2019: A Year in Review
Hello! There are only a few hours left in 2019. It’s almost gone. What a year for all of us. I am grateful to you for your support that gives me the opportunity to deliver news and entertainment with “The Daily Moth.”
Let’s review the year. I will look at every month of 2019 and review the top news stories.
JANUARY
In January, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) announced she would run for president. She has survived through a year of campaigning and has maintained her position as one of the top four candidates. She will be tested in the Iowa caucuses on February 3 and the New Hampshire primary on February 11.
Also in January, the federal government was shut down. It started in December 2018 and continued until January 25, 2019. Many deaf federal employees were affected and some anonymously shared their stories with “The Daily Moth.” The shutdown was a showdown between President Trump and House Speaker Pelosi and Democrats over border wall funding. We see that the two are still feuding at the end of the year, and Trump is impeached.
In the deaf community, many were shocked and mourned the unexpected death of Clarisa Vollmar, a DeafBlind child that had thousands of followers. A few days ago, the “Clarisa Vollmar” public Facebook page announced that she died from the flu in her sleep.
Also in January, many in both the hearing and deaf worlds were touched by a CODA woman’s video of her talking with her mother who had dementia. The daughter, Mary Jane Grant, showed the moment her mother, Carmen, realized she was the mother.
FEBRUARY
In February, the Jussie Smollett situation in Chicago caused many people to have outrage, then confusion, and then outrage again. Smollett was arrested and accused of orchestrating a fake hate crime attack and still is in a legal dispute with the Chicago Police Department. Smollett was removed from the last few episodes of “Empire” Season 5.
Senator Bernie Sanders (I, Vt) announced he would run for president in 2020. He’s still in the race and is consistently in the top four, but has not been able to reach frontrunner status. We’ll see how he does in Iowa and New Hampshire.
A big story in the deaf community was when the Washington Post published a long, investigative article about Catholic priests who were accused of sexually abusing deaf children in both Italy and Argentina. A few weeks ago, the priest at the center of the allegations, Father Nicola Corradi, was sentenced to 42 years in prison in Argentina.
Another top story in the deaf community in February was when the Texas School for the Deaf Lady Rangers basketball team completed their season with a perfect 31-0 record.
MARCH
A big story in March was the terrible shooting in two New Zealand mosques in Christchurch. The suspect live-streamed the shooting. He was charged with terrorism and will face a trial in June 2020. There was worldwide attention and praise for NZ’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s leadership and response to the attacks. Her press conferences had New Zealand Sign Language interpreters.
Another top story in March was the conclusion of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. His office said there was no evidence that Donald Trump colluded with Russia during the 2016 election. Mueller did not make a final determination on obstruction of justice and was ultimately cleared by Trump’s Attorney General Bill Barr.
In the deaf community, a big news story was when a student from the Maryland School for the Deaf, Savannah Dahan — she became an overnight star, was a “born star” — she posted a video of her signing Carrie Underwood’s “The Champion” went viral. She recently met Carrie Underwood in person.
Another top story in the deaf community was reporter Callie Frye’s coverage of the need for more Black or Latinx interpreters who can understand and interpret the cultural signs of deaf persons of color.
APRIL
In April, a big story was when rapper Nipsey Hussle was shot and killed in Los Angeles outside of his “Marathon Clothing” store. A 29-year-old man was later arrested and charged with murder. The two knew each other and there appeared to be a personal issue.
Another top story was the Notre Dame fire. The building’s roof and spire was destroyed by a fire. The incident was broadcast live on worldwide news. There was over $1 billion pledged to restore the church. It is still closed and did not host Christmas services for the first time in 200 years.
One of the top stories in the deaf community was an interview with Dr. Alesia Howard Allen, the first Black Deaf woman with a PhD in Clinical Psychology from Gallaudet.
Another top story was the death of a deaf man from Hawaii and Idaho, Keawe Pestana, who jumped into a river with dangerous currents to try and save children who fell out of a canoe.
Another top story in both the hearing and deaf worlds is when Mark Medoff, the creator of “Children of a Lesser God,” passed away at 79 years of age from cancer. His story helped to launch the acting careers of several Deaf women over the span of almost 40 years.
MAY
In May, one of the top stories was a shooting at the University of North Carolina Charlotte (UNCC) that killed two students. One of the victims, Riley Howell, who died when he charged the shooter, had a deaf uncle and we did an interview with him and his wife — Matt-Sale and Ann Howell-Davis. Riley was recently honored by the Star Wars galaxy as a Jedi master, Ri-Lee Howell.
Another big news was when the South Dakota School for the Deaf’s original campus was sold for $6.9 million to a Christian nonprofit organization and the school program was relocated to an office building.
One of the top videos was an interview with Soleil Wheeler, a deaf teenager from Indiana School for the Deaf who was rising in the gaming world for her talents with Fortnite. She’s now turned pro with Faze Clan and has hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
Another big story in the deaf community was the DCARA controversy in which their Executive Director Raymond Rodgers was suspended by the board, and then let go. Most of the DCARA staff protested the decision and there was a standoff with the Board that lasted more than 80 days. Rodgers was eventually reinstated and several Board members resigned.
A video that had a lot of positive reactions was Renca Dunn’s recap of the 50th anniversary of the Youth Leadership Camp that included interviews with founders Dr. Frank Turk and Gary Olsen.
JUNE
In June, one of the top stories was when was a number of American tourists who mysteriously died in Dominican Republic. There were investigations to see if they were connected, but it seems to be either from contaminated liquor or just a strange coincidence of American tourists falling ill during or after their trips. I personally met with several Dominicans during the World Federation of the Deaf World Congress in Paris who said everything was fine on the island. They said the media was exaggerating it. I was recently contacted by a person from Deaf Resorts. They had an event on the island for a week and they also reported that everyone had a great time in the Dominican Republic without any issues. So it’s a big news piece that seems to be overblown by us media.
One of the ongoing news stories in 2019 was the conditions that migrants at the southern U.S. border had to deal with — overcrowding, filthy conditions, and families being separated. Several migrants, including young children, passed away from respiratory illnesses. There was a viral image of a deceased father and daughter who drowned and washed up on the banks of the Rio Grande river in Texas after they tried to cross the border. Immigration will be a top issue for the 2020 election.
A top story in the deaf community was when several students and parents at the Michigan School for the Deaf protested in front of the school over the hiring of leaders who couldn’t sign and concerns over a lack of transparency on who would be hired as a permanent principal. After the protest, there were several town halls. The school is currently interviewing candidates for the principal position and many in the MSD community are watching the process.
Another top story in the deaf community was when the Canadian government granted Royal Assent to Bill C-81 to recognize ASL, LSQ, and Indigenous Sign Languages as the primary languages of deaf people. It was the crowning achievement of months of activism from deaf leaders and the Canadian Association of the Deaf.
One more top deaf news story was when the Hawaiian Gov. Ige signed the movie theater open captioning bill into law, which required major movie theaters in the state to provide open captioning twice a week per movie.
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JULY
In July, the top story was when the U.S. Women’s National Team won the 2019 FIFA World Cup in France. Star player Megan Rapinoe did not let the pressure of her feud with President Trump stop her from scoring a penalty kick in the championship match.
Another top story was when Jeffrey Epstein was indicted with sexual abuse and trafficking of minors. He later died in jail in New York City of a suicide, but there are many doubting with and forming conspiracy theories.
In July, a top story in the deaf community was when Wisconsin State Rep. Jonathan Brostoff (D) finally cut his hair after a bill that would improve sign language interpreting standards passed through legislature. He had refused to cut his hair for several months in protest and worked closely with the Wisconsin Association of the Deaf.
The Daily Moth did coverage of the WFD World Congress in Paris and did interviews with the new WFD President Dr. Joseph Murray and the outgoing president Colin Allen. We showed highlights of the conference. The next WFD World Congress will take place in 2023 in Jeju, South Korea.
AUGUST
In August, the top story was the mass shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas that was labeled a domestic terror attack. A young man shot and killed 22 people in the morning hours. He told police that he wanted to kill “Mexicans.” He pleaded not guilty to capital murder charges and it is not known when his trial will be. The store has since reopened with a memorial.
Climate change was one of the year’s biggest topics, and in July the topic reached headlines when Earth recorded its hottest month on record. In separate but related news, the Brazilian President Bolsonaro was blamed for allowing illegal burnings of rainforests in the Amazon region.
During the last week of August, the deaf community was shocked to find out that a well-known and infamous deaf vlogger, Mavrick Fisher, was charged with murdering his deaf business partner, Grant Whitaker in California. Mavrick fled to Mexico but surrendered to authorities there and was extradited to the U.S. Mavrick has pleaded not guilty and said he acted in self-defense. “The Daily Moth” has covered his legal proceedings and his trial is scheduled in March 2020.
SEPTEMBER
In September, Hurricane Dorian struck parts of the Bahamas and the surrounding islands as a Category 5 storm that stalled for over 24 hours, bringing severe destruction and killing an estimated 70 people.
Another big top story in September was when news broke that there was a whistleblower complaint about President Trump’s phone call with the new Ukrainian president in which he requested an investigation in Joe Biden’s son at the same time that U.S. military aid was withheld. This would eventually lead to a House impeachment inquiry that ultimately voted to impeach Trump last week.
In September, we did three deaf news stories on deaf people who were denied service at fast food drive-thru restaurants. It’s an issue that has persisted over the years and I expect to cover several stories about this in 2020.
The Daily Moth went to a democratic debate in Houston, Texas. I didn’t get to interview any of the presidential candidates, but did get to talk with the twin brother of Julian Castro, who is his campaign manager. It was a good experience and we hope to cover some major political events in person in 2020.
Another big deaf news story was when the California School for the Deaf, Riverside decided to not allow the Maryland School for the Deaf’s volleyball team from participating in the Spikeout tournament due to complaints about alleged illegal recruiting. MSD officials tried to convince CSDR officials to change their minds, but the tournament went forward without MSD. On December 10, representatives from six large Deaf schools had a meeting with facilitators and said they have an action plan and would share information in the future.
OCTOBER
In October, one of the top stories was when former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger was found guilty of murdering Botham Jean, a Black man who lived in the same apartment complex she did. Guyger said she mistakenly thought Jean was in her apartment and shot him in self-defense. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Another top story in October was the violent protests in Hong Kong between pro-Democracy activists and Hong Kong police that started in the summer. Even LeBron James and the NBA became a part of the controversy. The situation has not grabbed headlines lately, but it is not resolved at all.
In October, former Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings (D) passed away at 68 years of age. He was the Chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee and grew up in Baltimore.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s party received enough votes to maintain a second term.
In October, I announced that my family and I was moving to the Detroit area. I still miss Austin, but it’s going good here in Michigan with DPAN. I’m looking forward to bigger things in 2020!
A top deaf news story is an interview with David Cowan, a deaf interpreter who went viral for his interpretation/performance during Atlanta Pride.
NOVEMBER
In November, the nation watched the House hold public impeachment inquiry hearings in which several federal officials testified about the Trump-Ukraine relationship.
Prince Andrew announced he would stop down from royal duties after criticism of his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein and doubts that he did not participate in exploiting underage girls.
One of the top deaf news stories was when Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, in a policy proposal, spotlighted needs to improve language deprivation among deaf people, the need for more deaf teachers, and supporting the UN CRPD that recognizes deaf people’s right to sign languages. He is one of the top Democratic presidential candidates.
Another top deaf story was about a distracted police officer crashed into a deaf woman Sarah Wood in April, causing traumatic brain damage. She is working with an attorney to try and resolve a claim with Gwinnet County.
DECEMBER
We’re now in December.
Clearly, the top news story is the impeachment of Donald Trump. His trial will be in January in the Senate.
The top deaf news story would be our coverage of the 2019 Winter Deaflympics. Five Americans medaled, but Russia was the country that had the most medals with 49 total medals.
It’s the end of 2019. I’ll see you next year — tomorrow. There will be no regular Moth news, but I will do a LIVE video at 12 PM EST. See you all then!