Understanding deaf culture is difficult for people who don't know anything about it. This is because most people don't understand that deaf people are often fighting to achieve their dream and they are fighting for their disability rights so that they can achieve those dreams. I interviewed one of my best childhood friend, Nneamaka, who grew up in a frustrating neighborhood where she had a hard time because she is hard of hearing and struggled for her ability to communicate and live out her dreams. .
Nneamaka Mordi was born in Cambridge and raised in Lynn in Massachusetts. She had accessed to Cambridge and Lynn Community. She knew that Cambridge was more of a multicultural environment for her because Lynn community was mainly the Hispanic culture and it was really hard for her to fit in with the other kids because they spoke Spanish and left her out but Cambridge community was easy for her to interact with all different kids from other backgrounds and still had a lot in common. I understand what she was going through as a kid, I had a similar simulation with her when I was a kid. I was born in Boston and grew up in tough neighborhood in Dorchester, it had a lot of violence, and even the community was tough too. I used to be friendly to all the kids but they bullied and mocked me after I told them that I can't hear. It could be hard for deaf people who used to live in bad neighborhoods and try to be friendlier with the people in the neighborhood but it wasn't that easy, if I live in nice neighborhood then people will be friendlier and respect who I am.
My friend once told me "I felt like I didn't belong because I was the only hard of hearing child. Especially when I started off at a mainstream school, I always way behind with school work, and delayed with conversations. I felt like there were no other kids like me, but my Grandfather always told me "If God made everyone the same.