ASL Syntax Assignment

I recall a time, while performing oral sex, that my head was held down firmly. I pushed back with might once, then twice, and still the pressure did not ease. This wasn’t in the way that one would see in adult videos, erotically with consent; I had actually pushed back. I moved their hands from behind my head. ‘We are dating’, I said to myself. I swallowed my feelings, then continued until finish.

Though I felt violated, it wasn’t the situation that insighted our separation. There were other things.

I would cry sometimes, alone to myself. I wanted this relationship so badly, yet, this gift seems to be putting me down constantly.

For those of us who consider ourselves as ‘doing work’ within the Black community, we expect that other woke folk won’t manipulate us, or even that they have our best interest at heart.

What ensues is the battle and the after effect of trying to convince yourself of the illusion. I pushed my feelings aside, doubted my reality and fought the label of victim.

I pushed beyond my threshold to save this Black love. I found myself accepting apologies that were hollow in nature. In fact, they often sounded more like debates in trauma informed practices. ‘I’ statements being key.

You’re not self reflective enough, I was told. But, why did I listen?

I listened because high-income Black men feel like a rarity, even more so, meeting one that wants to settle down can seem impossible. While this may not be in actuality, the images sure are powerful and meeting one can feel like an actual blessing.

I recall the passion of letting my guard down, sharing my experiences of racial trauma, stories of Black rearing within the home, tokenism and even the ways in which we have traversed the LGBTQ+ community. In my case, we also shared the experience of being Black in law enforcement environments, which can sometimes involve a lot of explaining to outsiders. The passion of Black love is unlike any other.

The hardest part for me, has been squashing the feelings of being used, manipulated or violated in the midst of collectively fighting against whiteness.

How can I think so negatively about one of my own?

But we do hurt each other, and our level of blackness does not render us immune from each other.

What I have learned is that the current state of Black dating, these conditions, are toxic. I’ve grown to believe that not speaking out against Black men with reputable labels saves us as a people. But, does it?

So, does this mean the higher the profile, the more ‘he’ can get away with.

This is absolutely not a call to action, rather, I am sharing my awareness of why some Black spaces are not safe for Black women.

That it is also true, that some of our men have preyed upon us, while leading and facilitating our discussions about community empowerment and Black solidarity.

I was once so happy to have been chosen and in the end disgusted by this brazen attitude and freedom at the helm of my silence.

I confess that I didn’t believe the experiences of prior sisters; for that, I failed you sister.

Feigning remorse, they know we, Black women, wouldn’t dare put our community on the line while all this focus is upon us. In sharing this last dating experience, I know I am not the first, nor will I be the last person, if I don’t say my name, their name.

Understanding all these implications, I am too scared to say my name, that is just the fact. These are just my opinions, my experiences, and totally from my perspective.

  Baker, C. & Cokely, D. (1991). American Sign Language: A Teacher’s Resource Text on Grammar and Culture. (Pages 427-442) Clerc Books: Gallaudet University. Washington DC.

Similar to the way that there are inflect specific to time, there are also inflections specific to the distribution within a group of people. The way these inflections are signed is the decision of the signer as there is no one correct way. (example: I gave candy to each one of you, or I gave you all candy) both meant the same thing.

Examples of the four inflections are (a) to all in a group (b) to all in a group “each” (c) to “specific” in a group (d) to all “unspecific”. My example demonstrated will be done with money.

More advance signers are able to use both temporal and distributional aspects at the same time. This is important when using ASL as it will deliver the message more accurately.

Burning Question:

Chapter 13: Temporal Aspects

Baker, C. & Cokely, D. (1991). American Sign Language: A Teacher’s Resource Text on Grammar and Culture. (Pages 401-426) Clerc Books: Gallaudet University. Washington DC.

ASL gives information regarding time with verb modulations. This simply means that the duration or frequency of the “event” is expressed rather then the actual time of the event. For example: a repeated circular motion, straight line movement, slower composed of a round thrust, Short hold at the end of the thrust.

The Verb inflection used by the signer will change depending on the way in which the signer viewed the event. “Over Time, Regularly, Long Time, Over and Over Again”. That means that there is not only one way to sign an event

Non-manual behaviors are also important when discussing Temporal Aspects. Examples of these non-manual behaviors are body position and facial expression which can show a number of things such as if the experience is positive or negative.

Chapter 12: Pluralization

Baker, C. & Cokely, D. (1991). American Sign Language: A Teacher’s Resource Text on Grammar and Culture. (Pages 361-400) Clerc Books: Gallaudet University. Washington DC.

Pluralization refers to the different ways that ASL (American Sign Language) identifies that there is more that one person involved. For example how the words “they” and “we” are used. Comparing the different these same words in English is done by adding “s” on the end.

Classifier hand shape examples that identify singular are “A”, “3”, “1”. These same handshapes can be made plural by dragging or identifying a specific number with a bouncing motion to show that there is more then one.

 Specifically discussing people and pluralization can be interesting. The example in the book was, “girl walking home and two boys walked up to her”. This example shows how easy it is to identify when there is more than one person involved and even if there are 4-5 people involved. Different ways will be shown.

Chapter 9: Subject and Object

Baker, C. & Cokely, D. (1991). American Sign Language: A Teacher’s Resource Text on Grammar and Culture. (Pages 247-285) Clerc Books: Gallaudet University. Washington DC.

Subject and Object are identified in three different ways in ASL. They are modulations, use of certain sign order, changes in signers body position to represent different speaker

Changes in signers body position refers to role shifting, when the signer takes on the character or the narrator in the story

How is 1st person to 3rd person established in ASL? The use of space is important when describing how many people are involved or with whom the discourse included. The signer is always the first person.

Chapter 6: Sentence Types

Chapter 5: Selected Sign Types

Chapter 4: Sign Formation and Variation

Chapter 3: English In The Deaf Community.

Chapter 2: What is American Sign Language?

  Baker, C. & Cokely, D. (1991). American Sign Language: A Teacher’s Resource Text on Grammar and Culture. (Pages 47-61) Clerc Books: Gallaudet University. Washington DC.

American Sign Language is also called ASL and Ameslan. ASL is a visual-gestural language that was created by Deaf people. Deaf American and some Deaf Canadians use the language.

ASL is comprised of gestures and signs. In the past, people thought that ASL gestures were irregular and non-specific, but now after linguists have studied the language we can see that ASL does have rules for each sign.

Throughout history there have been many attempts to suppress ASL with the strict teaching of English. ASL has managed to survive because of three reasons: (1.) Oppression of the community created stronger bonds in defense of the language.  (2.) Deaf people naturally want and feel most comfortable with a visual language. (3.) Few hearing people know ASL.