About Us (BLACKDEAF MAMA & 2 CODAS)

Sign name,  “cute, smile” in ASL with a “K." 

(Also pictured: CODAs: Zion & Zaire) 

Photo Credit: Cat McCombs, 2019

Ms. Kei-Che Randle is a BlackDeaf woman, Educational Consultant, mother of two CODAs/Children of Deaf Adult. She serves a Teacher of the Deaf/ Doula/ and aspiring midwife to her community. 

 As a child, Ms. Kei-Che was labeled "hearing impaired." Due to lack of connection to Deaf community, she wasn't informed that "hearing impaired" is was unacceptable. She was born deaf and had mastered the art of lipreading and closed captioning at the age of 7. She received bilateral hearing aids in second grade, after consistently falling asleep in class. Her teacher and speech pathologist led her family to seeking a late diagnosis. They became aware of struggles related to listening fatigue.

She was exposed to fingerspelling as an adolescent. Then formally introduced to American Sign Language during  her senior year in high school in Tucson, Arizona. (Shoutout to Ms. Isela Q.) It was in college where she learned to accept her deafness and challenged others to do the same through kindness and spreading love. She noticed the beauty of American Sign Language , the variations, and its impacts on both communities...but she wasn’t yet conscious of the transformation that she would soon undergo, as she identifies with being "Deaf," by the way of connection to BlackDeaf communities. 

 Year 2014, she received the hybrid cochlear implant from Cochlear Americas in Iowa. The following six months, she lost her residual bilateral hearing, resulting in profound to severe deafness in her right ear. Prior to that, Kei-Che only had minimal residual hearing. Kei-Che continues to appreciate her amplification devices in public spaces and with music. Through music is where she finds peace with being whole, BlackDeaf, while embracing both worlds. However, she enjoys the silence, prefers American Sign Language now, and chooses her own mode of communication as she see fits. 

 Ms. Kei-Che evolved through self-teaching herself ASL through performances of songs, in conjunction with college ASL classes and Deaf community events/mentorships. She sought out to Deaf mentorships in the Cedar Valley (IA) and felt ostracized and excluded. Later, she found BlackDeaf community in Knockpatrick, Jamaica and Bay Area, CA. She was welcomed by a host of other BlackDeaf women that nurtured her throughout her journey.

S.T.E.P.S by Kei-Che offers ASL a range of services. https://stepsbykeiche.com/asl-workshops In addition, 

Ms. Kei-Che became the 1st BlackDeaf alumna from Goldman Sachs: One Million Black Women: Black in Business. She had the opportunity to perform for graduation and it was a dream come true. It also amplified how warmly she was received from Black hearing communities. She is on a mission to bridge the gap between between Deaf and hearing communities.

S.T.E.P.S by Kei-Che launched March 2015. It marks the first “Def Gospel Jam” at the Black Hawk YMCA (Cedar Valley, IA) with over 100 people in attendance. These efforts evolved to annual/quarterly showcases and Summer camps with hearing and Deaf children.  Her vision is to equip us all with access to Black representation of ASL as means to bridge the gap between Deaf and Hearing communities. Black Deaf Students Matter.

#shiftingtheculture #bridgingthegap #stepsbykeiche #BlackDeafStudentsMatter #SongsToEnhancePeopleSigning

You can join our movement by adding these hashtags to Social Media posts that you feel are "shiftingtheculture" and that relates to STEPS by Kei-Che's initiative!