I saw a poster one day

It said silence is golden but duct tape is silver

And if silence is golden than I must be wealthy beyond my wildest dreams

For my culture is rich

See if silence had a color, it would not only be gold

But vibrant hues and colors with details only seen to those

Who see with their eyes and not with their ears

Who see without distraction

Content in their own world

 

Deaf does not mean dumb

It does not mean handicapped or disabled

Deaf means a beautiful way of life

With body language and soul

Facial expressions that tell almost as much as the language itself

Deaf is a community

A community of people who share something in common

A community of people who reach their goals like any other

Whether it’s getting through discrimination, working for a good job, or just being social

 

See deaf is not black and white

Nor is deaf silent

There is color and beauty

And a language so loud it’s impossible not to look

Because I know

That when you stare at a deaf person, it’s not curiosity or judgment

But acknowledgement of something so beautiful and so serene

 

A movement of hands tells a story

A change in body motion tells the difference

The look on a face painted with raw emotion

Signing is a language so pure in itself

 

See when I started signing I was captivated

Motivated to try and form sentences

To try and converse with those that it came so natural to

My broken signs came out wrong

And my grammar all out of sorts

But they took my hands in theirs and moved them with a rhythm I didn’t know of

A rhythm neither Drake nor Eminem, not even Lil Wayne can capture

And my friends stood in awe as I conversed

Immersed in another world

Another culture

So easily forgotten

 

History

So rich and strong

Forged by discrimination and institutions

All over the world the deaf and hard of hearing have battled

A struggle against those who

“know what’s best”

And

Make no attempt to understand

Labeling those who are different outcasts

Worthless

Less than man

Instead of numbers on their arms they got contraptions in their ears

Boxes on their belts

And made to conform to a different cultures’ standards

Told “you will read my lips, say what I do”

For that is what’s better for you

Instead of being mainstreamed

They were tossed into institutions

Segregated and called dumb

Taught differently

Harshly

 

But see America has progressed

My school is mainstreamed

Hearing are taking Sign classes

Deaf take whatever classes they please

America

The melting pot of the world

Based on diversity and difference

Is only now showing its true colors

Vibrant colors and details

Sketched into the fabric of society and culture

Thrown on billboards and advertised in schools saying

“Apply for the minority scholarship today!”

See why not show the world its true beauty

Show what the earth truly has to offer

No matter the shape

Color

Size

Or difference

See if you truly look

Look past the sounds of modern

Past the synthetic distractions of man

Past the assumptions of society and religion

You see things hidden in plain sight

You see the true colors

That the world has to offer

Because see duct tape may be silver

But Silence is golden