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My roots are mother father deaf.
They are intertwined with history, stories, oppression, barriers and rich language. They are a gift that bonds me with individuals around the world who share my “otherness.” My roots are my hands-up language, my long Sundays at church that inevitably turned into midnight potlucks, the facial expressions I can never hide even if I tried. They are all the grunts & giggles that I love to hear and mirror. My roots are the core of who I am & where I come from. My trunk is the generation before me. The ones who bore burdens before legal intervention. Before the internet and before social media. This generation helped build me, I hope they know that I am grateful. I know they wear scars that I don’t see. Some of them were peers among my parents, who saw things I will never know, who walked with my parents in the lowest of lows. My trunk is the steady confidence that I am not alone. My branches are like me. 90’s & millenia babes who were born into a richness we may never fully grasp. My branches are mostly like me, craving to hold close what I know means the world, while the world tries to tell me otherwise. My otherness is not understood by many, but it is understood by you. Some are big and some are small. Some are only now understanding what this coda world is all about, some are coming back after some time away and some have stayed through it all. Some are like me, desperate to never forget the feeling in my soul when my hands move silently, my face wildly and my heart loudly. My twigs are the pokes and progress I have yet to process. My twigs are the reminders that I have fine tuning to do and that there is room for growth. Even though it can be a little painful, there is a purpose. The healing and fruition is coming, even if at times, I can’t remember. My leaves are the culmination of the beauty that is me & you. Dark to light and all the shades in between. All beautiful and valuable. The colors of my leaves are the different nations that come together as one. All our growth spurred from pain and beauty. The colors of my leaves are the different colors of you. For you see, that is you, and that is me. We. Are. Tree.
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Did you know that there is an public Facebook page that offers resources, stories, and panels about and from Codas? One such group is CODAdet! Click here to check it out! With permission from Jaymes Pomare and Petey Peters, I am reposting the most recent post from CODAdet to highlight this incredible page and an example of what it means to be a Coda. According Jaymes' post: Petey Peters is from Washington D.C.; Major: Communication/Linguistics; Career Goal: Interpreter; Middle child of 3 children -only signing child in family; Fun fact: Didn't find out about Coda till age 32; Hobbies: traveling. Check out his story below: Thank you Petey for sharing your story! One of the resources shared on the CODAdet Facebook page is an Infographic created by Jeffrey Levi Palmer (2016). While it is a couple of years old, I thought as we explore Coda stories and experiences, looking at the statistics below can also inform our awareness for Codas here in the U.S.. I hope to see more stories, research, and statistics worldwide to learn more about what it means to be a child of a deaf adult/s. PDF: http://tinyurl.com/US-Codas  [Image description for a infographic in pastel green, pink, blue and green about Children of Deaf Adults (Codas) in the United States: a green banner is centrally placed and reads in all capital letters: Children of Deaf Adults. In the upper left are two circles that are formed by twenty person icons each. On the left nineteen of the person icons are in slate gray and the remaining one icon is in a lighter gray, the text below reads in the United states ninety-five percent of children born to Deaf parents are Codas, on the right, only one person icon is in slate gray and the remaining nineteen are in light gray, the text below reads five percent of children are born to Deaf parents are Deaf. Below the person icon circles are a set of numbers in large print that read one hundred thirty-three thousand to one hundred eighty-eight thousand five hundred followed by text that reads the estimated number of Codas living in the United States. In the bottom left corner of the infographic is the silhouette of a mother, father and daughter that run off the page above their knees. From head to toe the mother is pink gradating from dark to light. The father is in purple and similarly gradates from dark to light. The daughter, who is standing in-between and in front of the two, is in green and gradates from dark to light. On the daughter’s chest is a heart that is half pink and half purple. On the right-hand side of the infographic is a large blue box with the text Codas are Heritage Signers. The word heritage signer is prominent as it is in a cursive font. Below the text is a table with two columns Deaf of Deaf and Coda. In the first row it contains the text home language. In the cell to the right, for Deaf of Deaf, it reads ASL. In the next cell to the right, for Coda, it also reads ASL. In the second row it contains the text school language. For Deaf of Deaf it reads ASL and written English but for Coda it reads English. In the third row it contains the text language settings. For Deaf of Deaf it reads unlimited and for Coda it reads limited. In the fourth row it contains the text proficiency level. For Deaf of Deaf it reads less variable and for Codas it reads highly variable. To the right of the table is a outlined image of a human face, neck and brain. The brain is separated into two parts, the upper portion is in white and is labelled spoken languages, the bottom portion is in blue and is labelled sign language. Below the image is text that reads Codas are bimodal bilingual. The word bimodal bilingual is in bold purple text. In the bottom right of infographic are two final images. To the left is a map of the United States with the states of New York, Ohio, Wisconsin and California highlight. The text below reads five, the number of Koda-only summer camps in the US. Followed by smaller text that reads three more camps are available for Deaf and Kodas. The image on the right is a tree with varying shades of blue leaves. In bold green print is the year nineteen eighty six followed by the text year of the first CODA International conference in Fremont California. In the lower right-hand corner of the inform graphic is very small print is the text created by Jeffrey Levi Palmer [email protected].]
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PurposeThis page is dedicated to sharing experiences and reclaiming what it means to be a hearing person with at least one Deaf parent, where a fishbowl approach is used to create a safe space. Archives
August 2021
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