[nabs-l] eHow internet article series on blindness

Fri Mar 22 23:24:02 UTC 2013

I agree that publishing ourselves is a great idea. I cannot comprehend how you consider "filing a complaint" contrary to freedom of speech. They were free to write this, and are free it seems to disseminate false information...except there may be a true question of knowingly disseminating false information vs ignorantly doing so. One is always free to respond. freedom of speech is a one way street in your study/understanding of constitutional law? We can laugh at the ridiculousness to make ourselves feel better, we can ignore as we are just tired of one more thing, or we can ignore convincing ourselves that any correction sent in or protest will have no effect....all of those maintain the status quo. no basket can be made, no point ever scored, if you do not shoot. i hope some of you take a shot. I am. 

A while ago, HBO had a commercial for the show The Sopranos that portrayed blind people very badly. i wrote the CEO of TimeWarner. i rook great time and care, I wrote a professional level letter with passion. He read it himself. He wrote me back personally. The commercial was actually pulled, something I did not even ask for. This man is putting policies in place, including hiring, and training...and is aware of programming content and purchase for a VERY large media company. His idea of blindness is forever changed. That was no little deal. i was the only one, sometimes one letter can touch a person in power.

Not long after, Tom Toles, a pulitzer prize winning political cartoonist, made a cartoon that mischaracterized the blind, it was offensive and perpetuated false ideas.  I wrote him a long, passionate, reasoned, proper english, professional letter and told him how i felt, why it was a problem, and it had ruined my morning. He personally wrote back and apologized.  An assure you he will never again use a blind character in his cartoon that gives false ideas about blindness.

How do you eat an elephant? one bite at a time.
Best to you Joe,
Carrie
Sent from my iPad

On Mar 22, 2013, at 5:16 PM, "Joe" <jsoro620 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Carrie,
> 
> My apologies. I used the word "dictate" in the context of submitting a
> complaint to the website for publishing this content. We should by all means
> correct the misconceptions, but filing a complaint because we do not agree
> with a portrayal seems contrary to the freedom of speech you acknowledge.
> Get on the website and publish your own material to drown out the
> misconceptions that may have been published to the detriment of the blind.
> With all due respect, it would have a more profound effect than preaching
> amongst ourselves about something we are all in agreement is nonsense.--Joe
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Carrie Gilmer [mailto:carrie.gilmer at gmail.com] 
> Sent: Friday, March 22, 2013 2:38 PM
> To: jsoro620 at gmail.com; National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] eHow internet article series on blindness
> 
> Who is dictating Joe? Very strange terminology to me. When people are
> stereotyped, generalized falsely, negatively, portrayed with bias,
> etc...this is a country of free speech...protest, dismay, correction is not
> only acceptable and the right of any respondent or charging party, some have
> through history argued it is a moral responsibility to discard silence in
> the face of prejudice and discrimination. 
> Carrie
> Sent from my iPad
> 
> On Mar 22, 2013, at 12:55 PM, "Joe" <jsoro620 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> I will add my own support to the complaint, not because of the content 
>> but because people should not be quoated out of context. 
>> Unfortunately, we cannot dictate how people are depicted, as negative 
>> and frustrating as that may feel, but we can put out our own material 
>> to combat misconceptions. I wrote my own piece a few months back and 
>> share it here in case anyone wants to promote their own positive
> portrayals about blindness:
>> 
>> http://joeorozco.com/blog_facts_about_blindness_according_to_me
>> 
>> Joe
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Carrie 
>> Gilmer
>> Sent: Friday, March 22, 2013 9:49 AM
>> To: Blind Kid Mailing List; National Association of Blind Students 
>> mailing list
>> Subject: [nabs-l] eHow internet article series on blindness
>> 
>> Hello all~
>> I discovered last night a series of articles written and posted on 
>> eHow concerning blindness. they are misleading at best, horrifically 
>> bad perpetuated falsehoods at worst.  I had only viewed four of them 
>> last night and had to stop, I was so upset. This morning a friend 
>> pointed out that I was mentioned and partially quoted in another one! 
>> I was completely unaware, and found upon reading it, it is in the 
>> midst of misleading and mixed messages and not an accurate portrayal 
>> from the article or from our life!, I believe it was pulled from. The 
>> same is true for a friend of mine also "quoted" in the same article! 
>> one of the articles is titled "How to set the table for a blind 
>> person", yes, seriously. "How to care for a blind person"...They are 
>> Just dripping with condescending dramatic language and ideas! They 
>> appear to name the NFB (named National Federation FOR the Blind) as a
> reference!!!!!!!!
>> 
>> I strongly encourage you to read the articles in the series and write 
>> complaints both individually and as groups, with reasoned argument 
>> specific to false points. There are multiple authors, so letters 
>> naming problems with each article are needed.
>> 
>> We must get these off the internet.
>> 
>> Contact for complaint for eHow:
>> 
>> I ENCOURAGE EVERYONE WHO HAS COMPLAINT OR KNOWS ANYTHING ACCURATE 
>> ABOUT BLINDNESS TO WRITE A FORMAL COMPLAINT TO EHOW!!!! I will be 
>> doing it one for each ridiculous article!! i believe if they get 
>> enough coherent and reasonable complaints they will take these down 
>> permanently...as per their policy on misinformation!:
>> 
>> Further Information If you have a complaint, you may contact us at 
>> eHow, Inc. Legal Department, 5808 Lake Washington Blvd. Ste. 300, 
>> Kirkland, WA 98033, U.S.A. If you are a California resident, the 
>> Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Services of the 
>> Dept. of Consumer Affairs may be contacted at 400 R Street, 
>> Sacramento, CA 95814 or (800) 952-5210
>> 
>> Best,
>> 
>> Carrie
>> 
>> Sent from my iPad
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