Looking back on Deaf News stories in 2020
Let’s look back on the biggest Deaf News stories in 2020.
In January, I did coverage of how the wildfires in Australia had an impact on deaf individuals.
In February, reporter Renca Dunn visited the first-ever “ASL Caucus” in Iowa where a group of deaf people gathered to cast their votes for Democratic presidential candidates.
In March, we did interviews with deaf doctors and PhD students to describe the coronavirus. A Deaf man from China sent in a video to describe what Wuhan looked like and how people there were dealing with the virus.
State and local government officials started to give regular press briefings on coronavirus updates with ASL interpreters. It was unprecedented to see that level of ASL on a daily basis.
The White House did not provide ASL interpreters, so DPAN.TV, RID, CSD, and Convo worked in collaboration to provide ASL-interpreted livestreams of President Trump’s coronavirus task force briefings.
In April, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was sued by several deaf individuals for refusing to include ASL interpreters in the frame of his briefings. The lawsuit was represented by Disability Rights New York and they said Gov. Cuomo violated the ADA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. A federal judge in New York sided with the deaf plaintiffs and ordered Cuomo to provide in-frame interpreters.
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In July, we did an interview with Nakia Smith, who became a viral sensation on TikTok. She would later get an opportunity with Netflix’s social media channels to educate people on Black ASL.
The deaf community had a reckoning with the Black Lives Matter movement with many online discussions hosted by the National Black Deaf Advocates. Deaf organizations outlined their commitments to anti-racism work. Gallaudet University established the Center for Black Deaf Studies.
In August, the NAD along with Arnold & Porter sued President Donald Trump and the White House for not providing an ASL interpreter during their coronavirus press briefings. The NAD said this was a violation of Section 504. In September, a federal judge in D.C. sided with the NAD and ordered the White House to provide in-frame interpreters.
“The Daily Moth” did a tribute for deaf people who passed away from the coronavirus. There are more deaf people who have died of the virus, but those were the stories that we were able to share.
In October, “Deaf U” was released on Netflix and it was a hot topic for weeks.
The Mavrick Fisher murder trial began at the end of October and lasted three weeks. Daily Moth reporter Callie Frye covered every day of the trial. Mavrick was found not guilty of murdering Grant Whitaker, but was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to four years in state prison, but due to coronavirus and California’s system with providing half-time credits, Mavrick will remain in county jail and is expected to be released in fall 2021.
ClearMask, a company co-founded by a deaf woman, was recognized for its success in selling transparent masks during the pandemic. The company has made about $40 million in revenue this year.
So, these are the top Deaf News stories. It’s been a long year, and we’re going to dive into another year. Thank you for watching “The Daily Moth.” We’ll be here next year. Stay with the light!