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All are special to me, but being the President of National Association of the Deaf is the most special to me.
Because i was the first woman to be that in 1980. So, they never had a woman president before. People voted for me.
People voted for me. That was truly special to me.
Really, I have to admit that all of my role models are men. In terms of mentors and having a support system with good friends,
there were a few women. But they all lived so far away. For example, Mab Holcomb. At that time, she lived in Indiana.
It was limited to very few people - mainly men. Mab was a deaf leader in the education field along with her husband Roy Holcomb.
They used total communication, traveled everywhere, and are role models for parents with deaf children because they have two deaf children, too.
Interesting. When I decided to run for the President, I met a lot of opposers and were asked some strange questions.
They asked me if I was able to run a meeting, what if a man push you, and so on. I’ve come to ignore them and can handle it.
At that time, the community reaction was a mixed one. When I became the President of ***, they asked me what I was planning to do.
I decided to tease them a bit and said, “I will get rid of all men from the *** Board and burn my bra.
Remember at that time, it was popular for the women to burn the bras.
But I find that I cannot do both because I need both for support.
This was the best moment, yes. Between 1980 and 1982, captioning for television began to spread out. ABC, NBC, and PBS
were the three who provided closed captioning on their tv programs. CBS was the one who refused to do that -
they were waiting for something better. CBS, at that time, had a very popular tv show called Dallas. People loved watching Dallas - serial type of program.
Anyways, they were not captioned at all. *** decided to have a nationwide rally during my presidency term.
We coordinated all the efforts in New York, California, Chicago, the southern states, and everywhere else to have the rally at the same time on the streets.
We had signs saying, “Down with CBS!” “CBS won’t caption!” I was in Washington DC at that time rallying in front of a CBS office.
CBS sent a man to have a meeting with me and Al Pimenta, executive director. We had a lengthy discussion and listened.
Two to three weeks later, CBS started to caption Dallas. That was the best moment being the president of ***.
The most challenging experience is - actually was - dealing with the Congress and legislators. What a challenge.
It can be very frustrating due to the legislators not being understanding of the Deaf. Some refused to listen.
Some were willing to listen. It was frustrating, but I had to keep going. As soon the ADA laws passed, things improved
due to the legislators being aware of our rights as a Deaf person. Yes, at that time being the President it was frustrating.
I looked at the list - all are good, but I admire Marlee Matlin for she has succeeded in the hearing world.
Hollywood is very difficult to be successful. She is successful in both.
Plus, she has brought attention to Deaf rights through media. I really admire her.
I am very honored to be a Pearl. By the way, the pearl is my favorite jewelry. I feel honored that they voted me as a Pearl.
I feel truly honored.
What does it mean? It means I have done my part in advocacy for Deaf women and for that, I’m being recognized.
As a group, we did our part and support them in a sense that they can do anything. That is how I see us as a group of Pearls.
Donalda Ammons- she was heavily involved with World Games and the president, too. She is one of the potential pearls.
Another one is Roz Rosen - she has done a lot for the college education. Those are the two I can think of right now,
but I am sure there is many more.