To Lissa Ramirez-Stapleton, Black Deaf lives matter.
An educator and author at California State University, Fullerton, he has spent the past decade working with deaf and hard-of-color students of color to ensure equity and access to education and to ensure that higher education institutions We have advocated ways to better support our students.
Ramirez-Stapleton, an associate professor of educational leadership, studies the relationship between historically black colleges and universities and the education of black deaf people. For her research, she is interviewing Black Deaf alumni and current students who attend or have attended HBCUs since 2020.
Her research also examines the development of black teacher preparation programs for deaf education from 1920 to 1950. She investigates the role space, place, and time played in the relationship between Southern University A&M University, Hampton University, and West Virginia State University in the creation of the master's program. Deaf Education Degree Program for Black Teachers.
“This research explores culturally rich Black educational spaces, why deaf and disabled students choose HBCUs, and how these universities continue to improve their services to serve all Black people.” “We're looking into what we can do to improve students,” she said. “While this is limited research in this area, the possibilities are endless and important for Black higher education.”
As a high school student in Columbus, Ohio, Ramirez Stapleton was introduced to the deaf community at the Teen Institute's Leadership Retreat. This was a decisive moment that changed her life.
“Since then, I've learned a lot about my own hearing privilege,” she said. “Doing something with that privilege is important and rewarding.”
A first-generation college graduate, Ramirez Stapleton earned a bachelor's degree in social work and studied American Sign Language at Wright State University. She earned a master's degree in college student human resources from the University of Dayton and focuses on deaf college students and the challenges they face in higher education, including deafness and racism.
Through her work as community director for residential life with deaf college students at California State University, Northridge, and international service with the Jamaican and Ghanaian deaf communities, she has learned more about how to support the lives of deaf college students. I was thinking about it.
“I've seen deaf students of color drop out of college because they didn't have the support they needed,” Ramirez-Stapleton said. “I wanted to know how they were improving services and resources for deaf students of color.”
She said the National Center for Deaf Postsecondary Education reported in 2019 that only 11% of Black deaf students in California graduated with a bachelor's degree.
Ramirez-Stapleton earned her doctorate in education with an emphasis in higher education and social justice from Iowa State University. Her doctoral thesis focused on the lived experiences of deaf students of color and how they navigated and graduated from college.
After receiving her PhD in 2014, she joined the faculty in the Department of Deaf Studies at California State University, Northridge. Last fall she joined the CSUF College of Education, where she teaches a graduate-level course on educational leadership.
Last year, Ramirez-Stapleton founded the Black Deaf Project, a Black deaf and hearing education nonprofit centering Black culture and identity. The organization offers social justice workshops, educational materials such as books, flashcards, history posters, and online resources for parents, teachers, and community members.
The Black Deaf Project hosts free community programs in partnership with Southern California Black Deaf Advocates, Inland Empire Deaf Center-CODIE, and Southern California Inland Civil Rights Institute.
As a result of working with schools and community organizations, Ms. Ramirez-Stapleton self-published Black Deaf Lives Matter: A Fun Coloring and Activity Book About Black Deaf Life, History, Culture, and Sign Language. Did. A portion of the proceeds from this book will be donated to the Black Deaf community through educational programs.
“This book tells the stories of deaf enslaved people who participated in the Black Lives Matter movement,” she said, adding that it is widely used in K-12 schools in the region and across the country. He added that She “provides students with educational activities and tools to learn about social justice issues, Black Deaf role models, and historical events.”
