Latest / The Breakfast Club / More Than the Viral Moment: The Business of ASL Interpreting

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More Than the Viral Moment: The Business of ASL Interpreting · The Breakfast Club

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  Speaker 1: Jewists.
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  Speaker 2: I'm a homegrowl that knows a little bit about everything
• 0:04
  Speaker 2: and everybody, you know, if you don't lie about that.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Right, Hey, y'all's up.
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  Speaker 2: It's Lauren Rosa and this is another episode of the
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  Speaker 2: Latest with Lauren Rosa. This is your DELI Dig on
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  Speaker 2: all things pop culture, entertainment, news and all of the
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  Speaker 2: conversations that shake the room.
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  Speaker 1: Baby.
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  Speaker 2: So today we are about to get into a conversation
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  Speaker 2: that I know is going to shake the room for sure.
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  Speaker 1: Moved to broncog grinding.
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  Speaker 2: Pillow a little bit more in the screen because this
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  Speaker 2: is about to be a real brown girl grinding conversation
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  Speaker 2: here in Fis. Then this is about to be a
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  Speaker 2: real browngog grinding conversation here because joining me, I have
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  Speaker 2: a a SL interpreter. Her name is Shyanne Atkins, and
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  Speaker 2: you guys may have seen her in some of her
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  Speaker 2: work and work like hers because recently during the Essence
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  Speaker 2: Festival we talked about here on the podcast as well too,
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  Speaker 2: there were a group of black women ASL interpreters who
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  Speaker 2: went so viral during the Essence Festival for interpreting the
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  Speaker 2: concert space of the festival and just how they were
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  Speaker 2: doing it going off having a good time and doing
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  Speaker 2: what you know black people do, just bringing Joey to
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  Speaker 2: everything that we do and everything that we touch. So
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  Speaker 2: we're going to get into that conversation and the conversation
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  Speaker 2: overall about being an ASL interpreter, those vibra moments we
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  Speaker 2: see online when they go viral for various things tied
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  Speaker 2: to celebrity, interaction and interpretation and just the grind and
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  Speaker 2: the hustle of it all.
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  Speaker 1: So Shyanne, welcome, welcome to the podcast. Thank you, Thanks Rob.
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  Speaker 1: Me so frazy to be here.
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  Speaker 2: So first talk to me a bit about your background.
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  Speaker 2: Your nationally certified ASL interpreter, accessibility advocate, and a founder
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  Speaker 2: of a CIA interpreting and consulting with more than eight
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  Speaker 2: years of a professional experience in a space. So how
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: did you get into becoming an interpreter?
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  Speaker 3: So it's really it's like this long journey, but it's
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  Speaker 3: also really like a short journey. So when I was
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  Speaker 3: in elementary school and from Roosevelt, New York, and after
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: school they set up an ASL program where you could take classes,
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  Speaker 3: and I was fascinated, Like sometimes I would just go
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  Speaker 3: to school just so I can get to the after
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  Speaker 3: school program and take the ASL courses and.
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  Speaker 1: I just fell in love with the language.
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  Speaker 3: And so around two thousand and six, my family relocated
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  Speaker 3: to Florida, and at that time I had no interaction
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  Speaker 3: with the deaf community, but I kind of use YouTube
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  Speaker 3: to just keep up, keep learning things and.
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  Speaker 1: So cause I was just really fascinated by it.
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  Speaker 3: And then when I moved to North Carolina, there was
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  Speaker 3: a community college right around from where I was staying,
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  Speaker 3: shout out to Central Piedmont, and I got the catalog
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  Speaker 3: with the majors and minors in it, and I was
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  Speaker 3: looking through and I was like interpret education, and very naively,
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  Speaker 3: I was like, I know my ABC's, I can become
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  Speaker 3: an interpreter. Had no idea what I was getting myself
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  Speaker 3: into four years of that program. I often tell people
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: that interpreting and knowing how to sign or two different skills.
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  Speaker 3: So I had to take ASL courses to build my
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  Speaker 3: language foundation and then tak interpering courses to learn how
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  Speaker 3: to interpret ASL. After that was finished, I graduated from
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  Speaker 3: there in twenty eighteen, I took a gap year and
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  Speaker 3: I did an internship at RIT called the Randoming program,
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  Speaker 3: which was helping to increase the number of black and
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  Speaker 3: brown interpreters in the field.
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  Speaker 1: After that, I transferred to.
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  Speaker 3: Galadat in the fall of twenty nineteen, graduated in twenty
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  Speaker 3: twenty one, and then I got my certification in April
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  Speaker 3: of twenty twenty two. And so my journey has had
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  Speaker 3: its fair shares of ups and downs. But you know,
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  Speaker 3: with my community, with my village along the way, I
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  Speaker 3: was able to get to where I had to go
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  Speaker 3: and get certified and do all the things. And I'm
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  Speaker 3: so grateful and blessed to be here and in the
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  Speaker 3: position that I am in.
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  Speaker 2: So you said that it was a program at after
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  Speaker 2: school program. How common is that because I've never heard.
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  Speaker 1: Of that as an after school program.
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  Speaker 3: Oh so it growing up, I you know, I was
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  Speaker 3: a kid, I didn't know. But now it's I'm seeing
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  Speaker 3: more people interested in ASL. I live in Baltimore, and
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  Speaker 3: there was a lady that was saying that she was
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  Speaker 3: starting an ASL after school program here, and I think
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  Speaker 3: it's amazing because I'm noticing that a lot of people
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  Speaker 3: don't even know about ASL. They don't know that being
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  Speaker 3: an interpreter is a career until they see an interpreter
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  Speaker 3: go viral until they're.
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  Speaker 1: Like, oh, like, how do you do that?
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  Speaker 3: So now I'm seeing like the influx of people being
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  Speaker 3: interested in taking ASL courses, people asking me, They're like,
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  Speaker 3: how do you become an interpreter and curious about that
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  Speaker 3: journey because I realized that a lot of people don't
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  Speaker 3: know that's a career choice in the life path that
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  Speaker 3: you can take.
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  Speaker 2: I think a lot of people are like, I mean,
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  Speaker 2: we see you guys all the time at like concerts
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  Speaker 2: and in different spaces, but I think it always amazes
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  Speaker 2: people when it's in like a black space, like hip
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  Speaker 2: hop or like whatever.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know why though, because interpret.
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  Speaker 2: I feel like for as long as I can remember,
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  Speaker 2: at most concerts or like really public gatherings, I would
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  Speaker 2: see interpret like, I don't know what it is, Like,
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  Speaker 2: what is it about being a black women in this
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  Speaker 2: space or black person in the space that you think
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  Speaker 2: makes people so like Wold.
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  Speaker 1: It's a very twofolded question.
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  Speaker 3: I think that the interpreting profession is eighty eight percent
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  Speaker 3: of white gotrue, So most people when they see an interpreter,
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  Speaker 3: more than likely they're seeing a white interpreter. And if
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  Speaker 3: I'm being honest, I think that black interpreters hearing and
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  Speaker 3: death are just now getting their credit due because we've
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: always been around. Black interpreters have always been doing the things.
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  Speaker 3: They've always been providing the access, but I don't think
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  Speaker 3: it was just as highlighted on the same level as
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  Speaker 3: white interpreters.
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  Speaker 1: And so being that the field is eighty eight percent white.
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  Speaker 3: And you know, so there's certified interpreters and there's unsortified interpreters,
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  Speaker 3: so total, I just check the statistics, maybe we're hovering
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  Speaker 3: around six hundred black certified interpreters in general.
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  Speaker 1: So in the field that.
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  Speaker 3: Is eighty eight percent white, you have like around five
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  Speaker 3: six hundred black certified interpreters, And so it's not a
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  Speaker 3: lot of us, given the context of the field.
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  Speaker 1: And how long we've been around. And I think now
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  Speaker 1: we're seeing.
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  Speaker 3: This shift towards like having cultural inclusion and having you know,
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  Speaker 3: deaf people often want interpreters that look like them, that
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  Speaker 3: understand them, that come from us the same background as them,
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  Speaker 3: And I feel like oftentimes there's a cultural mismatch. Right,
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  Speaker 3: So if I'm a white interpreter and I show up
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  Speaker 3: at a place like Essence Fest, it's kind of.
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  Speaker 1: Like, oh, you may know but you may not, right.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, So it's like, we need to have these interpreters
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  Speaker 3: in these spaces and make sure that we're giving interpreters
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  Speaker 3: the opportunities that come up. And so sometimes for me,
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  Speaker 3: if I'm not available, I'll reach out to my network.
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  Speaker 3: He is anyone available to do this, because I think
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  Speaker 3: representation is important, but also being there, also being a
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  Speaker 3: qualified interpreter that knows what they're doing, because now not
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  Speaker 3: only are we seeing black interpreters in these spaces, now
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  Speaker 3: it's the kind of oh they're fake.
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  Speaker 1: Oh do you remember the person a Nelson Mandela funeral?
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  Speaker 1: Oh do you remember?
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  Speaker 3: It's like, y'all, it's real interpreters out here doing real work,
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  Speaker 3: doing real things, you know, shifting the landscape of interpreting.
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  Speaker 1: And yeah, so I think that's where we are.
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  Speaker 2: Is there ever a time where you're like, just because
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  Speaker 2: I am a black interpreter, I don't only want to
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  Speaker 2: do the black things, or do you look at it
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  Speaker 2: like you would own you would prefer to do things
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  Speaker 2: that are more culturally connected to like who you are
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  Speaker 2: and what you grew up on.
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  Speaker 3: So it's yes, And I feel like these questions are
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  Speaker 3: so good. Yeah, don't hit me up at Juneteenth and
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  Speaker 3: Black History Month if you don't work with me year round.
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  Speaker 3: But also I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for
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  Speaker 3: the black deaf community. So when they call, I answered,
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  Speaker 3: I don't care what I'm doing. I can have, you know,
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  Speaker 3: a big gig, but if you know one of the
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  Speaker 3: black deaf people that raised me up in this field
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  Speaker 3: and needed me, oh, that's coming before anything, because I
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  Speaker 3: am not here without.
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  Speaker 1: Community and the people that invested in me.
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  Speaker 3: Dean Perry, he was one of the He's a black
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  Speaker 3: deaf man from North Carolina, and I remember one day
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  Speaker 3: I was like, I'm not doing this, it's not for me.
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  Speaker 3: He was like, I don't care how you finished, but
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  Speaker 3: you're gonna finish.
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  Speaker 1: And you know, he.
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  Speaker 3: Really poured into me, and he really like helped me in.
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  Speaker 3: Alita Hill and Janie Portsi, all of these people who
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  Speaker 3: are very integral part of my interpreting journey to get
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  Speaker 3: to where I'm at, and it were also white interpreters.
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  Speaker 3: My professor Kelly Stewart, she was like, you're gonna do it. Mark,
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  Speaker 3: Like all of these people that poured into me, even
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  Speaker 3: when I was like I don't want to do this,
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  Speaker 3: Like it's not for me. I don't know, like I
• 8:24
  Speaker 3: started having an existential crisis. So yeah, I don't only
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: want to do that stuff. If your only relationship with
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  Speaker 3: me is when you're desperate in February and in June,
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  Speaker 3: we don't need to talk. And it also shows me
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: that you don't have a rosta that is full of
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  Speaker 3: diverse interpreters if you're now in these two months looking
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  Speaker 3: and desperate for black interpreters. But also I love being
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: in black spaces. Like if that could be the bulk
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  Speaker 3: of my work, I work with black people all day
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  Speaker 3: every day, I would be happy.
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  Speaker 2: How tough is it being as though, Like I mean
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  Speaker 2: you talked about the numbers, right, how tough is it
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  Speaker 2: trying to get a corporate and you talk about the
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: diverse roster these businesses, these events to realize like once
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  Speaker 2: you say that your roster isn't as versus it should be,
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  Speaker 2: that that should change, right, Because I.
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  Speaker 1: Don't like when if you think about like.
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: Anything that has ever been like not inclusive, people push
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  Speaker 2: back and they revolt on it. Right, Like we talk
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: about how like it's messed up that like DEI is
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: getting removed from things. There's a big conversation about Target
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: and not in all the boycott and all these places
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: that are that we think are adding to that problem. Right,
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  Speaker 2: But I've never heard somebody be like, yo, we need
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: to revolt or push back in the black interpreter space
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  Speaker 2: because we just don't know that this is happening.
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  Speaker 1: So how hard is it that you have to face.
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: That and you don't really have the people with you
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: because we don't talk a lot about y'all. We don't
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: know what this is even happening. It hasn't been tough
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: for you trying to change from the inside.
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  Speaker 3: You know, as you can always got in troublecause I'm
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: gonna say the thing, I'm gonna do the thing.
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  Speaker 1: I really don't care who's with me.
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  Speaker 3: You know, I'm a one woman army, and you know,
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  Speaker 3: sometimes I've taken a hit because I've been too vocal.
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  Speaker 3: But also I've seen how I've planted those seeds and
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: how they've sprouted later. So maybe they don't like me
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: in the moment, but I then see the change that
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: starts to happen, and it sucks. It's now happening because
• 10:18
  Speaker 3: black interpreters are going viral. Now there's a need for it.
• 10:21
  Speaker 3: But there's always been a need for black interpreters in
• 10:23
  Speaker 3: their space. There's always been a need for cultural competent interpreters.
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  Speaker 3: There's always been a.
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  Speaker 1: Need for that.
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  Speaker 3: So oftentimes when I breach these conversations with people, I
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: realized that a lot of people just don't know right.
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: A lot of people don't know how to get an interpreter.
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  Speaker 3: A lot of people don't know what accessibility looks like.
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: A lot of.
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  Speaker 3: People don't know how to Okay, I got an interpreter,
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: but how do I get a black interpreter for this event?
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  Speaker 1: Is it racist if I ask for a black interpreter?
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: Is it? Like? Some of it is just starting a conversation.
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  Speaker 3: And I think a lot of people once I engage them,
• 10:56
  Speaker 3: once I you know, cause I don't come at it
• 10:58
  Speaker 3: from like I don't know how you don't know, But
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: I come from a hey, let's talk, Let's have a conversation.
• 11:02
  Speaker 3: Let's sit down, you wanna go get coffee, we could
• 11:04
  Speaker 3: talk about this. I really try to open the door
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: because it's really a conversation that needs to be had.
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: You know. Then there's sometimes like I turn up when
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: people try to play you.
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  Speaker 3: Know, it's really it's really it's really a balance and
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: at but what I realize as I've gone through this
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  Speaker 3: career and this journey, a lot of people just don't know,
• 11:24
  Speaker 3: and it's really informing people, telling people how they could
• 11:26
  Speaker 3: get an interpreter. I love to give out my information
• 11:30
  Speaker 3: and even if I'm not the interpreter, Oh you need
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: a Palestinian interpreter, you need a Mexican interpreter, you need
• 11:36
  Speaker 3: my My network is vast, and so I pride myself
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: on being able to put the right people in all
• 11:41
  Speaker 3: spaces and just making sure that it is a fit.
• 11:45
  Speaker 3: It works out, because at the end of the day,
• 11:47
  Speaker 3: I just want the deaf clients and consumers to be happy.
• 11:50
  Speaker 3: I want them to leave Essence fast and be like, dang,
• 11:52
  Speaker 3: that was the best experience. It was accessible from start
• 11:55
  Speaker 3: to finish. And you know that same feeling not hearing
• 11:57
  Speaker 3: people leave after a show and they're like, that was
• 11:59
  Speaker 3: such a good show. That is really my goal is
• 12:02
  Speaker 3: to make sure that everyone is included. It is accessible
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: for everyone.
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  Speaker 2: So talk about Essence Festival, because even before y'all started
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: going viral, to the people that weren't there like being there.
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: I remember that was playing like in between the sets
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: they were playing Meat Meals, Dreams and Nightmares, and I
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: wanted a girl like y'all were signing, but it was
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: like the beat, like to the beat, and I'm like,
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: how are they signed? Like okay, so when you're signing
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: the songs, right, I know that you're signing the words,
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: but it's like y'all are also carrying the beat in
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: the melody as well too as you're doing it. And
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: I'm not really I don't really know too much about
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: you know, how people who are hearing impaired are able
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: to pick up like tones and feelings and vibrations and things.
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: But I know that there's like a science and an
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: artistry to.
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: This because I started thinking about that, I'm like, wait,
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: if I'm a deaf person and I'm here, how much
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: of this can I hear and feel? Especially on the
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: song like meet Mills, Dreams and Nightmares? Like, so what's
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: the what was I? What was I watching?
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: So shout out to Tierra, my girl held it down
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: Dreams and Nightmare. Come on, I'll be like, girl, they
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: saw you. You know, I know it, but I feel
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: like she conveys it on a level that is just
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: out of this world. So I can't really speak to
• 13:18
  Speaker 3: death experience, but I'll speak to what I know. So
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: I went to gallad At University, which is the only
• 13:22
  Speaker 3: deaf university in the world, and despiral what people may
• 13:25
  Speaker 3: think dead people like the party, you know, just like
• 13:28
  Speaker 3: your normal college experience. Deaf people are blasting music. It's
• 13:31
  Speaker 3: funny because to hearing people, you're like, why is this
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: so loud? But it needs to be so loud so.
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: They could hear.
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: They could feel the vibrations, and so while they may
• 13:40
  Speaker 3: not be able to hear the words, I noticed a
• 13:43
  Speaker 3: lot of my difference. They read the lyrics right, so
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: they'll feel the vibration, they'll read the lyrics and they
• 13:47
  Speaker 3: kind of go back and forth. And so there's this
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: misconception that deaf people don't.
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: Listen to music.
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: Also, deafness is a spectrum, right, Like everyone is not
• 13:56
  Speaker 3: completely dead, deafness is it can be. You know, you
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: can only your fire trucks and ambulances to be completely deaf.
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  Speaker 3: To oh, I have some hearing where I can hear
• 14:05
  Speaker 3: some things. So when we're working a place like Essence Fest,
• 14:09
  Speaker 3: we don't know who's an audience, right, so you just
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: kind of gotta find your happy medium and find where
• 14:16
  Speaker 3: you just have to shoot in the dark and hope
• 14:18
  Speaker 3: that you know it hits someone. I feel like, specifically
• 14:21
  Speaker 3: for black interpreters, it's not in us, is on us
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: right like we we it's a certain essence to being black.
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  Speaker 3: And and also we listen to this music. We know
• 14:32
  Speaker 3: this music. There's this essence fest that's my auntie, that's
• 14:35
  Speaker 3: the cookout, that's the I grew up with this music.
• 14:38
  Speaker 3: And so when it came to now interpreting it, I
• 14:41
  Speaker 3: already got the beat because I'm already dancing to it.
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: But now I just got to put my hands to it.
• 14:46
  Speaker 3: And so, yeah, dreams of Nightmas is one little song.
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: When you go to a festival, you're gonna hear Dreams
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: of Nightmares. Like my good friend Rodney, he has an
• 14:54
  Speaker 3: Apple playlist. He's like black songs.
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: You know we're gonna be playing at festivals and all,
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: and it's.
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: Knuck if you buck two steps swack serve all these
• 15:01
  Speaker 3: songs that you know we're gonna come up.
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: So we're very.
• 15:04
  Speaker 3: Intentional about practicing songs that we know we're gonna come up.
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: I was gonna say, but what do you do when
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: like cause you can't.
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: You can practice for the artists potentially, guys probably get
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: setless and stuff like that, but for the music in between,
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: when they just buying time with the crowd, you don't
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: know what's gonna be played. So how do you prepare
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: for that? Because if it's a song you don't know,
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: do you just not sign it? Like, oh no, I know.
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: For me, I'm an abby music listener. I don't even
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: own a TV. I haven't owned a TV in year,
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: So literally all I do is listen to music.
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: All day, every day, day and night. That is just
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: who I am.
• 15:40
  Speaker 3: So a lot of interpreters like you have to listen
• 15:42
  Speaker 3: to music, like you have to be in the know
• 15:45
  Speaker 3: what new albums are coming out, who's going on tours.
• 15:47
  Speaker 3: So really there's certain things where I'm like, I listen
• 15:50
  Speaker 3: to this music. And one thing I realized early on
• 15:53
  Speaker 3: in my career doing festival interpreting, sometimes I know the beat,
• 15:56
  Speaker 3: but I don't know the.
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: Words right and know it like they can work until
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: you guys work right.
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: So when you're in a festival space like that, usually
• 16:08
  Speaker 3: there's a team interpreter. There's an interpreter who is on screen,
• 16:11
  Speaker 3: there's an interpreter who's off screen, and typically the interpreter
• 16:13
  Speaker 3: who's off screen is feeding you the lyrics. So I
• 16:16
  Speaker 3: may have something, but I don't know what I'm in
• 16:18
  Speaker 3: my interpreter, uh, the team interpreter is feeding me the lyrics.
• 16:22
  Speaker 3: So then I just take what I'm seeing and include
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: it in my interpretation. So yeah, if I don't know
• 16:26
  Speaker 3: the words all the time, I really depend on my
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: team and shout out to them because essence Fest, it's
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: sometimes not even knowing the words, but when you have
• 16:33
  Speaker 3: your n ears on, sometimes the music is higher than
• 16:37
  Speaker 3: the vocals, and so I'm like, where am I? But yeah,
• 16:40
  Speaker 3: it's really a team process. Everyone's kind of working together.
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: Make it happen.
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: Is there ever, like, like I know, there's like a
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: lot of dudes, like you said, y'all practice, you might
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: throw a song too, like another interpreter.
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: You don't know it, but what are it? Don'ts? Cause
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: like y'all was turned up, y'all was having a good time,
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: y'all was turking, y'all. We we was y'all or with
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: us in the party?
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: Is there ever times where you're like, Okay, we can
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: do this and go this far, but like we can't
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: do this like, are there don't to interpreting as well?
• 17:10
  Speaker 3: Yeah, so don't you never want your back towards the crowd? Right, Like,
• 17:15
  Speaker 3: so even if we're dancing and we're turned up, we're
• 17:17
  Speaker 3: kind of still like cheating the audience because my hands
• 17:20
  Speaker 3: need to be visible. So I'm never gonna be full
• 17:23
  Speaker 3: fledged wrking off camera I will, but on camera I won't.
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: But like, I.
• 17:27
  Speaker 3: Always make sure that I'm still being seen, that it's
• 17:30
  Speaker 3: still accessible.
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: Another don't is.
• 17:38
  Speaker 3: You never put your hands down, even when you don't know,
• 17:41
  Speaker 3: you never put your hands down.
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: So what do you do then?
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: Because sometimes people will be like, like when you see
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: interpreters at different places, they'd be like they're not even
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: saying right, Like you've seen that probably where they're like,
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: she up there just doing.
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: Stuff, right, So like your hands are up, what are
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: you doing? Are y'all really just doing things? At some point?
• 17:59
  Speaker 3: So again you're really depending on your team and in
• 18:02
  Speaker 3: that moment. Sometimes Okay, I don't know the words to
• 18:06
  Speaker 3: the song. This is me personally, I can't speak for
• 18:07
  Speaker 3: anyone else, but I know the vibe. I know what
• 18:10
  Speaker 3: they're going for. So if I am, Let's take James
• 18:14
  Speaker 3: and nightments for a reason if I miss a lyric,
• 18:17
  Speaker 3: sometimes I'll just pick up with when I know what's
• 18:19
  Speaker 3: coming next, and then I'll just have to feel so
• 18:22
  Speaker 3: when all I know is mutter, when it come to me,
• 18:25
  Speaker 3: I don't know there's a but I've been the kod
• 18:27
  Speaker 3: so I have to make that connection from where I
• 18:29
  Speaker 3: missed and where it picks up.
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: And sometimes it's just.
• 18:33
  Speaker 3: Like, what is the artist talking about in this moment?
• 18:36
  Speaker 3: How can I still even I don't have the words?
• 18:38
  Speaker 3: How can I still convey the money in the essence
• 18:42
  Speaker 3: of what until I can pick it up again. But again,
• 18:44
  Speaker 3: depending on your team and having them like feed you
• 18:46
  Speaker 3: the lyrics, which is if you're working a festival like Essence,
• 18:50
  Speaker 3: there's always multiple interpreters. There was four interpreters, and so
• 18:54
  Speaker 3: this should this should never be a reason you put
• 18:56
  Speaker 3: your hands down. And I know, for me personally, when
• 18:59
  Speaker 3: I'm on screen and I don't know something, I like
• 19:02
  Speaker 3: when multiple interpreters feed me the lyrics because it's like
• 19:04
  Speaker 3: I get to pick what I want because everyone doesn't
• 19:06
  Speaker 3: sign the same thing every way, right, So oh, I
• 19:09
  Speaker 3: like how you sign this, but I like how you
• 19:11
  Speaker 3: sign it, and so I'm constantly looking at both people
• 19:13
  Speaker 3: signing me the song, and then I decide how and
• 19:16
  Speaker 3: what I want to incorporate.
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: Got you okay? Okay?
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: And I mean I don't know how deep you can
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: go into this and want to go into this question,
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: but how lucrative is being a interpreter? And is there
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: a pay gap between like, you know, interpreters of color,
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: black interpreters and the majority in the space, which you
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: said are white interpreters.
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: Oh, there's definitely a pay gap.
• 19:37
  Speaker 3: I you know, people say don't talk about money. I
• 19:40
  Speaker 3: firmly am against that because if you don't talk about it,
• 19:43
  Speaker 3: then you don't know how much you're being cheated, right,
• 19:45
  Speaker 3: And so oftentimes I'm like, this doesn't sound right, And
• 19:50
  Speaker 3: so I'll go be like, hey, I work for company A.
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: You work for them.
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: How much are you getting paid? We have similar qualifications,
• 19:56
  Speaker 3: we have it, we have this, but they're not paying
• 19:58
  Speaker 3: me the same. And so well, I often you have
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: to advocate for yourself.
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: You have to.
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: You have to advocate for yourself. You have to advocate
• 20:07
  Speaker 3: for what you want. You have to know the value
• 20:08
  Speaker 3: that you bring. You know, you can't be a new
• 20:11
  Speaker 3: interpreter going to people asking them for one hundred fifty
• 20:13
  Speaker 3: dollars an hour, and you don't have got a certification
• 20:16
  Speaker 3: to your name, right, Like, you got to put in
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: work to get to a certain place where you can
• 20:21
  Speaker 3: be like, no, this is what I want, this is
• 20:22
  Speaker 3: what I demand, this is what I like, And some
• 20:27
  Speaker 3: interpreting is what you make it, right, Like, there are
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: some people who work full time and there are some
• 20:32
  Speaker 3: people who don't.
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: I tell people, I work full full time, so.
• 20:36
  Speaker 3: I'm always working, I'm always at an event, I'm always moving.
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: So it's lucrative, but it is tiring.
• 20:41
  Speaker 3: And I think a lot of people don't realize interpreting
• 20:44
  Speaker 3: is a process. And when I go on line and
• 20:48
  Speaker 3: I you know, I read comments, I'm a human and
• 20:50
  Speaker 3: they're like, oh, she's not signing this, Oh she doesn't
• 20:52
  Speaker 3: know this, Oh you know whatever, and it's like, you
• 20:55
  Speaker 3: don't know what's happening in that moment. My sound could
• 20:57
  Speaker 3: have went out in my ears, the battery path, I
• 21:00
  Speaker 3: could have died, you know, someone could have fell off screen,
• 21:04
  Speaker 3: Like there's so much happening, and I think oftentimes we
• 21:07
  Speaker 3: take things out of context. So we see ten seconds
• 21:10
  Speaker 3: of an interpreter interpreting, and they may be a little off,
• 21:12
  Speaker 3: but we have to get people grace because we don't
• 21:14
  Speaker 3: know what's happening on the other side of that screen.
• 21:19
  Speaker 3: Does it help or hurt you when those type of
• 21:21
  Speaker 3: things go viral or just when y'all go viral in general,
• 21:25
  Speaker 3: like how does it help or hurt?
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: I guess so, like an Essence.
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: Festival moment, I'm sure that was really positive for y'all.
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: Have like a ray J at BT, like doing heat
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: whatever heck ray J was doing with the interpreter, or
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: like going people going viral saying like the interpretter ain't
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: really saying that Nav's out there doing anything, Like how
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: does that help or hurt you?
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: Guys in the space that you're working.
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: It's really helpful when it's positive, right, and you can
• 21:50
  Speaker 3: talk about your work and something that I'm so passionate about.
• 21:53
  Speaker 3: When it's negative, I'm be honest with you, I don't
• 21:56
  Speaker 3: care because those people don't do what I do.
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: Those people don't and will never do what I do.
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: And it's easier to be a keyboard warrior, right and
• 22:04
  Speaker 3: you have no And usually I find out it's from
• 22:07
  Speaker 3: people who aren't even deaf, They are not connected to
• 22:09
  Speaker 3: the community, they.
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: Don't really know anything, and they're just like saying stuff.
• 22:15
  Speaker 3: You know, it hurts sometimes because you're human and you're
• 22:17
  Speaker 3: like dang. But also it's just like these people don't
• 22:19
  Speaker 3: know me. These people don't know my process. And if
• 22:21
  Speaker 3: I had a bad day, so be it. We all
• 22:23
  Speaker 3: have bad days. Mind just happen to be recorded, and
• 22:27
  Speaker 3: so I really take the good with the bad because
• 22:28
  Speaker 3: it was always way more.
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: Good than that this bad. Yeah, So I just kind
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: of like, I'm like, Okay, you don't know me. I
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: think that's my disposition. I'm like, you don't know me,
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: you don't know what I do.
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: So yeah, I got you. And as we rap, thank
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: you for the conversation. I think really insightful conversation. I
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: don't think I've ever really understood you guys job as
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: a career if I'm being honest with you, and I
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: think a lot of people possibly don't. So I think
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: that there's a lot of light being shined here on
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: like this as a career option for it. You know,
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: a young black person, I know that you have an
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: organization and you're you know, all about mentoring the next
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: generation coming up in your work as well too. Let's
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: talk a little bit about that and let's talk about,
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: you know, how you can sult in the different things
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: that you do.
• 23:15
  Speaker 3: So I am the president of NAO BIDC, which stands
• 23:19
  Speaker 3: for the National Lines of Black Interpreters. This organization has
• 23:23
  Speaker 3: been around for decades with the purpose of providing a
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: safe space foot interpreters, a place where interpreters can do
• 23:29
  Speaker 3: information sharing, sharing resources, provide mentoring. It's really a community
• 23:34
  Speaker 3: of interpreters who come together to really further advance the
• 23:40
  Speaker 3: field and also get an increasing number of black interpreters.
• 23:43
  Speaker 3: And if I'm being honest, we've been at the same
• 23:45
  Speaker 3: five hundred, six hundred interpreters for.
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: A while now.
• 23:48
  Speaker 3: It's pretty like it's been it's been pretty steady, and
• 23:52
  Speaker 3: so there's also a lot of people who are leaving
• 23:54
  Speaker 3: the field. You know, there's also the side of interpreting
• 23:57
  Speaker 3: where people are burnt out, people are tired, people want
• 24:01
  Speaker 3: to get paid more, people don't feel deserved, and so
• 24:04
  Speaker 3: there's a lot of While there's people coming up, there's
• 24:06
  Speaker 3: also a lot of people leaving. And so one of
• 24:08
  Speaker 3: the most important things to me, and I'm passionate about,
• 24:11
  Speaker 3: is bridging that gap. I love to talk to children,
• 24:14
  Speaker 3: so oftentimes when I'm in spaces and there's children there
• 24:16
  Speaker 3: and they come up after I'm done with something. It
• 24:19
  Speaker 3: takes nothing but five minutes for me to connect with
• 24:21
  Speaker 3: them because a lot of them don't know how you
• 24:24
  Speaker 3: do it, how you become an interpreter. Most people don't
• 24:27
  Speaker 3: know that there's interpreting training programs all over the US
• 24:30
  Speaker 3: that you can go to that can teach you and
• 24:33
  Speaker 3: provide you the skills, but specifically for NAOBI DC, we
• 24:36
  Speaker 3: welcome all interpreters, whether you be seasoned interpreter and interpreted
• 24:39
  Speaker 3: for thirty forty years or you're just getting started.
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: We provide mentoring.
• 24:43
  Speaker 3: Last night, we actually hosted Huno's speed networking. There's a
• 24:48
  Speaker 3: NAOBI Atlanta chapter, so we brought both of our chapters
• 24:50
  Speaker 3: together to get.
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: To know each other.
• 24:52
  Speaker 3: Because I don't know what they're doing in Atlanta, they
• 24:54
  Speaker 3: don't know what we're doing in DC. So it was
• 24:55
  Speaker 3: just a nice place for everyone to come together to
• 24:57
  Speaker 3: get to know each other, ask questions.
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: We also provide scholarships as well.
• 25:02
  Speaker 3: For interpreters who are interested in taking their certification exams.
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: It's called the Cofield Scholarship.
• 25:09
  Speaker 3: And we're here for any interpreters, upcoming interpreters and You
• 25:12
  Speaker 3: don't have to be an interpreter to be a part
• 25:14
  Speaker 3: of Naobi.
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: You can be curious.
• 25:16
  Speaker 3: You can just come join the meeting, join us, and
• 25:18
  Speaker 3: we're welcoming to any and everyone who wants to learn
• 25:22
  Speaker 3: more about the field. Become an interpreter, be an ally,
• 25:24
  Speaker 3: be a supporter. It's really for any and all to
• 25:27
  Speaker 3: really come learn about what we do and be a
• 25:30
  Speaker 3: part of it.
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: So how do people get more information? Is their website?
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: Is their instagram? Where can people find you? Follow you,
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: get in contact.
• 25:37
  Speaker 3: All the things, so you can follow Naobi DC on
• 25:40
  Speaker 3: all social media or at naobi DC. The website is
• 25:43
  Speaker 3: NAOBIDC dot org and just take a look around and
• 25:46
  Speaker 3: follow us. You can email us. All our contact information
• 25:50
  Speaker 3: is there and we will get back to you as
• 25:52
  Speaker 3: soon as we can.
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: Yes, and thank in. Naobi is for the audio listeners.
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: Naobi is Inaobi dash DC. Correct, Yes, yes, yes, thank you.
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: I really really appreciate the conversation, Appreciate you being here,
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: Appreciate the work y'all doing out there. And literally Okay,
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: so make sure you guys tap in with Shy in
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: everything that she has happening. This has been another episode
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: of the Latest with Laura and Rosa. Go find her,
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: let her know, Low Riders. Let you guys listen to
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: this episode. You appreciate her work. I don't think y'all
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: understand we are of service to people. It is an
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: art and we appreciate all of the opinions and the
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: viral moments. But it is a job, okay, and the
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: girls are working. The Brown girls are out here grinding,
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: So go show her some love we can. We always
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: appreciate that. It keeps us going.
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: I'm Lauren the Rosa again.
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: I tell you guys, every episode, y'all could be anywhere
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: with any old body talking about all of the things,
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: which you guys choose to be right here with me,
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: my Low Riders.
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: I appreciate y'all. I'll catch you in the next episode.