We got the Governor to know we want to be independent…

August 19 was the day when emergency budget sessions about state budget cuts were scheduled. Those cuts would mean loss of employment and loss of services in the community.

Cuts to Independent Living and Home Care would push people back into nursing homes. But, for the Deaf community it was about removing effective communication in the community, in other words, removing their voice and hearing in the community.

For those who do not know, many Independent Living Centers have at least one or a few Deaf and Hard of Hearing people working to provide deaf and hard of hearing customers with someone who is an expert in deaf culture and communication needs. Many of our deaf and hard of hearing members know that it takes a deaf or hard of hearing staff member to meet these needs.

As we arrived at the “War Room” of the Capitol, I had two different roles, as a Regional Center for Independent Living (RCIL) Deaf Systems Advocate and an ADAPT Photographer. I did not realize that both of these roles would become the most exciting part of the event.

In the “War Room” we met more deaf and hard of hearing people from different parts of the state. Many of them said that they finally matched my face with my email. Some of them said that they knew that an interpreter would be there to meet their communication needs and that was James Scarola, Center for Disability Rights’ (CDR) full time staff interpreter.

James did an awesome job as he signed what was happening around the room. I will not forget that he even shouted as he signed, which is not common for most interpreters, but this made us feel like he was one of us. The deaf people who attended would follow what he signed. They would even change some signs to different metaphors to make it easier to sign it loudly. As soon as we started doing metaphors, we were signing like crazy, making all songs and quotes by the group more interesting among ourselves.

For example when James signed “Don’t target us” or some other words that have more than one meaning, some of us would use different metaphors. When the audience said “target”… some deaf would use signs for a gun, others would point at themselves, others would point at people in the audience and sometimes made signs of an arrow target. For the sign “us”, they would point at the audience, sign it with a U going around their chest or sign it as a 5 hand shape going around the audience. This kept us motivated and we kept going on and on and on. All of us stood in a circle, exchanging different signs that we used.

I am not sure if everyone will agree, but I felt that our deaf group had the strongest spirit of all people who attended. We would dance, sign, and support each other. We probably had the greatest spirit of the protest. I would look away from the group and look at the audience, and notice people were watching me. At that moment, I was not sure if my lip-reading has improved but I could see almost everyone saying it the same time we did. It was exciting.

As I was part of this, I took photos of different posters, signs on the wall and people protesting. This was like one big family reunion. I do not know if Albany has seen such a widely diverse group before, but this was one great diversity group working together for a good cause.

After lunch, things got even more exciting for a photographer. As we went down to the Governor’s office, having already spoken with the Governor’s staff in the past, we demanded that we speak with the Governor himself this time. Several important people joined us at the upper stairs, including senators, commissioners and different important people in the community.

As I was taking pictures, we had a legislator from Bronx, NY, who supported us. As we were singing ADAPT songs, he was acting as our Chief Conductor of the awesome ADAPT band. We were singing and he was moving his arms up and down supporting us. I believe he enjoyed every moment of it. That was one awesome moment. He told James, our interpreter, that he would not vote to support cuts to our Independent Living Centers.

As we filled the whole hall from the “War Room” to the glass door of the Governor’s office, the police working inside the office had been telling our people to make space for visitors. As soon as someone left the office, our group tried to get inside the office and several wheelchair users got stuck holding the door open and the police were fighting to close the door. I was impressed with Jonathan Dollhope, who was part of our deaf group and the Southern Tier Independence Center’s Deaf Services Coordinator. He got so excited as he was signing, “I don’t care if you arrest me, I want to go in and meet the Governor.” I wonder if anyone understood him other than me, but it was exciting to watch.

What made it even more interesting was that one police officer tried to push Bruce Darling, CDR’s CEO, away from the door, and there was little room for him to go anywhere. That same officer twisted Bruce’s arm like an angry child. I thought that was really childish and unnecessary. We had a whole team of people with disabilities, blind, mobility impaired, wheelchair users, deaf and some non-disabled allies who were right there in front of the Governor’s office against maybe 5 police officers.

Finally our group and the police agreed, and everyone moved back and gave them room to close the door. In return, we got eight people in to speak with the Governor.

We had a very successful event. I took so many exciting photos and met so many awesome people. Everyone worked together.

For the disability community and Independent Living Centers, I can tell you one thing: we had an awesome day fighting this battle together where the news, media and everyone else saw us as one strong diversity group that will never give up our independence, and that was our success!

For the Deaf community who attended this event, they were grateful that the interpreter enabled them to understand what was happening. They were happy to be part of this historical moment and had total access to effective communication. What was even better, the deaf group said that they never had so much fun and are looking forward to the next ADAPT event!