[Ct-nfb] Futuristic Article

Sat May 2 17:02:20 UTC 2015

Hi Justin,

I was fooled and I am up on the facts of the Bill. What the fake article did
is get me mad and confused because I thought how could this be, it hasn’t
even been voted on yet. I appreciate your apology and it is a lesson learned
that in the future you can say this is what could happen if a bill passes. 

For all the negative people out there try to ignore them. You made a
mistake, show me one person who hasn’t. You do more legislative work than
anyone else and you don’t even live in CT at the moment. Let’s not forget
all the work on sub minimum wage, the blind vendors in state parks and now
Insurance Companies paying for guide dogs that don’t cost anything to the
handlers!

I also say keep up the good work and I was so happy to hear the good news
about Senator Bartolomeo.

Maryanne Melley

From: Ct-nfb [mailto:ct-nfb-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Justin
Salisbury via Ct-nfb
Sent: Thursday, April 30, 2015 12:07 PM
To: 'ct-nfb at nfbnet.org'
Subject: [Ct-nfb] Futuristic Article

Federation Family:

I recently posted an article on this list to give everyone a depiction of
what can happen if SB 234 passes as written. I did it with the assumption
that subscribers to this list were reading and keeping up with messages
about the bill. To those who were, it was obvious that the article was
hypothetical and futuristic. It appears that I had applied this assumption
too broadly, though, and I am sorry to have made this mistake.

For what it may be worth to you, the plan was to give people a concrete
depiction of the threat that the current bill poses. I had planned to give
people a few days to let that article simmer and then refocus everyone on
how that article is not reality yet, using that as a platform for a surge of
activism.

Well, anyway, that approach worked very well with some affiliate members and
not so well with others. At first, I received messages from people who had
been staying on top of the legislation and thanked me for the time and
creativity to compose the article. Many of these folks even wrote to their
state senators again with new inspiration, which I loved!

Then, I started getting messages from people who had not been on top of the
legislative work that we’d been doing. Life gets busy, and unread messages
sit in our inboxes; it happens. For these members, it had not been obvious
that the article was futuristic and hypothetical. I had posted the article
on our Facebook group, as well, which is where I really learned that we had
people seeing the article without knowing any background. I am sorry for
leaving room for that confusion to occur.

Then, I started receiving a volley of harsh personal attacks. I must admit
that I was not prepared for the absolute hatred that I was receiving,
sometimes from people I had never even heard of. 

I am hoping that my next seven years of participation in our movement can be
as full of growth and warmth as the first seven years were and that the
acute pain that I have experienced over the past 24 hours will be only a
blurred memory. I am sorry for inciting the immense hostility that I have
brought upon myself.

Have a good one.

Justin

Justin Salisbury - Running Thunder Phoenix

Graduate Student

Professional Development and Research Institute on Blindness

Louisiana Tech University

Email: President at Alumni.ECU.edu

Twitter: @SalisburyJustin

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—

Because I was not a Socialist. 

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out— 

Because I was not a Trade Unionist. 

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— 

Because I was not a Jew. 

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me. 

Martin Niemöller

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