Kevin Buckle

I am profoundly Deaf and was born to Jamaican parents in London. I made my debut on BBC’s See Hear – Black Deaf Special (1992) and appeared on numerous TV programmes such as BSL Zone’s award-winning Double Discrimination documentary (2014) and my Close-Up interview from also BSL Zone (2018) about my lived experience through my personal journey.

I was a representative for Black Deaf UK (BDUK), a Black Deaf led organisation which was inspired by Black Lives Matter (BLM) representing British Black Deaf people from African and Caribbean family backgrounds. After a long and thorough discussion with some Black Deaf people, the organisation was set up in July 2020 to challenge the societal attitudes towards racism and audism and educate, empower and liberate Black Deaf people living in the UK.

Previously, I worked as a community support worker for Deaf Adult Community Team, (DACT) and an NHS specialist community mental health service working with Deaf people with mental health issues in Springfield Hospital, London. In 2018, I gave a presentation about the history of BSL (British Sign Language) in colonial Jamaica to celebrate 70 years of Windrush and the NHS.

I have recently been voted as one of the 50 nominees for Signature’s Hall of Fame for my long contribution to British Black Deaf Community.

I graduated with a MA in Culture, Diaspora and Ethnicity from Birkbeck College, University of London from October 2012 to September 2014. My dissertation title was ‘Race, Deafness and Inequality in Higher Education’ focusing how Black Deaf students navigate themselves in the world of higher education.

I am now working as a Graduate Research Fellow (part graduate teaching assistant and part student researcher) for BSL, Deaf Studies and Linguistics under the School of Education, Languages and Psychology at York St. John University.

I now teach Deaf Cultures and Accelerated BSL (British Sign Language) Level 1. I am also currently working on my PhD thesis focusing on Black Deaf people’s experiences about the dual oppression of racism and audism based on intersectionality, using interview and autoethnography methods.