'My Hands Are Loud Enough'

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Recently, a deaf TikToker has gone viral and attracted a lot of attention for teaching black American sign language. Her sharing is interesting and truly inspiring not only for deaf people but also for others.

This young queen is Nakia Smith a.k.a. Charmay. 

What made Charmay's TikTok video go viral was the way she and her family of hereditary deafness taught fans about the history of BASL.

In fact, black deaf families existed long before Charmay shared a video on TikTok about the dialect of black deaf families. But little attention has been paid to the culture of this group.

 01 

What is BASL?

Black American Sign Language (BASL), also known as Black Sign Language Variant (BSV), is a dialect of the traditional American Sign Language (ASL), so they have some similarities. 

It most commonly used by deaf African Americans in the United States.

The divergence from ASL was influenced largely by the segregation of schools in the American South. 

Back in those days, schools for the deaf were segregated by race. So two language communities were created among deaf sign-language students: white deaf sign-language students in white schools and black deaf sign-language students in black schools.It was developed by Black deaf people in the 1800s and 1900s during segregation. For reference, the first American school for the deaf was created in 1817 but only started admitting Black students in 1952. So as a result, Black communities had a different means of language socialization, and BASL was born.

Today, despite the desegregation of public schools in 1954, southern sign-language users still use BASL.

 02 

How to distinguish between the two linguistically?

Robert Bayley, a linguistics professor at the UC Davis, even went so far as to say, "Somehow, although BASL developed under oppression, it is in many ways more standard than the dialect of ASL."

Over time, BASL also incorporated some African American English slang.

For example, the "tight" sign in black sign language, which can also mean "cool," comes from Texas. Other everyday gestures, such as "bathroom," "towel," and "chicken," are completely different in BASL and ASL.

The picture below is very clear about how to express their literal meaning in sign language.

 03 

『My Hands Are Loud Enough』

On social media, it's easy to see that Charmay is the 4th deaf generation of five generations.

Her videos have been viewed more than 1 million times on Tik Tok and more than 900,000 times on Twitter. 

The videos are usually feature her family, particularly Jake, her 95-year-old grandfather, who is deaf and mute.

The 22-year-old girl has taken to the video-sharing platform time and time again to raise awareness about her community and the history behind them. 

She brought a much-needed representation that black deaf people lacked.

On TikToker, her presence has gotten more people focused on ASL and BASL, as well as educating people on how best to interact with people in the deaf community.

A recent partnership with Netflix gives more insight into how BASL came about.

The giant video streaming platform reached out to Charmay after her viral TikTok video for the project and now thanks to Charmay, many now know that BASL was created because of segregated schools.

In fact, for years, black people have been unwaveringly criticized for not using the "standardized" American Sign Language.

And the black deaf community has been fighting for years for BASL to be recognized, like the African American Vernacular English (AVE).

Even sign language experts praised the young college student's revolutionary work. 

She encourages people to learn sign language because it is prudent to have culturally relevant sign language interpreters in all areas.

It has also been challenged by some people as a way of drawing a line between BASL and ASL. But it's clear that Charmay just wanted to carry history, because history is so important in this culture.

"BASL got seasoning." This is her most succinct answer when asked what is the biggest difference between the two dialects. 

As her followers will know, she begins each video with lotion to make sure her hands are clean before she 'speaks.'

More recently, she has increased understanding of blacks and the deaf by documenting her and her brother's speech therapy sessions.

She teaches BASL with vivid character interpretation, and in the process, she preserves the stories of deaf black people for the world to hear.

Now, young BASL users are taking to social media to celebrate this language's "rebirth." And BASL has become part of the cultural identity of young black deaf people.

Here's a quote from her favorite Maya Angelou:"Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it." That may be the very reason for her persistence.

 Including pics from Internet.

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