Deaf American Poetry: An Anthology

Kristi Merriweather (1971– )

256  Kristi Merriweather (1971– ) Writing her poems in Ebonics style—about being excited by an attractive, fellow Black Deaf person of the opposite sex and her rejection of any cultural labels other than her own for herself— Kristi Merriweather clearly performs one important social function of poetry. Poetry can be a gateway for one community to understand another. Through her language, hearing Blacks will find something familiar about her tone and some of her references and, therefore, will find it easier to appreciate what she is saying about also being Deaf. Non-Black Deaf readers can relate to Merriweather ’s happy surprise at finding, in the small signing community , a possible love interest who is like her. Readers can also relate to her independent spirit when it comes to labels and, at the same time, be introduced to what may be foreign to them. More broadly, this anthology serves the same function on many levels, especially by introducing the mainstream poetry-reading public to the Deaf world while aiming to increase the appreciation among Deaf people of poetry as a fine historical record and an art form. Kristi Merriweather was born in Augusta, Georgia, and became deaf when she was two-and-a-half years old. A product of mainstreaming at public schools, she holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Spelman College, a master’s degree in psychology from Howard University, and a second master’s degree in Deaf education from Georgia State University. Merriweather lives in College Park, Georgia, and is currently a teacher at the Atlanta Area School for the Deaf. ...