Deaf Awareness & What Happened At Superbowl LVI

The excitement started when the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) made a huge public announcement across social media a few months ago.

The National Association of the Deaf's Announcement

First, let me explain what NAD is. It's a civil rights organization of, by and for Deaf and hard of hearing individuals. NAD was started by Deaf leaders who believed in the right of the American Deaf community to use sign language, to congregate on issues important to them, and to have its interests represented at the national level.

This was their announcement:

"The National Football League (NFL) and the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) are honored to bring an elevated accessibility experience to the Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show with talented American Sign Language (ASL) artists. Viewers can access this elevated experience on the NBCSports website and the NBC Sports app.

For the first time in its history, the Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show starring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar will include ASL artists. Famed Deaf musicians Warren “Wawa” Snipe and Sean Forbes will sign the Halftime Show. Super Bowl LVI will take place at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, California on February 13, 2022."

Were You Aware Of This?

As a member of the general public, did you know about this? Was there any social media announcement anywhere - not aimed at the Deaf community?

Did you see any Deaf performances during the Superbowl?

I'm not talking about the 4 seconds of airtime that Ms. Sandra Mae Frank got to perform the National Anthem, or "America the Beautiful". Which is pathetic but not new to us in the Deaf community.

Every year there's a Deaf performance of the Anthem and every year the camera pans away so we, the Deaf community, only see...oh maybe 3 words.

Every year we ask the Superbowl hosts to at least do a PIP (Picture in Picture) on the screen, and every year we are dismissed.

As an American, how would it feel if you're ready to listen to YOUR National Anthem, the singer comes out, sings 3 words, then stops and walks off? Hmmm?

That's how Deaf Americans are feeling. ASL is a visual language - it must be SEEN to be understood. A simple PIP would solve this.

I don't know why the networks cannot perform this simple solution.

Why is ASL & Deaf Awareness Important?

Let's start with some statistiics:

• According to the 2011 American Community Survey (ACS), about 3.6% of the U.S. population, or about 11 million individuals, consider themselves deaf or have serious difficulty hearing.
• According to Gallaudet University, American Sign Language (also called ASL) language is used by approximately 250,000-500,000 Americans (and some Canadians) of all ages.
• ASL is considered the 4th most used language in the United States.

But you have to understand it's more than just a language. Many Deaf people consider themselves as part of a strong, vibrant Culture.

Many Deaf are proud to use ASL and their Culture - expressing themselves in poetry, stories, art, literature and much more.

There's also the fact that sign language was banned from use in the school system, no thanks to Alexander Graham Bell and his influence at the 1880 Milan Conference. Students who got caught signing or gesturing were often corporally punished. This lasted until the 50's and 60's or even as late as the 70's.

It's 2022 and we're finally getting more and more recognition as a community and our language is being represented more and more in the public eye. More Hollywood movies are featuring Deaf actors and actresses, more social media platforms are featuring Deaf creators, and more people want to learn ASL.

Deaf representation and awareness matters.

The hype around the SuperBowl turns out to be another letdown, another segregated moment, another "let's hide the distracting flapping hands in the back" moment.

If you'd like to learn more about Deaf Culture, this is a great book from Amazon.

Who Were The Deaf Performers?

Now let's look at the Deaf Performers that were at SuperBowl LVI:

Sandra Mae Frank: Sandra Mae is a Deaf actress best known for her role as Dr. Wilder in the Bravo tv series "New Amsterdam". She has also starred in:

• Season of Love (2019)
• Daybreak (2019)
• Multiverse (2019)
• Switched at Birth (2015)

And a multitude of other tv and movie roles.

Warren "WaWa" Snipe: You may have seen him before as he was the ASL Performer of the National Anthem at last year's SuperBowl. (But again did we see all of the performance? No)

He is a Deaf writer, rapper who calls his style "Dip Hop" - hip hop through Deaf eyes, and actor:

• Featured in R&B Maxwell's "Finger Crossed" music video
• Released several Rap albums - "Wamilton" & "Deaf: So What?"
• Starred in 2 episodes of "Black Lightning" tv series

Sean Forbes: Sean is a Deaf rapper, producer, and business owner:

• Co-Founder of DPAN.com (Deaf Professional Arts Network) a nonprofit making music accessible to the Deaf community.
• He and collaborator Jake Bass have penned over 100 hip hop songs.
• Released a DVD "Perfect Imperfection" and toured the world to promote it.

These Deaf performers were not "unknowns" in the Deaf Community and we are proud of them and their performances at the SuperBowl.

We blame the fiasco on NBCSports and NAD.

Sandra Mae Frank's Performance

As I mentioned earlier, her performance on National television only lasted 4 seconds.

The full performance was available on the NBCSports website or the NBCSports app.

The issue is those of us who do not have cable. We could not access the performance unless we were a "cable subscriber".

Oh sure, there had a free option - 30 free minutes access, but by the time you logged on, found the right link, the performance was pretty much over, then there was little time left over to see the half-time show.

Not only that, there was a staff member who constantly walked in front of the whole performance - as the photo above shows.

The Half Time Show - Expectation vs. Reality

If you reread NAD's announcement again:

"For the first time in history, the Pepsi SuperBowl Half Time Show....will include Deaf artists."

They said include.

So, of course we all envisioned the 2 Deaf Rappers - WaWa Snipe and Sean Forbes - to be up on stage with the other rappers, or at least in their own stage area, and shown on television.

Nope.

The Deaf Rappers were set up in the End Zone away from all the action.

Not only that, the Deaf community, again had to access a separate website (DPAN.com) to view the full show.

I don't think that defines the word "include" does it?

What A Hypocritical Statement

Again, NAD's statement:

"....honored to bring an elevated accessibility experience..."

The Oxford Dictionary defines "elevated" as:

(of a level or amount) higher or greater than what is considered normal.

So, my interpretation of that statement is "an ASL experience better than it has been in the past".

Remember I mentioned, past performances barely got any air time? So, my expectation, and of many of my Deaf friends, was that we're finally going to get to see our language, ASL - out there to the general public. Great Deaf Awareness happening.

So, yes there was a sense of pride, excitement, and hope.

You should've seen the social media flurry after the Super Bowl ended.

A mix of emotions swirled, but the majority was confusion and anger.

"Why wasn't it shown on National Television?"

"Deaf people pushed aside, segregated as usual"

"Did you see it, I watched the whole thing and saw nothing? A separate app and website? I didn't know!"

"I went to the bar with my hearing friends, I was so excited to watch and show my pride. But while everyone was watching the big screens, I was scrambling on my phone to find the performance."

So, a National Organization, created to represent the Deaf community, actually let us down.

It's not elevated, it's not even equal.

Where The Deaf Rappers Were Placed

So, you wonder where the Deaf Perfomers were during the half-time show?

Not only were they out of the way, the lighting provided looked like someone only held up a flashlight. It was so dark to watch.

The whole thing seemed as if it was an afterthought.

Can You Help Out The Deaf Community?

Can you help us and sign this petition please? Sign this petition to improve next year's SuperBowl viewing by showing all of the ASL performed.

100% Airtime for the Super Bowl

Let's get some equal access next year.

Thank you.