-month period. I entered, and my world turned upside down. Wow. It wasn’t what I imagined at all. You know, the learning process always has pros and cons, but racism exists in pkz, like all other greek organizations. It’s in their history, culture, deep into the roots. Yes, I experienced racism. Implicit bias & unconscious bias, constantly, here and there. It really had a huge impact on my mental health. Let me give one example—this might be triggering. Okay, one example during the pledge program. A BIPOC pledge broke down into tears because they felt like nobody really did anything to console that person. I immediately checked in, supporting them to make sure they’re okay. But the other day, a white pledge broke down crying and everyone rushed to them, giving moral support and attention. Even pkz sisters checked in and gave good tips for their situation. I was appalled, yeah. When I look at that situation—one person was an international student, one person was from a Deaf family, from Maryland School for the Deaf. Fair? No. That whole picture is a perfect analogy for pkz sisterhood. Yup, that’s what it looks like. There’s so many stories, it’s heavy. Pros and cons, well, based on my observations after the pledge program, sisters of color feel marginalized, really like they’re disappearing in pkz. I saw this as wrong and racist. I already shared and told others my concerns repeatedly. You said oh fine, listened, and talked, but action wasn’t there. I got fed up, I’m not going to waste my energy on that shit. I don’t want to be a part of that elite organization, I was done. Honestly, pkz has 128 years of oppression and harm in many different ways. Doing the opposite of pkz’s “mission” of supporting all women, including non-binary and gender queer people. But they failed to do this for BIPOC sisters. It’s like they’re finally trying to get our attention now, “let’s fix this!” No, it’s too late. To fight racism, stop trying to fix the people, just fix the system that enables racism.Really, if we fix the system for Black people, we automatically fix it for everyone else. Honestly, I have a hard time understanding why some people have that idea of resisting Gallaudet University shutting down all greek organizations. Honestly! Wanna address racism? Let’s start with greek organizations, because the greek world reflects white control. It’s a broken system that divides students at Gallaudet University. It harms everyone regardless of their status. It puts the community at risk, really. I believe that students on campus would feel safe & welcome without greek organizations. Period. Know that greek organizations still reinforce the idea of legacy & generational favoritism in your recruiting. Same family, same race…of white people. You’re from a Deaf family, you’re in. From a well-known Deaf school, you’re in. It’s no secret, just look at the big picture. From the top positions in our community, who’s up there? Who are the leaders, who are in high positions, who are at the frontline of organizations? They’re all white. That’s clear. The message underneath…is that whiteness is considered valuable. The networks, the connections, the eye-winking, all that shit. Where does that come from? The answer is right there. I hope that greek organizations will address issues that have been ignored for so long. Swept under the rug, building up a pile that’s incredibly filthy. There needs to be accountability, and accept the shut down. Replace with a new program, new concept. What’s wrong with that? It always starts small, really whatever happens will have a domino effect. My heart is heavy for all pkz sisters of color who tried to get it right, and those who quit for good. White sisters, do the work. Thanks for watching and listening.

My thoughts on black lives matters and my personal experience in the deaf and hoh community. Also my personal experience being discriminated, mistreatment, and oppressed from my past experience.

(ID: A tall bald and bearded Black man wearing clear frame eyeglasses wearing a black polo shirt. Background - ceiling construction with wood beams and plywood. "Hello, after watching vlogs about racism experiences, I've been inspired and want to share my experiences *pauses to push glasses up* I have two stories. First, I was a small boy with an Afro. *pauses* During recess-break, we were playing. Students - many are white, maybe 300-400, 3-4 of us are Black. They tease/taunt me, "you wanna be friends? Wanna? Must let us pull/pinch your hair". I responded/defended myself saying, "No, leave me alone, finish. leave me alone, I value/precious my hair". *shakes head* No. Tru-biz, they'd sneak up behind me, pull/pinch my hair, like actual dirt sprinkled over my head, rocks, make a game out of what materials they could put in my hair. I didn't know they were doing it the whole time. My hair/Afro is huge, thick. After recess, I went to the classroom, sit at a desk, and a teacher who is white,, all of my teachers were white .. I've never had a Black teacher until... high school. The first time I had a Black teacher.. anyway, I was sitting, and the white teacher said nothing (about my hair), did not reprimand students who put stuff in my hair. Nothing. School finished for the day, I got on the bus - my school is a day school, not a deaf institute with dorms - I rode home on the bus, got home, and my mom saw me with stuff in my hair and became mad. I was stunned, said, "why??" Mom said, sit down/get over here. She pulled things out of my hair, showing me stuff that was in it... I ... thought they respected me. They did not. What they did - tru biz racist. Their behavior really squashed my self-esteem *scratches his head and shaking his head* I'll never forget it. We reached a point where my mother was fed up and shaved my head, leaving a short crew cut. That was a long time ago. I began to realize, "I am different." "Second story: At Gallaudet University, a teacher named Dr. Kathleen Woods *leans towards the screen "I hope you are watching this" leans back* I registered for her 300 level class. It took place early in the morning... I walked towards the classroom, and soon as I got inside the classroom, the teacher, Dr. Wood, stopped me and said, "What are you doing here? You're in the wrong classroom". "I'm in the right classroom," I responded by showing her my schedule with my name and class. She checked her class list and found my name. At first, she said nothing, then she asked me to "wait outside for you might be in the wrong classroom" I stared at her, feeling disturbed (signed "sick-head") then waited outside the classroom. *pauses to rub nose*. She came up and started to discuss me withdrawing from her class, thinking that I am not a good fit. I said, "No, I need this class - why - I want to minor in journalism. She wasn't supportive. She continued to say that I should withdraw from class on and on for weeks and weeks, months, and months. Towards the end of the semester to the point where I was fed up and withdrew. What was the point, she giving me a hard time and knowing she'd give me a bad grade.. *shakes head* That is racist. Again, her name is Dr. Kathleen Wood *pauses*. Racist *fingerspells close to screen)

Things to consider when apologizing for past racist actions. And reasons why it is difficult for many Black people to trust other people's words about them being anti-racist without seeing them take anti-racist action. Keep in mind that I do not speak for Black people or POC as a whole. This video does not discuss anti-racist actions in depth because there are resources available online, in books, and on social media. For example, the following two links that I have on hand are good resources: https://www.blackdeafcenter.com/ http://bit.ly/ANTIRACISMRESOURCES Video description: a Black Deaf woman with long locs, wearing round, transparent purple glasses, and a white polo shirt expressing herself in American Sign Language. Google Doc with full transcript since there is a character limit for this description box: http://bitly.ws/8Rjh

I have a terrible experience at my old school of American School for the Deaf due to racism, discrimination, and oppression. Sorry for late the late post, due lot of drawings. It is emotion experience, thank you for bearing with me. You enjoy this video. Sorry, no closed caption will update the closed caption later (Please don't concern my mother's face because she is trying to help, thank you) Please share and give some love!

ELITISM * FAVORITISM * CRONYISM * NEPOTISM * RACISM

I want to speak out my RAW feelings about Deaf community especially white/elite people.

Repost by Shawn German Actions speak louder than words‼️ #StayWokePpl Instagram.com/shaheem TikTok.com/@shaheemrs

RACISM (noun) Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior.

Alabama Black Deaf Advocates & Alabama School For the Deaf I want to make sure superintendent contact me because I am ready! We want to PROTECTED for Black...