Whither RID?

[Laurie Meyer]

I am no great fan of RID.

- I enthusiastically participated in those early meetings for establishing AAEI (Association of ASL/English Interpreters…I think), and count myself among those who wonder how long it would take to recover if another organization follows the rapid demise of AAEI. The caliber and competence of the people who tried the last time were among the best and brightest in our field.

- I have tried, like so many others who have tried longer, and perhaps more creatively, to work within RID to create an organization that I could feel good about.  I gave up.

-I fight fiercely (and not always successfully) to create a local chapter that has values that support me and my colleagues in learning to be allies.  

Like so many of us, I hold my nose and pay my dues.

It's not without thought (and some concern about the backlash here) that I worry about abandoning RID.  I have no illusions.  Recreating RID in the context of 2013-thinking is not for the feint of heart.  

Yet, Alec Naiman's words from Allies '95 are a constant reminder.  "Don't", he said, "make bad interpreters our problem."  He enjoined us, "This is your profession.  When you assume some interpreters can't get better, you leave us stuck with them."  In short, when we don't float all boats, Deaf people, particularly less powerful Deaf people, are profoundly impacted.

As we look at the ever increasing '9 to 5ing' of our profession, the voices that delight those who read this site and Street Leverage go completely unheard by nearly 15,000 members of RID.  That's a lot of interpreters.  

So I offer for consideration: Is anyone truly untrainable?  Is it privilege to give up on them?  Could we consider a powerful, sustained and organized effort to re-create our national organization as one that recognizes that Deaf-heart is not an optional way of doing our work?  Can we afford to wait until they are “ready”?  Could we reframe our perspective to assume that many, if not most, are neither indifferent nor ill-willed, but rather haven't been exposed to this information in a way that makes sense to them?

Two quotes that inform this discussion:

- “ When you are figthing with a guerrilla, you don’t stop fighting when you are tired.  You stop fighting when the guerilla is tired.”

-  Thanks to an amazing Deaf woman nearby, I remember this too, “The problem is that there are so many guerrillas and so few of us (Deaf people).”

A band of Ally-guerrillas.  Has a nice ring to it.

 

Laurie Meyer