[nabs-l] Appreciating our roots. And, examining the tree and the forest
Joe Orozco
jsorozco at gmail.com
Sat May 8 04:40:04 UTC 2010
Dear Heather and all,
A well-written, thought-provoking post as always. Yet I have to confess it
was one of those messages where I heartily agreed with certain points and
completely disagreed with others.
Your message says that what happens in our community is up to us regardless
of what the national office decides to build or how it decides to spend its
money. Unfortunately, even in the Christian church example you provide,
local branches, or in our case local chapters, cannot exist as independent
operations with little regard for the customs, norms and influence promoted
by the central body. People in the NFB are asked to give up their free time
to attend meetings, to volunteer between meetings, to make donations, and to
budget for expensive trips to conventions across the state and across the
country. In a perfect world the warmth and camaraderie of one's own
community would be enough to satisfy one's need to know to what end their
time is being invested. Yet local chapters review presidential releases.
Veteran members strongly encourage freshmen to attend conventions, and the
freshmen and the curious succumb to these activities because it is human
nature to want to learn and do more. Modern technology makes it impossible
to settle for small-town satisfaction.
This in of itself is not anything negative. The national conventions are
large enough to accommodate individual interests. The problem comes into
play when the national body leans on state affiliates to produce more than
what the state affiliates can produce. What happens at the national level
very much impacts local communities, because ultimately it is up to the
general membership to help bring in the money to build what the national
office wants. I do not buy into the belief that major decisions are
dictated by convention resolutions, many of which are not fulfilled, but the
level of tilted demand and fractured communication between the national
office and state affiliates are one reason we witness incidents like the New
Hampshire affiliate collapse. New Hampshire is the rare exception, but how
many other New Hampshires are there in our midst?
You make the excellent point that what the organization looks like in fifty
years will largely depend on what we as individuals choose to contribute.
That's an interesting proposal. I came into the organization almost nine
years ago, made a lot of noise, discovered that the best way to be heard was
to do the hard work, did the hard work so that I could give my complaints a
foundation, and even after some of my better efforts discovered that
diligent service only carries you so far. In my case, I could genuinely
care less if people like me as an individual so long as the ideas I propose
to help blind people as a whole are given a fair audience. Hard work, it
seemed, was only appreciated so long as I followed the party line.
Conventions are the place to debate decisions, and any debate between
conventions is just unthinkable. Well, when it came to deciding whether I
would spend my time developing my professional aspirations or devoting my
time to an organization that only showed conditional appreciation for my
talents, the choice wasn't that difficult.
Since only 10 percent of the people actually carry out the work of the
organization, where does that leave those of us who want to help the NFB but
are not passionate enough about the blindness movement to devote the hours
necessary to make a real difference? I, for instance, have other
aspirations. I want to work with troubled youth and victims of human
trafficking, and I have to try to make time in a day to volunteer in those
areas after I finish my full-time job and run my communications company.
Does this somehow make my opinions less than worthy because I am not giving
the organization 100 percent of my devotion? This logic, to me, suggests
that if you are blind, you would be wrong not to belong to the NFB and pull
your full weight. Not all cancer survivors devote the balance of their
lives to finding a cure. Moreover, what good is believing in the philosophy
if you do not exercise the philosophy in the areas that interest you most?
I may very well be tuned into the wrong channel, but from where I'm sitting
and the conversations I'm tapping into, people trip over themselves to
complain about this or make fun of that, youth and adults alike, but hold
them accountable in a public forum and it's all about amen to the glory of
the NFB. Give credit where credit is due, but we really will not survive if
we only know how to give unquestioning allegiance to the people in power.
The NFB has historically questioned authority and raised a call to action to
change that with which it did not agree. I take it the same cannot be said
about internal calls for improvements?
If only fully committed members are valued, then I guess I know where the
door is. Maybe there really is no one patient enough to tame this weapon.
Yet there is still the matter of the people yet to be brought in. These are
people who are unfortunately made to feel less than perfect if they do not
attend one of our training centers. These are people who are made to feel
less loyal if they do not use one of our long canes. These are people who
are not deemed "normal" if their personal habits, social skills and
philosophies do not mesh with our own. As an example, one weekend I was at
a leadership seminar at the National Center. A well-known student
accidentally dropped their plate in the dining room at dinner time. The
student was mortified not because they had dropped their plate, but because
they had dropped their plate in the presence of other blind people in the
highly esteemed National Center. I mean, so much for all this nonsense
about how the National Center is supposed to be our house. I guarantee that
if anyone from this list ever set foot into my home, you would never be made
to feel as awkwardly uncomfortable as the National Center has the ability to
make people feel. I felt so incredibly bad for the student in question but
could honestly not think of what to say to make them feel better.
It's arrogance in almost its purest form. I'm an arrogant guy and
appreciate the mentality, but the organization cannot afford to be so
condescending to the people who do not purchase the whole cow, not when the
organization chooses to isolate itself from other cross disability groups
and thinks its methods of doing things are better than even other blindness
organizations. I think I could count the number of times the NFB has
partnered up with other groups to send a message.
And so here we are. I feel good about the service I provided to the NFB in
my more active years. I fully intend to use my resources to try to help
divisions, affiliates and local chapters expand their operations as soon as
I can give the project proper attention, but to be honest, I do it because I
care about the people more than I care about the organization and its
doctrine. Somewhere along the way banquet speeches weren't enough to
mobilize my efforts, and at the moment the only thing the NFB can offer me
is the opportunity to raise money for projects with no short-term benefits
to the people who genuinely need help getting educated and employed. My
hard-earned dollars seem to be better spent on hungry families in Washington
DC by way of my church.
I believe the NFB will fade away in due course not because there will no
longer be a need for proper advocacy on behalf of the blind. Rather, it
will fade away because the up and coming generation will figure out that it
can accomplish what the NFB wants to achieve and then some, and be more
inclusive about it. As Heather pointed out, this generation is not a
generation of joiners. The ones who do make it their life's work to help
the blind need only come up with one good alternative to make both the NFB
and ACB irrelevant, only, one, alternative.
Joe Orozco
"Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves,
some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all."--Sam Ewing
-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org
[mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of H. Field
Sent: Wednesday, May 05, 2010 8:38 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: [nabs-l] Appreciating our roots. And,examining the
tree and the forest
Hi all,
It is very easy to blame generalised groups. "The older generation",
"leadership", "fund-raising" and so on. However, the real truth about
the growth and education of this organisation, the NFB, is the same as
it is for all similar groups. To demonstrate what I'm referring to,
let me take a moment to share what we can learn from other similar
groups. One such similar group is the Christian church. I have read of
how some other religious groups, and some sporting groups and clubs
which function the same. But, for the purposes of this post, I want
to use a group that most of us have had some experience with at some
time or other.
Many studies have been done over the years about how various Christian
churches, grow and maintain, their membership and perform their work.
Without fail, the results of the studies show that churches gain and
keep new members wehn people are personally invited by a personal
friend or relative. People continue to stay at a particular church and
get involved in the work of their church because they are mentored,
discipled personally by other members of the church.
This is the simple truth. People join a Christian church of choice,
get involved in church work, and promote that particular philosophical
interpretation of the Bible which their church adheres to because of
the personal factor. All the studies show that personal invitation by
friend/family member, personal mentoring, and opportunity to serve are
the tree factors in the growth and maintenance of a church. Training
classes, media advertising, door knocking and "sales pitches" by
strangers, and other publicity events such as having a booth at a
local fair, will bring in a very small percentage of people of whom a
smaller percentage actually stay. so, if you want to know what works
there it is.
I have been a chapter president and I know what it is like to try to
get the work of the organisation done. It is not as simple as saying
that the leadership or the older generation are letting young people
down. The nfb exists within a society and any meaningful assessment of
the organisation must be made in the social context in which it
operates. Some current social trends in first world countries are
worth considering.
1. Generations since the Baby-boomers are much less inclined to do
volunteer work.
2. Post Baby-boomer generations are much less inclined to join, and
commit to groups such as service clubs, The Red Cross etc.
3. The pressure for women to work outside of the home leaves less
leisure time for social group involvement.
4. The number of disability groups vying for public attention is much
larger in this century than the last. Factors causing this include the
incredible advances in medical competence, the development of
technology to sustain life longer, and the success of the civil rights
movement which has put the disability community out of institutions
and into the public arena. This means more people to consume finite
resources such as jobs, government assistance programmes and volunteer
transportation assistance.
5. A blindness specific social factor is the decentralisation of
education for blind students. Many more blind children are growing up
with minimal and marginal contact with formal groups of and/or for the
blind. This means that networking on a personal basis is more
difficult and, ironically, that attitudes against accepting the
respectability of blindness are harder to influence.
6. The largest and fastest growing group of blind people in the
western world are adults over 65 years of age.
The world in which the current NFB is functioning is vastly different
from the one that existed when it began, and even from the nineteen
nineties. Yes, many of the things Doctor Jernigan told us to strive
for in his speeches have not yet been achieved, but the reasons why
are much more complex than simply saying the organisation has focused
on fund-raising or centralising programmes. A far better approach is
to begin with one's self and look at what one has personally done to
increase the influence and effectiveness of the organisation. Whatever
the national leadership decide to spend or build, what happens in my
town is up to me and my blind and sighted friends who believe the NFB
philosophy and live it as best we can. Local chapters are the mouth
and arms and legs of the organisation. It is in local chapters that
new people receive words of welcome and empowerment, hugs of
encouragement and affirmation, friends and mentors to walk alongside
them and visit them at home and teach them skills and hope for a
better life. I ask myself how many new people I have brought to
meetings after reaching out and getting to know them. Do I attend all
my chapter meetings and events and make a difference by my physical
presence? What have I done to reach out to other blind people? It can
be a sobering experience if you are willing to sit down and ask
yourself the hard questions.
I began with the observation that reliable studies show that it is
person to person outreach and mentoring/discipling that brings new
members to social organisations. I will close by sharing another two,
scientifically varified facts about the successful functioning of
groups like the NFB.
1. Between 9 and 12 percent of the membership are willing and able to
take on leadership positions.
2. Roughly ten percent of the people do roughly 90 percent of the
work. Generally, the remaining membership attend sporadically, work
occasionally and talk. and, I would assume in these days of
techological communication, e-mail, text and twitter.
What people are prepared to actually, do. in their community will
determine what the NFB looks like and what it is doing in fifty years.
Regards,
Heather Field
----- Original Message -----
From: "Briley Pollard" <brileyp at gmail.com>
To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list"
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, May 02, 2010 9:05 PM
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Appreciating our roots
I think it is perhaps a stretch to say we won't exist in just 50
years, but I do think the purpose and philosophy will be very diluted
at that point if something isn't done. I did bring it up to say that
we have a responsibility to sea out information, but I do think the
leadership needs to be more efficient at educating new comers. This is
just speculation on my part, but I think part of the reason why the
specifics and history of the philosophy stopped being pushed so hard
is because the federation didn't want to scare off new members. While
I think it is a poor approach to immediately yank away a cane that may
be too short, or talk constantly of the "glory days" as soon as
someone walks in the door, I think a better effort needs to be made at
empowering and educating the membership as a whole.
Thanks for your thoughts,
Briley
On May 2, 2010, at 6:54 PM, Joe Orozco wrote:
> Briley,
>
> I don't know how many people actually read my series of action plan
> posts.
> I'm wrapping it up anyway just to finish my ramblings, and it's
> funny that
> you mention roots because it's basically the foreground of what I
> have to
> contribute. Yet, I am not convinced the blame rests squarely on our
> generation. Actually, it is my theory that the older generation is
> almost
> completely responsible for our sense of complacency. I believe the
> National
> Center has saturated the work of the organization so much with
> fundraising
> and technological design that everyday philosophy has been
> forgotten. It is
> my personal belief that our philosophy has become more the banner
> than the
> engine, and at this rate I do not believe the NFB will exist in 50
> years,
> maybe sooner. Outrageous? Of course it is, but considering the
> source, are
> you surprised? More later, but I'm glad the subject came up.
>
> Best,
>
> Joe
>
> "Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their
> sleeves,
> some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all."--Sam Ewing
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org
> [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Briley Pollard
> Sent: Sunday, May 02, 2010 7:31 PM
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Appreciating our roots
>
> I do think our generation in many ways has a sense of
> entitlement. I think a better understanding of our history and
> our purpose as an organization will better define that line
> between entitlement and creating a level playing field. To whom
> much is given, much is required, and I think people all too
> often forget that.
>
> Briley
> On May 2, 2010, at 5:23 PM, David Andrews wrote:
>
>> As an old-timer, thank you! It is important to remember that
> our ceiling is your floor. What you can take for granted is
> what we had to fight for!
>>
>> And ... we came from a time that was in some ways simpler,
> but where we asked for as little as possible. We will not ever
> be as comfortable as your generation with asking for some
> stuff. We also feel somewhat like there is an entitlement
> attitude, and people are not as self sufficient as they need to
> be in the real world.
>>
>> Dave
>>
>> At 03:35 PM 5/2/2010, you wrote:
>>> Good afternoon all,
>>>
>>> I am writing to open up a topic of conversation which I feel
> is to often overlooked in our organization; our history as a
> movement. I've grown up in this organization, and admittedly
> didn't fully understand our history until about a month ago
> when I began digging a little deeper.
>>>
>>> The federation has always been an important force in my
> life, and has shaped my views about my blindness, even during
> the periods where I wasn't actively involved. I always heard
> about what great leaders we've had, and was exposed to tidbits
> of information at state conventions or national events. But
> most of the focus has always been on the here and now, which is
> understandable to a point. It is vital that we understand the
> obstacles that the blind community as a whole faces on a daily
> basis, and how the federation is responding to them. However,
> life events have spurred me on to discover more about our
> roots. I'll keep the story short for brevity's sake, but it has
> a point which I think is important, so stay with me.
>>>
>>> I am dating someone who has never been actively involved
> with any of the blindness consumer organizations. He recently
> realized his need for further training, and that lead him to
> ask me my reasons for being a federationist. He began asking me
> questions about how the federation began, how the philosophy
> developed, and how the rehabilitation views of the NFB evolved.
> I found myself unable to answer a lot of his questions, and was
> disappointed in myself. I knew vague details about Dr.
> Jernigan's involvement with the Iowa Commission for the Blind,
> and something about airplane issues in the 70's and 80's, but
> beyond that, my historical knowledge of the NFB was supremely
> limited. After discussing this with some of my friends in the
> organization, I found that the problem wasn't just with me. I'm
> on the board of our local chapter, and it became apparent to me
> after out last meeting that this is a widespread problem. We
> have lost touch with our past, and that is never good. Roots
> are vital to the life of any tree, and without them, we wouldn't
> exist.
>>>
>>> I began to dig, which isn't hard to do. Nationals has done
> an amazing job of making our history available to us.
> www.nfb.org is a gold mine of information, even some of the
> parts that are hard to see. Issues of the Braille Monitor are
> available online going back 25 years, and important speeches
> are available in both text and recorded form going back before
> that. I have found myself appalled by the discrimination that
> blind people faced even just twenty years ago. The fortitude it
> took to get out there every day and command respect from a
> sighted public is not just commendable, but amazing to me.
>>>
>>> I think that sometimes, the youth of this organization
> accuse the older generation of the federation of being too
> "militant," or "confrontational." While I do not always agree
> with how the older generation has approached some issues, when
> you really dig and read about what they had to indoor just to
> be able to do things we take for granted today, you develop a
> greater respect for their views and approach. We still have a
> long way to go in some respects, but we have come far, and I
> think we've lost respect for our past.
>>>
>>> I encourage everyone to sea out and understand the
> beginnings and progress our movement has made over the past 70
> years. You will be amazed, and it will make you really
> understand, respect, and love this organization. I have had my
> share of frustrations with the organization over the years. But
> I must admit that I am so proud to be a part of the NFB, not
> just for what it has meant to me, but what it has done even
> before I was born to insure that I can live and work in a world
> where I am seen as an equal with my sighted peers. No
> organization is perfect because no person is perfect. But we
> must all remember to appreciate this community we have, built
> upon a solid foundation provided by many generations of blind
> people before us, tirelessly working to show that blindness
> should not limit our life choices.
>>>
>>> Let's all make a greater effort to know and appreciate our
> history. We will all be better for it.
>>>
>>> Best,
>>> Briley
>>
>>
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