[Colorado-Talk] Happy 80th NFB!!!

Peggy Chong chongpeggy10 at gmail.com
Tue Nov 17 03:56:47 UTC 2020


Thanks for sharing.  This is lovely.

 

From: Colorado-Talk <colorado-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Scott C.
LaBarre via Colorado-Talk
Sent: Monday, November 16, 2020 8:45 PM
To: 'NFB of Colorado Discussion List' <colorado-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Scott C. LaBarre <slabarre at labarrelaw.com>
Subject: [Colorado-Talk] Happy 80th NFB!!!

 

Greetings everyone!!

 

As many of you know, today is our 80th Birthday.  On this day in 1940, Dr.
tenBroek started this great organization.  Below I share some reflections
from our President, Mark Riccobono.  All I can say isAMEN!!

 

Dear Fellow Federationists,

 

This morning as I took my daily walk through Riverside Park (which sits just
east of the Johnson Street side of our headquarters), I pictured in my mind
the symbology of the moment. I was there just at the time that the sun was
supposed to rise in Baltimore. I started thinking about what the sunrise
might have been like on that day eighty years ago when Jacobus tenBroek woke
up, and his plan for that day was to establish the National Federation of
the Blind. Did he know he would be elected as the movement's first President
and that he would dedicate much of his remaining twenty-seven-and-one-half
years to its advancement? Today was slightly chilly, but the sunrise brought
a sense of warmth to the clear morning. Is that similar to what Dr. tenBroek
felt-a lifting of the cold, hard times that blind people had experienced for
decades?

                                                

As I walked south in the park, it occurred to me that the morning sunlight
would shine on the Johnson Street side of our building perfectly, there
being no major structures blocking the morning sun from our building. The
distance between the sun and our building is vast, and with the complexities
of our lives now, 1940 seems just as distant from 2020. I imagined the sun
hitting our building, and considered the hundreds of thousands of lives that
have lived under that sun and contributed to the movement we share.

 

Eighty years is a short time. Yet for the blind it represents significant
progress. In 1940 the very building that now serves as the headquarters for
our efforts was producing materials for use in the Second World War. The
workers inside could have never imagined it would later become the
best-known facility for advancing the rights of the blind anywhere in the
world. Furthermore, the sixteen people who gathered together to form the
first membership of the Federation could not have imagined the twists,
turns, victories, and setbacks we have faced over these eighty years. 

 

As I came to the south end of the walkway in the park, I followed the path
east into the morning sun. The warmth of the sun felt like hope: the kind of
hope that we experience in this movement every day; the feeling that those
sixteen people must have had when they came together to establish what has
come to be the most powerful force for blind people. 

 

It is fitting on this day to look back and to experience the warm feelings
that come from all that we have accomplished. We should be proud of those
who came before us and all they did to make it possible for us to walk this
path.

 

Once we do that for a short time, we have a choice: we can continue
celebrating the past or we can turn with renewed strength, face the future,
and walk confidently in that direction with the light of our history
supporting us and urging us to march forward. When I got to the east end of
the path in the park, I did not hesitate, I turned and began to loop back
around to the west to come to our building to begin another day marching
alongside each of you to advance our collective movement.

 

As Thanksgiving approaches, I am left with one thought as I enter our
Johnson Street door with the sun at my back. I am thankful for the
incredible blind people who made it possible through their daily sacrifice
for us to be in this moment. I am equally thankful for the incredible blind
people who allow us to walk confidently into the future. It is an honor to
know we march together every day. It is a comfort to know you have my back.
It is a joy to imagine what we will do together tomorrow. 

 

I do not know if I will walk that same path twenty years from now, but I am
confident in what our movement will be on our one hundredth anniversary--and
for that I feel a great sense of pride. Until then, I am going to enjoy the
struggle and the accomplishment of building with each of you every day. Take
a moment to reflect on those Federationists who you have known personally
who have helped us get to today. Then, with the warmth of that love, turn,
link arms with me, and let's march into the future together. When I say
"let's go build the National Federation of the Blind," what I mean is let's
enjoy the honor of working together to transform our dreams, and the dreams
of those who have not yet discovered our movement, into reality. The warmth
of the movement started before we got here. If we do it right, the warmth
will go beyond us into a future where others will reflect fondly on what we
have done to make their lives better every day.  

 

 

 

 

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