Public Relations War on DVTV
The ongoing saga on DeafVideo.TV is a convoluted tale, beginning with AFA’s inception in early March, prompting Barry Sewell to accuse AFA of being an extension of DBC, which has been denied by both organizations.
This led to CherylfromMA and InsaneMisha, two prominent vloggers/commenters and strong supporters of Barry, to gradually over time, question his motives when it came to AFA and DBC. Barry’s comments increasingly turned personal and it was clear to observers that he was deliberately pushing people’s buttons to incite a reaction. CherylfromMA and InsaneMisha’s break from Barry, however, was not apparent until they attended the AFA rally against AG Bell on April 3, 2009, sending shock waves through the vlogosphere.
Afterwards, the lurkers, commenters and vloggers witnessed a vicious, tragic deterioration of Barry’s friendship with the two, particularly with CherylfromMA. One of the most stark examples of this rift is Cheryl’s video comment calling Barry a controller and a destroyer.
Despite this loss of support and friendship, Barry continued his ‘questioning’ of AFA and thier supporters, ultimately leading to more of the Signing Circle supporters to withdraw from him. Not surprisingly, AFA celebrated the defection of CherylfromMA, InsaneMisha and the others, which only led to Barry being further incited against the organization.
At this point, it seemed that AFA was winning the public relations battle on DVTV, due to Barry’s rapid loss of supporters and mass defections to AFA. Things took a twist however, when Cobi, Barry’s son created a vlog mocking AFA by using the Aflac duck commercials. That vlog can be found here.
At first, people thought it was Barry who created the vlog, but when it was revealed that it was actually his son, people were outraged. They could not believe that a fourteen year old would do this, solely on his own, as Cobi and Barry claimed. Many also viewed this as a perfect example of how prejudice comes into existence.
People at first engaged Cobi in a dialogue, particularly Ella Mae Lentz. However, this turned heated, when some of the commenters began telling Cobi that his father needed to grow up, that they found his family disgusting and so on, for allowing him to do this. One commenter even stated to Cobi that controlling parents can lead bright and mature children to kill them.
This led to some other commenters to call for a halt to this, since they felt this was bullying Cobi. The comments targeting Cobi slowly reduced after that, and Barry and Cobi remained steadfast, refusing to apologize or take down the vlog. This in turn, led to Aidan Mack creating a vlog discussing brainwashing, and in that vlog, she accused Barry of brainwashing his female followers. That vlog was then removed by Tayler, and Aidan uploaded the same vlog, only with the accusation against Barry edited out.
Aidan went on to accuse Tayler of censorship, prompting him to make this vlog, pointing out that only .09% of the vlogs, have been removed. Less than a half percent.
As things stand right now, the dispute between Barry and AFA continues with both sides pressuring Tayler to keep Aidan’s brainwashing vlog up, or to remove it. Tayler made another vlog here, discussing the pressuring emails.
Not only that, but Barry’s relentless questioning of AFA and DBC has led to public acknowledgment by Ella Mae Lentz and others that they do consider cochlear implants to be audistic. There’s a private sentiment amongst observers that this has turned into a televised Roman amphitheater, and I share that sentiment. However, I would not be surprised if someday, years from now, historians or anthropologists pieced together this saga into a documentary. On the surface, it might seem merely like a sordid public display of friendships being torn apart and personal vendettas and grievances…
But upon closer examination, one does realize that the current saga provides an unique insight into Deaf culture, deaf identity politics, audism and most of all, into the human psyche.
The Power of Twitter
The online store, Amazon.com is now embroiled in an intense controversy due to its labeling GLBT books as adult, effectively censoring these books. This tactic apparently began back in Feburary, and it wasn’t until this weekend, when Twitter bloggers took up the cause with the tag of #amazonfail, that Amazon.com declared it was a glitch and they’re supposedly investigating it now.
This kind of cyber-activism is right up the alley of the Deaf Community. We are well-versed in cyber-activism, as DeafRead’s official blog post stated. Imagine if we started to do more than just letting DeafRead link to us, but also started to link to each other’s blog posts, which would lead to our blog ranks increasing in many search engines, making us even easier to find.
Then we twittered about it with the right tags.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m not saying that DeafRead doesn’t do enough for the Deaf Community. However, if we truly want to effect social change as so many of us claim, we have to reach out beyond the borders of our community, to the masses.
Just like the GLBT community and their allies did on Twitter to take on Amazon.com and their shameful censoring of GLBT books. So what are we waiting for? *tweets*
Voice Recognition For VRS?
It’s widely agreed in the national Deaf Community, not just in Michigan’s, that there is a major dearth of interpreters who can voice accurately and smoothly. This issue is now spilling over to the VRS industry and one likely reason for this is because of the industry’s draining the pool of community/free-lance interpreters, who are notorious for their poor voicing skills.
I was at a meeting the other day, where this issue was raised and she wanted to know what actions she could take against the operator. This naturally sparked several side conversations. One of these side conversations involved me and Janet Jurus, who is the state interpreter and legislative lead of Michigan’s Division of Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
Janet proposed an idea that I think is excellent – have voice recognition software caption what the VRS operators are saying. That way, the majority of us would be able to track what the operator’s voicing, and be able to immediately correct the operator, if mistakes are made.
Since the majority of interpreters now work at least part-time for the VRS providers, it is my opinion that not only would this reduce problems, but also become an excellent component of the overall solution to ensure that interpreters make an earnest effort to keep their voicing skills up to par. It is easier to document the insufficient quality and ability of interpreters through the VRS, because you have the ability to record the calls, and with captions being part of the picture now, it would increase the validity of the Deaf Community’s complaints about the sub-par voicing skills of many interpreters.
Another Deaf Scam
There is apparently another scam targeting the Deaf Community. If you get this email (see below), be aware that this is a SCAM!
Never, ever give out your password to anyone. If a complete stranger asks you for your password to anything, that is a very strong indicator that it is a scam. And with the information this scammer is asking for, your identity can be very easily stolen!
So, if you get this email, do not respond to them. However, you can report them to the US Federal Trade Commission at: spam@uce.gov or at the Internet Crime Complaint Center.
The scam email:
We are here to let you know that President Obama is giving all deafs in Michigan $7.000 only for commission so let us know if you have receive this if know fill the form below:
Name…
Address….
City…
State….
Country….
Zipcode….
Age…
Sex…..
E-mail address…
Password…….
real password not fake one we need your password for comfirmation so you will not receive the money twice ok…..you are not paying for anything just fil the form fast and get back with us as soon as possible….look the list and see maybe your mail address is that before you fill the form ok
Thanks
Deaf Applause
[ASL Version]
[English Version]
I wake up this morning to find this post on DeafRead by Jack Barr, discussing the origins of the Deaf applause… where you wave your hands in the air instead of clapping.
At first, I was laughing at what Jack was saying, because I recognized his story as a slightly different version of a famous Deaf culture joke – the story of two deaf persons showing up at a lecture castigating American Sign Language, and they sign finish! finish! at the speaker, and the audience misunderstands it as Deaf applause.
Then I realized that there’s a possibility that he was actually being serious, and truly held AG Bell’s supporters responsible for the creation of the Deaf applause. That’s when I started to laugh harder.
You have to got be kidding me! Oralists responsible for the spread of the handwave? Why would they do that? The entire point of Oralism is to assimiliate the d/Deaf into the hearing world. They don’t want any Deaf person to stand out, because they think being Deaf is something to be ashamed of. And needless to say, waving your hands instead of clapping your hands makes you stand out!
Furthermore, for those who know Deaf history, like I do… the Deaf President Now protest is widely hailed as where the Deaf applause originated. I did some research to verify what I thought, and sure enough – I found this link on the Gallaudet University website.
To summarize, hearing people did not invent the Deaf handwave. It actually began in France, and emigrated here to the United States. A few years later, it exploded onto the scene during the Deaf President Now! protest in 1988.
So what are we going to blame AG Bell for next? The establishment of Gallaudet University? 
Hearing Men & Their Fetishes
I was surfing the Fail Blog today, and I came across this priceless picture. Quite fitting, considering today’s “holiday”…
Gotta love hearing men with fetishes, eh?
We Are Deaf: One & Many
Ask not what the Deaf Community can do for you; Ask what you can do for your Deaf Community.
- At age 16, I became a founding youth board member of a local deaf services agency.
- In 2002, I organized a protest rally against the government taking a deaf mother to court for refusing to agree to implant her two deaf children. The result: the children did not get implanted.
- In 2006, I organized a protest rally and wrote a press release alerting the media to the rally, about the closure of mental health services for the Deaf. The result: The mental health services did not close but instead was turned over to the local deaf services agency to operate.
- In 2007, I began a grassroots project on DeafRead, called Equal Communication Access. With the DeafRead participants’ help, I produced a video describing what Equal Communication Access is all about.
- In 2008, I along with several others founded the ASL Think Tank, an educational clearinghouse providing awareness of bilingual programs for Deaf babies and children.
- I am an university student, pursuing a bachelor of science degree in Public and Nonprofit Administration, with the hopes of working in the Deaf nonprofit field after graduation.
- I am now a board member of the local deaf services agency that I helped to establish at age 16.
- I am an ASL mentor to two hearing individuals who are involved with the Deaf Community.
- I am a member of the Michigan Deaf Association and National Association of Deaf.
- I am the author of The Deaf Edge, a Deaf advocacy and sociopolitical blog, increasing awareness to countless readers and viewers.
We Are Deaf: One & Many
Know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist. – Barack Obama
A Cyberspace Riot on DeafVideo.TV
As I type this blog post, right now DeafVideo.tv [DVTV] is embroiled in a historic cyberspace protest/riot, which was prompted by Aidan Mack’s now infamous vlog where she discussed domestic violence, then accused Jerome Cain, a fellow vlogger and an ex of hers, of domestic violence. Jerome Cain had accused Aidan of having borderline personality disorder under a now removed vlog titled, ‘Is Aidan a Word Twister?’
Jerome Cain made a vlog in response to Aidan denying the accusation and repeated his accusation against her. No evidence supporting these accusations were given, which ignited a wave of outrage amongst many vloggers.
Tayler Mayer, the owner of both DeafRead and DeafVideo.tv is currently on a business trip, and he interrupted his trip to make a quick vlog, stating that he had discussed this matter with both Aidan and Jerome. Tayler requested that Jerome remove his, and that Aidan either edit her vlog to remove the accusation against Jerome, or to remove the vlog altogether. He also requested that Jerome and Aidan not respond to each other in any manner on DVTV, or they would be banned.
Jerome removed his vlog immediately. Tayler removed Jerome’s vlog, but did not remove Aidan’s vlog. Aidan did not remove her vlog immediately, which only increased the outcry. Then approximately 20 hours ago, Aidan finally removed the vlog and uploaded an edited version with the accusation deleted.
This has not satisfied many vloggers on DVTV, for a couple of reasons. Many of the vloggers feel that Aidan took far too long in removing her original vlog. Secondly, many feel that Aidan’s edited vlog now is too tainted given her conduct.
So now over a hundred vloggers are holding a cyberspace riot on DVTV. They are filming empty chairs, or showing a blackened out video. They are demanding that Aidan’s vlog be removed, and for Tayler to come back and respond to their concerns. Several individuals are also encouraing lawsuits against Tayler, Aidan and the Deaf Newspaper website who broadcast Aidan’s original vlog.
As a mere observer of this protest/riot, it’s hard for me to say what I think will be the outcome. While I think Aidan and the Deaf Newspaper should be held accountable for their actions if it is found that Aidan’s accusations against Jerome is false, Tayler should not be part of the lawsuit. Instead I think they should ask for a moderator who can delete inflammatory and possibly libelous vlogs when Tayler is unable to do so – like how it’s done on YouTube.
I’m also left pondering what kind of message this sends to the Deaf Community at large… I guess only time will tell just exactly what the outcome and overall message will be from this protest.
Addenum: I’ve just been told that Deaf Newspaper has removed Aidan’s vlog from their website.
Be Careful Of What You Wish For
It’s nearly Christmas, and I’m sure many are wishing for many things on Christmas day. When it was discovered that I was deaf as a baby, my parents wished for me to have language. Their wish came true, often to the chagrin of the adults around me.
One day Jack, the audiologist stopped by to make ear molds for us deaf preschoolers, and most of us disliked the feeling of the goop being squirted into our ears. So when we saw him, we immediately scattered. When it came to my turn, I immediately started running, my ribboned pigtails flying behind me, with my little dress whooshing with each move I made.
Janet, who was the teacher, shouted at me every time I looked back at her, “Come back here and sit down! Let Jack make your ear mold!”
I ignored her pleas and kept running. She attempted to corner me and bawl me out, failing each time. Finally on the umpteenth attempt, she grabbed me and sat me down on the chair, “Now you behave and let him do his job!”
Glaring up at Janet, the pig-tailed four year old me in a dress exclaimed, “Bullshit!“
So you see… be careful of what you wish for sometimes, because you just might get more than what you bargained for. 
A Piece of the Puzzle
While reading Amy Cohen Efron’s post late last night, I couldn’t help but be struck by the deep irony of what she was saying. She faintly echoed what Ryan Commerson, I believe, was trying to say in his film, Re-Defining Deaf. And Amy faintly echoed what I said a long time ago on DeafDC.com, that the hearing world tended to view us as a caricature, because they see us only as that deaf person.
As the blogger of The Deaf Edge, I’ve become more and more conscious of that fact. Being on such a visible level, it becomes too easy for many to see merely one puzzle piece that we’re presenting to the world, and think that shows the entire picture of who we are. And so they try to hammer the interlocking edges of their puzzle into ours, while we scream in agony, “No! Not that one! This one!” Or they try to rip out a piece of us, because the edges are too colorful, too sharp, too discordant… It doesn’t fit into the puzzle that is thought to be our stage.
All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.
- Shakespeare
But the beauty of this is that ultimately when a piece is created, an interlocking piece is also created. We just have to find these interlocking ones without a script, by our own means, and that’s what makes the stage so great – the improv act on it.
