My name is Marsellette Davis, I am representing the New York City Black Deaf Advocates Chapter as their President for the term of 2021-2024.
Why am I here to share my story with you?? After my struggles with life where there weren't enough BIPOC interpreters to ensure our access as full-fledged citizens with the capacity to move up like everybody else when it comes to accessibility and communication between Hearing and Deaf customers/users.
According to the census, as of 2024, there are approximately 17,000 Hearing non-BIPOC certified ASL interpreters. Currently, there are 1,700 Deaf Interpreters who are scheduled to take the Interpretation Exam to be certified in the United States of America. However, the number of Certified or non-certified BIPOC ASL Interpreters is very low! It is a very alarming. If you take a look at the Registry Interpreter of the Deaf's(RID) directory (www.RID.org), you will see that there are under 1,000 BIPOC Hearing and Deaf Interpreters since RID opened in 1964!
Remember, on January 20, 2021, United States America, the USA just announced: We do have 40 MILLION DEAF residents in the USA. How can we rely on 18,400 certified Hearing and Deaf interpreters, daily in our lives??
That's why I am advocating specifically for BIPOC Interpreter Fund, to support our FUTURE BIPOC Interpreters by providing resources and pieces of training through empowering opportunities for BIPOC interpreters to obtain their certified/licenses and enrich their employment as well as gain their membership within the NYCBDA after they consider relocating to NYC.
Your Fund will also support BIPOC interpreters to be empowered and successful in this profession. This includes being able to fund for the domain, registration, and zoom fees, including office supplies.
