Justina Miles goes viral; Helen Booker dies at 104
Here are two Deaf News briefs.
Justina Miles goes viral
The first is about Justina Miles, the deaf ASL performer who was the interpreter for Rihanna’s Super Bowl halftime show. Clips of her performance have gone viral all over the internet and have been featured in multiple major news outlets. Many people on deaf social media have raved about her skills.
Miles appeared on the set of “CBS Mornings” in an interview with co-host Gayle King this morning. She said she didn’t get to meet Rihanna, but that she got a DM from her and that she called her a “Black Queen” and that she did incredibly.
Miles is a student at Bowie State University in Maryland and studying nursing.
She posted on her Instagram @_jtay_ that all the attention is “the buzz I wanted to create… We’re still trying to make concerts, festivals, and comedy shows accessible… Y’all just now finding me, just wait.”
You can find more of her performances on her TikTok account @phillyqt12.
Miles is also an elite athlete, being a part of the USA Deaflympic team that won the silver medal in the 4x100 women’s track relay team in Brazil 2022.
——--
[Sponsored video from Convo: www.convorelay.com]
—------
Helen Booker dies at 104
The second Deaf News brief is about Helen Marie Ksiazkiewicz “Booker,” a deaf woman who passed away at 104 years of age on February 14. Many in the Deaf community knew her from a viral interview she did with DPAN.TV in 2019 when she was 100 years old. She also did an interview with Melmira. Many people loved Helen’s energy, humor, and sharp wit. She was born in Belgium in 1918 and came to America in 1920. Her advice was to “keep walking” and don’t sit down too much. Her funeral will take place on Saturday in Roseville, Michigan. You can watch her interviews with DPAN.TV and Melmira at the links in the transcript.
That’s the two Deaf News briefs for today.
Justina Miles:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cosjq4yOKQ7/?hl=en
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@phillyqt12
Helen Booker:
https://www.wasikfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Helen-Ksiazkiewicz/#!/Obituary
Melmira interview: https://www.facebook.com/melmira/videos/2048294125461897/
DPAN.TV interview: https://www.facebook.com/DPANTV/videos/905929790652807/