Professor Donalda Ammons: She Wept

Now, living at the sunrise of the new century, we are told that our language and culture has already been recognized and acknowledged. ASL has been linguistically claimed and described. Unlike William C. Stokoe, we know that Professor Donalda Ammons has taught Spanish through both ASL and written English. Her teaching tools are colored markers. She’s outstanding. When I saw pictures of her tears, I cried.

In late 1960’s Donalda wrote me a postcard from Holland because she knew I was born there. She sampled some spicy Indonesian food for which Holland is famous. She has a wonderful picture of herself in a traditional Dutch costume. That was before she tripped in a bathtub and got a broken arm in Holland.

Yes, we know each other for a long, long time. Since our school days! In all honesty, I had never, ever seen her cry the way she did at Gallaudet University. It scared my imagination because she meant it. I felt angry because she was hurt. Not right!

I’ve read some posts criticizing and mocking the students at Gallaudet University as children. They need to see those pictures of Professor Donalda Ammons inside HMB with these children. She wept.