DPHHH

Update from 3rd Meeting for March

By Billy Koch | Posted in Politics | Jun.16, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Written by Brad Porche and Billy Koch

Last night meeting at Woodhaven church served a constant reminder of the issues that many deaf/hoh face after a long sought settlement between the Department of Justice and the City of Houston.

The truth is the City of Houston has continued to fail in the requirement that has been outlined in the settlement when it comes to meeting the needs of the deaf and hard of hearing individuals. That was one of the main reason to have the March, to bring awareness to the city council of Houston. Brian and Kathy and the other co-founders hope to bring that awareness to the City of Houston and ensure that the requirements are met in the 1998 settlement.

There were about 40 people at the meeting, and some were able to watch the meeting online. Some were there to prepare for the March and others were there to question the integrity of the March and the co-founder’s preparedness. In the meeting, there were more questions than answers and many felt uneasiness in the way the March has been planned. From our observations, we could see many of the audience members did not receive a satisfied answer and was more puzzled than before. However, the March Founders was adamant to go on with the March regardless and mentioned that Brian will be having a meeting with the ADA Coordinator, Robby Laws on the issue of the settlement agreement.

Some has expressed concerns on facts and evidence that could be presented to the City Council in regards to our situation.  Others has expressed that this issue is really a two way street, not just necessarily the City of Houston failure to meet our needs but because we had no one to really follow up with the City of Houston.

So as a result, many of those in the audience had the renew call for an establishment of an organization. An organization that will meet the needs for everyone in the deaf/hoh community. We ask for those to continue to participate and bring more awareness/voice in the establishment for a organization. Please keep an eye on the update on DPHHH.com for information.  Remember this is not about you, but about the deaf/hoh community as whole.  Updates will be coming soon about upcoming meetings in regards to the deaf/hoh community.

Dr. Singleton’s Response to One’s Man’s Opinion to Protest

By Billy Koch | Posted in Politics | Jun.12, 2009 | 1 Comment

Dr. Patti Singleton responded to my posting on Deafnetwork – http://deafnetwork.com/wordpress/blog/2009/06/07/deaf-protest-one-guy’s-opinion…/  So I have asked for permission to post her response here on DPHHH.com so you as the individual can read it here.   And she approved my posting her response here.

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Folks,
This email caught my eye & I can’t help but smile at the similarities in the feelings expressed now and back during the first protest at Gallaudet University for a “Deaf President Now” in March, 1988…
I was fortunate to be there as a graduate student at Gallaudet and on the front lines as history was made…and I learned some valuable lessons in working with the media & politicians in general. There were folks who opposed the protest and those who supported it, but the important thing is that we put aside our differences and worked together for a common cause. I’m not sure that waiting to have a Deaf Awareness Week the most appropriate thing to do to get your legal issues addressed now…I’m also not saying that the Deaf Awareness Week isn’t important, it IS but you need to do much, much more than that…protecting your legal rights is a daily, weekly, monthly, year-round thing…not a onetime event during the year!

You need to have your act together – the Houston Deaf Rights group needs to organize and put out a list of Issues with concrete examples of each, i.e.: legal rights not being addressed or respected, discrimination, etc. What have you tried in terms of resolving these issues in the past? Again you needs dates & data to prove your case..
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Pre-Deaf Protest Meeting – Tuesday 9th

By Bradley Porche | Posted in Blogs, Politics | Jun.10, 2009 | 14 Comments

Tonight I had the opportunity to attend the pre-protest meeting at Memorial City Mall. The meeting finally started after a few minutes delay due to waiting for more Deaf/Hard of Hearing individuals to show up. There were approximately around 15 Deaf/Hard of Hearing individuals.

There were diverse individuals from different background, some were Deaf and Hard of Hearing, some had a strong conviction to protest and some were not sure of what was going on. Neverthless, Brian Determan, one of the co-founders of the Deaf Right Protest (the title of the protest has not been clarified) took the floor and explained the issue of why we should need to protest.

Several issues were brought up.  Some stated that it was a long struggle for the Deaf/Hard of Hearing individuals to gain access to interpreters and the city did not fullfill the needs of Deaf individuals. He said that he met with the city and the city coordinator said that there was not much Deaf awareness and did not know how to provide the support for the Deaf community.
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Deaf Protest Meeting – Tuesday 9th

By Bradley Porche | Posted in News, Politics | Jun.09, 2009 | 4 Comments

I have volunteered to be a writer for the Deaf Protest/March Rally and there will be a pre-march meeting taking place today (June 9th) at Memorial City Mall (Food Court) at 7 o clock pm.

As a contributing member of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing community, I would strongly encourage you to attend and participate. Like Billy Koch previously said, “It takes a community.” A community is one of the most valuable thing a Deaf/Hard of Hearing individual can have because not only the support is there but knowing what is going on is important as well. I plan on attending, write (blog), and participate about the meeting and I ask of you to do the same to blog and participate. Therefore, the message will be heard through the blogosphere, Facebook, etc. One person cannot do it all but many of you have the will power to make a difference.
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Deaf Protest – One Guy’s Opinion…

By Billy Koch | Posted in Blogs, Politics | Jun.05, 2009 | 6 Comments

Okay folks – I just got an email about a pending protest that some deaf individuals are planning to have on June 16th.  Now I am going to have to admit, I am really bothered by this approach.  I am speaking from a personal level – this approach in my opinion will not reflect positively with us and the deaf community.  We, the deaf community have already been reflected negatively by the people from our two protests at Gallaudet.  The first one was acceptable and totally understandable – but the second one people were like again?? 

Granted they may NOT understand why, but its is not the point.  The point is we need to make our opportunities in a positive manner and have people to reflect off us in a positive manner.  For example I am going to say this – we are at fault for where we are.  As I wrote in my “Together we Stand, Divided we Fall” article.  We are just as responsible for this situation as they the hearing community is.  You ask why?  I’ll tell you why! 
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Barriers we live in…

By Longster | Posted in Blogs, Politics | Mar.25, 2009 | 2 Comments

Have you ever take a step back and analyze situation you face in this world? There are times when we forget who we are… an outsider. Unfortunately, no one can be told what it’s like. Experience is the best teacher we can learn from. Every obstacle we face is our job to seize the opportunity and use it to our advantage. What you’re about to see is a video that closely remind our daily lives we face. We’ve come a long way, but it’s fascinating that this problem still exist where technology are readily available for us.