[Colorado-talk] Happy 75th Birthday NfB!

Dan Burke burke.dall at gmail.com
Mon Nov 16 22:25:26 UTC 2015


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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NEWSLETTER
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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