[Mn-at-large] NFB President 's Notebook - week of 06/13/2016

Wed Jun 15 01:39:14 UTC 2016

President's Notebook

National Federation of the Blind

Mark A. Riccobono

<mailto:officeofthepresident at nfb.org>officeofthepresident at nfb.org

(410) 659-9314

Dear Fellow Federationists,

Today the flag at the National Federation of the 
Blind Jernigan Institute flies at half-mast in 
solidarity with the rest of the country regarding 
the tragedy in Orlando this weekend. The 
challenges of world events continue to emphasize 
how fragile life can be. As we prepare to head to 
Orlando, I encourage each of us to keep those 
impacted by the events of this weekend in our 
thoughts and prayers. I also encourage us to 
recognize that fear is too often used by others 
to control our actions and limit our freedom. In 
the National Federation of the Blind, we continue 
to spread love and hope, and I urge us to bring 
that spirit to Orlando in an even greater measure this year.

With humility and hope, I look forward to being 
with you in Orlando in a couple of weeks.

Critical Actions This Week:

Give a High Five in Support of the Rights of Blind Parents:
During this month we are inviting others to 
participate in our initiative to support 
resources for, and the rights of, blind parents 
to raise their children by simply giving us a 
high five. Your donation of $5 (or multiples 
thereof) to the National Federation of the Blind 
can help keep families together. Keep an eye on 
<http://www.nfb.org/vonb-blog>our blog to learn 
more. Please help to promote this important work 
of the Federation for Father's Day.

We Need Stories:
We are collecting stories about your experience 
accessing internet content on state and local 
government websites as part of our coordinated 
effort to provide comments regarding the recent 
<https://www.ada.gov/regs2016/sanprm.html>Supplemental 
Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking issued by the Department of Justice.

State and local websites offer a variety of 
programs and services including information about 
voter registration, applications for state IDs, 
community calendars, permits, public school 
activities, and registration for classes at 
colleges and universities, just to name a few 
examples. Please visit 
<https://nfb.org/TitleIISANPRM>nfb.org/TitleIISANPRM, 
follow the directions there, and send us your 
stories as soon as you can but no later than July 
15, 2016. You can also get in touch with Kyle 
Walls here at the NFB Jernigan Institute at 
<mailto:kwalls at nfb.org>kwalls at nfb.org to submit 
your story or to get more information about our 
coordinated effort. Your comments will be shared 
with the Department of Justice and will be 
published on <http://www.regulations.gov>www.regulations.gov.

News:

Blood Drive at Convention:
I thought it would be timely to mention that we 
have been planning a blood drive to be held at 
our convention in Orlando. As you may know, there 
is a current demand for blood in the Orlando 
community. Join the National Federation of the 
Blind Sports and Rec Division and WE Fit Wellness 
on June 30 at the NF-BE Healthy Fair for our 
first-ever OneBlood convention blood drive. 
OneBlood will be taking donations from 10:00 a.m. 
to 3:00 p.m. in Sebastian Ballroom J, Level 1. 
While you are there, climb the rock wall, learn 
to sword fight, bang on some cardio drums, and much more.

New York Voter Registration Lawsuit
The National Federation of the Blind, the Center 
for Independence of the Disabled, and individual 
blind plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against the New 
York State Board of Elections and the Department 
of Motor Vehicles. The complaint charges that 
their online voter registration is inaccessible to people with disabilities.

Videos:
A video will be released Friday, June 17, in 
honor of Father's Day. It can be accessed at 
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiDrUAU_Ti0>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiDrUAU_Ti0.

This week's video is currently available. Julie 
McGinnity explains how attending and hearing the 
thousands of cane taps at an NFB National 
Convention changed her life at 
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp7pVyNwzvM>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp7pVyNwzvM,

Dates to Keep in Mind:

*        May 23-August 26, 2016: NFB BELL Academy 
held at forty-six sites throughout the nation. 
More information at 
<https://nfb.org/bell-academy>https://nfb.org/bell-academy.
Â·        June 19-25: NFB EQ (first iteration)
*        June 30-July 5: National Federation of 
the Blind Convention, Rosen Shingle Creek, Orlando, Florida
*        July 31-August 6: NFB EQ (second iteration)
*        August 2-6: NFB EQ teacher cohort
*        August 18-25: WBU and ICEVI General 
Assembly, Rosen Centre, Orlando, Florida, 
<http://www.wbu-icevi2016.org>www.wbu-icevi2016.org

The National Federation of the Blind knows that 
blindness is not the characteristic that defines 
you or your future. Every day we raise the 
expectations of blind people, because low 
expectations create obstacles between blind 
people and our dreams. You can live the life you 
want; blindness is not what holds you back.

Mark A. Riccobono, President
National Federation of the Blind
200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place
Baltimore, Maryland 21230
Phone: (410) 659-9314
Fax: (410) 659-5129
Email: <mailto:officeofthepresident at nfb.org>officeofthepresident at nfb.org
Twitter: @Riccobono and @NFB_Voice
Web: <http://www.nfb.org/>www.nfb.org

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