Waterloo native bridging gap between hearing, deaf communities with "STEPS By Kei-Che"
IOWA'S NEWS NOW — Kei-Che Randle spent her childhood stuck between two words - born deaf to hearing parents.
"As a senior in high school, they threw me into an all-deaf class," she recalls. "I was seeing everybody sign - and I didn't know what was going on."
"At the time, I did not identify as being deaf. I was still saying I was hard of hearing."
It wasn't until her freshman year at the University of Northern Iowa that she finally learned American Sign Language formally.
"I had the opportunity to learn A.S.L. and meet people who were deaf and black - and that helped build my identity," Randle says.
The mother of two (both of her children can hear) uses a cochlear implant and hearing aid - keeping her connected to the world of sound.
"Music is different for me now," she says. "With the CI and with the hearing aid, it just sounds different - but I still enjoy it."
Randle describes her hearing aid as providing "loudness" to the sounds of music - with her C.I. providing the speech. Once she looks up lyrics, she's able to match up the words and follow along.
'"Hey, I can understand this now too! How can I share this?'" she remembers thinking.
The answer to her question is S.T.E.P.S. by Kei-Che - Songs To Enhance People Signing (Steps by Kei-Che on Facebook).
"The goal is to find a way to meet the eye with the deaf and the hearing - and that's through virtual art," she says. "With music, I can find the hip-hop flavor to bring people in and we'll learn the A.S.L. signs and we'll put it with the rhythm. It's just the evolution of wanting to learn a new language and finding a different way or a different approach to meet a diverse group of people."
Randle lives and works as a teacher in Oakland, California now - but the foundation of her effort is back home in Iowa, where she's planning to return this summer. Dates haven't been set yet, but Randle plans on a camp that lasts 2-3 weeks to learn different songs, poems, and books. She also wants to expand the program from Waterloo to places like Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, and Des Moines.
"It's about being willing to have that conversation - A - and then B, once we reach the conclusion, how we're gonna continue to move forward," Randle says of bridging the gap and ending stigma. "As long as we're continuing to move forward, I'm here for it."
