Kelly Clarkson sang The National Anthem at the Super Bowl 2012 just before the Giants and the Patriots took the field. Check out her performance right here!
There’s a lot going on at a Super Bowl — and it’s exciting. But there are five main parts to the event: The Game, The National Anthem, The Toss, Halftime, and lately — the Commercials.
Big deal, M.I.A. flipped the bird at America via an NBC camera capturing Madonna’s half-time show. Most people missed it, or just noticed the blur that was intended to block the middle finger display — except it was three seconds late.
The NY Giants deserved to win, Kelly Clarkson hit the National Anthem right on, and the commercials? … Well they were the commercials. Oh … and it’s hard to screw up The Toss.
A growing number of people believe there was one epic fail on the part of NBC — not even a quick pan of the signing of the National Anthem by National Association of the Deaf’s Miss Deaf America Rachel Mazique. She’s a native of Arlington Heights and a Hersey High School grad. She was there for an opportunity to show the world American Sign Language.
There’s a petition on change.org that describes their complaint and asks for support by signing the petition …
NBC, NFL Commissioner and Others.: Miss Deaf America Left Out From TV for National Anthem in ASL (American Sign Language)
She was not shown on TV at all and there was no exposure of American Sign Language and Deaf Culture. Millions of people had the opportunity to see the song signed beautifully by a young Deaf woman who had a genuine intention of nothing but getting the message across that Deaf people can do anything
…
This action by NBC (and anyone else) clearly shows that they did not think Ms. Mazique was good enough to be shown on TV even if she was signing the exactly same song that Kelly Clarkson was singing. Ms. Mazique was ‘hidden’ from the spotlight and this message speaks loudly of what NBC thinks of Deaf individuals.
Please sign this petition and share it with your family members, friends, co-workers, and anyone else that would sign this. Spread the word of what NBC did to Miss Deaf America and how NBC decided to shun the Deaf community. This is unacceptable and our voices will not be silent; we will be HEARD!
Rachel Mazique teaches hearing students at The University of Texas at Austin.
Full video of Kelly Clarkson’s National Anthem.