I thought of the deaf people who had been mistreated or killed by police. I thought about Robert Kim, a deaf man who was beaten and tasered in 2012 by a police officer in a St. Louis suburb; and Daniel Kevin Harris, who was shot and killed in 2016 by a North Carolina state trooper; and two Oklahoma men, Pearl Pearson, who was badly beaten by police officers in 2014, and Magdiel Sanchez, who was shot and killed by police in front of his home in Oklahoma City in 2017.

These incidents are part of a pattern, as Amiel Fields-Meyer noted in a 2017 article for The Atlantic. While the Americans with Disabilities Act requires the government to provide “effective communication” and “reasonable accommodation,” Fields-Meyer wrote, “When it comes to the deaf community, officers’ gaps in cultural competency have led to strain and miscommunication — and, at times, the use of deadly force.”

Of course, deaf people face many other obstacles and injustices: limited access to mental health service, health care and sign language itself, inadequate online accessibility, lack of employment opportunities and more. And as usual, these inequalities and the burden of their effects fall disproportionately on people of color.

But in the end, I accepted the invitation. Our rights can easily disappear if we do not continue to show up in places like the Super Bowl.

I had hoped to provide a public service for deaf viewers, and believed that my appearance might raise awareness of the systemic barriers and the stigmas attached to our deafness — and move some people to action. I hope that despite the failure of Fox to make the performance accessible to all, it did do that.

What kind of action? My parents took action by learning to sign for my Deaf sister and me. This made us feel seen and respected. Today, I’m teaching my hearing child to sign as well. Respecting all languages and identities can only lead to better laws and a higher quality of life. Signing the anthem was a way to celebrate my language.

The N.A.D. has posted video of my entire performances of “America the Beautiful” and the national anthem on YouTube.