Volunteering and New Ways of Doing Activism

Initially, I planned out an ambitious activist project, which consisted of collecting pads and tampons for homeless women, from the students of UMBC. Despite the initial rush I felt at coming up with an idea that I felt fit the definition of activism perfectly, my project soon crashed and burned because of inadequate preparation and awareness of exactly what I needed to do. This was a disappointing blow for me, but as the semester went on and I learned more about activism, both from GWST 200 and from the actions of others around me, especially with regard to the events in Baltimore, I realized that something else I was doing throughout this spring counted as activism. That is, it was something that was effecting positive change, even though it was not on a relatively large scale and did not immediately seem radical.

Deaf President Now in a Larger Context

The activist movement that I chose to explore was the Deaf President Now movement. Growing up as a deaf person in close proximity to Gallaudet, I heard (or rather, saw) this story told over and over. Although it was never explicitly labeled an activist movement, it was an attempt to make a change for the better by those who were not in power, an idea which rings true throughout our history.

The themes of triumph and pride in the Deaf community were constantly reiterated in these tellings, drawing a very black-and-white picture of the Deaf President Now movements and its success.