Warren “Wawa” Snipe, one of the ASL interpreters in “Becoming Helen Keller,” raps under a genre he calls “Dip-Hop,” or hip-hop through Deaf eyes. With Dip-Hop, Snipe wants to bridge the gap between the Deaf and hearing communities. “Deaf musicians are here. Don’t ignore us.”
Written Features
Rethinking disability representation on-screen
Pop culture and the enduring legacy of Helen Keller
Helen Keller and Me – Why it was “her doomed love life that really made me identify”
Two poems influenced by Helen Keller’s legacy
What Helen Keller’s little known journalism taught me
Helen Keller biography and timeline
Video Features
Video Features [Accessible Versions]
Clip | Elsa Sjunneson: DeafBlind fencer, hiker, published author [Audio Description + ASL]
Clip | Elsa Sjunneson: DeafBlind fencer, hiker, published author [Extended Audio Description]
Clip | Helen Keller studied socialism [Audio Description]
Clip | Helen Keller the suffragist [Audio Description]
Clip | Keller’s use of oral communication [Audio Description]
TRANSCRIPT
♪ Baby baby I know it's real ♪
♪ But I can't believe that God brought to life ♪
♪ Prayers into life I can't believe ♪
♪ Made me a better man ♪
♪ Woo yeah ♪
♪ You heard from me ♪
♪ I ain't trippin' 'cause I know where I'm gonna be ♪
♪ Please ♪
[Translator] My name is Warren Snipe. But you can call me Wawa. This is how you sign my name. Music has always been my thing.
♪ She's looking at me funny ♪
♪ 'cause my signs were very clumsy ♪
♪ Started learning just a month ago ♪
♪ Teachers think I'm terrible. ♪
♪ Wonder if she like to dance ♪
♪ Should I ask her ♪
[Translator] Dip-Hop is hip-hop through Deaf eyes. And I'm opening the door into my world. It's me. So you can see the world through my eyes. Wawa's world. When hip-hop first started, I was there. And I immersed myself. Did I understand the music? No. But I wanted to. So I asked my sister to write the lyrics down for me. She did, and then she would play the song and lip sync. So that way I could read the lyrics and lip read, and then I would feel the rhythm through the speakers so I could follow along.
♪ Rubble every day is full of action ♪
♪ Fascinating language ♪
♪ Wish it came with closed captions ♪
♪ I wanna say I like her ♪
♪ Maybe she can teach me how ♪
♪ So I made a ♪
[Translator] I wrote poems, and those poems became rap lyrics that I would rehearse, and that led to producing music. And since then, I've never stopped. It's something I have been doing for a long time.
♪ Oh say ♪
♪ Can you see ♪
♪ By the dawn's early light ♪
♪ What so gallantly ♪
[Translator] So for myself and the Deaf community, as an actor and as a musician, I have the drive and the passion to make a difference. I want the hearing community to have more exposure to the Deaf community, so they can see what Deaf people can do and what we have to offer. I want to squash the myths.
♪ Oh say does that star spangled banner yet♪
[Translator] Deaf people are here. Don't ignore us. Deaf musicians are here. Don't ignore us. We welcome you to our world. It's the 21st century, and the time is now.
♪ And the home of the ♪
♪ Brave ♪
[Audio Description] Logo, PBS. Watch on the PBS Video App.