This is the new campaign approach of the BDA for its long-term future, as previously announced at Southport Congress and in past articles. This month's article is, in essence, dealing with regards to the Deaf Community's need to get more involved in the world of politicking. This is not to say that the BDA will suddenly become a political organisation - as a charity we are restricted in what we are able to do within the political arena and we are not able use the organisation as a vehicle for political gains.

Instead, we do have a real duty as a democratic and member-led organisation to raise awareness of issues of importance to our members, to work towards the goal of the BDA as a campaign organisation which engages proactively and constructively with the ‘law-makers' of the United Kingdom, and also of the wider society to achieve our four central objectives:

·BSL
·Deaf Identity
·Education
·Social Inclusion

When we look at these four objectives, we can clearly see how they closely identify with Deaf Communities, with the importance of our language and identity to our everyday life, the importance of having an education that affords us to have truly equal opportunities on all spheres.
Can we see a real lasting change without having any engagement with politics?

Politics consists of "social relations involving authority or power"
http://dictionary.die.net/politics

Last month I wrote of the shared dream we have regarding the BSL Act, and of the very small step we shared with other delegations of the All Parliamentary Party Group on Deafness in meeting Prime Minster Gordon Brown at his Westminster Office on 6th February. I also concluded that there is a lot more tough work to do for us to make any progress with the legalisation or to make a lasting difference.

Quite simply, there can be no large changes without being involved in the political process. The success of the Welsh language being put on the agenda and its achievements, these are, in majority, to do with the politics. The rise of the Welsh nationalism and the success of the pressures which brought to bear the Welsh Language Act 1993, and the result today on where the Welsh language is being more popularly used and given a status equal to the English language, in Wales.

Cymdeithas yr laith Gymraeg ‘the Welsh Language Society' which is a pressure group in Wales campaigning for the future of the Welsh language, the society was only established in 1962 and it believes in non-violent direct actions. In the course of their campaign, over a thousand people have appeared before the courts for their part in various campaigns, many receiving prison sentences. Without those campaigns and pressures they would not have been as much a success.

Clearly the Deaf Community and our supporters, including hearing family members and all those working in the field would dearly love to see BSL being accorded such a status as given to the Welsh language. The BDA cannot advocate political or criminal actions, keeping in mind that as a voluntary organisation we are limited by law in what we can do with regards to politics, as I have stressed earlier in this article.

The importance and the value of campaigning work can make influences felt and make a difference, and this is the long term view that the BDA is taking as the right direction for the organisation. We are currently focused on the key goal of taking the BDA to a positive financial ground by March 2009 as the first step to enable us to move the organisation forward.

Other steps we are taking are the appointment of a CEO and a restructuring of the organisation on a basis that meets both our financial ability and in preparation for our long term vision of seeing the BDA being made more relevant and valuable to the Deaf Community.

In summer this year the BDA will be inviting nominations from our members for the Chair and the Vice Chair for the new term from 1st January 2009 - 31st December 2011. The board is now anticipating a renaissance of the BDA, the new era of the organisation which meets the new chapter of the Deaf Community.