[Community-service] Little philosophy

[Darian Smith]

Personally, I think of our philosophy as a way of understanding both  how society looks at blindness in general  and blind people.  I think of how  it articulates  that even though society looks at blindness   as probably one of the single worst things that can happen to a person, and blind people as limited people with limited ability and potential, this does not have to be the case, and factually is not the case.

  our philosophy seeks to articulate  that as members of  society we are not immune  to some of the negative views society  has of us, that sometimes  we come to believe these things ourselves.
 I think that what the philosophy of the federation communicates  is that we are at our best when we understand in our minds and in our hearts  that our limitations as blind people are determined, basically, by us. 
 Our philosophy also challenges us to think about the ways  that we can achieve  the things we want to do.
 An example  of  this might come from the banquet speech from last year’s convention.  In that speech “ Blindness, Technology, and the emerging Pattern of thought”, President Riccobono acknowledges the ever-increasing role that technology plays in society, and in our lives as blind people. He also speaks to the importance of maintaining the core skills that ensure our success, the use of braille  and cane travel amongst others. 
  
 Do you agree with this? disagree with this? 
 Think of our philosophy differently?
  Thanks,
  Darian  
    
  
         

> On May 12, 2018, at 8:18 AM, Darian Smith <dsmithnfb at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi all,
> 
>  If you have hung around the federation long enough, I am sure you have heard  fellow members talk about “federation philosophy”.
>  We  in the moment  have spent the better part of seven decades discussing the  idea, and articulating  this in many ways.
>  In basic, how would you take  our philosophy  and distill it into something authentic to your communication style without  simply repeating our branding language?
> In other words how might you  say what we believe in the federation and keep it true to you yet consistent with the  intent of what we do as a movement?
> Sounds challenging, right?
> Probably not… you got this!
>  look forward to hearing from all of you!
>  Darian