Follow-up video regarding opinion video on the NAD/Love Sign relationship
Alex: Hello, this is the follow-up video from yesterday’s opinion video about the Super Bowl and the NAD and Love Sign relationship. Thank you for all the comments. I will show some of them.
But first, I want to share three news updates related to this.
Firstly, the National Black Deaf Advocates (NBDA) wrote a position statement asking the NAD to stop promoting the idea of having a separate link for deaf performers.
Excerpt from NBDA’s letter: “The exclusion of Deaf performers from the publicly televised portion of the Super Bowl stage is a practice that perpetuates inequality. This reinforces systematic marginalization of Deaf people. It also sends a message that the talents of Deaf performers are not worthy of equal visibility. It denies Deaf performers the opportunity to showcase their skills to a broad audience but also reinforces harmful stereotypes and limits the representation of diverse talent.
We call upon the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) to immediately cease promoting the currently used platform as an accessible alternative. It is neither accessible nor equitable. The current platform is not in the best interest of the Deaf community and serves to benefit only a few individuals. The community has spoken loud and clear that this is NOT acceptable.” (Full statement: https://shorturl.at/fRSV9 )
Alex: The full statement is available on the NBDA’s Facebook page.
The second update is that Congressman Joe Morelle, who represents the Rochester, New York area, wrote an open letter criticizing the NFL and CBS for their “decision to not televise any of the three American Sign Language (ASL) performers during the 2024 Super Bowl pre-game show.”
[Tweet/X post by @RepJoeMorelle: “Last night's Super Bowl broadcast failed to air ASL performances during pre-game coverage, alienating millions of deaf and hard-of-hearing Americans.
The NFL and CBS have failed to live up to the standards of equity, diversity, and inclusion they claim to value.” (https://shorturl.at/nzOT4 ) ]
Alex: That’s a strong statement from a congressman. That type of criticism is not something that we really see from the NAD. So he’s a good model for the NAD.
The third update is that there was a new controversy surrounding Shaheem Sanchez, the deaf performer for the halftime show. He said in an interview with CBS Mornings yesterday that his performance was different from last year. Last year’s performer was Justina Miles, who was translating for Rihanna. Shaheem said hers was more of “interpreting” and minimized it. He said his performance was better — he suggested that it was better because it included dancing and more performances.
[Video clip from CBS Mornings. Shaheem says, “This year hit different. We made history because last year was more like interpreting. So this year we had more of a performance. Dancing, signing…” ]
Alex: This poured more gasoline on this fire and caused more controversy. There are many comments on CBS Mornings’ Instagram page by those who didn’t like what Shaheem said.
These are the three news items.
———
Sponsored video by Convo: www.convorelay.com
———
988 Helpline (Description)
Exciting News! The 988 Lifeline launched new American Sign Language services for callers who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing. It’s a new resource for people to access help when they need it. Visit 988lifeline.org and select “ASL Now.”
———
Alex: Here are a few selected comments from various platforms.
—@ViolaEiffel: “I am wondering what the talent recruitment process is for the SB performances. Is that something we can gain transparency about?”
Alex: That’s a great point. It’s something that is not transparent at all, coming from the NAD and Love Sign. There’s no way of knowing who will be selected. If the NAD made it a transparent process, it would improve the relationship with the Deaf community by a lot.
@danieltigersmamabear: “Networks. Do. Not. Care. So upsetting.”
Alex: That’s the feeling that many of us have. The Super Bowl broadcast is done by various networks every year, be it Fox, CBS, NBC, or ABC. They could make a huge impact by trying harder to include Deaf performers. The NAD could take a stronger approach in calling out the broadcasters, but they don’t, because like I said yesterday, they’re in bed with the NFL.
—@brewthis: “Can NAD’s CEO to be asked to leave? Fired? Resign? By the board?”
Alex: I suppose the NAD Board can take action, if they want to. But Howard Rosenblum has been the CEO since 2013 and is clearly the most powerful person in the organization. So it would be difficult to do. But this is something to look to in the future.
— @jens_musings: “Oh yes NAD needs new leadership. We have bigger issues than the NFL hype. Language deprivation, mental health, health access, etc. NAD staff wasted way too much time on the nfl. Time for a new direction and new leader...”
Alex: This is a great point. Is the NAD wasting its time and resources on the NFL?
— @momlumbee: “We need to work out with FCC to add PIP pictures. We need new leadership of NAD time to change. Enough by enough! Time to break barriers! Do action!”
Alex: That’s a good place to start, to work with the FCC. I’m just not seeing the NAD use its power, its attorneys, to send out a message to the Deaf community that it’s doing all it can, using all of its legal avenues, to solve accessibility issues. The FCC would be a good place to start.
—@Jennifer Nordyke Hart: “My son's teacher, who is hearing and knows no sign language, was watching the Super Bowl and sent me a text. She was shocked they were not showing the ASL performers. I told her, "LOL nothing new…” I knew they were going to shut us Deaf out like always…”
Alex: It’s sad that we’re not shocked anymore.
—@Karin Scribner: “…Equal access now! I feel what Alexis and Howard did is unethical! It must stop!”
Alex: It’s definitely looking unethical. Generally, public-facing organizations, especially nonprofits, should avoid an appearance of a conflict of interest.
—@Janet Lynn:
“The way I look at this, they still provided accessibility by providing us live streaming with two screens between both performers. Sure, the ASL performer is not spotlighted on national TV like we all want, but still, it is better than none. I would take this for now than having nothing... Perhaps 20 years from now, the ASL performer will finally be displayed on national TV.”
Alex: That’s true, there was some form of accessiblity provided. The halftime ASL portion began three years ago, that’s true. But do we have to wait 20 years? I hope not.
—Anonymous: “Having NAD and Kasher pick talent for ANY entertainment show is like having the Red Cross and Walmart deciding which car you should buy. Neither are qualified to make that decision. It’s mind-blowing that with all the money at stake, you’d think they’d want to protect themselves and bring in an actual deaf entertainment professional to guide everyone in the right direction. Just goes to show that their ego and greed is greater than their care for the community…”
Alex: Great points here. There are many Deaf entertainment professionals out there and they’re not hard to find.
These are only some of the comments that I’m seeing. This is clearly a conversation that will continue to play out on Deaf social media.
Separately, many have said they like the idea of opinion videos on “The Daily Moth.” I’ll definitely look into how we can present more of these types of videos in the future.