Spoken Without Words: Poetry with ASL SLAM

It's spoken word without spoken words-ASL SLAM is an open space for poets to perform their work in American Sign Language (ASL). As ASL SLAM's executive director Douglas Ridloff explains, ASL poetry doesn't rely on rhyming patterns or meter within auditory or written wordplay; rather, the art is "more about the movement, a visual rhyme versus an audio rhyme." Its performance is a stunning and emotionally potent artistry that connects with all audiences.
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[@viennajordan9279]

I've been learning ASL for 2 years or so and it really has opened up a window into a beautiful culture that should be appreciated more. Unless you make the effort to discover it, the Deaf community just vanishes into the shadows of society; despite it being brimming with empathy, grace, and love. I feel that ASL is always an art form.

[@emmakayisnotok7322]

Do a project to my ASL class on deaf literature and I'm totally trying not cry while watching this. I myself am a poet and I find every form of poetry to be absolutely beautiful and this has brought me to actual tears. Beautiful

[@sandeegeres8721]

Your post has brought me to tears ...thank you.

[@juniebugjune08]

I have been learning sign language for five years and to see something like this makes me happy. Wish we had an ASL Slam where I am.

[@toBe8ere]

Junie Bug June maybe you could suggest the idea if you know people in the deaf community who would be interested

[@juniebugjune08]

M M I do know a couple of professors who are deaf. Maybe my college could start one.

[@cambridgeratmom]

Start one!!!!! Wouldn't that be awesome.

[@MaximQuantum]

Something about sign language is just so beautiful, that cannot be expressed in sounds.

[@CCSierra]

I have taken two years of ASL at my school, and I have to say that what you do is brilliant!!!! I love ASL poetry and the hand shape patterns. I am so grateful to my teacher for explaining ASL poetry!

[@EmperorEva0001]

Please hold your jazz hands until end of the performance.

[@nixieNICLA]

You're amazing. You are profoundly...... BRILLIANT!

[@gale25700]

i think the beginning of the poem he made for his late dad was being signed but the editors just cut the rest out. it couldve been better and relatable if had they not cut it. my own opinion. 😊

[@backup8957]

I like how they don't clap but *JAZZ HANDS* for an applause.

[@nathanb4348]

Mr Epic That's how deaf people clap.Since they can't hear clapping they have to do *JAZZ HANDS* to see the applause better.

[@blurryface6825]

Yep, I find that really cool

[@looow]

I really wish I knew ASL right now

[@CCSierra]

Don't be afraid to start learning! Having some simple vocabulary can be very helpful even if you dont have the grammar down. :)

[@joet1039]

3 years later, have you learned?

[@noahhenderson3164]

Before beginning to learn sign language I find many comments to be similar to how I past thought. Extremely ignorant and misinformed. Now that I've begun to learn sign language for about a year, have met a couple deaf signers, a few hearing signers, and have been apart of a club made by my friends for ASL, I understand so much more. Please realize you probably don't know a lot about sign language so don't act like you do. I also understand your feelings of not hearing any words and not knowing what they are saying without subtitles or a translator. I promise you though that learning a sign language is such a tremendously important thing to do. Not everyone can do it or will want to do it, but I think everyone should. At the very least maybe find someone who is part of the Deaf community. Then learn and become informed in this topic!

[@noahhenderson3164]

Also guys american sign language is awesome! But it is only PART of the Deaf community/culture. If you pay attention to the video, Douglas (who I'm following on social media because he's so often, and is a big name in the Deaf community from what I've seen) is more focused on making sure that we know ASL is part of the community. Even if the video is focused on the slam poetry, the rest of the community is also very interesting.

[@KristinPedemonti]

Thank you for creating a space for the brilliance of ASL and deaf community to share their poetry art. Thank You for sharing your own brilliance both in sign and the light you shine.

[@atomicjon3354]

I am currently taking ASL as my foreign language class and I am now open and more informed about Deaf culture.

[@Anticrystal88]

I understand he doesn't want it translated, but I would really have liked to know what the poem said so I could better appreciate it. It was awesome to watch though.

[@Sergeantpaprika]

Im so glad something like this exists for people.

[@noahmoffatt1136]

an amazing story i can appreciate as a deaf person

[@Realcia]

This is amazing! They should gather up a few people who do this and make it super cool!

[@royalfoster750]

This video is the most epic video information in the world 😍

[@shikkaba]

Does anyone feel like translating the poem about his father? I love the expressiveness and want to know what it means. I understand that some things get lost in translation, but you have to interpret the movements and feelings in your own way if you don't understand the language, so even a basic understanding would help.

[@douglasridloff]

you can check my Instagram @douglasridloff to find my poem about my father.

[@shikkaba]

THANK YOU!!!!!

[@CCSierra]

@@douglasridloff If you are interested in understanding the genius of ASL poetry, focus on the hand shapes. Using the same hand shape through multiple signs is challenging and requires creativity. Some poems even use the hand shapes of the alphabet to tell a story. It is really an incredible and creative process! Thu guy is one of the best I have ever seen!

[@chasnqi]

Cool! The expressions are known as non-manual markers. They do hold meaning that the interpreter is to relate.

[@KeyserTheRedBeard]

sweet upload Great Big Story. I broke that thumbs up on your video. Keep on up the really good work.

[@yobateas]

0:52 why is there a microphone

[@gavinlutz2858]

Go on America's got talent!

[@bazmanj]

Very moving, another great film from you.

[@jaymayhoi]

This is actually amazing

[@chesterchaz41]

Whats the name of the piano piece at the end? Its beautiful

[@WeArePharmers]

I think it's so cool that since they are deaf, they wave to applause

[@rickyluke4363]

Kandungan video sangat baik, tahniah

[@stanstantalent.5605]

wait, is sign language different in different countries?

[@dogass923]

like accents

[@YuliaLinderoth]

Totally different, yes. Like any other language. There are over 300 sign languages known, probably exists hundreds more.

[@noahhenderson3164]

Sign Language is almost always based on a language. Based on the fact that a deaf person can obviously still read and write (unless it be not taught). Therefore when the sign language develops it develops based on that language. Also sign language usually differs very broadly across a country. Sometimes I learn a word in ASL and then I see an alt. use of the word which I would never have recognoised if I wasn't told what it was. The same word from a different part of the united states.

[@AmbiambiSinistrous]

Noah Henderson - while this is one common way that sign languages can develop, it's not the only way! Languages exist independent of a written form; languages existed before the written word was invented; language is an instinct that will drive people to create a language even if they are only taught incomplete bits and pieces. For example, Nicaraguan Sign Language was developed spontaneously by children at schools for the Deaf in Nicaragua in the late 70s. I think sign languages do interact with the cultures that surround them, but there's no **inherent** link between, say, ASL and English.

[@MicheleWDeaf]

Noah, signed languages "aren't almost always based on a language" and do not develop based on that language. Signed language develop on their own and have their own grammatical structure, rules and syntax separate from voiced languages. Signed languages aren't one-to-one representations of voiced languages. If you are seeing someone signing with voice, you are seeing a coded version (like SEE, for example). (I'm Deaf, BTW)

[@owl369]

Cool!

[@ljyearwood9]

fascinating

[@Punith2827]

amazing

[@toBe8ere]

Amazing! 👏👏👏👏

[@stella5926]

wew. im surprised igot here early. Just uploaded about 30 minutes ago, and has about 300 views so far.

[@Kapybaraaa]

I spot Tormund Giantsbane at 0:15

[@SirPhillyLeong]

Watched this video in "mute" because the background music made my ears bleed.

[@lbrown9887]

my exact reaction - I was listening to some poetry in ASL performed in Montréal this year, for the first time and it was in complete silence. What the hell is this imposition of sounds? I just want to focus on the movements.

[@MusicManManiac94]

What is the name of the piano song at the end??

[@ilhamonytube]

Good looking family.

[@isaacmonchwe9341]

Hi all ASL, its me Isaac Deaf, i am from South Africa and i using sign SASL. i do SASL poets to perform. i am very interesting to be part of it " Its spoken word without spoken words - ASL SLAM"😍😁

[@janhsiao9075]

Is it possible to view the full interview somewhere?

[@LikeAboss-gn7zx]

Hi I kaled remember I see your school

[@rickpiros623]

Way to go showcasing Deaf people and poetry!!

[@yesseniav2515]

👍

[@Warrior-eb1dk]

Qui est là à cause d’une prof d’anglais de merde qui mets trop de devoirs

[@jordanrussell9607]

Very cool, but I had to mute it. That loud, shrill jazz sax was a terrible accompaniment to a such beautiful (silent) language.

[@MicheleWDeaf]

ASL isn't without words. ASL does have words. It's misleading to say that ASL is a language without words. ASL does have words and sentences, like other voiced languages do. The only difference is that ASL is spoken via hands. Please change the title of this video article...I suggest "Spoken without voice: Poetry with ASL SLAM"

[@MicheleWDeaf]

I am Deaf and I *know* ASL isn't a written language. BUT...there are over three thousand voiced languages that do not have a written form (www.ethnologue.com/enterprise-faq/how-many-languages-world-are-unwritten-0). Does that make these languages wordless? No. What you are seeing is an example of unconscious audism and linguicism: the assumption that ASL is wordless. That's wrong. I could easily translate Douglas' poems to English, because he IS saying words/sentences/concepts/thoughts in all of his poems. But since he doesn't want his poems translated, I'll respect that. But make no mistake: his poems are not wordless or 'freed of words.'

[@Mattjammar]

Yeah, this seems like a touchy subject, and I really don't know how they could have titled this. Speaking without a voice holds the connotation of one who is trying to speak, but without power or authority. I don't have an alternative, and I don't know if I can give one that could fit since I'm not deaf.

[@Mattjammar]

Perhaps"Speaking in Silence"?

[@pikminlord343]

He felt lucky that his children were deaf.

[@lucygaehring7391]

"When they were born and I found out they were Deaf, I just felt so lucky, so fortunate." woah there mister, you're happy that your sons were born without hearing? Is it just because he's deaf too and it makes it easier for him? still though, even if they weren't deaf they could learn asl....

[@noahhenderson3164]

It's the idea of being able to bring him up in the Deaf culture. For them to be able to be part of it all. He's not saying "oh thank god they never get to hear SOUNDS yay". He's just mentioning that it isn't bad to be born that way, espically nowadays and into his family. It will be harder, but it isn't a bad thing is what he means.

[@MicheleWDeaf]

Zwei, I'm Deaf and I'm a parent of Deaf children. We regard ourselves as normal, and we do not believe that being hearing is automatically the only thing to be or the 'best' thing to be, and that belief is shared by many other culturally Deaf people. When Douglas talks about feeling so lucky, he was talking about being fortunate enough to have Deaf children, since that is statistically rare (Deaf children are typically born to hearing parents, not Deaf parents). It was never about "making it easier for himself." It was always about being able to pass on his heritage language and culture to his Deaf children.

[@lucygaehring7391]

oh ok i get it, thanks.

[@mittenkitten4005]

How I wish all online/comment discussions were handled this way: thoughtful, educational, accepting. Thank you.

[@dittykong9517]

+Mitten Kitten Your comment is worth all of its salt, just so you know....

[@vanestadorch418]

im born a deaf asl learing then i got prize money

[@ObesePuppies]

thats so... weird both kids are deaf

[@shikkaba]

No it isn't. The father was born deaf, so it's quite possible that it's a genetic thing.

[@dbgrfdg]

Don't they want non-deaf people to watch this? The music is fucking annoying

[@ObesePuppies]

its like charades

[@shikkaba]

Charades you have to guess what they're saying. You don't have to guess anything if you know the language.

[@killerkboesen9498]

so deaf people dont clap? wow

[@toBe8ere]

Killer K Boesen that's how they clap, at least here in America

[@CCSierra]

At first I thought you were saying all Americans clap by waving!!!! Lol. I do think more people should clap that way thom

[@Anthony419o]

This video is kinda very unsatisfactory not hearing give me this weird feeling ugh noooo

[@shikkaba]

So... is it because you can hear and have to read that it's unsatisfactory? Or you can't hear and the video describes not hearing as this totally awesome thing to be part of? Or neither?

[@CCSierra]

It can feel uncomfortable at first to deal with the silence. But just think of the deaf people having to live in a world with people who speak all the time. You can maybe relate to them a little bit. And the more you understand sign, the more comfortable it feels. :)