Roxann Richards

Senior Staff Assistant

NTID Enrollment Management

Roxann Richards is a Senior Staff Assistant for NTID Enrollment Management.

What is your nationality/how do you identify?
Mi is a born Jamaican, and mi proud.

What or who has been your biggest cultural influence?
Definitely reggae music, Jamaican Ludo, Jamaican language (Patois) and FOOD!!!

What is your favorite cultural dish?
Hard to choose as I have many favorite dishes, but I have to choose -- Curry Goat with white rice with sweet plantains on side.

What would you like people to know about your culture?
Well, it is not a culture, but I want to share something cool about Jamaica. There is a small deaf coffee shop running by deaf youth at Caribbean Christian Centre for the Deaf. Their goal is to teach deaf people how to demonstrate their talents/abilities to the society. Their website is https://www.deafcancoffee.com/.

From your lens, how can the larger community better support BIPOC, like yourself?
Share the resources with us. We tend to work harder to find resources. I know some of you start taking Cultural Humility training, but I want to see more than that. Building a strong relationship with BIPOC community is critical, and also, please listen to and center the voices of BIPOC. What I also want to see is for you to start a dialogue with your peers and call them out if necessary.

Do you have any resources to share for someone who would like to learn more about your culture?
To be honest, Jamaica is a well-known country that you can easily google it. Once USA get coronavirus pandemic under control, I strongly recommend you to go explore as much as you can.

What is a fun fact about yourself?
For a fun fact about yourself: I am a plant mom to 20 children and…. I was the first black deaf woman to become the first Miss Black Deaf Rochester to win the title of Miss Black Deaf America Queen in 2005.