[Video Transcript Start]
[Video presented in English and ASL]

hello everyone thank you so much for joining in our second聽 series uh in our second webinar in the series

and the theme is freedom the last one was聽 on december 9th and it focused on awareness

and today we'll be focusing on freedom i have聽 to say that i'm excited to begin this program

i was in fact a project lead聽 for the memorial project

and the purpose of this program is to focus on kendall 100 kendall alumni students聽 and i graduated from kendall and went to mssd

we had an original emcee mike kent i聽 planned for our event today but due

to some family emergencies he wasn't able聽 to make himself available so i had to step

in hopefully we can bring mike in next聽 time i'm delighted to be today's emcee regardless i wanted to share a little bit of聽 what you can expect during today's program

we'll kick off with an opening prayer and then we'll have the national black anthem聽 from alumni presented by a kindle alumni

then we also have staff from the claire聽 center who will be presenting a song and we'll go through the program agenda we'll聽 share announcements by dr elizabeth moore

and then carolyn and we'll see the rest of the program hopefully all of you enjoy聽 what we have planned for you today

we'll have our prayer it's recorded by聽 billy butler who's an alumni of mssd

our god who sits high and looks slow you聽 have sustained us and brought us to today

thank you for connecting us and聽 allowing us to be a part of your kingdom

allowing us to maintain a聽 relationship with you through jesus

today's webinar audience is gathered to have a discussion about the聽 historic battle of black deaf injustice

this included a lack of freedom and as we聽 consider the things and situations that the

black deaf community went through we admit聽 that it posed great challenges and hardships

we know that you are already familiar with this聽 story of injustice you allowed us to endure it

to see this change and even improve but lord a聽 lot of work still remains to be accomplished today

during this webinar we ask that you would be with聽 us as we gather as a witness to the conversation

hear us as we discuss what changes and improvements are needed to聽 create a better world for future generations

a world that is more just and free and聽 accessible to the black deaf community

we want to thank you god because we know聽 that you will show yourself strong today

you are mighty and capable to do and聽 provide all that we need or may ask for

so today god we ask we ask for your divine聽 presence to come and be with us god we thank

you for what is to come because we know that聽 you will help this webinar to be a success

you are going to provide funding for this聽 memorial in ways we cannot even imagine

from sources unknown abundance will flow

god you will bless this endeavor and all those聽 involved with this initiative you will bless the technology so that this event will be a smashing聽 success we trust that you will do whatever we ask

we thank you in advance because you have聽 already blessed this program you've already

made it a success you've already provided聽 what we need thank you god for being our god

you are our motivation we trust in you

and we can depend on you in聽 preparation as we kick off this webinar

we ask that as people join in聽 that they receive a blessing

in jesus name we praise you forever and ever聽 and ever in jesus name amen amen and amen

amen amen

as as billy share we are all blessed here today

what's next on our agenda and i'd like to remind everyone that we want聽 to showcase our alumni from kendo and mssd

who are now working at million school for the聽 deaf there's one in particular ronnie bradley

who will be performing the black national anthem

touching my heart is fluttering after seeing聽 that thank you to louise b miller's family

for producing us for helping to聽 produce a successful child thank you

i'll try not to get too emotional next in our program i would like to聽 welcome tara miles from the clear center

tariff never mind making yourself on video聽 how are you doing tara i'm doing well

you have a song in mind right yes聽 i'm so happy that you asked me

uh the song that i'm going to do is oh lord i want聽 you to help me and i have to say that this song

is a classic spiritual it is a cry to the lord聽 for help and when i think about the miller family

i think about their struggle i think about聽 the frustrations they experience the barriers

that they fought to overcome a system of聽 oppression and injustice i think about that and i remember how it was back then you聽 know that black people like we couldn't be

you know we didn't go for therapy we didn't聽 have counseling our counselor was the lord that is who helped us through that's who聽 helped us when we had to struggle through it

thank you

i want

i want you to help me tell them to help me

i want you to help me on my journey

want you to help me

help me

oh

come down now for prayer

whoa

help me

that was beautiful that's one of my favorite songs

i'm trying to hold my tears back聽 because when i was a child and i saw

martin luther king getting assassinated that聽 music was always playing in the background

i remember seeing people聽 as i sat on the front porch and this is so meaningful i want to聽 thank president cordano especially

on february 3rd there was an event planned for聽 our president's presidential lecture for the state

of the union it was a presentation scheduled聽 for the community that had to be rescheduled

and there was paperwork filed on february 2nd and then it continued february 3rd so 69 years聽 ago to this day the significant moment in history

all of the help that louise聽 b miller got was from god

god used people to help guide her聽 along the way and the miller family

the next person i'd like to聽 call on is dr elizabeth moore

our chief diversity officer hi dr聽 moore the floor is yours thank you

we the kindle school division two memorial聽 steering committee are very elated to share

an update with the community regarding the聽 naming process for the memorial you may

remember at our last webinar in december we聽 actually hosted the kindle school division 2

webinar part 1 which was awareness and that聽 is the event where dr carolyn mccaskill

actually interviewed some of the members of the聽 miller family i'm sure all of you recall that and

that is when we actually announce the process聽 for assigning a formal name to the memorial

so with the help of the community we聽 wanted to engage you in this process

for the kindle school division two memorial and聽 this is because we know that there are various

stories within our community as you may聽 already know kendall or amos kendall

is actually the philanthropists who donated聽 land so that we could establish the school

and the university however mr kindle was a white聽 slave owner and so with that checkered history

we have also recognized that the division two聽 schools current name represents a segregated pass

for black deaf education and black deaf students聽 and so as we think about the current name it

doesn't really represent the spirit of the black聽 deaf community and our struggle for equality in

education and also recognizing the oppression聽 that that community experienced and so the

kindle school division ii memorial project and聽 our steering committee got to work to address

this matter we met with various stakeholder groups聽 including kindle students current mssd students

and our community stakeholders like the聽 national black deaf advocates organization

the national association of the deaf and聽 a variety of other community organizations

as well as student organizations and聽 so after getting all of their input

we were able to collect a slate of proposed names聽 for the memorial and i want to just share some

statistics with you from the stakeholder groups聽 again kindle students participated in this process

they were very enthusiastic and so they were able聽 to give us their suggestions we had landmarks

that were taken into consideration like the martin聽 luther king landmark and so the kindle instructors

use this as an educational opportunity for their聽 students brainstorming recommendations for naming

the memorial and so the kindle students who were聽 engaged in this process were sixth through eighth

graders and they submitted 21 names believe聽 it or not on the mssd side of the campus

which of course is our 9th through聽 12th graders we had 27 names submitted

and then from the community at large we collected聽 a total of 35 names which is just awesome and so

having that slate of names we were absolutely聽 inspired by the engagement from the community

in this process it was absolutely tremendous the聽 steering committee then got to work deliberating

about the names and narrowed down that slate of聽 names to three names and you may be wondering

what are the three names that we have come down聽 to the first is the louise b miller memorial

the second is the louise b聽 miller pathways and gardens

a legacy to black deaf children聽 the third and final name

is the louise b miller black deaf cultural path

so let me go ahead and give you some聽 additional context for each of those names

the louise b miller memorial actually recognizes the miller family and the聽 journey that they undertook and the sacrifice

that the mother mrs miller made on behalf of聽 her four children three of whom were deaf her

three deaf sons and her one hearing daughter mrs聽 miller was the tireless advocate and she fought

four black deaf children to be educated on the聽 campus of gallaudet university in washington dc

and this of course recognized the聽 importance of black deaf children

being educated and then of course highlighting the聽 miller's family struggle and fight in this regard

and so as we recognize the civil聽 rights of the black deaf community we recognize educational access and聽 this name takes that into consideration

the history the impact and the ongoing聽 efforts that we must take to address

injustice in education particularly for聽 black deaf children now the second name

which is the louise b miller pathways and聽 gardens a legacy to black deaf children

when we envision louise b miller

we recognize her personality her spirit her determination

and if it wasn't for her advocacy efforts and her desire to ensure freedom for her聽 deaf son what would our current reality

look like in terms of accessing quality聽 education and programming for deaf children

as we think about the jim crow era in washington聽 dc that certainly had an impact on the black deaf

community parent would want to send their child to聽 a school that wasn't in their local neighborhood

and so the miller family had three聽 deaf sons they lived in the city

and there was a school that their deaf sons could聽 not attend right in their local neighborhood

and so mrs miller had a staunch commitment聽 and was adept at working to open doors

doors that had been closed for half a century聽 50 years can you imagine she was a powerhouse

of a woman and so the louise b miller pathways聽 and gardens a legacy to black deaf children

is quite fitting to honor a聽 humble woman of great stature

and so on the behalf of black deaf聽 children she fought the good fight

so we were able to collect all of these names

and we really see that this captures聽 four themes we have a awareness freedom

and the memorial itself

the third name louise b miller black deaf cultural聽 path again recognizes the work of mrs miller

and also kenneth who was her deaf son and the聽 struggles that they had to navigate to achieve

justice for black deaf children in washington d.c

she was able to successfully bring forth a lawsuit for black deaf students to enter kindle school but聽 at that time segregation was still the law of the

land and so there were two schools one for black聽 deaf students and one for white deaf students

this became a cultural space on campus and today聽 as we think about the journey from awareness

to freedom to remembrance and to聽 healing we recognize that it is a path

and so we want to have a space for聽 black deaf cultural recognition on

the campus of gallaudet university and in聽 the spirit of louise v miller and her desire

for black deaf students to receive an聽 education in a city that was their home

so the word itself path indicates that聽 there is a journey to be undertaken

and so the way that the memorial will be designed聽 it is designed in such a way to exhibit that

it will honor louise b miller and the original聽 23 students that enrolled in the school

the year at open and so we hope that聽 this will then leave a lasting legacy

to black deaf culture and preserving that聽 culture on the campus of gallaudet university

it would be a special place the louise b miller聽 black death cultural path so we have three really

great names here you might remember that聽 i began by explaining that we collected about 35 names and we had to work really聽 hard we had a lot of conversations narrowing

down that slate of names to the three names聽 that we are presenting to you this afternoon

i myself have already shared these聽 names with the board of trustees

and the board of trustees will聽 look over these three names and approve the three names that we've recently聽 shared so that we can then send them back out

to the community and we will be asking the聽 community to vote on the name of the memorial

this is such a historic occasion and i know each聽 and every one of us is inspired by this process

especially for the black deaf community

because we feel a sense of聽 ownership in this process

okay um so i will of course keep you updated in聽 the near future especially as we decide to vote

on the name which will happen by the end of this聽 month you will be hearing from us soon thank you

wonderful thank you liz that was a beautiful聽 report it's truly exciting to see where

we'll go with the names now that we have these聽 three looking forward to it thank you for your

remarks i wanted to share with you some聽 information about the naming process

it is not complete we still have more ahead聽 of us we plan to have community engagement

in this community engagement we'll talk聽 about some of the materials and textures that we'd like to see in that memorial the next聽 community engagement session is this friday

february 5th it's really fascinating look聽 at all the detail behind the scenes as far

as what should be in that memorial so please聽 be sure to participate you're welcome to join

now the garden it's something聽 that we'll be walking across on a daily basis so keep that聽 in mind with that let's continue

with the program hopefully you've聽 enjoyed what we've had for you so far

i would like to give a very warm welcome聽 to elizabeth who's one of the co-chairs

dr elizabeth moore and dr mccaskill who is also聽 co-chair and at this point i'd like to call

dr mccaskill to come up and to prepare for this聽 interview and explain a little bit about what

we can expect okay so i'll let you run the show聽 hello there and thank you yvonne hello everyone

i hope that you are having a good afternoon i am so excited the center for black deaf studies聽 in collat is working on collaborating part 2 and 4

of this memorial process and we're doing that聽 in honor of the history of black deaf education

so today uh perhaps you remember we had a program聽 on december 8th it was a webinar the theme of that

particular webinar was awareness and that聽 webinar was the first of a series of four

and was basically an introduction聽 to allow everyone to learn about the story that each miller family sibling聽 shared they spoke of what it was like

in their experiences going to school聽 they talked about their journey

kenneth talked about his experience聽 going from one school to the other he went to both philadelphia school for聽 the deaf as well as the kindle school

so they had an opportunity we had an opportunity聽 rather to listen to their stories and also their

sister carolyn joined us as well as gerald uh all聽 of the siblings join us in talking about their

stories and justin as well so today's program聽 is going to move on to the topic of freedom

now we understand that we're not exactly free聽 because the day the education of both hearing

and deaf black children are not equal there is聽 still a system of inequal treatment within schools

so today we'll actually be talking about the聽 lawsuit itself and what happened in the process

of filing that lawsuit and i am very fortunate聽 to have two people that i'll be interviewing

about this topic those two people are dr sandra聽 jowers dr jowers is a well-known historian

in the washington dc maryland virginia area and聽 dr jarrus is also a professor at the university of

washington dc once i interview her then i'll also聽 interview miss carol miller good morning dr jowers

how are you i am well and thank you for having me聽 this is such an honor and a pleasure to be here

it's also my pleasure to have you here and we're very excited and appreciate the聽 fact that you were able to join us today

and share a little bit of what you know about the聽 lawsuit i recall reading about your dissertation

and in doing so i have to say that it聽 was just truly eye-opening and remarkable

thank you so much for agreeing to this i聽 understand that you're incredibly busy woman

and i have to say i just appreciate your聽 willingness to respond to some of these questions

uh so with that i'll start with the first question聽 what inspired you to write your dissertation about

uh miller versus board of education lawsuit聽 thank you for the question and i'm going to

be concise because i'm so passionate about this聽 what i would add with along with being a scholar

and a professor is that i am the stepmother of聽 now a deaf daughter a adult daughter who herself

has three hearing children and a uh her聽 partner is deaf as well so when she was

a little girl about 20 years ago i three聽 things happened in my life i got married

i entered graduate school at howard university聽 and i became a member of shiloh baptist church

i did not know at the time how they would all be聽 connected and moved me toward writing about the miller case but as i became a stepmother and聽 ashley was our deaf child and she was asking

about black deaf history i was showing her聽 a history book and she said well who's deaf who's deaf and there was no one deaf in there and聽 she she was bored she didn't want to read anymore

and i said okay this is what i'm going to focus on聽 in graduate school i need to show her black deaf

history i can show her black history but i need to聽 expand that and include black deaf history we're

at shiloh baptist church we're just new members聽 and i was explaining to some of the members that

i was going to howard graduate school and one of聽 the silent mission members in fact two of them

the late robert millhouse and the late donald聽 mayfield said to me uh through the interpreter

that i needed to look at the miller case i needed聽 to write about it it was important it needed to

be known and i started researching it and my聽 daughter was excited at the time now she was 10

and so to have her excited was truly important so聽 i did research and that became my topic because

as a historian we know the 1954 brown versus聽 board of education case but the 1952 miller case

was two years before it changed the education for聽 black deaf children in the district of columbia

and some of the same attorneys on that case聽 worked with thurgood marshall on the brown case

so it became truly it was important anyway but聽 it truly became important when i could tie it

all together as part of that freedom educational聽 freedom movement for children hearing and deaf

that is an awesome story do you feel聽 that your dissertation ended up having an

impact as far as the quality of education for聽 black deaf students i think it had an impact on

those individuals who were writing about education聽 for black deaf children and for hearing children

and how who struggled for that mrs miller was聽 an exemplar uh in the community for her children

and she became a wider example and role model聽 for others as well so i think the dissertation

did some light brought some light to a a women聽 woman and a movement that should have had more

light to it but many times for for scholars聽 even if there's no one deaf in your family

or in your circle it's not something you聽 think about so and i've had people from

across the country and internationally contact聽 me about the dissertation and about the case

and moving it forward and so i'm working on some聽 projects uh because you want to expand it even

though we know things are not as they were聽 we also know that educational freedom is not

where we want it to be for our children so there聽 are things to do and more layers to add to that

you mentioned a little bit聽 about your dissertation how

how landmarks were a part of it聽 you mentioned thurgood marshall

obviously widely known what is it that you聽 want people or viewers to leave with what is

it that you want them to remember the most聽 and uh what do you feel like has the most

uh strong impression on them being聽 that this was such a landmark case

is there a response you have to that what you聽 want people to remember i think i want people to remember that the landmark cases are certainly聽 important because their historical watershed

movement but to also understand that a lot of聽 the significant change comes locally right so mrs

miller may not be known throughout the world or聽 throughout the country but she had such an amazing

impact locally so i want people to take away from聽 this understanding that social change advocates

come in all dimensions and they're not always on聽 the national stage that this was a significant

case regionally that was connected to a larger聽 case and to understand that you don't always have

to go for um the historical watershed moments聽 that are put in the history books that you made

to memorize that you have local heroes that do聽 exactly the same thing to press the boundaries to

break ceilings and to move uh to make change and聽 that's what mrs miller did so look locally as well

that's very true you raised an excellent point are you currently updating your dissertation or聽 do you plan to publish it yes um i'm currently

working on something that's connected to it聽 i had the opportunity to meet with the late

uh mrs ruby fry hughes the first hearing black聽 teacher who was signed at kendall school after

the case there were four and she was the first聽 one that was signed and i had an opportunity for my daughter to meet her as well and she handed聽 me some uh primary sources i have her contract

that she signed when she was hired she聽 gave me a lot of pictures and a lot of other um documents and so i'm presently looking at聽 the chapter for the instructors and making her the

focal point of that here was a black woman coming聽 from new york moved to washington uh was first of

all shocked by the segregation she found here聽 uh and was very much um not a um signed uh her

instructor she was an oralist who became involved聽 with sign language and changed over to that so

she was very clear that um she was impacted by聽 teachers who were signing and so that made her

change and that's the story that i want to talk聽 about so i'm working on now looking at making

her story part of this trilogy uh the case her聽 story and then trying to do an oral history

project of the students i had an opportunity to聽 meet several and many are still here and we've

lost a lot they transitioned so as a public and聽 oral historian i want to make sure we get those

stories down and i'm calling them signed聽 oral history so that's the third project

that sounds very exciting i can't聽 wait to see uh what your your next

project will end up looking like is there anything聽 else that you'd like to add or do you think that

uh the questions covered mostly everything you聽 wanted to share was there anything else you wanted

to add what i'd like to add is how important and聽 significant it is for these programs to continue

for the public to be informed about what has聽 transpired of the heroes and heroines involved

in that and the deaths the center for black death聽 studies the critical umns and timeliness of having

a place in a repository where individuals can聽 find out about this history so i'm just excited

that we're doing the programs and hopefully聽 we don't just do them in february that they

will be ongoing throughout the year because as聽 we know black history is 365 days a year so i'm

thankful to you for this program and for everyone聽 yes it is yes it is so this is critical this is

how we'll keep the history how our children will聽 know um how those in the community know we honor

what has taken place and how we respect聽 those who made the sacrifice to push forward

i most certainly agree there's a question from the audience and i believe聽 the question asks is there any way we can read

her dissertation i would love to聽 have the opportunity to read it

um i will have to i know that i think聽 it's somewhere public there's a jstor

does dissertations but a lot of it also it's in聽 the chapter um i was asked to do a chapter for um

the book of gala that did the race a fair chance聽 in a race of life so i've got a chapter in there

on black death education um i will look if聽 so if you will if we can get the link or

an email for that person i will look to see where聽 the dissertation is available and we'll send them

the link because it's somewhere on the聽 internet everything is so it's there somewhere

i think proquest yes that's it proquest i believe聽 that might be the other location that we might

be able to find that pro quest so that's an聽 alternative uh place where you can probably

find your dissertation but thank you so much聽 dr towers it's truly been a pleasure having you

join us today so thank you so much聽 for your time thank you for having me

absolutely next i would like to interview carol miller

carol hello miss miller how聽 are you hello how are you

i'm doing well thank you doing well i am so聽 excited about this program today and about

all that we've done in terms of awareness聽 now we're on to the section about freedom

and i want to entertain a聽 discussion about the lawsuit and i have a couple questions to ask you in聽 that regard can you tell us what it is you

know when your mom filed the lawsuit what do you聽 remember about that time i am and i want your mind

kenneth i don't think you can see it but kenneth聽 is sitting and watching us um i am three years old

he's watching i'm three years younger than kenneth聽 and what i remember is um a trip to baltimore

was overly maryland i remember lots of聽 conversation about kenneth going to school

i know that i had entered a division ii school聽 but kenneth was not attending school at that time

i remember kenneth having to go away and i聽 remember my mother coming home and she had started

to work and coming home and asking if there聽 had been any information from dr paul cook and

at that time i did not know the significance of聽 what was going on because you're just a child and

this is just everyday life but i'm sitting here聽 now and i'm surrounded by old papers and pictures

and letters that take us back to that time and i聽 know that kenneth is is going back also so we've

had several conversations with the family within聽 the four of us uh kenneth gerald justin and myself

and among the four was trying to remember and聽 recount and record all of the things that each

of us remembers so i do remember when kenneth聽 was able to come home from pennsylvania because

he had been there for three years i believe and聽 it was just terrific he was able to come home

and while he was able to attend the school he left聽 one situation for another situation and of course

his children you don't know these things until聽 you go back and listen uh you try and remember

and i always think of and i wrote something聽 down and it says i cannot write the wrong

or take away the pain that all of those memories聽 bring but what we want to do is try and encourage

people to understand their history and not forget聽 it so kenneth is watching gerald and justin i hope

thank you and i want to ask you do you remember聽 how long it took for that court case to be settled

but how long did it take well from the time it聽 was filed until it was settled it didn't take very

long but the process that i know that my mother聽 was involved in and i don't know how long other

parents were working because there was so many聽 children who went through this and we're just

sort of a representation of what was going on but聽 my mother started trying to have kenneth educated

in 1946 and then she ended up he finally came home聽 to uh kendall i think it was the fall of 1952.

the actual case was filed in february of 52 and聽 the finding came down in july i think july the 3rd

of 1952 and they were ordered to attend聽 school on the campus in september of 52.

and i remember the building going up when聽 they first went to kendall they were in the old gym and there were curtains put up聽 and different makeshift situations were

put in place so that they could be聽 educated there but i do remember that

building going up and it was just almost overnight聽 that the building went up uh and we i thought it

was the most fantastic thing it was shaped聽 like an h the dormitory was on this side for

the boys the girls were on this side there was a聽 lunchroom cafeteria in the basement in the middle

and on the top were the classrooms and i thought聽 it was fantastic i realized when we came in the

first gate that we sort of went around the side聽 to get to it and you didn't see too much when we

got out of the car other than we would run聽 inside and help kenneth put his things in

and then we would leave so every sunday this was聽 the routine that we went through kenneth would

come home friday afternoon and every sunday we'd聽 pack up the car pack up his clothes and take him

back to the school as i said i thought it was a聽 cute little place but come to find out that it was

what it looks like isn't always what it is and聽 we were sort of shunted off around to the side

but it was better than going聽 all the way to pennsylvania but little did i know that there were聽 still many issues that needed to be settled

and we still have some of the letters where聽 my mother was trying to address some of those

this is so interesting can you remind us i聽 heard that there were actually two lawsuits

um the first one i believe was when the children聽 were brought to campus back to washington dc

and they went to school in the old gym but there聽 was another lawsuit a second lawsuit as well

can you talk about that that i'm not familiar聽 with the papers that i have from my mother

as far as i can determine right now only聽 uh talk about the first one or what she

was going through to get to the first聽 one so i don't know about the second one

all right thank you i know there were two lawsuits聽 that impacted this one but i don't know about

another one being filed

i see okay thank you thank you that's fine my聽 next question is can you explain for the audience

why is it important to know聽 about this historic case

why is it important well if you don't understand your history

and where you have been i think you're not quite聽 sure where you need to go so when students perhaps

look at what's happening at their school now they聽 need to be able to look back and say aha this is

not something new you have done this before and聽 it's happening over and over again therefore

i'm going to see if i can stop it right now so i聽 think the old thing about if you don't know where

you've been you don't know where you're going and聽 also i hope it serves as some sort of a catalyst

that if someone could do this back in the 40s we聽 would almost 80 years later we can do it again

it's just it's just amazing and it's sad that聽 we're still still working i think about my mother

and her three children who聽 sorry her three children that went to kendall she saw not one聽 graduation not any kind of awarding of success

no one graduated you just sort of eased on out the door and you were gone there聽 was no reward for what they were doing there

yes it is so critical to聽 tell people about the history

the next question i would like to ask聽 you is how has this affected your family

the effect is never ending the effect is never ending as i said i have

pictures and books and the memories are there聽 i shared this about kenneth and how he said he

he went away to school and he聽 cried and he cried how does that

70 years later how does that still not affect you and it does and i think of all of聽 the parents all of the children

and i i really would like to know just聽 some of the things that they went through

i remember when my mother went to overlay and聽 she jot it down on the back of a piece of paper

and she says that when she got to the school wanted to with聽 kenneth she had taken kenneth with her and

i think this was the time she was thinking聽 about leaving them leaving him and she says

they wanted to take him in the room聽 they wanted to examine him for sores source not my mother not us they wanted to聽 examine her for stores and she they told her if he

started to cry they would put him in the room and聽 just close the door and she brought kenneth home

and that my mother was not a crier but that made聽 her cry to think that they were going to do that

to her child and all the other children that聽 had been through that but she brought him home

and that's when the decision was made that聽 he wouldn't be going there and they would take him to philadelphia and he was there聽 for three years but she couldn't take him

and look at some of her papers and there's a聽 there's a halt there's a stop say what was going

on and then i remembered oh she was giving birth聽 to my younger brother my younger brothers my two

younger brothers so when it was time to take聽 kenneth to pennsylvania my grandmother did it

so there were lots of things i remember her聽 sewing in the name tags and all of his clothes

i remember the trunks that had to be taken to聽 the station and sent to philadelphia and picked

up with his name painted on them i think聽 of the visits that we took to pennsylvania

the times that he was just there without聽 us he was just there without his family

such amazing story i am absolutely fascinated聽 with hearing the stories of what happened

with your family is there anything that you聽 would like to add miss miller before we have

questions from the audience is there any聽 final comments that you would like to add

well just don't forget don't let it become ho-hum yeah well that聽 happened it's an ongoing fight it seems

and we were so hopeful that maybe things had聽 been fixed but they're not fixed and it's an

ongoing issue it's an ongoing issue and as i聽 said you can't take away the pain you can't it's

it's just not something that you can聽 forget each time i look at pictures of kenneth when he was small and think聽 of you know why did you do that to him

why would you do that he was a little boy

oh my goodness thank you so much miss carol聽 for sharing with us i really really appreciate

your being with us here today so much and we聽 will definitely be in touch thank you again

and now missy vaughn

touching thank you thank you for that interview

know that the road to freedom is never a straight聽 line it's never a straight path it's a journey

it certainly is a journey and at times a聽 journey you have to experience pain and

you you get wounds as a聽 result and then these wounds end up being stories to share with the world i've聽 had two excellent interviews and at this moment

i just feel it's been a wonderful opportunity聽 to share the stories about the lawsuit itself

from dr jower's point of view and her聽 experience with writing the dissertation

and then the interview the personal interview with聽 miss carol miller talking about her experience

with what her mom went through on this journey聽 a very painful journey and as we listened to both of them i i could sit here and listen to聽 the two of them all day long and never tire

um so it's been a wonderful聽 opportunity and i'm definitely excited about the third and fourth series yes yes聽 very much yes so let me let the program go on

uh i did want to mention there was actually two聽 lawsuits that took place the first lawsuit was

essentially dismissed um he was sent between聽 baltimore and pennsylvania however with the

second lawsuit of course with god's help聽 and uh the people that louise had behind her

she was able to kind of circumvent the barriers聽 and succeeded so thank you for this interview

you shared a lot of important information thank聽 you all right i'm going to sign off all right

now i'd like to go on with the聽 model secondary school for the deaf and there is a poem that will be performed for you聽 and this poem is from langston hughes's freedom

so i'm delighted to show the various students聽 at kendall and mssd these students are

rajya

at atari this is virginia's sign name聽 roger is willing to perform this poem

please take a moment to enjoy

democracy will not come today this year not ever聽 through compromise and fear i have as much right

as the other fellow has to stand聽 on my own two feet and own the land

i tire so of hearing people say let things聽 take their course tomorrow is another day no

i do not need my freedom when i'm聽 dead i cannot live on tomorrow's bread

freedom freedom is a strong聽 seed planted in a great need i

live here too i want freedom just as you聽 freedom freedom it's coming soon or is it

democracy will not come today this year nor ever聽 through compromise and fear i have as much right

as the other fellow has to stand on my own two聽 feet and own the land i so tired of hearing people

say let things take their course tomorrow is聽 another day no i'm not in my freedom when i'm dead

very touching talked about聽 freedom and what freedom means

having the same and equal freedoms as others is what should happen not waiting for聽 freedom to be given to you quite powerful

i wanted to mention that if you're interested聽 in hearing more of these stories you can certainly donate to this project i'll share聽 a link with further information thank you

i also want to thank those that聽 have contributed up until this point

now there are three alumni members from kendall聽 that went on to graduate and graduated from mssd

and these individuals are daisy聽 wooten come on up next nina harrison

formerly ina williams i think uh now ina harrison

and then we've got emanuel perotin njoku come on up how are聽 y'all doing doing well thank you

thank you for taking the time to聽 join us at uh such an historic moment the freedom webinar i did have a couple聽 questions i wanted to ask each of you

and i think we might be able to field one聽 or two brief questions from the audience

if you wouldn't mind can you introduce your聽 name year of graduation what did you do

after graduating high school and perhaps what聽 you're doing now daisy would you like to start it off sure hi there everyone my name is daisy wooten聽 and uh do you want me to talk about what i do for

work now well what year did you graduate and um聽 what's life been like for you after graduation got

it thank you so much uh this is very emotional has聽 been very emotional for me watching this webinar

thus far so trying to rein it in i graduated from聽 kindle in 1977 i believe i came into the school

in 1965 somewhere in there 1966 then i went to聽 high school at mssd in 1977 graduated in 1982.

and uh right i graduated also from聽 gallaudet and that was in 1992

and then i went to nyu i was there until 1995聽 from 1994 then graduated i worked at a variety

of places and now i live in north carolina聽 and i work with the north carolina division

of services for the deaf and hard of hearing聽 and i've been here for 15 years thank you daisy

you know would you mind introducing yourself聽 what year you graduated and uh what you've been up to since since then sure thank you聽 yvonne i'm anna um for those of you who don't

know me my former name was anna williams聽 my current last name is harrison

but i do want to share some memories that i have聽 i first entered into the kindle school april of 71

i believe and i graduated and then went to聽 mssd i was in 78 i graduated from mssd in 82

and after that i couldn't um enter or enroll at gallaudet聽 university there were some challenges

that were there some barriers for me and so i聽 needed to take some other prerequisite courses

and so that was a journey for me聽 i desired to enroll at gallaudet but that just wasn't a possibility when i聽 graduated from mssd and so then i ended up

going to a community college in seattle聽 washington and then i was absolutely of

course thrilled about that opportunity聽 i got an aaa degree that was in 88

and then it would have been 92 or聽 93 can't remember the exact year

um where i was still looking for a job i was聽 unemployed and i want to thank rick at mssd

he actually gave me an opportunity聽 to gain employment at mssd and i decided to continue working there i was聽 interested in getting further education graduate

education from strayer university i actually got聽 two degrees graduate degrees in human resources

which related to my job and then i got a second聽 degree in educational administration related to

school environments so that i could聽 apply those skill sets to my job at mssd

so i have of course been working in聽 that environment for a very long time

encountered international students so decided to聽 also study interpreting as a cdi and so i have

been able to support students in that way聽 students from various language backgrounds

thank you and then we've got emmanuel emmanuel聽 maybe you can talk about what year you went into kendall mssd your graduation聽 uh and and what you've been up to

all right sure um thank you for inviting me聽 to be a part of this a very special event my name is emmanuel parodin njoku聽 who's my sign name um you know

i've been a kendall kid my whole life i聽 enrolled in 1998 a year after i was born

this is the interpreter at this聽 time the video is frozen okay sorry about that i'm back so i graduated聽 mssd in 2014 and then i went on to rochester

institute of technology majoring in聽 biomed science i graduated in 2018

at that time i thought i wanted to have a career聽 in science and medicine and i had an opportunity

as a post-baccalaureate fellow at the national聽 cancer institute where i'm currently working

which is under the national institute of聽 health focusing on breast cancer research

it's an awesome story to see聽 all of you navigate through your educational journeys to where you are today

in thinking about the memories聽 that you had at kendall school what would you like to share with our audience聽 you know being a black deaf child at kendall

emanuel there are a few memories that i have聽 but i'll share one of my highlights

i remember being very young and a part of the聽 video project called uh it takes a village to

raise a child and this was my introduction聽 and ultimately led to public speaking

and you know the ability to聽 be more confident in myself i got a lot of support from the kendall school聽 school community including teachers and staff

i was part of the optimist club which was very聽 empowering to young people giving them a stage to

express themselves and that's what really shaped聽 me into who i am today so that and in addition

to so many other memories uh at expos in the聽 middle of school presenting on various projects

always being very immersed in science being a聽 member of student body government the kennel

school community was supportive in so many ways聽 and allowed me to flourish into the way i am today

thank you for sharing that what are some聽 other memories in uh that you had from kendall

um campfire girls you know i remember just being聽 involved in different organizations and learning

so many different activities like modeling just聽 so many gifts that i was given as a kindle student

and now of course i teach students and聽 i have the opportunity to encourage

students to make the best of their lives聽 the opportunity that i was given in girl

scouts i think that is the same concept as the聽 campfire girls and it was such a gift to me

thank you how about you daisy can you聽 share some memories that you had of kendall

yes i have so many good memories that聽 i can look back on growing up at kindle

and i think i was really thankful to ann聽 williamson she was a hearing parent she had

a deaf child his name was james and she was the聽 one who really encouraged all of us all of the

parents to get together and talk about you know聽 black deaf children having equal access to rights

so i remember very clearly going to junior camp聽 and at their that camp there are about eight of us

uh young students who were there and聽 i remember a teacher taking me home

taking me to her home and teaching me聽 how to swim and enjoying a conversation

with her and this was a white teacher can you聽 imagine that and then another time i remember

us going out to minnesota to a camp聽 in minnesota and we met the mayor so

i remember that quite clearly i also had聽 a favorite teacher kirk um and uh he was

indian descent so i remember the youth leadership聽 camp and always you know how having those teachers

help us to be creative in the things that we did聽 and we learned photography we learned shop we

learned math skills you know so a variety of聽 things from those teachers who encouraged us

thank you now when did you first learn聽 about the story of louise b miller

and her son in the fight for education um聽 what touched you in particular about that

and when did you learn about that story you聽 know sure um since moving here from jamaica

i entered into the kindle school and i don't聽 really remember hearing much about louise b miller

people would talk about martin luther king right聽 we always hear about martin luther king um and so i continued through my studies at kendall and聽 even at mssd we sort of had the uh regular list of

civil rights heroes and sheroes um and then once i聽 learned of the kindle division to school memorial

i thought to myself my goodness that is my story聽 but i didn't know of that story um and if not for

mrs miller where would we be today i am inspired聽 by her i feel like she really saved us um and so

we owe her a great debt i am so appreciative聽 of her and it is really all about freedom

wow and then uh daisy what about聽 you i would have to second that

um my memory is not really that clear聽 as a teenager you know i grew up with

anna and going over to the deaf club the dca聽 black death cub i remember being on florida

avenue and i remember there was a guy there um and聽 i found out that that was vernon shorter's father

and he talked about it but not really in depth and聽 he talked about gerald and about this lawsuit with

kendall but i wasn't really clear i was kind of聽 fuzzy on the story it wasn't too much much later

on in life that i learned more about it and now i聽 actually learned from dr carolyn mccaskill talking

about the louise de mello story today and such聽 a sense of gratitude you know i actually bawled

when i heard the story i couldn't hold the tears聽 back this lawsuit in 1954 happened before brown

versus the board of education 1954 if it wasn't聽 for this where would we be now you know what

would the state of education be for us you know聽 we suffered living right here in washington dc

so i am forever eternally grateful to louise聽 b miller fighting for us fighting for her son

but fighting for us and the future of deaf black聽 children who would benefit from that lawsuit thank you daisy for those remarks emmanuel how聽 about you what what do you think here um you

know similar to ina i hadn't really known about聽 it uh growing up it wasn't until you know this

past december and i was able to kind of see the聽 big picture um i processed it in real time and uh

it's really a lot of acknowledgement and聽 thanks going to louise b miller for all of the work that she did you know all the people聽 that were behind her like daisy mentioned

really allowed us to have the foundation聽 necessary in order to succeed and thrive as deaf people like deaf people in particular聽 so thank you and also i think this is something

that should be shared knowledge among both聽 hearing and deaf communities thank you

thank you so much for answering聽 that and for our last question what is uh some advice that you like to share聽 with black deaf folks in black deaf children

that might be students at kendall an ssd in the聽 greater us or even internationally you know before

we wrap up i'm just curious to see what your聽 thoughts are on that daisy what's your advice hmm

i would say be strong be passionate work hard聽 don't just take people word for what they say

when they say it you can't you know what you聽 are inside do what you can to follow your path

ask your parents to help you ask others to聽 help you to succeed and thrive you can't do it alone you also need god so have faith have聽 determination have passion and stick with the plan

emanuel you know i would say聽 don't be afraid to ask questions you know when opportunities come here come聽 your way make sure you capitalize on that

stand up for what's right you know be sweet and聽 kind to everyone and also make sure you don't

forget your roots and what kendall was able to聽 do for you and then for ina what do you think

as we just think of it and i don't even have words聽 this is such a momentous occasion um you know we

always i will always share with students that we聽 always want to respect one another regardless of

our background whether we're from um america聽 or not uh wherever we may be from we need to

make sure that we respect one another we need to聽 make sure that we have different experiences we

want to cultivate role models we never know who聽 may plant a seed in our lives it may be someone

from a different ethnicity or nationality thank聽 you and daisy do you want to share your final

remarks before we close out yes i would say it's聽 so important to find someone who believes in you

if you see someone who does not believe聽 in you then look for somebody else because that person who believes聽 in you will help you to succeed

most definitely thank you so much for your聽 participation may you continue on your path

towards success and greatness thank you so much聽 for representing kendall and our mssd students so

well as well as gallaudet university thank you聽 very much and bye bye thank you for having me

bye-bye

i have to say that hearing everyone's story聽 was very touching um i took a note emmanuel

said that uh it took a village to what it聽 takes a village to raise a child it was a

project he was working on and i'm wondering if聽 kendall should bring back that kind of program

i also noted that when it comes to kendall聽 students who enrolled in kendall and then went

on to mssd and went on to graduate kendall聽 and mssd is a part of the claire center

and gallaudet is doing a very good job of聽 retaining these students and making sure

that our younger students have someone to聽 look up to that's something to think about

next i'd like to call on president cordano to share some of her thoughts聽 and remarks after viewing today's program

president cordano please come up

hello there hi president cordano if you want聽 to mine can you please share what your thoughts

and remarks uh that you have for us after聽 today's program absolutely and thank you

i just wanted to remind all of us that聽 gallaudet students in 2016 one of the

very first things that they wanted gallaudet聽 to address is our history related to memorials

and today if you don't know this or not aware聽 we now have a plaque that faces the hotel

it's on a brick edifice that聽 sits out front of the hotel

and from lincoln circle as you drive through聽 the campus you would never see that plaque but if you walk around the opposite direction聽 you're able to see what it memorializes and if

you're seated in the outdoor patio area at the聽 hotel you can actually face that plaque and see

what it's all about there are many members of our聽 black deaf community who've time and time again

have just expressed their discontent in the聽 insufficiency of that plaque it's striking to

me how even our own alumni as you saw here from聽 kendall school and mssd at the claire center

didn't know anything about the history related聽 to this memorial and louise b miller's lawsuit

this is exactly what our community is all about聽 doing in terms of making changes the center

for black deaf studies is a significant way to聽 recognize that it was established to do the very

thing we're seeing it doing now to capture the聽 stories and to capture the history that relates

to our black deaf community and their experiences聽 throughout their educational systems here in

our country within our communities and all that聽 they have faced and struggled with along the way

always in that fight seeking freedom聽 and civil rights i want to thank the

leadership for our students here at gallaudet聽 particularly our black deaf student union

and our staff faculty people such as yvonne and聽 dr mccaskill dr liz moore bernie palmer mumiana

and so many others far too many to name who have聽 served on this committee since we began this work

in 2017 the most activity began around this聽 committee as we began designing the vision for

this memorial it is one of the most exciting聽 things we have happening now the community

is engaged in helping us build out that vision聽 as to how we can tell the story going forward

today was a beautiful and powerful webinar聽 we heard from so many individuals and

learned greatly as a result i wanted聽 to echo something that was shared by

um dr sandra and i'm just looking to make sure i聽 have her last name right dr sandra jowers as she

talked about change being local and we should聽 never forget that change can happen right here

right where we are every single day that changes聽 only evidence through us and our involvement

we always have to keep an eye out for one聽 another because we are bringing the change we are bringing change to the world to our local聽 actions and this is one example of that very thing

i also wanted to highlight that the success of聽 our bringing these stories as we have over the

last couple of webinars and of course more will聽 be coming the success is made possible through

the partnerships that have been formed聽 through collaborative efforts we've come together to create the vision around this聽 work and how we can move this work forward

every one of us plays a role any free one聽 of us has a possibility to create change

as we look back to the legacy and black聽 history especially black deaf history

and we continue to understand that history to聽 the present so that we can build a future that's

different i invite everyone who's listening聽 today to join with us in this journey to help

us continue movement forward on this vision as聽 we honor a pure champion a mother an activist

a heroine that really represents聽 all that we are as a community so i want to thank you for being with us today聽 keep finding those stories keep bringing those

stories to us and allow us to keep learning and聽 changing the world to make it a better place

thanks to everyone who's involved in the webinar聽 today and all of you who are watching in i'm so very grateful for everything that's happening聽 and all the work you've been doing we will

continue to support you through your journey聽 ahead thank you all so much thank you president

cordano for your thoughtful remarks and some聽 of your thoughts after viewing today's program

you know this is a community effort and we rely聽 on each other in order to truly share this story

and looking at some of my notes from karen聽 miller she said that none of the students uh

none of the 23 students that graduated in the聽 class of 1952 were able to enroll in college

and we know that there's already聽 been an apology that you've given to kevin and the miller family but this聽 is a conversation that will continue

and we will not stop talking about this聽 thank you absolutely no doubt about that

we need more research to be done and more聽 stories to be shared about the history as to what's happened over time especially as it relates聽 to the black deaf community so much about their

experience and their journey and the educational聽 system is just not sufficiently being told the

stories aren't out there i mean seeing our three聽 alumni say i have to mention now how proud i

am to see our alumni here from mssd and the聽 clair center and absolutely their presentations

the story they shared are beautiful and it's a聽 lovely example of what's possible when we have

you know sheroes like louise b miller who fought聽 for the future of people even today and there

are other stories like that so thank you yvonne聽 thank you president cordano wonderful message

now i'd like to go on with the program uh when聽 we're nearing its end but we're not finished

just yet we were able to reach out to various聽 kindle alum who graduated and went to mssd

and really the essence of what i'm sharing聽 is that the focus is on students that were enrolled in kendall so i want聽 to give a special thanks to louise b

miller and her family for the fight that they聽 fought and thank you for sharing that with us

so please take a moment to watch the video聽 of our various alumni members so these are

i am a yuke and i come from cameroon in western africa

i was enrolled in kendall in the state聽 sixth grade and i graduated in 1990

i want to extend a deep heartfelt thank you to聽 louise and her family for encouraging the rights

of black deaf children to be educated at kendall聽 if it were not for the work that was done by the

miller family i would have stayed in africa thank聽 you so much for everything that you've done for us

hello everyone my name is velma stanton i was at聽 kindle in 1975 and graduated in 1978 to enter mssd

thank you miss louise b miller we appreciate聽 meeting all of your family thank you

hello i'm tais wright

and i'm a former kindle student i enrolled in 81聽 graduated in 93 and i want to say thank you to

mrs miller for being such an advocate for the聽 black deaf community and black deaf children

hi i'm vernon shorter

my mom is barbara shorter and聽 my father's name is robert

melbourne i want to can go uh and i wanted to聽 thank the 23 students and louise miller for in

the miller family for freeing us to go to kendall聽 hello i'm latrell i'm in seventh grade at kindle

and i remember seeing a presentation on black聽 history um at kendall and it talked about the

segregation of black and white students and that聽 really struck me i am so happy that we're setting

up this memorial to honor mrs miller hello my聽 name is lamont and i'm in the seventh grade

i want to say thank you to miss miller because聽 she helped kindle the students who were black and

white come together and i'm so happy to be able聽 to learn and to thrive hi my name is sherman smith

my hometown is dc and i also went to school聽 here at kendall and mssd on gallaudet campus

this was around 1968 or 1969 i graduated in 1978

and i wanted to point out an interesting fact that聽 kendall school mssd or all on gallaudet's campus

and i've actually had a personal experience聽 first hand there was a lot of impact from the

history that was talked about today聽 i was a young kid in kendall school

and that's really where i began聽 my my childhood in my early years

as i went on i learned more became more educated

and then eventually moved to the聽 red park school that was on campus and it was a red building a very聽 very old building that was on campus

so in my time on campus i learned i was educated i聽 remember during the summer time especially during

the month of july for a whole 30 days we will聽 go to different outdoor activities like camps

learn how to develop more independent skills our聽 leadership skills and all that started at kendall

the connection between kindle聽 and mssd was very inspiring

i had an opportunity because of the freedom聽 to attend kendall to learn and become educated

and that would benefit me in my future that聽 gave me a strong foundation to be a student

i graduated in 1978

and ever since then i can't appreciate聽 i can't appreciate enough the impact

that kendall has had on me i recognize聽 that even today if you're deaf i suggest

that you send your child i suggest that you聽 learn at kendall if it weren't for kendall

i probably wouldn't be here i probably would not聽 have succeeded without kendall so i do want to

recognize the school thank you to gallaudet mssd聽 and kendall for setting up my education thank you

i'm inna harrison williams and i聽 enrolled in kindle in april of 71.

i then graduated in 78 and i want to say thank聽 you mrs miller for fighting on our behalf

on behalf of all black deaf children hi i'm ethan

i graduated from kendall school in 2010 and i want to thank the miller family聽 everyone my name is darian burwell gambrell

and i went to kindle from 1984 to 1988 i want to聽 thank louise b miller and her family for changing

my life thank you for making sure that all of us聽 had an excellent education at kendall thank you

hi i'm emmanuel perdon joku graduated from kendall聽 in 2010 and i wanted to say thank you so much to

louise miller if it weren't for the fight that聽 she put up i wouldn't be where i am today thank

you so much hello i'm christine and i can share聽 with you a short story i'm really a proud kindle

alum you see i'm supporting my wildcats gear a聽 washington dc native graduated in the class of 97

also graduated from gallaudet and being a kindle聽 student has given me so many gifts mrs miller

and her family really made a difference for聽 her son kenneth and her other deaf children

i just appreciate her so much hi i'm daisy wooten聽 and i graduated from kindle in 1977. i actually

went into the school i believe the year was聽 1965 or 1966. i remember my mother telling

me that i went to the school and to be honest聽 i have been absolutely touched to learn so much

from the center for black deaf studies description聽 of louise b miller in her fight i sort of vaguely

remember that story but i have to tell you right聽 now it is crystal clear and has had such an impact

on me it actually brought me to tears and so i聽 think to myself where would i be without kendo

where would i have gone you know i graduated from聽 kendo i was able to get an advanced education

to get my bachelor's my master's without kendall聽 where would i be i would be lost you know a child

who was language deprived so it's a really scary聽 thought to think of what my role might have been

hi i'm ikea aj for short i graduated from kendall

i went to mssd um i've been a kennel product my聽 whole life thank you to the louise b miller family

for everything that they've done and the聽 fight for education and having access to education especially during times聽 of segregation they work to desegregate

i absolutely love the kendall school it's been聽 an inspiration and i've enjoyed learning there

oh my goodness seeing these alumni just touches my heart

it shows you that the fight was worth it

now we know we haven't gotten everything聽 that we need a hundred percent so the fight still continues

i would like to say thank you聽 so much for each and everyone who participated today it's聽 been an honor to see your face

next we have a song that will be performed by聽 kendall alum ronnie bradley and as a tribute

to louise b miller in all of her efforts and聽 fighting along the journey towards freedom

although it hasn't been achieved 100 percent聽 we're getting there is called a song from

you taught me everything and聽 everything you've given me

you will always be i know

your love is like tears from the stars

my soul

you're always down for me you've always聽 been around for me even when i was

you always

looking back when i was so afraid and聽 then you come to me and you take me

you'll always be

oh

me

is

hopefully everyone enjoyed today's program and聽 everything that we had put together for you today

before we call up dr moore and聽 others i would like to thank everyone who individually contributed聽 in one way or another to this program

so dr moore dr

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