***News Alert -- News Alert*** As published in donotgothere: Nelson Mandela to the World: You Are Deaf The passing of Nelson Mandela, the greatest civil rights leader of our time, and maybe all time, was perhaps his most amazing act ever. His closing act was taken before everyones eyes in the international language of sign language. Let me repeat that; Mandela Nelson spoke in the international language of sign language. How could this be a language if even the deaf said that the interpreter was signing pure gibberish? The answer will astound you: gibberish is an international language. If you dont believe me then check the international newspapers. You see, this person signing gibberish did not need any qualifications, and there are credible means where this interpreter could be perfectly honest when he said he saw angels. This would be Mr. Mandelas only way to communicate, and a mortal, a soul upon our earth, is his only physical conduit... and sign language his best language conduit to the people of the earth. And now what was his message? His message to the leadership assembled in his honor, and to the people of the world was exceedingly simple: You are deaf. In so many words Mr. Mandela has conveyed a simple message: You are deaf. You are deaf to the screams of your fellow beings, you are deaf to the failure to make people equal, and to behave the same. You are deaf to your destructive behaviors, you are deaf to even your own hypocrisy. Equality is unambiguous and yet even the deaf are deaf to this fact. We are all born into this world deaf, dumb, blind, and helpless and then we spend our lives being deaf, dumb, blind, and helpless to the fact that our fellow humans are still suffering needlessly. How absurd is that? The only way to answer absurdity is with absurdity, with nonsensical gibberish that we all understand as nonsensical gibberish. We must stop being deaf to the screams of our fellow beings, we must embrace all and understand that even those truly deaf have access to a powerful international language of sign language. Sign language can translate any sound into a visual medium, and how cool is that? How can anybody be blind to that? Why is this falling upon deaf ears? The matter of language --and as particularly noted here, sign language-- is a civil right. And as we say in our work, civil rights do not have boundaries. To give local relevancy to the larger picture we are pushing for a Deaf Cultural Digital Library in Maryland, a public library about the deaf and intended to serve all people. There are about 5.6 million people in Maryland and the typical question we get is this: How many deaf people live in Maryland? Our answer? 5.6 Million people. We all live and work together, we all need the same things albeit with different means. Equality is unambiguous and libraries in particular have a duty to serve the people. The results of our work have been predictable, most people are deaf to the idea... even the deaf. Mr. Mandelas message is clear. You are deaf. You make pronouncements in my name on a world stage and you do what at home? You do what? What is the ambiguity of humanity, of common courtesy, of civil rights that have no favored nation? Why are we deaf to the plight of our fellow man this very day? The solutions are staring us in the face, even the deaf among us are human. Whether you are actually or figuratively deaf, you are a member of the world community... let us celebrate this fact.
Posted on: Thu, 16 Jan 2014 06:55:34 +0000
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