[Mn-at-large] Fwd: NFB President’s Notebook - week of 05/ 03/2018

[David Andrews]

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>President's Notebook
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>National Federation of the Blind
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>Mark A. Riccobono
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><mailto:officeofthepresident at nfb.org>officeofthepresident at nfb.org
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>410-659-9314
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>Dear Fellow Federationists,
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>Exactly two months from now we will be kicking 
>off our 2018 National Convention in Orlando. 
>Things are shaping up well and the usual 
>excitement about our family reunion is spreading across the organization.
>
>There are a number of pressing items to pay 
>attention to this week. Please give our advocacy 
>for the Marrakesh Implementation Act immediate 
>attention as action will be most effective in the coming days.
>
>I am recording the Presidential Release later 
>today so you should plan for it to be available 
>on May 4—in time for the first Saturday of May. 
>A trip to Seattle to work with Amazon prevented 
>me from having it ready for this notebook.
>
>I encourage our affiliates to be thinking about 
>contributions to our national movement at the 
>national convention. Local support is critical 
>to our success and it is always a wonderful 
>experience to hear the generosity of our affiliates.
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>Critical Actions This Week:
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>Marrakesh Treaty Action Requested:
>The US Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled 
>to take up consideration of the Marrakesh Treaty 
>Implementation Act (S. 2559) at its next 
>executive business meeting. The meeting may be 
>held as soon as May 10, with consideration of 
>the treaty itself by the Foreign Relations 
>Committee to follow very shortly thereafter. 
>Ahead of these votes, we have been encouraged to 
>urge senators to cosponsor the bill. Please call 
>both of your US senators and ask them to 
>cosponsor S. 2559, the Marrakesh Treaty 
>Implementation Act, which will put more 
>accessible books in the hands of blind Americans 
>at home and abroad. You can reach your senate 
>offices by calling the capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121.
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>Fraudulent Requests for Membership Lists:
>We have been notified by several state 
>presidents that they have received requests for 
>membership lists for the purposes of updating a 
>member directory. Some of these requests have 
>come from 
><mailto:alfredsmithuk at gmail.com>alfredsmithuk at gmail.com. 
>When reviewing any such request, please keep in 
>mind the following: valid requests from the 
>national organization for membership information 
>will only be sent from an nfb.org email address; 
>such requests will contain the full signature of 
>the requesting staff member (including name, job 
>title, contact information, and NFB logo and 
>social media icons); and these requests will 
>specifically cite the Connections database. If 
>you have any questions about the validity of a 
>request for membership or other generally 
>protected information, please don’t hesitate to contact me for clarification.
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>News:
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>Blog Post:
>The National Federation of the Blind engages in 
>strategic legal action to defend the rights and 
>advance the equality of blind people. While we 
>do not have the financial resources to assist 
>every blind individual who experiences 
>discrimination, we help individuals bring legal 
>action where we believe that the result is 
>likely to be important systemic change. Please 
>take a moment to read 
><https://nfb.org/blog/article/3546>my blog post 
>about a case we have brought against one of the 
>largest school systems in our country to defend 
>the rights of a blind employee and force the 
>system to procure accessible technology so that 
>blind staff, faculty, and students will be treated equally.
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>April Podcast:
>The April podcast, 
>“<https://nfb.org/nations-blind/nations-blind-podcast-episode-25-april-2018>Technology 
>and Its Role in Living the Lives We Want,” is now available.
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>Here & Now:
>I was interviewed recently for Here & Now, a 
>nationally syndicated radio show. The interview 
>is available at 
><http://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2018/04/26/blind-people-apps-technology>http://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2018/04/26/blind-people-apps-technology. 
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>Membership Chairpersons:
>During the presidents' meeting prior to 
>Washington Seminar we discussed the need to 
>appoint a membership chairperson for each 
>affiliate. This is to request that affiliate 
>presidents make this appointment no later than 
>May 15. The person you appoint should be 
>passionate about and committed to growing our 
>membership locally and within our national 
>organization. The membership chair will be the 
>point of contact for the membership committee 
>and, along with you as affiliate president, be 
>responsible for the growth of your affiliate. 
>Please make sure that you have had a 
>conversation with the person you appoint before 
>doing so. And once the appointment has been 
>made, send the following contact information to 
><mailto:membership at nfb.org>membership at nfb.org: 
>affiliate, name, email address, and best contact phone number.
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>BELL Volunteer Background Checks:
>I have authorized use of the national office's 
>Verified Volunteers account for the NFB BELL 
>Academy background checks. State coordinators 
>should send the volunteers' names and email 
>addresses to 
><https://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=10929&qid=2229542>BELL at nfb.org. 
>We will enter their information into the system, 
>and each volunteer will receive an email with 
>instructions and a link to login where they will 
>enter their personal information. Once the 
>background search has been completed, we will 
>make sure to get the information to the 
>coordinator for review and decision making. We 
>will then invoice the states the costs of the 
>background check; most reports are $23 a person.
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>Medicare Information to Be Accessible:
>The National Federation of the Blind and three 
>blind individuals have reached a settlement 
>agreement with the Department of Health and 
>Human Services, Centers for Medicare and 
>Medicaid Services (CMS). The settlement resolves 
>the allegation brought forth in a 2016 lawsuit 
>that CMS discriminated against blind and 
>low-vision beneficiaries by failing to provide 
>meaningful and equal access to Medicare 
>information. The full press release is available 
>at 
><https://nfb.org/medicare-information-become-accessible-blind-beneficiaries>https://nfb.org/medicare-information-become-accessible-blind-beneficiaries. 
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>Dates to Keep in Mind:
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>    * May 31, 2018: Deadline for 
> <https://convention.nfb.org/>preregistration for 2018 National Convention
>    * July 3-8, 2018: 
> <https://nfb.org/convention>National Federation 
> of the Blind National Convention, Orlando, Florida
>    * July 29-August 4, 2018: <http://www.blindscience.org/nfbeq>NFB EQ
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>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
>200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230
>(410) 659-9314 | 
><mailto:officeofthepresident at nfb.org>officeofthepresident at nfb.org
>
>
><https://nfb.org/>
>National Federation of the Blind
>
>
> 
><http://www.facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind>
>Facebook
>     <https://twitter.com/NFB_Voice>
>Twitter
>     <https://www.youtube.com/NationsBlind>
>Youtube
>
>
>The National Federation of the Blind is a 
>community of members and friends who believe in 
>the hopes and dreams of the nation’s blind. 
>Every day we work together to help blind people live the lives they want.
>
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