When Georgia Fire Chief Andrea Hall delivered the pledge of allegiance Opening day, few people knew he would do it in sign language too. She wanted it to be a surprise.
Hall made two promises on the opening day: one to the flag and the other to a community near home.
Hall said: “I really just wanted to pay tribute to the deaf and hard of hearing community. The words of the promise are meaningful not only to us, but to them as well.”
For the first African-American fire captain in Fulton County, Georgia, it’s personal. His late father was deaf.
Andrew Harnik / AP
Hall said that when he uses sign language, his words take on a special meaning. “It’s very intimate,” Hall said. “It’s like speaking another language, like Spanish or French, when you have a native language that you speak. It’s like comforting food, you know. It’s like mashed potatoes and sauce.”
Hall said he decided “very soon” to deliver on his promise of sign language loyalty. “You’re between Lady Gaga and J. Lo. I mean, okay, that’s it. And I have like my 15 seconds of something.” Hall said, “They’re too hard to put between them, so I have to put some meat between them, you know?”
At one point in this division, especially in a place like the Capitol, which is recovering from the January 6 insurrection – maybe the words of the promise say it all.
“It was written for young children who were immigrants,” Hall said. “And somehow, we’re all immigrants. You know, we’re a mix of people from all over. And I think that’s the importance. It’s a way to unite us all by saying those thirty-one words.”
- In:
- United States Capitol
- Joe Biden
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