Shirley Childress Saxton is an
African AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
American Sign Language instructor and interpreter. Since 1980, she has performed with
Sweet Honey in the RockSweet Honey in the Rock is an all-woman, African-American a cappella ensemble. They are an American Grammy Award-winning troupe who express their history as women of color through song, while entertaining their audience. They have together worked from four women to the difficult five-part harmony...
.
Early life and education
Shirley Childress was born and reared in
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
to deaf parents, Herbert and Thomasina Childress, making
American Sign LanguageASL is a common initialism for American Sign Language, and may also refer to:*Above sea level, altitude measurement*Adobe Source Libraries, a set of open source software libraries by Adobe...
her first language. She has two sisters, Maxine Childress Brown and Dr. Khaula Murtadha Watts. Saxton holds a bachelor’s degree in Deaf Education from the
University of Massachusetts AmherstThe University of Massachusetts Amherst is a public research and land-grant university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States and the flagship of the University of Massachusetts system...
and has done graduate work at the
University of the District of ColumbiaThe University of the District of Columbia is a historically black, public university located in Washington, D.C. UDC is one of only a few urban land-grant universities in the country and a member of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund...
.
Career
She began her practice of interpreting for the deaf at Shiloh Baptist Church in Washington, D.C.. Saxton is a certified interpreter and is a member of
Registry of Interpreters for the DeafThe Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, Inc is a non-profit organization, founded in 1964 and incorporated in 1972, that seeks to uphold standards, ethics, and professionalism for American Sign Language interpreters. As an important part of this mission, they maintain a certification program...
. She has taught introductory ASL classes and master workshops on interpreting music across the country.
Marriage and children
Shirley Childress Saxton is married to Pablo Saxton. She has two sons, Reginald and Deon.