Why did I create this great project?  Many people asked me this 
same question over and over.  Well folks, here it is! I hope this 
brings you a sense of understanding of why and how this great project 
called Deaf Watch Newsletter was created.
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To begin with, I am Richard Roehm, a 35 year old Deaf person 
living in California. Secondly I am a victim of discrimination and 
I had a legal case already in the system and I have settled my case
this summer after 3 years of negotiations.  I know what its like 
to be disabled.  I know how it feels to have been discriminated 
against and be treated as a second class citizen.   I also feel other 
Deaf people are going through the same thing I did. 


After spending last 3 yrs recovering from the emotional trauma 
resulting from repeated acts of discrimination and non-ADA compliance 
from my former employer of 13.5 yrs in which the last 5 years was very 
hard on me.  I presently unable to seek employment elsewhere as I am
still haunted by the experiences.  I have been rejecting job offers 
because I can no longer trust other people to work for.  


Rather than sitting here and mope all the way, I needed to create an 
education project to help other Deaf people.  Basically there was 
a need for a news medium that carries the voice and cries of the Deaf 
community.  I just wanted to let other Deaf people know they are not
alone and have the same problems as the others and they dont have
to take responsibilities for their disability.  First of all in the 
spring of 1996, I got myself a camcorder set and made about 2 dozen 
video tapes of myself telling my viewers that there are other Deaf 
people that are facing the same difficulties in life and that something 
will be done very soon about this.  I stressed unity heavily throughout 
the video.  Once done, I distributed my 11 minute videos to highly 
sociable members of the Deaf community in hopes they will share the 
tapes and spread the word out for me.  A short time later, I was 
approached by a young Deaf man I had never met before at a shopping 
center and he said he saw me on a video and he was happy to see that I 
was going to be helping the Deaf community.  He split off signing "Deaf 
Power" and took off with his fist up in the air.   That was when I realized 
my potentiality of representing a large class of people was becoming real.  
However making more of the tapes were not cheap and very time consuming. I 
needed a cheaper and faster medium to carry my message.  I decided to try 
the fax program in my home computer.  It all began with a fax list of 
about 120 Deaf fax numbers throughout the USA in which I could find 
in the blue TTY telephone book.  My first fax newsletter was sent out
in the summer of 1996 that carried my message along with little 
advocacy and Deaf related news.  I got some good responses through snail 
mail as some of the receivers were enjoying what I was doing.  So I 
created a second newsletter to be broadcasted at summer's end.  My 
computer did all the broadcasting ALL NIGHT LONG which was a slow 
boring and many of the numbers were dead.  I even got faxes back 
telling me to stop sending them the faxes and crap like that.  Due 
to lack of sponsorship for the fax sendouts I have had to stop and 
look for a new and cheaper medium to carry my message.  After
realizing that the internet was cheap and I could send a letter to 
a large group at a fraction of the time.  I decided to rebroadcast my 
last fax newsletter to a small group and it worked beautifully.  Then 
all of my energies was pumped into this project.  Then I needed a name 
for this newsletter.  I named it Deaf Watch because it is a newsletter 
that looks after the Deaf community.  That's when my newsletter was 
born in November 96. Behold! The e-mail subscriber list started growing 
by itself!  Right now, It is still growing!  Finally,  all of my 
newsletters promote Deaf unity and cooperation toward a common goal 
which is to improve the quality of life for the general Deaf population.  


With the newsletter running so well and smoothly,  I wanted the 
newsletter to be on the world wide web. On January 24, 1997 I have 
launched the newsletter homepage "Deaf Watch Homepage" with a few links 
and textfiles of resource listings.  The website was originally just 
to supplement my newsletter.  The main graphic of the flag with the eye 
and 'Deaf Watch' in alphabet signs represented the meaning of the project 
which was to look after the Deaf community which is represented by the 
buildings.  I wanted my website to be a safe haven for the Deaf community.
I was still new to the internet at that time and exploring the unknowns 
of the World Wide Web at that time.  The website then grew fast and gained 
popularity over time and now it presently it has over 100 visitors daily.. 
Yes 100+  people looking for Deaf resources and information at my site 
every day!  After responding to the concerns of some of our visually 
disabled visitors, people with slow connections, and others, I redesigned 
the website and implemented the changes on November 1, 1997.  The new 
website is more accessible and has even greater wealth of information.  
Deaf Watch Homepage is now the Ultimate Deaf Resource Center.  There are 
immediate plans to add 2 mirror sites within the next 3 months to handle 
the extra load of visitors.  Above all this website continues to grow 
and protect the Deaf community by providing them with all the information 
they need.  


I also represented the Deaf Watch Newsletter outside the internet.
I have been seen in the news as a civil rights demonstrator and activist 
on several occasions.  The best of them were when I helped Mexican 
organizations rally against the anti-affirmative action legislation known 
as Proposition 209.  I was seen in the news holding a large yellow sign 
with "We Need Justice" for about 2 seconds.  Then came the successful 
Greyhound Bus protest for ADAPT in which I pasted many signs demanding 
that they buy buses with wheelchair lifts at the Santa Ana Terminal.  
And recently I joined Loretta Sanchez in her protest against crybaby B-1 
Bob Dornan tying up her congressional business at the Old Orange County 
Courthouse.  Deaf Watch Newsletter also has forged strong alliances with 
heavy duty disability organizations like DICOMP and ADAPT. 


I hold membership commitments to the following organizations:

      1) American Civil Liberties Union
      2) National Association of the Deaf
      3) American Association of People with Disabilities 
      4) World Association of Persons with Disabilities
      5) California Association of the Deaf
      6) The Disabilities/Industrial Complex
      7) National Civil Rights Museum


By studying website, my newsletters, and press releases, you will 
develop a picture of me as a guardian of the Deaf community.  By looking
at the Press Announcements link you will find my letters I have sent to
officials and to the press both Deaf and the locals.  By allowing other
Deaf people to contribute, my newsletters carry the true voice of the 
Deaf community.  


My long term goal is to safeguard the rights of the disability 
community by providing them with information and resources they can 
use to defend their rights.  Actually I am educating the disability 
community using the internet.  Some of my internet postings have 
reached hardcopy mediums like Deaf newspapers and several snail mail 
Deaf and disability related newsletters.            
               

Deaf Watch will continue to aggressively pursue justice, fairness, and 
equality for the Deaf Community as it has been doing since November 1996.
We have chosen that EDUCATION is the best way accomplish this objective.  
Your support for this effort to move the Deaf Community forward is 
greatly appreciated.

                                            Thank You
                                          Richard Roehm