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First National Deaf People of Color Conference a Big Success! By Thuan Thi Nguyen and Ernest E. Garrett III The National Deaf People of Color Conference, the first of its kind, successfully launched from March 29, 2007 until April 1, 2007 at the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown. Running under the auspices of the ad hoc National Coalition of Deaf People of Color, this conference presented with several objectives, including the desire to inform the majority culture about the challenges and resilience of deaf people of color. Another goal was to celebrate the similarities and differences among various cultures, and to encourage the experience of personal empowerment for those attending the conference. A major emphasis of the conference was issues relating to education and community advocacy for a multicultural deaf constituency, which connects with the conference's theme, United We Prevail, in Diversity We Thrive. NBDA President Thomas Samuels and NBDA Secretary Cory Parker were both present at this conference. They hosted a booth with pictures of successful black deaf people and information about the Youth Empowerment Summit (Y.E.S.) and the Miss Black Deaf America Pageant, both national programs of NBDA. Prior to the actual conference, a pre-conference institute, sponsored by the Gallaudet University Department of Education and the Gallaudet Leadership Institute, took place on March 29, 2007. This all-day training session included four workshops that focused on Leadership and Empowerment for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students (Tim Albert), Tools for Training and Organizational Development for Leaders of Color (Judy Stout), ADA, IDEA, and More: the Legal Aspects and Rights of Deaf People of Color (Donald Tinsley), and Establishing a Successful Minority Mentoring Program (Thuan Thi Nguyen). Dr. Laurene Simms, the conference chair/liaison did an outstanding job of coordinating this conference along with the deaf women of color who originally came up with the idea to get together with ideas to address their concerns. These deaf women all work at Gallaudet University and they are Laurene Simms, Thuan Nguyen, Leticia Arellano and Francisca Rangel. Dr. Simms is an Associate Professor in the Department of Education at Gallaudet. She also serves on the Board of NBDA as the East Regional Representative. Thuan Nguyen is the Mentoring and Minority Academic Support Programs Coordinator at Gallaudet. She is also an Appointed Board Member of the NAD Board of Directors. Leticia Arellano is an American Sign Language (ASL) Proficiency Evaluator and Diagnostician with the Center for American Sign Language Literacy (CASLL) at Gallaudet. Last, but not least, Francisca Rangel is an ASL and deaf studies coordinator at the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center. She also serves as a bilingual professional development mentor. These women deserve a big hand wave for giving birth to this dream that has become real. Matthew S. Moore also deserves praise for coordinating the conference through his consulting company, MSM Productions, Ltd., based in Rochester, NY. During the NDPCC banquet, Michelle Banks, Teresa Norris, and Christine Kim gave multi-ethnic themed performances. They did an outstanding job and delighted the conference-goers, as did the Mistress of Ceremonies, Lauren Ridloff, who also did a great job.
The conference was a wonderful opportunity to encourage more collaborative conferences with diverse national organizations serving deaf and hard of hearing people. We hope that we have set an example that others will follow. Many issues for discussion covered the diversity of experiences in the deaf community from the lens of diverse members of these unique ethnic/racial communities that make our deaf community as interesting as it is. This conference would not be possible without the strong and committed support from the national organizations for deaf people of color that actively supported this effort. We look forward to their continuing support in 2010. Thuan Thi Nguyen will be the chair of the 2010 National Deaf People of Color conference. The 2010 NDPCC will continue the missions set forth by the 2007 NDPCC in Indianapolis, and hopefully to continue discussions on how to best resolve issues and dilemmas that the deaf people of color are now facing, and may still be facing three years from now. The 2010 conference will bring us closer to understanding the concept of living in a diverse world and in harmony. The Pacific Coast of the United States has a wonderful blend of diverse people living together in relative harmony. With that kind of a close-up exposure, we could learn a thing or two, apply these lessons to our lives back on the East Coast, and learn how to promote the concept of harmonious co-existence.
The people and their roles/organizations, which deserve recognition for their hard work in making this conference possible, are as follows:
Representatives
List of presenters and their topics:
Group picture of Black Deaf group at Deaf People of Color Conference From right to left: Tim Albert, Thuan Nguyen, and Tajudeen Akinlotan pose for a picture.
Participants discuss the future of the Deaf People of Color Conference concept Thuan Nguyen and a group of Asian Deaf pose for a group picture!
Group picture of Hispanic Deaf group at Deaf People of Color Conference
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