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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>That passage is at the end of a speech made by Dr. Jernigan at the 1979 NFB National Convention. To appreciate the full context please read “Blindness: That’s How it is at the Top of the Stairs” in the January, 2011 Braille Monitor.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p><p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Maryanne<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> Ct-nfb [mailto:ct-nfb-bounces@nfbnet.org] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Justin Salisbury via Ct-nfb<br><b>Sent:</b> Monday, October 13, 2014 10:22 PM<br><b>To:</b> 'nfbwnews@nfbwis.org'; 'ct-nfb@nfbnet.org'<br><b>Subject:</b> [Ct-nfb] Reactions Requested<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Fellow Federationists:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>How do you feel when you read the following passage?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>###<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p>Our climb up the stairs to freedom has been slow and difficult, but we are nearing the top. We carry with us a trust-for Dr. tenBroek and for all of the others who went before us. We also carry a trust for those who will follow-for the blind of the decades ahead. Yesterday and tomorrow meet in this present time, and we are the ones who have the responsibility. Our final climb up the stairs will not be easy, but we must make it. The stakes are too high and the alternatives too terrible to allow it to be otherwise. If we fail to meet the challenge or dishonor our trust, we will fall far down the stairs, and the journey back up will be long and painful.<o:p></o:p></p><p>But, of course, we will not fail. We will continue to climb. Our heritage demands it; our faith confirms it; our humanity requires it. Whatever the sacrifice, we will make it. Whatever the price, we will pay it. Seen from this perspective, the challenges and confrontations are hardly worth noticing. They are only an irritant.<o:p></o:p></p><p>My brothers and my sisters, the future is ours. Come! Join me on the stairs, and we will finish the journey.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>