"me and all my friends we're all misunderstood - they say we stand for nothing and there's no way we ever could. now we see everything that's going wrong with the world and those who lead it, we just feel like we don't have the means to rise above and beat it. so we keep waiting waiting on the world to change we keep on waiting waiting on the world to change it's hard to beat the system when we're standing at a distance so we keep waiting waiting on the world to change."
What on earth is Jen talking about? Who is the person in that photo? Has Jen finally gone off the deep end?
Today Eli's school presented their "Winter Program" - (can't say Christmas, folks, or we'll owe someone money to assuage their hurt feelings.) Eli was so cute and excited that we were there to see him, and he did so well - especially considering that he's only been learning the song since Monday!! I'm a horrible Mom today because I rushed out without the camera, but they are performing again tonight and I'll have my better half with me to say "Did you remember the camera"?
Eli's class, along with some of the middle school kids, presented the above quoted song in ASL, while a video played behind them about the history of deaf culture and some of the influential deaf people in history. I can't explain how moving the performance was - particularly watching Eli sign the chorus of "I keep on waiting for the world to change" - that statement holds so much truth for him.
Before we set out to adopt Eli, I had no idea how intense the discrimination against deaf people has been in our country through the years. It is something I've always associated with taking place in other cultures - surely not in our "progressive" and "civilized" nation! I've learned alot since then about how hard deaf people have had to fight (even today) to be recognized as perfectly capable individuals who deserve the same rights and opportunities as anyone else. It's hard for me to comprehend, but it's a reality for Eli. On the way home, I had some really awesome dialogue with the other three kids about discrimination. We talked about all types of discrimination and the kids all had some interesting thoughts and feelings to share.
The person in the picture is Nellie Zabel Willhite. She was one of the many influential deaf people featured in the video presentation. I put her in this post because she is believed to be the first deaf pilot in history. Eli has such a passion for everything aviation - I have a gut feeling that we'll be doing a research project on her someday! I also put her picture up because she happened to be a woman, and I am an ardent feminist, as you all know. ;) LOL!
Love,
Jen
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