Deaf Liberation Theology and the 40th Anniversary of the Claggett Statement

From June 21-25, 1984, an ecumenical group of ten deaf and hearing women and men from North America gathered at the Claggett Center in Adamstown, Maryland over four days to dialogue and reflect on liberation theologies’ implications in the context of the struggles of deaf people. The document was promulgated in American Sign Language and written English, and inspired the founding of the group, “Christians for the Liberation of the Deaf Community” an ecumenical group that was active for more than a decade. This panel aims to spotlight this landmark, but often overlooked statement on its 40th anniversary, by reflecting on its past, present and future in intersectional ways with new scholarship on Deafhood, critical disability studies, Deaf Black Gain, LGBT studies, and interfaith studies.