Rania Jung Johnson Log 1

After I made a new connection to wonderful Deaf Asian Americans, adoptees and U.S. citizens, my vision of a video collection (similar to anthology) changed slightly. Still, it remained the same goal of collecting lived stories. I had ideas mapped out for making an ASL video collection of the lives of Deaf Asian Americans’ experiences with challenges in both the hearing world and the Deaf community. I wonder about shared commonalities of their struggles and challenges, regardless of their backgrounds. By chance, I met a BIPOC student studying to be an ASL interpreter. The student has a film BA and wants to work with me to make a video and create an English version for anyone who does not know sign language. I am so grateful to know the student for making communication accessible – a shared language space. My connections through networking have been growing, which is exciting and hopeful for making my vision happen. Deaf Asian American individuals and I shared ideas and wanted to create a Deaf Asian American organization for collaboration, education, and empowerment. I am aware that this is a different project, but the ideas are there that could be a part of voices in a collection of lives experiences through visual sharing cultures and sign languages.