DEAF PRESIDENT NOW! Review: Hear Me Roar

Since I became partially disabled more than four years ago, I've become much more sensitive about my particular partial disability, as well as the vast ocean of people who surround me who are dealing with their own particular disability, whether physical or mental, whether partial or complete.

Deaf President Now!
The film is now streaming on Apple TV+.

My partial disability is the result of a stroke that I survived, from which I have recovered about 85% of my previous physical capacity. In realistic terms, however, that means I walk slowly -- oh, so slowly! -- with a leg brace and a cane. I am always displeased whenever I see people alight nimbly from vehicles parked in disabled spaces, and have been known to grumble with a grimace, which is also how I walk when I don't think anyone is looking.

That is no way compares to people who have never been able to hear any sounds at all or have lost all or some or most of their hearing some time after birth. In 1988, students at Gallaudet University became incensed when the school's board of trustees appointed a hearing president, passing over several qualified deaf candidates. Their call became clear and could be understood by everyone: "Deaf president now!"

Directed by Nyle DiMarco and Davis Guggenheim, the documentary stays focused on the protests, while also providing historical background and cultural context, interviewing the leaders of the protest, as well as one of the candidates. The interviewees express themselves frankly, speaking their own truths about how the protests got started and their respective roles, never holding back on their own reservations about certain other participants and how things developed.

The biggest takeaway for hearing people is that we have no idea what it's like to exist as a deaf person. We can sympathize and we can empathize, but we can never truly understand. (I say this with limited authority as a person with a partial disability: as much as I try, I can never fully understand what it's like to live with a full disability.) So, rather than trying to tell deaf people how they should react or how they should live their lives, how much better it is to encourage deaf people to tell their own stories.

In other words: Deaf President Now! is a must watch for everyone.