Boycott called for Matthew Moore's Conference

From: Chris Leon - Apr 28, 2006

BOYCOTT Matthew Moore's People of Color Conference!!!

Matthew Moore, a white man who I've been told is not very well liked by many, has announced that he has set up a People of Color conference -- www.peopleofcolor.com -- to take place next March in Indianapolis. I'm encouraging all Deaf people of color (POC) to boycott this conference!

First, of all, Moore is a WHITE man. While white allies are important, his announcement is slap in the face to Deaf people of color everywhere. It is like the equivalent of a hearing person who does not know sign language that has decided to set up a conference for Deaf people to help them learn about ASL. This person has NO business setting up such a conference!!

Given that this WHITE man is plastering his name, business name all over the conference pages of a conference one should stop and seriously question his motives.

While a Deaf POC conference such as this one is NEEDED, it should be set up, coordinated and run by DEAF PEOPLE OF COLOR, not some white man who appears to just want to advertise his name and business. I encourage all Deaf people of color to BOYCOTT this conference and instead come together to set one up of our own through organizations such as NBDA, IDC, NDLC, etc.

As for this conference, please do not attend and encourage others to BOYCOTT it as well. Let's send a message that we are not anyone's TOKENS! Shame on you, Matthew Moore!

Chris Leon
http://chrisleonroar.blogspot.com/

PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY AND HELP GET THE WORD OUT!