Hocokan, the Center

Audism, a classic case of the illiterate?

2009-03-31T19:21:00.000-07:00

Hello brothers and sisters. I'm making an important personal declaration today in regards to "Audism". After carefully observing and analyzing the background, history, and commonly accepted interpretation for this term I realized that it was a classic case of the illiterate.

According to reliable sources I've spoken to I learned that the term "Aud" came from "Audible". Now, let's take a look at the dictionary;

Main Entry: 1au·di·ble
Function: adjective
Etymology: Late Latin audibilis, from Latin audire to hear; akin to Greek aisthanesthai to perceive, Sanskrit āvis evidently
Date: 1529
: heard or capable of being heard

What, you say? That's correct. Audible means "heard or capable of being heard". For me personally it does not make much sense to me when I compare it with deaf people's definition on Audism. And it did not make sense to hearing people that I've talked to. To them the term 'Audism' is a person who exercise oppression against people who can or could hear. The term itself does not even begin to address oppression against those who can not hear. Therefore it appears we've been pursuing the wrong term to begin with. What we need is a term that is an exact opposite of Audible.

Now that I think about it I'm embarrassed by the fact that numerous deaf leaders, namely leaders of DBC and AFA grassroots made decisions to tout "Audism" term in public including but not limited to accusing certain people such as AG Bell of Audists based on Audism, failing to realize that the Audible refers to those who can hear. It does not connect with those who can not hear. The consequences here is a classic example and it happens when we try to invent a new term and proceed to use it without applying basic safeguard principles, that of using existing legal terms or scholars to help us identify terms that match our descriptions. By using Audism term quite freely without truly understanding what Audible actually mean is a classic example of the illiterate.

Now, let's think about the consequences. Now that AFA has made itself known to AG Bell there are little doubts that they are going use this classic example and paint this so-called grassroots group as the illiterate. They will use it as an example for hearing parents with deaf infants. It is a case of us doing more harm than good simply because we allowed our illiterate leaders to lead us with blindfolds on our eyes. I made several video comments saying "we are not dogs" and I did so because these illiterate leaders would not answer Deaf community's questions. One would think that we (Deaf community) were only exercising our basic human rights to ask valid questions and pursue healthy discussions. However yet we were labeled as traitors, myth-setters, crab theorists, and many other demeaning terms by DBC and AFA leaders. They mocked us in such way that was demeaning. I viewed it as ethnocentric behavior because the uppity-up Deaf leaders viewed the rest of the deaf community as a pack of dogs. They literally expected us to obey and follow them all the way to their rallies without details. They do not think they owe any explanation to the Deaf community. That's why I said we're not dogs. Ella had something to say about it. She said that my choice of words, referring to deaf people as dogs was also a form of Audism. Weird. I did not say we were dogs. I said we were not dogs because they treated us like it.

I've followed numerous comments (v/blogs) during the past few days and I see many valid points. DVTV was pretty much dull if not nearly dead but life came back almost instantly after I posted a VLOG on AFA / Audism. My underlying point was to confirm the fact that AFA was in fact a product of DBC. And then the great debate on Audism followed.

And then something funny thing happened. Ella left a comment for me and said that I liked to control the media. Naturally I was puzzled by her choice of words, as in power and control, which she use a lot in her comment. She also called me a sexist and audist, for certain comments that I did not make but came from somebody else. Weird. However you all know the statement I'm famous for.... "Words are like mirror, a reflection of self". If this person use these terms a lot then it's probably them who practice such thing. Regardless I told her that it was not possible for me to control the media since I was only there as one of many commenters. I went on to tell her that I just happened to understand the nature of media therefore I knew how to utilize it. It was a matter of how we utilize the media to make the most of it, not how we control it. Big difference but apparently she didn't understand the difference.

I see DBC and AFA with a very comparable problem, probably due to the fact that they contain almost all of the same individuals. They don’t seem to understand how media works therefore they have been unable to utilize the resources to maximize their efforts to expose their causes under positive lights. For example, the term Audism has been around for several decades but yet it never made splashes. It even did not make splashes when Audism Free America touted their upcoming rally for several weeks. They could not figure how to utilize the media. On the other side I walked into the picture and created a simple vlog on this subject and created huge splashes in both DeafRead and DeafVideo.tv. Real discussions finally took place on Audism afterwards.

Now, what does this tell us? It boils down to how we utilize the media. And because DBC / AFA have been unable to utilize the media it told me one thing. We have the wrong leaders in charge of DBC and AFA. They don’t have what it takes to make an impact in the media field. They only understand quick rallies and labels. More importantly they seem to lack political realities, which opens up a new can of worms.

Regardless, I want to talk about something else. Ethnocentric and / or Ethnocentrism. In the dictionary it means;

eth·no·cen·tric
Function: adjective
Date: 1900
: characterized by or based on the attitude that one's own group is superior
— eth·no·cen·tric·i·ty \-sen-ˈtri-sə-tē\ noun
— eth·no·cen·trism \-ˈsen-ˌtri-zəm\ noun

It is a case of attitude thinking that one's own group is superior than other group. This applies towards just about any type of group we can think of. Several individuals brought this term, ethnocentric to the attention of DBC / AFA leaders and asked them for their thoughts. We did so because we thought it might be necessary for us to understand the meanings / functions of ethnocentrism in order to evaluate and appreciate the true meaning of Audism. However and unfortunately, they have refused to discuss it. I suspect it’s because the term is very new / foreign to them. It also mean that they are totally unprepared to defend ‘audism’ term in face of ethnocentric.

My next question / arguments. What is wrong with Ethnocentric? Why is it not used by Deaf leaders since it is already in the dictionary, a legal term. Is it because they (Deaf leaders) could not spell 'ethnocentric'? Or is it because these leaders did not believe that it would get very far because they did not have the confidence in Deaf people's ability to learn how to spell ethnocentric? If that is the case then these leaders are guilty of audism based on their own description / interpretation. Were they aware of the term 'ethnocentric' but wanted to replace it with something simpler and shorter because they did not think we could learn to spell this twelve (12) lettered word? If that's the case then it's definitely a case of them (Deaf leaders) looking down at Deaf people, treating them like dummies. Or is it because they (deaf leaders) tried to create a term that would allow us to criticize hearing people but yet does not allow them to criticize us for the same behavior? Is that why they kept ethnocentric under the rug? If so, I say it's unfair and it will only encourage deaf people to abuse the 'Audism' term.

It's something we all ought to think about. Based on what I've learned I've made a decision to place Audism in its' rightful place, in the trash can. I've adopted ethnocentric and ethnocentrism as appropriate terms to use. Furthermore it'll show everybody that we're a bunch of intelligent human beings if we learned how to spell twelve (12) lettered word instead of irrelevant six (6) lettered term.

Warmest Regards,
Barry

Hocokan, the Center

2008-07-02T18:16:00.000-07:00

Greetings Brothers and Sisters,

Before we begin, I want to set aside one thing first. Regardless of your culture and language or choice of language, you are human beings first before you are anything else. The arguments for 'too Deaf' or 'not deaf enough', to capitalize D for Deaf or not to capitalize d for deaf, to reject or to embrace ASL, bilingualism, oralism, and cochlear implants comes after the fact that we all are human beings first. Remember this as you participate in this blog. Let's not lose our focus here.

Many of you know me as Dr. Hocokan from other blogs at DeafRead. Some of you assumed Hocokan is a name but it is not a name. It is a term used by our honorable brothers and sisters from Lakota Nation. In Lakota Nation, Hocokan means circle, a complete circle. It also means the voice in the center. It is the thing that keeps us balanced. The vibrations that we feel or hear from the outside as well as vibrations coming from the spiritual promptings are there to direct us in negative or positive ways. The term Circle is a very important tool for our body, mind, and spirit. It promotes harmony and unity, something we all have seen lack for. Visit any blog and you will almost always sense frictions, and witness insults and depredatory comments from all walks of life, from people who are not in the center and do not hear the voice in the center.

Bernard Bragg's vlog said it beautifully when he asked why divide ourselves, categorizing ourselves as too deaf or not deaf enough. Why not just call ourselves simply deaf. I bring with me a greater calling, a greater challenge for everybody. Why divide ourselves, categorizing ourselves as something radical? Why not just just call ourselves simply human beings because that is who we are, first and foremost before we are anything else.

Hocokan teaches us that we are all related. After centuries of hurt and traumas our spirit and body always lead us to the same trail that of healing trail. Our body and spirit knows its' instructions. We will always find ourselves back on this trail in search for healing, recovery and closure. It's a natural process that takes cares of itself.

Hocokan also teaches us that life itself is a ceremony. Hocokan is the voice in the center, the thing that keeps us balanced. The vibrations that we hear from all around us help and direct us in negative or positive ways. Talk about body, mind, spirit and we talk about something we can control. That something we can control is done in harmony. How do we go about doing that?

The spirit needs to be grounded. After generations of pain and imbalance piles up there is no grounding. Different waves of individuals and families become lost in negativity. Love is one of the most grounding forces people can experience because it is nourishing and it spawns good vibrations. So if there is no love or or there is something else instead, the spirit can be lost, resulting in the person being lost or side-tracked. It's the attitude and the personality that are being developed, negatively or positively, depending on how centered we are. Many of us do not get what we need during our upbringing.

In order to help ourselves we have to figure out how to bring them back to that ground. Deaf people's life and history experiences parallels with Native Americans. Our history, like theirs are full of hurt and anger. The Native Americans were forced into reservations whereas their Native kids were forced to go to boarding schools, resulting in loss of Native spirituality and languages. Treaties were broken and infestations of small pox heaped together. They carried a lot of anger. They experienced a lot of traumas. Some Native Americans came back home only to be rejected and called "too white" just as we categorize some deaf as "not deaf enough". Those who stayed on the reservation remained RED just as we categorize some Deaf as "too Deaf". The experiences of Native Americans are very comparable to our current issues and experiences. We have our languages and cultures, much like they had theirs. We care about our language and cultures just like they cared for theirs.

Now why am I bringing this subject up? I meant no disrespect for my sacred Native brothers and sisters when I talk about them and their history. What happened there is theirs to preserve and treasure and it belongs to them. What happened to us is ours to preserve and it belongs to us. But lessons learned from Native Americans are something we can learn from. Their philosophies and approaches such as Medicine Wheel are hundreds if not thousand years old. Their therapeutic philosophies are proven systems. Learn from them and perhaps we'll begin to learn how to help ourselves.

We do not want to talk about much of what we had experienced so we just place a lid on our inner feelings and turn into cocoons. Native Americans through the years also experienced the same feelings. Hocokan teaches them, just as it will teach us to open up and discuss our pasts and future generations and ask what we are able to do for them and what we are actually doing right now. It is human's nature to want to talk about 'what is' rather than 'what was'. We need to work on that because like the Native Americans' trauma history, our trauma history is part of us. The answer is to help our people and especially the children find the center and show respect for their elders and to be taught spirituality. We need to heal the history in order to move forward.

I had the privilege of meeting numerous special Elders and Wisdom keepers as well as Fire keepers representing different Native American Tribes. Each one of them shared important messages with me through the years. One by one, the messages came together as in puzzles and produced a very powerful message. Wholeness. The power of a complete circle. Most recently I had the privilege to get to know a special friend, known as Phillip Whiteman Jr. also seen at http://www.phillipwhitemanjr.com/ who teaches medicine wheel. Read his underlying message, "We are taught to respect each others' stories and to come in one circle to understand. There is unity in diversity".

He teaches troubled youths throughout the nation and help them discover self-worth and self-identity through medicine wheel. He teaches through example, not words. He breaks and train horses through spiritual communications, not through words. And because I also train horses without words he and I connected and became friends. I've watched his work in demonstration whereas he is able to break and train a horse with a very natural approach, using Medicine Wheel Model. His approach is very powerful, much of what I've already understood, due to my deafness. When I work with a new horse in a working corral I learn to communicate with the horse through spirits and body language, not through words.

Phillip Whiteman Jr. teaches us the difference between linear thinking and circular thinking. Linear thinking is what we usually see everywhere, whereas corners are every where. Like the new horse, corners became their favorite places because it felt secured. What they don't realize is corners keep you away from the center. It keeps you unbalanced. But when we move the new horse to a circle pen, it could not find corners. They would keep running in circles and until they are too tired and end up in the center because it felt the safest. That is when the horse discovered itself and its' true identity. The horse trainer was always in the center from the beginning, waiting for the horse to realize the value of the center, that of balanced life.

The philosophy applies to everybody here, every human beings. We all have our own corners. We run into our corners when we are afraid of something. This is how we were taught. This is why we lie, cover things up and retreat from something we are not comfortable with. Sound familiar?

It does for me. I see Deafhood in their corner feeling afraid for their own identity, culture and language. They represent the linear thinkers. People who reject ASL or Bilingualism are also linear thinkers. People who reject Oralism and CI are also linear thinkers. That is because they all are still inside the square pen. Remember DBC and Deafhood's popular messages? The WALL! Tear down the WALL! In fact they are seeing walls because they are stuck in a corner with no where to run. Come to the circled pen and you won't run into any corners. Instead you will run in circles until you discover the center. In the center of a circle the WALL does not exist.

And once we are at the center, we will begin to have 360 degree view of the circle itself. The circle itself represents all walks of life, ranging from ASL Powerhouse, Deafhood, Oralism, Cochlear Implants, hearing parents of deaf children, deaf parents of deaf children, hearing parents of hearing children, deaf parents of hearing children, deaf adults, hard of hearing, etc; From the center we will have greater knowledge, wisdom, experience, patience and above all, the LOVE. Love represents harmony and wholeness.

As a way of honoring my honorable brother, Phillip Whiteman Jr. for being a wonderful mentor to me and many others, copy of his DVD presentation is found at http://www.phillipwhitemanjr.com/store.html. My comment towards his work is imprinted on the back of the DVD whereas it mentioned my deafness and how I felt connected to the Medicine Wheel Model. Phillip sensed importance of my deafness when working with horses through spirits and true and natural languages, that of life and all living things. He did not shy away from the fact that I was Deaf. Instead, he saw it as an advantage that many hearing people did not have. He, of all people, understood and recognized the qualities of Deaf person because he is in the center.

I am sharing these things with you because I BELIEVE in human beings. I look at each one of us as human beings first and we all should. Feel free and contribute productive comments here and share your insights. Positive comments means you are much closer to the center than you thought or perhaps you are already in the center. Negative comments are welcomed because you are also part of the circle. Negativity will eventually dissolve as soon as you steer yourself towards the center. Those who continue to produce negative comments will mean only one thing.... not in the center yet. Keep trying and you'll eventually find your way to the center. It's okay if you don't want to try. Your corner is yours to keep and your journey will be long and difficult but it is by choice. That's the beauty of it.

Hugs for everybody!
Barry Sewell