Deaf Culture Is Dope & Ava Is Here for It
An Interview with Matt Maxey, Founder of DEAFinitely Dope
Deaf Culture refers to the values and beliefs, the history, traditions and overall expression of the Deaf community. IYKYK, Deaf Culture is a vibe — and everyone is talking about it.
From the film industry to the music business, the voice of the Deaf community is getting louder and the hearing world is listening.
As the outmoded systems of our country continue to be dismantled and reconfigured to be more inclusive and accessible, times are becoming more inspiring. Thanks to visionaries and entrepreneurs, like Matt Maxey, the Founder of the brand and interpreting agency, DEAFinitely Dope, the bridges between the Deaf and hearing worlds are expanding wider and growing stronger.
Bringing people together through art and entertainment is a theme we all know and love to support, but the creative fashion in which it is done is what keeps it interesting.
In 2014, Matt took his unique situation as a Deaf Black man and leveraged his experiences and insight as a double minority. With that backdrop, he built a company that invites marginalized individuals, who are Deaf, to be part of a community and a movement — to sign and chill. His agency represents a roster of Deaf ASL interpreters, who are hired by festival producers and concert promoters to sign live events.
With Chris Martin and Snoop Dogg making moves to ensure their shows are deemed accessible and inclusive, the trend is clearly headed in the appropriate direction. And still, the fact that every live concert, comedy show, Broadway play, TED talk, and beyond does not have live interpreters with real-time transcription reveals the memo has yet to reach everyone.
Matt sat down with Ava to discuss the inspiration behind launching DEAFinitely Dope, bringing the Deaf and hearing worlds together and his views on how we can all do better.
Hey, Matt! Thanks for sitting down with us. For those who don’t know, introduce yourself and tell us about your brand, DEAFinitley Dope.
My name is Matt, and you could say I’m a jack of all trades when it comes to ASL or American Sign Language. I’m involved with workshops, presentations, performance and interpreting performances. My focus is to bridge the gap between the hearing and the Deaf community through sign language and music.
Sharing my own experiences, whether it’s with law enforcement, or the fight for inclusion or accessibility, talking about different situations often leads to progress. I’ve learned that with sharing my story, it can inspire change and necessary conversation for the betterment of the Deaf community. How can we all be more of an ally in the process?
I run DEAFinitely Dope, which is a brand and interpreting agency. We work with music festivals, primarily, but we’re looking to expand to become one of the main agencies that provide Deaf interpreters for companies all across America.
Was there a moment that spurred the idea to create DEAFinitely Dope?
Being a double minority as a Black man with hearing loss, I recognized there wasn’t much for people like myself. DEAFinitely Dope was a way to help people, like myself, feel more comfortable in the mainstream being who they are. Maybe that struggle is not being accepted by the Deaf community. Whatever the case, it doesn’t need to stop someone from being who they are — that was the main starting point for creating the brand.
For those who are hard-of-hearing, or learning sign language, and want to be part of the culture, but maybe feel the culture doesn't accept them. With all the different stipulations, DEAFinitely Dope was a way to have everybody unite under one label and brand, so they can feel a part of something without feeling excluded.
For anyone who wants to learn, we teach sign language on Airbnb experiences. We’ve also been hired to teach corporations, like Google, Facebook and others sign language, and how to be more inclusive and more accessible.
In the instance when sign language is not an option, how helpful do you find live captions, or real time transcription?
It’s very helpful. It’s a pleasure to see a lot more transcriptions, especially with applications like Ava. We’re seeing a lot more things being captioned, whether it’s on social media or a Google Meet or Zoom call, having caption as an option helps make our experience better.
I go back and forth between the hearing and Deaf world a lot, so I feel comfortable in both, but for people who don’t speak ASL or have an interpreter present, transcription is necessary.
As an entrepreneur and a motivational speaker/signer, you inspire the community. How do you engage Deaf signers who want to do performance interpretation?
I work with and mentor quite a few. I’ve been working more behind the scenes getting people involved and on board, showcasing what they can do and what they can work with. Some will be joining us for the next Rolling Loud festival in New York, so they’ll be getting their first taste of performance interpreting.
When a music festival reaches out, I have a roster of people I call on. It just depends what kind of music is being played and what kind of environment it is. I’m not looking to subject people to a situation where I feel they are not set up for success.
I’m primarily targeted for hip hop and rap music, which is a tough field when it comes to interpreting that genre of music. That particular roster is limited because it’s definitely a skill that not everyone can step up to the plate with. When we do other festivals and events, like the New York State Fair coming up, that’s more country music and pop, which lends itself to a bigger roster of interpreters.
Ava shares your mission of bridging the Deaf and hearing worlds. What do you say needs to happen to further implement that goal?
I think transcription has made the connection more possible. I think working through whatever kinks or hurdles in order to get transcription to a level where it can be used anywhere would be great.
For instance, at music festivals, transcription would make our job as Deaf interpreters much easier. There are many situations where we need transcription and it’s not available for us.
One tricky part with live caption accompanying live music is the background noise. If there’s an interpreter plus transcription, we need to make sure they’re both accurate and in sync. Perhaps we can test out some events together?
That would be incredible, and to show it is possible. Right now, a lot of people don’t know. The more we show, the more it opens up the mind frame. We can do more, it just takes more finessing and working out the kinks.
Tell us what’s next for DEAFinitely Dope.
September, being Deaf Awareness month, is busy. We’ll be interpreting the New York State Fair and Rolling Loud New York. We’ll also be hosting a gala for Northern California 30 Days for the Deaf and hard-of-hearing to help them with the fundraising. Then we’ll be presented at California State University East Bay to promote a documentary film that I'm an Executive Producer on. The title of that film is Sign the Show.
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