by Rev. Dorothy S. Boulware
When Justina Taylor Miles broke the internet signing Rihanna’s 2023 Super Bowl performance last year, she wasn’t just interpreting — she was continuing a tradition of Black American Sign Language.
On Sunday mornings, during worship at a Black church, the sign language interpreter is often the most animated person in the room. Their spirited machinations include hands flying, bodies swaying, and faces expressing every emotion — joy, sorrow, and conviction.
But Black American Sign Language isn’t a performance. For deaf congregants, it’s a lifeline to the sermon, the songs, and the spirit of the service. And for hearing worshippers, it’s a reminder of the power of inclusion.
”Of course, it helps if you have some experience being around deaf people in informal situations or having deaf friends so you can pick up signs that may be unique to them,” says Felecia Diggs, a retired Baltimore librarian who became a sign language interpreter.
“You’d also need experience worshiping in a Black church, listening to different preachers and singing the songs traditionally sung in churches. That can give you a good background for interpreting or facilitating in that setting,” she says.
There is, no doubt, a difference in the way Black interpreters sign and those of other cultures.
“I can see their attitude or their personality, their culture, their swag. Also, their body language and how they express what they want to say,” Wade Green, a BASL user featured in the documentary “Signing Black in America,” says of Black ASL interpreters.
Why Did Black ASL Develop?
The exclusion of Black deaf folks by family members and friends who lacked understanding and attached superstition to the difference was compounded by exclusion from the community and even education opportunities.
Indeed, racial segregation made the development of the distinctly different Black ASL a necessity.
The National Association for the Deaf did not admit Black people until 1965, a year after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. (Yes, even deaf people had segregation.) Gallaudet College, now Gallaudet University, did not admit Black deaf students until 1950, 86 years after its founding as an institution to educate the deaf and hard of hearing. In the South, deaf students were segregated at school. In 2011, former Black deaf students of the Kentucky School for the Deaf received diplomas denied to them 60 years earlier. The separation made the development of the distinctly different Black ASL a necessity.
Particularities of Black Church Sign Language
Depending on the preaching style, it can be difficult to interpret in Black churches because there may be more than one thing happening simultaneously — someone may be preaching, and there may be responses from the audience — and you need to interpret all of what’s going on.
“Sometimes idioms or sayings used in the culture might be used that are foreign to some deaf persons, and if you are not familiar with it, you cannot interpret it,” Diggs explains.
One example? The saying that you should be thankful that last night’s bed was not your cooling board — meaning you slept last night and weren’t taken to the morgue or morticians before waking up.
Diggs says there’s a method to interpreting the sermons.
“You don’t want to interpret a preacher’s sermon word for word because the individual words may not have the same meaning when grouped with other words,” she says. “You first want to understand the concept or main points yourself and then transfer that information with as accurate signs as possible.”
Diggs also says there are signs specific to the Black church setting: for church, Jesus Christ, crucifixion, heaven, Holy Spirit, sins, mercy, and forgiveness. There’s also the need for an understanding of some of the rituals or sacraments such as the symbolism of bread, wine, and juice, or whatever elements are used for communion.
“The meaning of certain words, such as the summary of the ‘decalogue,’ is meaningless unless you can interpret that you are talking about the Ten Commandments. A popular gospel song that mentioned ‘calling him (God) up,’ but signing it literally means phoning God,” Diggs says, adding meanings are more important most times than words.
In some Negro spirituals, words can’t always be interpreted, or they won’t have meaning to the person listening, such as I’ve been buked and I’ve been scorned — which could be interpreted I’ve been rebuked and criticized.
As for dancing, Diggs says it’s only allowed if that is what should be conveyed to the person you are signing for. “Your job is not to add to the service, but to express what is actually happening, even if there is silent meditation or background music.”
Source: Seattle Medium
