On August 19, Google woke up with a change in its image and dedicated its doodle to Dorothy Miles, a Welsh poet and activist for the deaf community, widely regarded as a pioneer of British sign language poetry, who was born on a day like today, but in 1931.
On this occasion, when visiting google.com, one can see the image of a red-haired woman surrounded by flowers and a blue butterfly. With her hands, she moves a ball that emulates the “o” of Google, which in turn has a blue, red, and yellow aesthetic in its letters.
The doodle of Google aims to celebrate or commemorate events, achievements, or individuals who have made a significant impact on the world. While the internet server often changes its logo on the main page for a day, there are occasions, like the 2024 Olympic Games, where a theme has remained for multiple days.
In today’s update, Dorothy Miles is celebrated on the anniversary of her birth. Miles was a crucial deaf poet for the non-hearing community. As a child, Dorothy suffered from meningitis and lost her hearing. She studied at a school for the deaf in her native Great Britain and later attended Gallaudet University in Washington D.C., where she began working with the dramatic arts. She founded the National Theatre of the Deaf in the United States and composed poems for both hearing and non-hearing audiences.
Her literary work was highly innovative as she mixed American Sign Language (ASL) and British Sign Language (BSL). She was the first person to experiment with composing content in both languages simultaneously. In the 1970s, she returned to Great Britain and worked for the British Deaf Association (BDA) to develop a dictionary and guide for BSL tutors.
Although Dorothy Miles is recognized for her literary work, she was also a teacher, actress, and screenwriter. She was a powerful actress who utilized her dynamism in language and her incredible expressive capacity to convey feelings and attitudes. Her best-known play is Trouble’s Just Beginning: A Play of Our Own, while her most significant books on sign language are Gestures: Poetry in Sign Language and British Sign Language: A Beginner’s Guide.
The poet passed away in 1993 at the age of 62.
LA NACION