'Common Ground' Dinner Will Explore Deaf Culture, Foster Connections
A panel organized by The Industrial Commons will examine Deaf culture and facilitate connections between d/Deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing communities.
MORGANTON, North Carolina—For a community that’s been home to the North Carolina School for the Deaf (NCSD) for nearly 130 years, there’s surprisingly limited visibility of Deaf culture throughout Morganton.
Despite the campus’ beautiful Victorian brick buildings boasting a prominent location atop a hill as visitors enter Morganton from I-40 onto Burkemont Avenue, many businesses and public events don’t seem to prioritize accessibility and inclusion of people who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing.
An upcoming community engagement event hopes to change that.
TIC Wants to Build Bridges Between d/Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Hearing Communities
In an effort to strengthen connections with members of the Deaf community and those who are hard of hearing, The Industrial Commons (TIC), a 501(c)3 organization that fosters employee ownership and aims to eradicate generational poverty, will host a dinner event on September 19th at the Morganton Community House.
The dinner is part of TIC’s Common Ground initiative, an event series that generates conversations related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). According to its official DEI statement, the egalitarian-minded organization is committed to “building an anti-racist workplace and community by prioritizing anti-oppression, engagement, trust, and allyship.”
An extension of this ethos, the evening’s program is titled “Building Bridges: Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Hearing Community.” Notably, previous events in the series have been dedicated to discussions about mass incarceration, racial justice, and Cherokee history and culture in western North Carolina.
While attending Common Ground events has typically been free in the past, TIC has made an adjustment to this dinner, in the name of greater inclusion and accessibility.
In an email addressed to attendees, Values and Culture Director Tea Yang writes, “Since we are focusing on the Deaf and hard of hearing community, we will enhance our inclusivity by ensuring sign language interpreters are present. This will add to our costs for the event so we are asking attendees to cover their own meals at $15/person.”
In addition to dinner, the event will feature three panelists:
Martha Evans is a second-generation Deaf woman from Morganton, NC, who specializes in providing services to d/Deaf and hard of hearing children as a caregiver support professional.
Jason Tuck is a hard of hearing multimedia specialist from Morganton, NC, working as a graphic designer for the NCSD.
Barbara Palmento is a retired teacher at NCSD who attended both the American School for the Deaf in Connecticut and Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C.
For Morgantonites looking to further foster local community, inclusion, and accessibility, it’s sure to be a profound evening.
(To attend, you must RSVP. Seating is limited.)
