[Cabs] Fwd: [Colorado-talk] Happy 75th Birthday NfB!

[annajee82 at gmail.com]

> Today is the day - the 75th anniversary of the founding of the
> National Federation of the Blind, NOvember 16, 1940 in Wilkes-Barre,
> Pennsylvania.  Julie and I had the opportunity and privelege to attend
> the NFB of Pennsylvania's convention this weekend, held in the same
> hotel in Wilkes-Barre.  The following article appeared in the local
> paper on Sunday morning:
> 
> Statewide blind group meets at birthplace
> ERIC MARK
> Published: November 15, 2015
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> Photo: Christopher Dolan, License: N/A, Created: 2015:11:14 18:13:45
> 
> National Federation of the Blind of Pennsylvania President James
> Antonacci, center, chats with Rep. Matt Cartwright's District Director
> Bob Morgan, left,
> and state Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski at a meeting of the Pennsylvania
> chapter of the National Federation of the Blind at Genetti's in
> Wilkes-Barre on Saturday,
> Nov. 14. Christopher Dolan / Staff Photographer
> 
> Photo: N/A, License: N/A, Created: 2015:11:14 18:20:34
> 
> National Federation of the Blind representative Barbara Pierce,
> center, shares a laugh with guests at a meeting of the Pennsylvania
> chapter of the National
> Federation of the Blind at Genetti's in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday, Nov.
> 14. Christopher Dolan / Staff Photographer
> 
> WILKES-BARRE — The Pennsylvania chapter of the National Federation of
> the Blind held its annual convention this weekend at the spot where
> the organization
> was born in 1940: Best Western Genetti Hotel & Conference Center.
> 
> In November 1940, a group of 16 advocates for the blind, from seven
> states, gathered in Wilkes-Barre at the hotel that is now Genetti’s.
> They formed a
> constitution that created the National Federation of the Blind, or
> NFB, which grew to be the largest organization led by blind people in
> the nation.
> 
> To mark the 75th anniversary of the federation’s founding, the
> Pennsylvania chapter chose Wilkes-Barre as the site for this year’s
> state convention, said
> Lynn Heitz, the chapter’s first vice president.
> 
> “The national organization was founded right here,” she said Saturday
> afternoon, outside a spacious meeting room where most of the 120
> people who attended
> the convention gathered for lectures and seminars on a wide range of
> topics that affect the visually impaired.
> 
> Blind and low-vision people of all ages walked confidently into and
> out of the room with the help of long white canes.
> 
> One of the seminar topics was “Technology for the blind and how it has changed.”
> 
> Mark Riccobono, the national president of NFB, had some thoughts on
> that, as he stepped out of the meeting room to speak with a reporter.
> 
> He called technological advances “double-edged” for the visually
> impaired community.
> 
> On the upside, there are useful technologies such as voice-activated
> personal assistants available on computers and smart phones.
> 
> Riccobono demonstrated an app he recently installed on his iPhone,
> called KNFB Reader, that can take a picture of printed text and read
> it aloud to a visually
> impaired person. He pointed his phone toward the program for the
> convention, clicked a button and a mechanical voice started to recite
> the convention schedule
> listed in the program.
> 
> On the other hand, the push for technological solutions to replace
> Braille, a writing system for the blind that uses raised letters and
> characters, has
> left some blind people struggling, especially younger ones in school
> and college, Riccobono said.
> 
> “A lot of technology is not built with accessibility in mind,” he said.
> 
> He cited his own experience growing up as a legally blind student in
> Wisconsin, where his teachers, in line with the educational philosophy
> of the time,
> tried to get him to read and study as much as possible the
> conventional way and use Braille only as a last resort.
> 
> “I faked it all the time,” he said. “I had to memorize things.”
> 
> There were lots of positive stories at the convention, which draws a
> dedicated core group and some newcomers each year, according to Heitz,
> who described
> the gathering as “a family.”
> 
> Liliya Asadullina, 22, said being blind has not stopped her from a
> rewarding and enjoyable college career at Metropolitan State
> University of Denver.
> 
> “They have a really good public transportation system,” she said,
> adding that she has no qualms about taking a bus or train on her own.
> 
> She credited the local chapter of the NFB near Philadelphia, where she
> grew up, with helping her to develop that confidence.
> 
> “They showed me you have to be independent,” she said.
> 
> The NFB has led the push for civil rights for the blind, which has
> helped raise awareness for all special needs groups, Riccobono said.
> 
> As traffic drove by on East Market Street outside the hotel, he gave an example.
> 
> In 1940, when the federation was founded, if a car jumped a curb and
> struck a blind person on a sidewalk, the blind pedestrian was
> considered partly culpable,
> according to Riccobono.
> 
> Blind people and others with challenges or special needs were expected
> to basically stay out of sight and mind in those days, he said.
> 
> Today, through educational efforts and legislation such as “white cane
> laws” that require motorists to stop and allow blind pedestrians to
> cross the street,
> things are different, Riccobono said.
> 
> “Blind people have the right to be in the world,” he said.
> 
> 
> -- 
> Dan Burke
> My Cell:  406.546.8546
> Twitter:  @DallDonal
> 
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