Awesome sauce!

I'm proud to announce that the Deaf Politics blog, Facebook page, and Twitter feed have been nominated for The Mobbies 2010, hosted by the Baltimore Sun newspaper. Voting will begin on November 2nd and will continue until November 12th at 5 P.M.

Come November 2nd, let your friends know and encourage them to vote! The winning prize? A banner on the Baltimore Sun website! Winning this will bring much attention to the cause.

It often begins with a dream

It's been eight months since I've planted the seed that is Deaf Politics (DP). DP can be accessed through five different channels: this blog, the website, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. As of now, the Facebook page consists of 1,024 fans and on Twitter, 414 followers. Each day, the numbers slowly go up.

Facebook Fan Page Stats

When I first started this endeavor, I had no idea the direction it would take on its own. Now that I am here, and looking back, I am humbled by the progress. There is clearly a lot of work to do left, especially with the main website. But I'm excited. I'm looking forward to seeing the end results and the positive effects it might have on the deaf community.

However, I would like to stress the importance of community involvement. While DP might be my baby, it is for you, the user/reader/viewer/lurker. The more you contribute, the bigger this thing grows. And as a result, there will be a gold chest full of resources and stories and ideas and support!

But I can't do it alone. Tell other people about Deaf Politics. Better yet, contribute! Write something, make a video. And after you do, send your submission to jess@deafpolitics.org.

Here's to the next eight months! Let's make it awesome.

1000 Women for O'Malley

Governor O'Malley (L) and Jessica Thurber (R)

On October 13, 2010, I went to my first political rally. This rally was for O'Malley-Brown-Mikulski of Maryland. At the end of the event, I had the chance to meet Governor O'Malley and share a few minutes with him. I took this opportunity to tell him that I appreciated the captioning of his YouTube videos and as well his continuous support for the deaf community. He was surprised that people noticed the captioning. I told him: "Yes, of course. It's the little things that make the biggest differences."

Recently, the state of Maryland passed a new captioning law, SB-68/HR-1501, with Governor O'Malley backing the bill. He was also the first Governor in the Nation to write a letter to all Maryland Senators and Representatives in Congress asking that they support HR 3101.

What about you? What are your stories? Share here!