Signs for REFUGEE

Meaning: a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster.

Sign used by former Deaf refugees in "The Journey of Deaf Refugees" YT video (April 2021).

Related signs: IMMIGRATION, ASYLUM (political asylum).

Deaf Culture and tidbits

Can you believe...?

Inspired by the passage in a news article on March 24, 2022 talking about the U.S. Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright (1937-2022) who was a refugee in her childhood from then Czechoslovakia:

"I heard this man saying all of a sudden, 'Can you believe it, I'm a refugee and I just got my naturalization certificate from the secretary of state [Madeleine Albright],' " she described during a speech at Westminster College in 2019. "So I went up to him and I said, 'Can you believe that a refugee is secretary of state?'" -- Ref

Can you believe that a refugee is ... [Deaf Americans and Canadians who made great contributions to ASL-speaking North America]?

Laurent Clerc (1785-1869) was a Deaf teacher in Prais, France. He moved to America where he and Thomas Gallaudet established America's first school for the deaf. He also is believed to be America's first deaf teacher.

Dr. Genie Gertz, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., active political figure, scholar. Emigrated to the U.S. from St. Petersburg, Russia, at age 8.

Claudia Gordon (1972-), the first deaf African American woman to become a lawyer; advisor/worker at the White House in 2013-. Born in Jamaica and emigrated to New York, U.S. at age 11.

David Peikoff (1900-1995), advocate, activist, fundraiser, leader who served the Canadian and U.S. deaf communities. Born in Yanoschina, Russia, emigrated to Canada (1908-1961), then moved to the U.S. (1961-1995). Ref

And a lot more... Do you know of any one who was a refugee? Send an email to Handspeak.

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~~ Feeling lucky? ¯\(°_o)/¯ Random word ~~

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