Conference Logo
[Logo description: BREAKING BARRIERS: 5th Biennial Council de Manos National Conference 2017. The logo is on the left side of the white screen; a single California poppy leans to the right with its green leaves and stem following. The poppy is gradient orange. The poppy's roots is represented by a hand with roots extending into the ground. The hand's skincolor is light brown with slight gradient green where the poppy's stems meet the hand. To represent the theme of Breaking Barriers the California poppy breaks through a gradient grey concrete with pieces of the concrete in the air. The screen pans back to show the entire logo showing three California poppies and two hands holding beneath the broken concrete. Roots extended from the clasped hands outwards.]
Together in collaboration with students from Marlton School for the Deaf in Los Angeles and Omar Guzman, a Deaf Latinx professional graphic artist created this conference logo. Omar worked with Marlton's students in Mrs. Lauren Maucere's art class for six weeks, volunteering his time to teach them about what it meant to be Deaf and Latinx. He had the students explore their identity and cultural upbringings. Omar connected to the students by sharing his own stories with them. There was this sense of belonging, of ownership in their ideas, which resulted in a beautiful logo that reflected their journey as Latinx DDBDDHHLD beings. Omar inspired them to share their personal stories and from that, the students collectively developed a logo that reflected the conference theme, “Breaking Barriers.”
DDBDDHHLD = Deaf, DeafBlind, DeafDisabled, Hard of Hearing and Late-Deafened
[Video description: The video opens with a dark skinned male presenting youth. He is wearing a black polo style short sleeved shirt with yellow embroidery on the left side. The embroidery is Marlton Eagles. The background includes several murals of outdoor scenery include blue skies, cars, bird, sun rays, and various flora. The male is standing in front of a curved wall made of light brown stucco topped with a silver colored tubular railing. The video introduces the male as Pablo González, Jr. of Marlton School for the Deaf '16. The video proceeds to show the Council de Manos' 5th Biennial National Conference 2017 logo. The logo is on the left side of the screen; a single California poppy leans to the right with its green leaves and stem following. The poppy is gradient orange. The poppy's roots is represented by a hand with roots extending into the ground. The hand's skincolor is light brown with slight gradient green where the poppy's stems meet the hand. To represent the theme of Breaking Barriers the California poppy breaks through a gradient grey concrete with pieces of the concrete in the air. The screen pans back to show the entire logo showing three California poppies and two hands holding beneath the broken concrete. Roots extended from the clasped hands outwards. Pablo González, Jr. describes the development and creation of the logo.]
Marlton students and Omar’s logo description: The logo is a reflection of California’s state flower, the California Poppy, growing from its roots of intersectionality in the Latinx DDBDDHHLD community. The hands as roots are holding together because there is power in being collaboratively united to break through the cement of barriers, and thrive as beautiful Latinx Deaf beings. Since the conference is in California, we chose the California Poppy to represent all those attending the conference to embrace their identity and to blossom as they leave the conference.