An EYEth Day celebration is set for the UWM campus Saturday, April 6 as part of American Sign Language Awareness Month.
Among the featured events are a Deaf business showcase from 3-5 p.m. in the UWM Union Wisconsin Room, a “sign and dine” gathering in the Union Gasthaus from 5-6:30 p.m., and a free concert at 7 p.m. with Wawa Snipe, a deaf hip hop musician in the Wisconsin Room.
EYEth Day is an imaginative concept representing a planet tailored for those who communicate through visual and manual means, according to Sunny Brysch, program director of the School of Education’s American Sign Language Studies program. Unlike on Earth, this planet fosters a world where signing is the primary means of communication, she explained.
Snipe uses the term “dip hop” to describe his music, which showcases hip hop through Deaf eyes, educating the audience about Deaf musicians in the hearing world. His 2016 album, “Deaf, So What?”focused on showing that what was perceived as a disadvantage can be an inspiration to pursue music without the sense of hearing.
He performed the National Anthem at Super Bowl 55 in 2021.