Hearing/Pandemic

Question 1

What is BASL?

Answer 1

• BASL: introduced on TikTok by Nakia Smith
• Fourth deaf generation of 5
• Dialect of American sign language
• Developed during segregation during 1800s/1900s
• First American school for deaf created in 1817 but only admitted black students in 1952
• So black communities had a different means of communicating
• BASL different from ASL: both hands used, differences in individual words
• Therefore more demonstrative, goes against Eurocentric value of modest economy of physical movement.
• More facial expressions, more ‘swag’
• Documentary ‘Singing in Black America’: ‘indescribable richness to it’

Question 2

How has covid-triggered hearing loss affected musicians?

Answer 2

• Hearing loss as a result of covid e.g. Texas Roadhouse (Melding together of blues, classic rock and country) CEO Kent Taylor – committed suicide as a result
• Following COVID diagnosis issues of mental wellness – increased rate of suicide: effects of hearing loss on those who rely on music for their livelihood.
• Tank: R&B announced hearing loss last year – had topped the charts as producer and solo artists. Had been a music minister – culture bearer of oral tradition.
• So loss for Tank meant career shift