Who is Justina Miles? The ASL interpreter who rocked Super Bowl LVII

Sign language interpreter Justina Miles was one of the surprise big hits of Super Bowl LVII. She appeared twice at the event - during Sheryl Lee Ralph’s performance of Lift Every Voice and Sing in the pre-game build-up, then later, interpreting Rihanna’s halftime show, clearly having the time of her life in a captivating display that went viral.

So many viewers enjoyed Justina’s interpretation and some were curious to find out a little more about her. She is the first female deaf woman to provide ASL interpretation during the Super Bowl Halftime Show but it’s not the first time that she has set social media alight. In May 2020 the video she posted on TikTok, miming and dancing in her own ASL remix of Lil Kim’s 1997 hit Crush on You received tens of thousands of likes and retweets.

Full screen

Justina, a 20-year-old from Philadelphia, is not the only member of her family that suffers from hearing loss - she is hard of hearing while her mother is deaf so they have always communicated through sign language. She is currently an undergraduate studying on the nursing program at Bowie State University.

Her Super Bowl appearance has certainly raised her profile. In the pre-game press conference, she explained that she feels honoured to have been chosen to give a largely overlooked portion of society a voice. “I value the opportunity to make it possible for all deaf people to enjoy these songs, and not have them miss out on the full Super Bowl experience,” she said. “It’s important - not only for me to share this experience with the whole world but to really bring that empowerment to millions and millions of Black deaf people all over the country who’ve never really seen that before. I feel that is truly lifting every voice, even my voice.”

She told CNBC Make It that she hopes her Super Bowl performance will inspire others to “not to let any obstacles prevent you from achieving your dreams, and to always believe in yourself to go beyond”.