Sumain v. Deaf

After more than a decade of deliberating on the ways to reclaim and redefine “deaf,” it’s become abundantly clear that this will be a very difficult undertaking. For hundreds of years, deaf people have been denied personhood: literacy, freedom, and the right to marry, own property, or even the right to their own bodies. In 350 bc, Aristotle stated that deaf people are incapable of reason. Etymology reveals that Old English (between 5th century and 11th century) ‘deaf’ meant ‘empty, barren’. In the medical publications and community, “deaf” means incapable of hearing and implicitly (or explicitly) suggest that deafness equates life of dependency and illiteracy or calamity. And, when Gallaudet University, the only deaf liberal arts university in the world founded in 1864, finally allowed deaf people to pursue Master or Doctorate degrees in late 1960’s, deaf people have been playing catch up advancing themselves upon the world’s stage. We, as a community, are still woefully behind in every aspect of life: zero political representation, tiny economic clout, and ranked at the very bottom of educational hierarchy. (Click here for an example)

Deaf has been a contentious word for centuries and I propose that it is time to let it go. As a socio-cultural group, despite the constant subjugation and against all odds, deaf people continue to rise, evolve, and strengthen. We need a word that illustrates and narrates our value, strength and agency.

Sumain, in short, is derived from two languages - Spanish and French: su = your, main = hand. Your hands. The power is in your hands, quite literally. When you claim ownership of your signed words, your thoughts, and your existence, you become powerful and free. Our sign languages are a gift to the humanity, enriching the minds and souls of every human being that come across the cognitive power of sign language. Incidentally, research has shown that Aristotle could not be more wrong: Sign Language gives way to higher brain connectivity. Without Sumains, there are no sign languages and the world needs it (and us) for greater connection.