ADVOCACY LETTERS

"Advocacy Alert" Action Aids!

Hello all !!

WHAT? ACTION AIDS –

…will celebrate a big Anniversary by showing the priceless HIV/
AIDS awareness film with Tom Hanks.... (made in Philadelphia 20 years ago).

"PHILADELPHIA"

Location: Prince Music Theater

- Broad and Chestnut Streets

Date: Saturday, May 5, 2007 – 8PM

?? Many Deaf and hard of hearing folks have been asking. “Is it the CAPTIONED version?

The answer that came back? “NO” ... with apologies. But
“whyyyyyy?" asks the Community! We all know that Action Aids does great work in so many ways and that our Film office too has a high consciousness.... But now the year is 2007 and such an oversight is no longer benign! The struggle for EQUAL ACCESS should not be this difficult in our City!

P.S. A gentle reminder: Captioning and Sign Language = Ramps when it comes to effecting Equal Access for persons with hearing loss. With 17 years post signing of the ADA) behind us....it is so getting to be enough?! The truth of the matter is that we couldn't do a thing in this country, barely open a door without ramps and rest rooms build to wheel chair specifications, yet some forty million Americans with hearing loss, for whom movies without captions are rendered *totally excluded, continue to be an 'after thought' at best. *totally excluded as would be those confined to wheel chairr without the aid of ramps to even get into the theater. For Deaf and hard of hearing people....even if they can walk IN (and many can't even do that), they are OUT!

FOLLOW UP NOTE FROM 'ACTION AIDS" DIRECTOR:

On May 3, 2007, at 4:31 PM, Kevin Burns wrote:

Carol,

Thank you for working with me to resolve the issue with the screening
of Philadelphia. I appreciate your assistance and your willingness to
follow up with an email to the folks who you initially emailed. It was
never our intention to exclude anyone from this event. Please feel free
to contact me should you have any additional questions or concerns.

Best wishes,
Kevin

Kevin J. Burns, LCSW
Executive Director
ActionAIDS
1216 Arch Street, 6th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Email: KBurns@ActionAIDS.org
Voice: 215-981-3338
FAX: 215-864-6930

10/22/06 4pm

To the Editor: Philadelphia Inquirer

TOPIC: OBSERVATION (about Gally protests) 'yes': Insight 'no'

I was deeply disappointed by Mr. Last's coverage of the current crisis in leadership at Gallaudet University in The Inquirer. He displayed a profound ignorance of the civil rights struggle underlying the passion and protests, hunger strikes and tent city on Gallaudet's campus which began with the announcement of their new President. Ms. Fernandez is a person who has long proven herself non-responsive to the very consituency who put her predecessor, Mr. I. King Jordan, in the position which he has held for the past eighteen years.

Mr. Last's analogy of this vigorous and growing protest movement is both innacurate and offensive as he sums up his own perception that "giving in to the mob rarely brings.... justice or peace". I wonder if Mr. Last is aware of the facts which were clearly laid out by the grass roots GUFSSA (www.gufssa.org) which is made up of Deaf students, faculty, alumni and staff. The detailed point by point list identifies numerous ways in which Ms. Fernandez disrespected them during her long tenure as the Provost of the University. Their document has ultimately called into question the legitimacy of the presidential search process itself, concluding that her appointment was a pre-arranged deal long before the current search began. President Jordan is alleged to have stated in a speech some ten months ago that Ms. Fernandez would follow him as his successor.

There is also considerable doubt about both the professionalism and the nature of the prior relationship with Gallaudet of the firm which was hired to assist the Board of Trustees with the search. Many now believe that the entire process was tainted to say the least. The team designed to identify the best candidate for the presidency of the nation's only Deaf University was all white, all male, and all Hearing.

Alas, even Mr. Last's use of phrases such as "hearing impaired", a term rejected by culturally Deaf, American Sign Language-using individuals since the 1988 "Deaf President Now" movement, and his use of other references such as "deaf culture", "deaf candidates", "deaf president" and "deaf rights" repeatedly throughout his article, all failed to demonstrate a minimal level of respect for this historically unseen, unheard, unacknowledged and certainly unheralded minority. Although it may seem to be a minor point to those who are able to hear, the use of a lower case "d" as opposed to an upper case "D" signify a disrespect for the Deaf community. It is only appropriate and respectful to refer to Deaf culture, a Deaf president, Deaf candidates, and Deaf rights!

I assume that Mr. Last would not think of writing "jewish" rather than "Jewish", or "african american" instead of "African American". The simple act of using a lower case 'd' when an upper case "D" is indicated displays an insensitivity to the subject and the minority culture in question. The Inquirer would do well to have a cultural-competency expert on staff to review every article before it is published so that its readers are not inadvertently insulted by insensitive reporting.

Finally, I take issue with Mr. Last's definition of Mr. Jordan's "success" which is based primarily upon how much money he raised during his tenure.While his fundraising triumphs are certainly laudable it is important to remember other important things about Mr. Jordan who was a Hearing man deafened late in life. He is one of the finest orators I have ever heard, and he was an excellent choice in 1988 to be the FIRST deaf President of Gallaudet. He instilled pride in the Deaf world and promised a greater ease of communication with the Hearing.

But it is now eighteen years later and THIS generation wants the first Deaf president; someone who LISTENS to them, speaks to them, and who can communicate with them using their own language. They want someone who is trusted enough to speak FOR them as young, proud, DEAF Americans. The complexities of the other issues raised in Mr. Last's article, such as the percentage of Gallaudet students who graduate annually, their success rate in the job market, and their continuation to Master's level study, should be addressed more thoroughly at another time.

We ought to be outraged as a nation, for example, that the average Deaf adult still reads at approximately a 3rd grade level. Being deaf or "Deaf" in and of itself should no more be an automatic qualification for the presidency of Gallaudet University than being Black or Jewish would be for the same position at Howard or Yeshiva Universities respectively.

Carol Finkle

Hearing mother of two Deaf thirty-something children; Grandmother of two grandchildren, one Deaf and one Hearing.
M.A.: Deafness Rehabiliation; M.ed.: Deaf Eduction and
Founder/Executive Director
Creative Access
100 S. Broad St., Suite 625
Philadelphia, PA 19110
Phone: 215-569-8311 T/V and VP
CELL: 215--205-0408
Email: cfinkle@creativeaccess.org
Web: www.creativeaccess.org