Where Have You Been?

Where have we been? Well, we've been around working behind closed doors to expand Signing Is Art (SIA). So much has happened from the time I had the Brick Love Fashion event (promise I'll write up a separate post detailing the event) to the Deaf Artistry event (again I'll write separate post) to where we are now! I know ya'll were asking for me, like where is this lady at?? I can only imagine the below gif are what you're telling me during a random session. LOL

I, Kamil Gerald the Founder & President of this amazing business had to take a step back from teaching the community sign language to focus on attending entrepreneurial school as a way to better promote Signing Is Art (SIA). I also had additional goals and desires for SIA to better accommodate the needs of the various ethnic Deaf communities. I noticed many people did not know there were various dialects of sign language other than the American Sign Language (ASL). I became concerned with the lack of representation in sign language interpreter organizations and an increased occurrence of language barriers. Not every Deaf community understands ASL, they may only communicate in their native sign language which may be Black American Sign Language (BASL), Spanish Sign Language, Puerto Rico Sign Language, etc. Unfortunately, sign language interpreter organizations struggle with answering the call to meet the needs of the diverse Deaf community due to lack of interpreters knowing the various dialects of sign language. And that's because in the sign language interpreter education program, they only teach ASL. How can we come up with a solution to address this gap?

As a doctoral candidate, I decided to conduct my research on the importance of incorporating a multicultural education and/or multilinguism in the sign language interpreter education program. Student interpreters should have the opportunity to choose a language within the sign language umbrella to study just like students who are in college electing to study Spanish, French, etc. I believe that my research will shine a light on the missing gap of service to be able to accommodate the various ethnic Deaf communities. Next year will be my last year in doctorate school and I look forward to continuing my research afterwards. As you can see, I've been busy. However, I would love for you to donate towards my student loans since the Department of Education is or will be dismantle. It would mean so much to me if you could help assist me to get to the finish line of earning my degree. Here's the link and I thank you in advance; https://gofund.me/db627202

Lastly, but not least, Signing Is Art went viral on TikTok due to offering to teach the American Sign Language on both Tik Tok and YouTube Live for FREE!! Lives are held on Wednesdays at 2pm and 7:30pm EST. You can watch the viral video right here; https://youtu.be/sbIiiOwYsZc?feature=shared New times are being added to accommodate those who are in different time zones from other countries. However, one can always watch the replay of lessons on my YouTube channel; http://www.youtube.com/@SigningIsArt. I promise you, you will enjoy the lessons! Classes are amazing and full of good and soothing energies! I'm teaching the community my love language which is sign language and I need your assistance in helping me to expand Signing Is Art to train future sign language leaders to accommodate the various ethnic Deaf communities. I would love for the Deaf community to be able to have an interpreter who signs in their native language at various doctor appointments and so forth. Just imagine all the frustrations eliminated, because the language and communication barriers has been addressed! This is a huge dream and desire of mines to be able to fill in that gap! So, let's work together as a collective to be of service to the Deaf community, https://gofund.me/db627202 This is great stuff and I'm so excited!

As you can see, I've been busy behind closed doors, but I promised to keep each of you posted of our progress! Thank you for being of support when you read this post, donate, or share with your network! Word of mouth goes a long way and I'm truly grateful for the attention and love Signing Is Art is receiving from you all! As always sign language is an expressive art through the beautiful movements of our hands!! Until next time, keep signing!

Kamil