[Blindtlk] why is it important to join an organization of the blind?

[Bonnie Lucas]

Gary,
You clearly understand Federation principles and your ability to express
them is gratifying. Thanks for sharing your awesome opinion!

Warm regards,
Bonnie Lucas

-----Original Message-----
From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Gary Wunder
Sent: Tuesday, January 17, 2012 8:35 AM
To: 'Blind Talk Mailing List'
Subject: [Blindtlk] why is it important to join an organization of the
blind?

Dear Chris:

Please understand that what I am about to write is my opinion and not some
official position of the Federation. I will try to avoid offering other
disclaimers such as "In my opinion," or "It is my belief." I want to be firm
in stating what I believe but humble enough to acknowledge that does not
represent any particular wisdom or any claim to be the one true way.

I am a member of the National Federation of the Blind because I believe that
collective action is required if blind people are to continue to enjoy the
programs and services we now have and to further the goal of integration we
all seek where we gain jobs, play active parts in our community, and are no
longer limited by artificial barriers that are not imposed by blindness but
by the reaction to it by blind and sighted people alike. As an individual I
have a responsibility to think about my options and opportunities and to
decide whether or not to pursue or shy away from them; In other words, I
have choices to make. But individually I do not always have the creativity,
the expertise, and the power to make those choices real and achievable.

Right now blind people are engaged in the battle to determine whether we
have a right to demand that computerized technology, with all its power and
promise, be harnessed to help us as it helps others, or whether, because we
are a small population, this same computer technology will be used to
exclude us. The outcome of this struggle is as important as my ability to
compete at a job, my ability to enjoy entertainment at home, my ability to
check in at airports and check out at supermarkets, and even my ability to
live at home independently. Take away my independent access to home
appliances--my ability to set the temperature on my oven, regulate the
temperature in my house, and operate the controls on my washer and dryer,
and soon I will require the services of a personal care attendant or be in a
nursing home because I will be unable to take care of my most basic needs.
Even the option of a home care attendant or a nursing home may depend on
whether or not I can afford them. 

My job as one human being is to educate myself; my more difficult job is to
embrace the education of society to the potential technology brings and to
the problems it can create if not properly managed. Individually I must be
an informed voice, but only collectively do I have a voice capable of
reaching the nation and the world. Individually I do not know how to bring
about the changes in design and engineering that make things talk, produce
braille, or provide a way for me to navigate using touch or voice;
collectively I can be a part of giving scholarships to young people, some of
whom will dedicate their professional careers to learning about such things
and being a part of developing technology that includes me and others who
are blind. Individually I do not know how to craft laws to help us, but
collectively I can help to grow and employ the expertise of those who do.
Individually I do not know how to execute a successful lawsuit on behalf of
myself and others who suffer from technological discrimination; collectively
I can be a part of hiring that help and articulating to the legal system the
goals and aspirations of blind people who are committed to the forward
progress we have enjoyed and to categorically reject the idea of once again
being consigned to idleness and inactivity. 

It is argued that sighted people do not unite as a group, and that, if blind
people truly want equality, we must turn away from the reliance on a group
and the expectation other blind people will join with us. Because of their
numbers and a society which will quite reasonably be oriented to them,
sighted people have no need to unite on the basis of sight. They do,
however, unite for other reasons. Wealthy people unite with others to see
that policies do not encourage and support the taking of their wealth. Those
less wealthy unite for a whole host of reasons when individually their
voices are not sufficient to start a national discussion about the things
they need. Doctors, as educated and prestigious as they are, unite when it
comes to representing their interests and, for that matter, the health
interests of the American people. Farmers form organizations to try to
increase their prices and protect against what they see as overly burdensome
regulation. Many from all walks of life unite to protect the environment by
reminding us that some of the things we want for enhancing our creature
comforts come at a cost that may jeopardize the well-being of the earth for
our children and our children's children. The concept of organizing for
collective action, to amplify the voice, to share the load, and to bring
very disparate groups with talent and expertise to serve a cause is not
unique to the blind, nor is it unique to America. It is the longing of
people everywhere to better themselves and the realization that not every
good that needs doing can be accomplished by one human being, no matter her
determination or skill or drive. It is the understanding that true
independence often involves the more complicated concept of interdependence
and that learning to work together does not detract one little bit from our
individuality, our ability to make choices, and our ability to influence the
world.

I want a piece of the American dream. That means more than Supplemental
Security Income because I am deemed too disabled to work. That means more
than food stamps and subsidized housing because I am considered so
impoverished that only through a government program can I eat and have
shelter from the elements. I want the right to information and that means
more than a book of fiction in which I live my life through the words and
stories of others. I have benefited from and support each of these programs
and I do not write to throw stones. There are forces in the world that
conspire to keep me in this place, a place of continual dependence. It is
not a harsh place with physical bars, but a place built by a compassionate
America trying to do good for people they perceive as having a significant
need. It is not a jail neither is it a zoo; but it is a cage, albeit one
with radios and televisions and devices to produce music on demand. It is a
place where we may play but not a place for we may grow. Programs intended
to provide us with a staircase to upward mobility have too often become the
means for lifelong support. The tragedy is that life is so much less than it
could be for we who are blind and our country gets so much less from good
minds and overflowing hearts who long to find a way to meaningfully
contribute. 

The alternative path requires more training, perseverance, and perhaps even
more good luck. The process is rehabilitation, and by rehabilitation I mean
much more than accepting the help to go from high school to training school
or college. For me rehabilitation means entering into a contract, a sacred
pledge to make good on the goodwill and the investment of taxpaying
Americans by turning education and equipment into productive work. It is
more than accepting, as a matter of course, this government program for the
blind that can sometimes be little more than a transition from education to
more education to lifelong dependence. At its best, rehabilitation is the
power of people to help people, the way a society helps some of its members
move from needing a meal to earning a meal. It can, at its best, be an
example of government truly serving and at its worst an example of raising
expectations only to crush them. We, the blind people who organize and work
in the Federation, determine which it will be. 

Several months ago I watched a Republican primary where a candidate was
asked what should be done about an uninsured 29-year-old man lying in a
hospital following a motorcycle crash. Should he be allowed to die was the
timidly advanced question, and before the candidate could answer, a
disturbingly loud minority in that audience began to clap. The America I see
is no longer in a place where she believes she can extend benefits to those
who do not pay for them. If this is true for something as basic as medical
care, how long is it before we see America questioning whether there is
money to support her disabled citizens who have been offered rehabilitation
services but who continue to remain on the public dole? How many people must
succeed in the rehabilitation process to convince an ever skeptical and
belt-tightening America that this magical contract between blind people and
the rest of America's citizens should continue? Partly that answer depends
on us and how well we make the case for what we need and the wonderful
things that happen when rehabilitation works. Partly it depends on how well
we make the case to other blind people for moving beyond our comfort zone
and actively addressing those areas in which we are weak or scared or
paralyzed by our inexperience with the world.

I am a member of the National Federation of the Blind because I realize it
has been an important part in helping me live a bit of the American dream. I
am a part because I want to pay it forward and to share the blessings I've
been given with others. I know that as important as a positive mental
attitude and philosophy are, they are little more than words if there isn't
some kind of active effort to transform them into actions. Wanting to feed
the starving is more than wanting--it is doing something to advance that
cause--donating money, growing food, building roads, and buying vehicles.
None of this is accomplished by remaining on the sidelines and being an
observer, even if an informed one; it is accomplished by a resolution to do
something and then by following through on that resolution.

The Federation, for all the pride I take in her, is not a luxury liner
capable of being guided and run by a few and on which many may ride in
comfort. Instead my Federation is a canoe, a ship that can carry a few, but
needs every person who can to be at the ores pushing us along, steering us
in the direction we want to go, and helping us avoid the obstacles that
would break our frail craft if not maneuvered with skill, intelligence, and
the support of a God and a public who wants the best for us. Blind
Americans, just like sighted Americans, can make the choice as to whether or
not to be involved, but the choice they make has consequences for all of us.
The more people we have who are active rowers of our canoe, the more each of
us who row have time to do other things and the more likely we are to
succeed. Our mission is a noble one that argues for our own independence and
for the continued prosperity of our nation. I believe it is so important
that we dare not sit on the sidelines. I have spent enough of my life being
told to observe and weight. When I have a choice, I will choose
participation, service, and the knowledge that, come what may, I have tried.
This is why I am a part of the Federation. This is why I ask others to be a
part. I don't want to whine and I don't want to preach. I want to be
grateful for what I have, to repay those who have helped to make it come
true, and to pay it forward for those who want the same kind of future I
want. I ask for the energy that others can bring in charting that course and
then helping us travel it.

Gary


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