Meet Dr. Joseph Hill, incoming Director of the Center for Black Deaf Studies

This fall, Gallaudet's pioneering Center for Black Deaf Studies (CBDS) welcomes its second director. Dr. Joseph C. Hill, G-'04 & PhD '11, a sociolinguist in American Sign Language, Deaf Studies, and Interpreting, launched his academic career at Gallaudet, and has spent the past two decades exploring issues related to how Deaf experiences are affected by culture and history. We asked him to reflect on his journey back to campus and his plans to expand the reach of CBDS.

How does it feel to return to Gallaudet?

It's nice to be back in this place where I can give back the fruits of my labor to the Gallaudet community. If I hadn't gone to Gallaudet for my graduate education, I wouldn't be where I am. Even though I was raised in a family of Black Deaf and hard of hearing people and had a steady connection with a local deaf community, there wasn't much discussion about what it meant to be deaf. But there were many discussions about race, so I had a good understanding of what it meant to be Black. I do remember there was a vague sense of negativity about being deaf and I worked against the stereotype by being active in school, making the honor rolls, and winning scholastic and leadership awards. I made a point to break whatever barriers they placed in front of me. When I came to Gallaudet in 2002, I wanted to understand more about myself as a Black Deaf person. My network really expanded as I met different people from all walks of life. It provided educational and professional opportunities that broadened my understanding of being Deaf.

How has your intersectional identity shaped your academic career?

It is quite a journey. At Gallaudet, I really enjoyed being in the signing environment, which was different from what I had in my childhood. But still, there was something different that I couldn't quite grasp. It was around the time that audism was the major topic on campus so there was a greater awareness of how audism as a system of oppression appeared in our lives. I slowly realized there were other systems of oppression that had not been addressed explicitly. It was audism in the white space and I was a Black Deaf queer person in that space. I didn't have the tools to navigate the multiple systems with my intersectional identity. I had to figure it out on my own. Fortunately in the period of 2006 to 2011, I was able to explore that through my dissertation thesis, which is published as a book with Gallaudet University Press, "Language Attitudes in the American Deaf Community" and through the National Science Foundation project with Dr. Carolyn McCaskill and Dr. Ceil Lucas on Black ASL. After I graduated from Gallaudet in 2011, I got into social justice with an interpreter who wanted to transform the interpreting field by addressing audism and racism. It was around that time that I learned the concept of intersectionality, so it really informed my understanding as an academic. I am still learning but I have gotten better in recognizing the signs of oppression and expressing my thoughts about them.

Why does the world need the CBDS?

The world needs the CBDS because there is no other space like this. Even though there are Black Deaf community and organization spaces, CBDS is an academic center with educational and research materials related to Black Deaf people. This is new and very much necessary. When I was a teen, I didn't have that kind of center where I could go and understand myself as a Black Deaf person. There were the local chapters and a national conference of National Black Deaf Advocates, which made a difference for me. I saw my future when I met Black Deaf adults who were successful in their own ways. But they didn't have resources like the CBDS. Imagine how different life would have been for my family and my deaf siblings if those resources were available. Imagine how different it would have been for other Black families. CBDS is the dream manifested out of the needs of Black Deaf people, which haven't been properly addressed for a very long time.

What is your vision for the future of the CBDS?

My vision as a center director is to increase the pipeline of Black scholars who have an inside perspective on the Black Deaf communities in the world, to expand the research literature of Black Deaf studies in different subject areas, and to create opportunities for community-engaged projects with black deaf communities. I am pleased to see the growth of Black Deaf scholars within the past 10 years, but at the same time, there are barriers to that growth and they need to be dismantled. Black Deaf scholars have diverse specializations, but they need a better platform to share their work. Mentoring is of utmost importance so opportunities need to be created for that. Not everyone wants to be a scholar, but there needs to be a way for the communities to have a sense of ownership of the materials created out of the studies of their culture.

How can the Gallaudet community play a role in supporting this work?

It is hard to be the first of something. CBDS cannot do the work alone. Everyone has to do their part to maintain the ecosystem that benefits the center. Financial support is certainly appreciated, but it is not the only way. The online presence of the center needs to be shared widely. If there are parts of the world where technology is limited for whatever reason, the word of the center must be carried to them. I see the center as an incubation hub, so I want to see more centers like CBDS appearing internationally and be part of the network. CBDS is a seed that needs attention and nurturing and eventually it will grow tall like an oak tree dropping acorns.