[Community-Service] Stories about the music you love

kamalamilton42 at gmail.com kamalamilton42 at gmail.com
Mon Sep 28 00:22:00 UTC 2020


That was really inspiring my friend! Thanks for sharing! I love that story.! Music is very special and very important to me. I love some of those artists as well my friend!

 

From: Community-Service <community-service-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Casandra Xavier via Community-Service
Sent: Sunday, September 27, 2020 8:11 PM
To: community-service at nfbnet.org
Cc: Casandra Xavier <xavier.casandra at gmail.com>
Subject: [Community-Service] Stories about the music you love

 


Hi,

 

I hope I have permission to share this with everyone. It’s a link plus a written format in case the link isn’t working for some odd reason.

 

 

 

Here goes:

 

Stories about the music you love

 

 9/25/2020

 

Music for many is and can be a source of nostalgia and most certainly a trigger for certain feelings and emotions. Music is a form of medicine for everyone who runs to this outlet. When all else fails with people interactions, we sometimes run to music. These are many of the reasons why I would consider getting a cochlear implant once I’m ready. The topic loomed over me each time I visit with an audiologist for nearly a year. My hearing has finally scratched that level of deterioration where it is appropriate to consider this implant option. I’m writing about this because it helps me cope and feel more at ease. I may not even share this with anyone but if I do, then welcome to my world. You are getting a glimpse of my journey into another decision-making process.

 

Now, I will add that I would prefer to hear music more than another person’s voice talking to me because music never disappoints. There are some people I would still enjoy speaking to because I enjoy speaking to them more than some.

 

 

Many are probably asking what I’ve been doing to be proactive about this situation and I’ll tell you exactly what I’ve been doing.

The year I found out the remaining hearing I was born with began to steadily worsen, I instantly began to inquire about resources for people living with deafness and blindness. I found out about a center for the deaf and hard of hearing and I opened a case with them. I then asked about ASL classes and the resources were flooded into my life. I took in everything that was given to me with gratitude. I asked as many questions as I could when I sat with my case worker and interpreter at the time. Yes, I even asked about making ASL classes accessible to someone who was visually impaired and we made it work out. It had a rough start but with positive attitudes and great effort, things came together seamlessly. I refused to let hearing loss drag me into silence without any useful tools to survive and navigate life. I addressed the deafness the same way I did with the blindness resources. 

 

 

Now, to the music that made me reconsider prolonging the process of getting a cochlear implant. I will list off the artists and songs along with a quick story.

 

Sade/Smooth Operator

I grew up listening to Sade because my sister introduced me to her music unintentionally. I heard the song “Smooth Operator” blaring from her cassette player in the mid 90’s. Her music grew with me well into my adult years. The song (along with many others from her) was a sort of comforting fabric over the years. I enjoyed Sade’s music so much that I performed an acapella cover in college as part of my singing class final exam and nailed it! Lastly, this is my karaoke song along with “Your Love Is King”.

 

Maxwell/Cococure

Another classic jam that is also extremely nostalgic from the 90’s for me blaring from stereo speakers at home. This artist may or may not be everyone’s favorite but he’s certainly on my list. The first time I heard this song, I was very young and the chorus was catchy and I sang that part often when my sister played his music on her stereo nice and loud. We had the systems that were about as tall as myself and I would sit between the speakers to enjoy the vibrations. 

 

Jeanette Harris/All I do

This jazz tune is super smooth and can be heard in every environment. It’s all sax and lots of audible instruments with fantastic harmony. I found out about this song while I was listening to Nathan Mitchell and Blake Aaron a year and half ago. This is the song I listen to on a bus ride in Boston and it’s nice and sunny, everything is moving smoothly. This is certainly a song you wouldn’t want to share with just anyone. There are certain songs you hog to yourself because they’re just too good for other ears to hear. 

 

CeCe Peniston/Finally

I am super late with discovering this song but when I found out who sang the catchy song, I instantly downloaded the entire album. I found out about this song in 2019 while I was going to visit my sister with her first born in the hospital. The radio station was blasting 90’s music and this song was played three times during the ride to the hospital. On the third round, I asked siri to tell me who this was and Siri said, “CeCe Peniston” and played the song for me. I heard the whole song and I liked what I heard. I connected my hearing aid to my phone and listened to the song again, the speech wasn’t exactly clear ((my hearing, not the music) but I found the lyrics and jammed all the way home. Shortly afterward, I decided to do an ASL cover of the song “Finally” and posted to IG and Facebook. The next day, I found out that CeCe saw what I did.  If anyone does a cover of a song in ASL, consider yourself a superstar globally. Finally, the baby came out and we got to meet her! 

 

Kem/You’re On My Mind

I am once again super late about finding these songs that hit a good nerve in 2015. I was cooking dinner in Minneapolis, MN and I was jamming to Pandora. In less than an hour, that song blared again. By the second blast of Kem, I wanted to know who it was and what song that was. I screenshot the music list and found him and the song later. The music he produced blended so well with anything that involved being relaxed or just being alone working. His music is very clean and warm to anyone who listens. I became a Kem fan and ended up meeting with a friend in Detroit, MI for a concert in the summer of 2019. The concert was AMAZING. Guess what? That song played at the concert and I sang at the top of my lungs!

 

Anita Baker/Giving You The Best That I Got

Another great musician that is under rated and many of the new ‘musicians’ should take notes from. I don’t ever recall hearing profanity coming from her music. Somehow this song seems to be a very relaxing song with a marvelous harmony attached. While growing up, I’ve heard this song in bits in pieces over the years. It wasn’t until recently while living alone, I got to really focus on the music and listen to everything I really liked. With the technology that permitted ‘better’ hearing, I got to take in some of the joy  of music that my hearing peers took for granted.

 

I wanted to go on with music that made me reconsider prolonging the decision to get a cochlear implant. I’ll drop a few names: Marvin Gay…Blake Aaron…Robin S… Stephanie Mills… Yarbrough & Peoples… Kool & The Gang.  There are many more but I hope you get the gist of how important music is to me and many others. 

 

I grew up in a culture of hearing and sighted people. I am the only person born with dual sensory loss. I learned ASL in my mid-twenties and surprisingly pretty quick. I stopped using the textbooks about ASL and decided to immerse myself in everything deaf/HOH possibly. I learned ASL better while communicating with other Deaf/HOH people. 

I also learned everything related to blindness in my mid-twenties as well. The habits that make me look like a hearing or sighted person are not easy to move past. I’m going to go through with the procedure for the implant simply because I’m already dealing with blindness. I believe something has to level out so that I may hang onto my independence at last. I’m not doing this because I have an issue with deafness which I do not. I will still use ASL because this is a language just like many others and I respect this, technology can always fail. 

 

I would like to thank you all for listening to my story and hopefully this would inspire you to think about the music you like and how you ended up liking the creations. 

Photo description:





Casandra standing at an intersection in Brookline MA with her back turned. Her locks hang down her grey back pack. Her can is extended, covering her left side mid-step. She awaits the opportunity to make a safe crossing. There is construction happening in her surrounding as the sun sets. Photo taken on March 6th 2020.

 

 

Thank you 

 

 

 

Deaf-Blind Champion 

VP: 617-487-4097

Cell: 612-404-6831

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