[nabs-l] Future of the NFB

Tue Mar 8 18:46:04 UTC 2011

Joe,

Something must eventually give. I do believe the NFB's prominence may
gradually fade if something is not done. You have touched on the
arrogance of our organization's leadership in earlier posts, and I
think that arrogance and NFB snobbishness may slowly destroy us unless
we learn to be more inclusive.

But while it might sound cold, I did not join the NFB four years ago
because I wanted to fight specifically for the disabled community as a
whole. I am weary of watering down our policies and core beliefs,
assuming we would even need to, to cater to people with multiple
disabilities besides blindness. I believe that quality is more
important than quantity, and yet our quantity will fade if we don't do
something in the future.

to lead on the cutting edge, I believe we need to recognize diversity
and develop working relationships with other organizations. But at
what cost, and is our national leadership willing to do this? Can we
protect our own core beliefs while becoming more inclusive, or is it
time we change the entire philosophy and structure of the
organization?

I cannot tell you what we should do. I am not even sure myself.

Brice

On 3/8/11, Joe Orozco <jsorozco at gmail.com> wrote:
> Brice,
>
> You are the future of the NFB.  What do you think the organization should do
> about its operations if you think blindness might not be the only disability
> affecting the membership?  Don't speculate about what may happen.  Instead,
> tell us what you think should happen.
>
> I don't know that I agree with this notion that people are made to feel
> inferior because they have secondary disabilities.  There have always been
> similar observations made about guide dog users in the NFB, but the people
> who disliked and looked down on me before I went and got my guide dog were
> going to dislike me and look down on me regardless of my choice of travel
> tools.  I think part of me went and got Gator to show these people where
> they could stick their condescending views.  Anyway, I guess Eleanor
> Roosevelt was more polished when she said "no one can make you feel inferior
> without your consent."
>
> But, seriously, what's this nonsense about the deaf-blind division not being
> as promoted as the student or parent division?  They all get equal access to
> the convention program, and if you hear about it more, it might simply be
> owed to the size comparison between the groups.  If divisions that focus on
> conditions other than blindness feel as though they're being left out, it
> might be owed to the fact that the division is not doing anything worth
> promoting?
>
> Mind you, I think the whole concept of divisions in the NFB is bogus.
> First, a vast majority of them do absolutely nothing between national
> conventions.  Second, they create rifts in the membership when power-hungry
> members view elections in these divisions as a badge of importance.  Third,
> they distract us from the more important task of chipping away at the
> fundamental challenges facing the blindness community.  If I were president
> of the NFB for a day, my first order of business would be to eliminate
> divisions in the way they exist today.  There are so many professional
> organizations out there that we shouldn't create mirror groups within our
> ranks to create little havens for blind people.
>
> My point is this:  The NFB cannot exist without members like you.  You are
> the current youth and will be the future leader.  NFB members spend so much
> time accepting and not enough time questioning and even less time acting,
> and that is why several months ago I advanced the controversial idea that if
> the NFB keeps going down its current path, it will virtually cease to exist
> in 50 years.  More on that point in a future post, but to answer your
> question:  The way you accommodate people with secondary disabilities is to
> encourage them to get involved.  Get on the boards and make the organization
> recognize and react to what may be a change in demographics.  A few years
> ago when a group of people proposed the idea of establishing a GLBT
> division, they were told that with enough support, the division would be
> established.  I think we're still waiting on this group to get their act
> together about drumming up support.  It's not enough to complain about what
> you, you in the general sense, think the NFB leadership is or is not doing
> to accommodate certain members.  Just like the NFB as a whole has to make a
> good case to the general public that certain issues need to be addressed,
> blind people with secondary disabilities need to come together and make a
> case for why we as a whole need to be more conscious of their unique needs.
>
> Just my twenty dollar's worth,
>
> 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
>
>
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-- 
Brice Smith
North Carolina State University, Communication - Public Relations
Brice.Smith319 at gmail.com