By Archana Pyati
Read the original article here

WASHINGTON, D.C.--Mangamana Kao made multiple trips last year to the District of Columbia’s public benefits office to get the medical assistance and food stamps he could rightfully receive as a legal immigrant from Togo. On each visit, he made a simple request that was always –and illegally--denied: He asked for a interpreter who could translate into French, his primary language in Togo.

Kao, 42, felt frustrated during these exchanges with government employees, yet he never understood that D.C. officials were breaking the law until he met a language-access advocate last summer at a Togolese social event. She told him about his rights under the Language Access Act, signed into law by then-Mayor Anthony Williams in 2004. 

“That’s when I realized that when you don’t know your rights, you are being mistreated,” Kao said in an interview.   

On Friday, June 15th from 6pm onward, Many Languages One Voice is hosting cross-teach-in with HEARD DC. HEARD DC works to ensure that the deaf are able to access the justice system, with a particular focus on deaf wrongful conviction. They'll inform us of some laws that work to protect the deaf in DC, as well as share anecdotes from their community. 

We'll also share our knowledge of the DC Language Access Act, our struggles with government compliance and some anecdotes from our community. We're hoping that this will demonstrate that equitable access to government systems is not an immigrant issue nor a differently-abled issue, but a social justice issue for all. Get ready to be inspired!

HEARD’s mission is to identify and remove barriers that prevent the deaf from participating in and having equal access to the justice system by enhancing the competence, capacity, and capability of justice professionals to manage language access and ability rights issues; and empowering the Deaf Community through education and advocacy.