[nabs-l] advocacy advice to an grandmother

Fri May 10 14:25:59 UTC 2013

Yes I will!!!! See you in Orlando!!

Chris Nusbaum

Sent from my iPhone

On May 10, 2013, at 10:24 AM, justin williams
<justin.williams2 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Indeed.  I agree.  Thanks man.  You going to be at convention?
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of christopher
> nusbaum
> Sent: Friday, May 10, 2013 10:03 AM
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] advocacy advice to an grandmother
>
> That's great to hear!! In my opinion, anyone can advocate in his/her own
> way, whether as a career or as a volunteer. Justin, as you know, much of our
> advocacy work in the Federation is done by Federationists who do it on a
> volunteer basis. So, don't feel like you can't advocate for the rights of
> the blind and other people with disabilities without doing it as your job.
>
> Chris Nusbaum
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On May 10, 2013, at 9:27 AM, justin williams <justin.williams2 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> I am also looking to do some advocating.  Not as a lawyer, but as I
>> make the journey towards obtaining my phd, it will included advocating
>> for persons with disabilities, or other focused groups who need
>> assistance.  That won't be my full time job, but it will be a part of
>> it.  I would love to help ADA lawyers with  my advocacy skills, and with
> my knowledge on the ADA.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Helga
>> Schreiber
>> Sent: Friday, May 10, 2013 1:26 AM
>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] advocacy advice to an grandmother
>>
>> Hi Mr. Robert, this is Helga Schreiber. I just wanted to say that the
>> letter
>>
>> that you wrote it says many true statements. In fact, I really like
>> the part
>>
>> where you say you advocate for people's rights by using your gifts as
>> a Journalist. I actually believe that God gives all of us a gift since
>> birth, and when you say that you say that you want to help people by
>> using your skills as a Journalist even though they say that nobody
>> will read your journals, you ignore them  and you stood firm in yor
>> goals to do so. As a matter of fact, I really like that, when someone
>> has that kind of courage and faith. I'm actually a college blind
>> freshman student, and I'm studying in order to become a Lawyer, so
>> that I could advocate for people's rights as
>>
>> well. Just to let you know, I don't want to become a Lawyer just for
>> the money; the reason I want to become a Lawyer is because I want to
>> help people. I truly believe that God created me and all of us for a
>> purpose, and
>>
>> that we dididn't came to this earth as an accident; instead, we came
>> to this
>>
>> earth in order to accomplish something, and leave a legacy for our
>> generations to come. In fact, Just to let you know, I just became
>> blind five
>>
>> years ago, due to many surgeries, but the news ofbecoming blind didn't
>> stop me; rather, it made my spirit rejoys in order to fulfil the
>> purpose that God
>>
>> put on my heart; to be come a Lawyer in order to advocate for others.
>> Actually, I want to help the elderly, disabled, immigrants, and people
>> in general with their rights. Also, I actually have many issues with
>> my college, due to the fact, that they don't provide the help that
>> Visually impaired students need; I'm actually the only blind student
>> in my college, but what happen if another blind student comes to the
>> college, are the college going to provide the help they need with
>> Braille and tecknology? I really like reading in Braille, but my
>> college sdoesn't provide me my materials in Braill at all. Actually,
>> my life story is and college experiences stories are very long, but if
>> you want to hear them you're very welcome! I'm actually a Christian,
>> and I believe that we should never give up or quit in our goalls;
>> rather we should continue going. I actually like to listen to music,
>> but I specially like to listen Christian music, and I like to listen
>> to many artists, but one particular Christian singer that I like is
>> called Chris Tomlin. And one of of his songs that really encourage me
>> and gives me faith to continue is called "Whom Shall I Fear" I really
>> like this song, and I hope that you like it as well. By the way. your
>> letter
>>
>> was very encouraging for me a lot Mr. Robert. God bless! and keep
>> using your
>>
>> gift in order to reach people and advocate for their rights. Hope to
>> talk to
>>
>> you soon! :)
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Darian Smith
>> Sent: Thursday, May 9, 2013 11:14 PM
>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] advocacy advice to an grandmother
>>
>> Hi all,
>> So I am  no doubt catching this thread on the tail-end, but I still
>> want to react  to  the letter.
>>
>> Firstly,  I appreciate your sharing   this  with all of us.  The Nabs-L
> list
>>
>> is a community, one with many many eyes reading what we write, but a
>> community all the same.
>>  No doubt  we all have different views on a particular subject and
>> certainly different views on blindness and the NFB, as well as the
>> various organizations  that  feel  that for their part they are  doing
>> great things to change  lives for the blind.
>>
>> Personally, I don't believe any organization is perfect, nor do I
>> think that
>>
>> any one  organization  is completely negative.
>> I think the best work in any movement is done when the people who are
>> most effected by the  issues they face are the people making the
>> decisions and driving the change ("nothing about us, without us").
>> In the National Federation of the blind, we work with  our sighted
>> peers in making those changes, which makes sense if we say that  the
>> work we does being done so that we can compete on a level playing
>> field  with our sighted
>>
>> peers.
>> I think that's important, because sometimes we think  that we are
>> setting ourselves  in a situation where it is the blind against the
>> sighted, and that's not very accurate at all. Our parents of blind
>> children are some of the strongest advocates in our movement, we have
>> sighted members of our affiliates that are just as loyal  as some of
>> our blind members, and we don't consider them any less or  any more of
>> a part of what we do. Further, I would dare say that sighted students
>> can be just as active  members of our
>>
>> organization, and we should welcome them with open arms.
>> There is no denying  that there is not a lot of cross-organization
>> collaboration, and for my part, I think this is unfortunate.  I think
>> that it is possible that one day, maybe sooner than we know, we will
>> see some of those bridges mended, and meaningful relationships grow from
> that.
>> In the meantime, I think it's fine to keep an open mind and connect
>> with anyone you feel a commonality with in either organization,
>> however that connection might  take root from.
>>     I admire anyone who feels strongly enough about a matter to
>> advocate for it. Some learn it from their parents, some learn it on
>> their own, some have learned it from theACB or NFB.
>> I personally think I gained  parts of my  philosophy on blindness and
>> advocacy as I  lived and learned, but a good deal of it came from my
>> experiences in the  federation.
>> One thing  that I will say in closing is that I believe we all have
>> the ability to be the change that we wish to see in the world we live
>> in.  Some of us do it by working with the blind, some of us do it by
>> living our lives and showing in how we live it how we believe the blind
> out to be treated.
>> Obviously, you can  and should  find your own thing to believe in, but
>> so long as you find that thing you believe in, it tends to make life
>> much more of an amazing experience.
>>
>> respectfully,
>> Darian
>>
>> On Apr 26, 2013, at 2:01 PM, "Littlefield, Tyler"
>> <tyler at tysdomain.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> I only have a couple of points.
>>> First, I really liked the letter you wrote--I'd just remove the
>>> random lol. Maybe I'm alone in thinking this, but older people
>>> generally don't care for what Lol means and it totally kills your flow
> here.
>>> Second, you're focusing a lot on NFB and ACB fighting among themselves.
>>> This might be true, but there are amazing people in both camps. I've
>>> been attacked on this list for being part of the ACB, then others
>>> don't care because whatever I am part of, as long as I do something
>>> somehow to help it doesn't matter.
>>> The organizations themselves don't fight, it's mainly the die-hard
>>> fans of
>>
>>> either camp. While it's not always the case, I've never seen all that
>>> much
>>
>>> intelligence in the people that attacked me for being part of the ACB
>>> to begin with, so if they feel they need to scream at me, I'd rather
>>> them do that than say, try to promote fairness by doing something
>>> that would make us look worse.
>>>
>>> You also kind of sound like you're screaming into the wind here with
>>> your talk of nothing happening. There is a lot of stuff happening,
>>> it's just a very slow process. Your influence as well as everyone
>>> elses helps contribute to that bigger picture, even if it's not obvious
> right now.
>>>
>>> Just my two cents.
>>> On 4/26/2013 2:20 PM, Robert William Kingett wrote:
>>>> Let me know your thoughts.
>>>>
>>>> Dear xxx.
>>>>
>>>> I hope that I got your name right because I have never ever been
>>>> good with names. I guess it runs in the family. LOL.
>>>>
>>>> I want to introduce myself to you. Sam forwarded me your message and
>>>> it was really moving that I just had to respond personally.
>>>>
>>>> I want to introduce what Sam and I do and then I will comment on
>>>> what you
>>
>>>> have so truthfully written and I also want to give you my thoughts,
>>>> based
>>
>>>> on observation alone. Sam and are both blindness related advocates
>>>> here in Chicago Illinois. I'm a blind journalist here in Chicago
>>>> Illinois as well as an advocate for the LGBT community. I'm most
>>>> known for my journalistic endeavors and I want to tell you something
>>>> very personal and
>>
>>>> profound.
>>>>
>>>> I've been blind ever since birth and I grew up in a very abusive
>>>> environment. When you say the word invisible that really struck a
>>>> chord with me. Even though I have dealt with the abusive past by
>>>> turning it into positive advocacy energy that one word brought back
>>>> several memories. I was invisible in both cases, from the blindness
>>>> side and the domestic violence side, and, I had to find my own way
>>>> out of it because the school for the blind I was in just didn't care
>>>> to get involved with such matters. The unusualDCF investigations
>>>> never went as far as someone from child services coming to our home
>>>> to investigate only to deem that everything was fine because, even
>>>> though I did not like my mom, I covered
>>
>>>> up for her. My troubles at home were invisible to everyone, or so I
>>>> believed. The truth is that they weren't invisible and someone had
>>>> noticed. Naturally, they just didn't know what to do.
>>>>
>>>> In school I also learned to embrace my blindness because I saw the
>>>> treatment that we received at a young age. When I was 11, I asked
>>>> the manager at a restaurant why he didn't have any Braille menus,
>>>> and why he was breaking the law. He didn't have an answer for me, so
>>>> I began to ask that question at every restaurant I came to. It was
>>>> an easy question for me to ask. Why? Because I asked my mom why she
>>>> broke the law all the time. I was, and still am, a bookworm so I had
>>>> a lot of questions, based on the stuff I read critically. In high
>>>> school I found my own way out of the abusive home and that's when I
>>>> truly learned what independence was and so I began to go around
>>>> school telling other blind kids what it meant
>>
>>>> as well. On the academic side of the circle, the Florida school for
>>>> the deaf and the blind was very good, but anything social skills
>>>> related, advocacy related, that just flew over their heads. They
>>>> didn't even tell us what college was going to be like. I had to
>>>> experience that for myself. I realized that I had a gift and that
>>>> gift was to string words together to make people listen. I was a
>>>> writer and I started studying the
>>
>>>> extent, the power that my gift held. I began writing proposals for a
>>>> school newspaper that the school had never had and I soon started my
>>>> own school newspaper. Even at a blind school, the teachers told me
>>>> that no one would read it. Kids at Saint Augustine high were
>>>> crawling to pay for the fourth issue.
>>>>
>>>> I do have a point to this entire story so just hang in there! LOL.
>>>>
>>>> I wasn't invisible anymore but the blindness community was, and I
>>>> realized this even more after I got out of high school. I'm sure
>>>> that you
>>
>>>> have heard about the NFB and ACB and AFB and all of the above and
>>>> many more. If you haven't they are blindness advocacy groups that do
>>>> their own
>>
>>>> parts in different things. You want to talk about invisible? These
>>>> groups
>>
>>>> are invisible. They are just now being heard about in mainstream
>>>> media regularly. Even now, though, the only people who know about
>>>> them are blind people. Why? Because there haven't been any loud
>>>> voices. Okay, correction, there are loud voices but they are quietly
>>>> yelling, thinking they will not do anything worthwhile by speaking
>>>> up. You're an example of
>>
>>>> a voice that everyone should listen to. These blind groups would
>>>> listen but there's a huge problem with these groups, and it's a
>>>> shame to see the
>>
>>>> ironic twist, they don't reach out to sighted people for assistance
>>>> with legal matters, or any other matter, they'd rather stay in their
>>>> own tents, if you get my drift. Some efforts, not all, but some, are
>>>> after the media to do stories about them. The NFB and ACB both have
>>>> a lot to offer but they both don't do a big enough job on their own
> separately.
>>>> They do things on a case-by-case basis, and their efforts are to
>>>> educate the public about the blind and then change comes after the
> education.
>>>> Plus, they even fight among one another, and waste energy doing it.
>>>> All that yelling could have been done to do something better. The
>>>> ACB people will say they are better, the NFB say that they do the right
> thing.
>>>> Never, ever, have they collaborated on anything solid to make a
>>>> powerful enough standing for change. Education does little good if
>>>> change isn't implemented but they haven't realized this yet. They
>>>> want to say that their group is better than the other rather than
>>>> make efforts to change the community to better serve the blind.
>>>>
>>>> That being said, there's a lot of people who are making a difference.
>>>>
>>>> For example, I want to point you to Christine.
>>>> http://www.christineha.com/
>>>>
>>>> She was a blind MasterChef winner last season.
>>>>
>>>> There's a car that's driverless, allowing blind people to be mobile
>>>> like never before...
>>>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_driverless_car
>>>>
>>>> Also, the ACB have managed to get the communications and
>>>> accessibility act signed by Obama, which will allow all electronic
>>>> devices, even cell phones to be accessible.
>>>> http://www.acb.org/adp/tv.html. They are also taking strides to make
>>>> all paper currency accessible to the blind and the
>>
>>>> visually impaired.
>>>>
>>>> The NFB have done much work on employment. They have done so many
>>>> things that I'll just give you their website. https://nfb.org/
>>>>
>>>> And people like us, me, Sam, you, and every other small voice out
>>>> there makes a big difference, even if we don't realize it or see it
> right away.
>>
>>>> For instance, I received an email from a woman whose wives, sisters,
>>>> and friend I helped out years ago. You know how they say that every
>>>> action has an equal and opposite reaction? Even though the action
>>>> isn't seen and
>>
>>>> heard for years, it's an action that will be carried out for sure.
>>>> For example, the FSDB kids of today now have a paper they can write
>>>> for because of my simple action three years ago. I'm glad that I
>>>> made that decision.
>>>>
>>>> I do think that we should unite to give the blind a much more stable
>>>> ground to walk on but I'm just one person. Bigger and better
>>>> companies and blindness organizations have a lot to fight about that
>>>> are a lot more
>>
>>>> important than our wishes and dreams. I'm sorry to say but it's the
>>>> truth. These blindness groups have a lot of energy to fight each
>>>> other but that's changing too. That being said, I'm still going to
>>>> continue to do my small actions of writing and advocacy and standing
>>>> up for our rights as blind people because I know that somewhere
>>>> along the line, even
>>
>>>> after my death, I will have made a powerful impact on someone's life
>>>> and have made them a better person because I managed to get people
>>>> talking because an article was published or because I demanded to
>>>> see a company officer to straighten out an accessibility barrier,
>>>> gave them some guidance. It's hard to stand up for the right thing
>>>> because it seems that
>>
>>>> no one is listening. They are listening. I do believe, however, that
>>>> this
>>
>>>> blindness schism is the worst that I've ever seen and it's the
>>>> dumbest thing ever especially since they both promote inclusion and
>>>> equality and they can't even include one another. To combat this,
>>>> the people, not organizations, not the NFB, not the ACB, not the
>>>> AFB, the people need to change what it means to be blind. We're doing
> that. You're doing that.
>>>> You're amazing! We're amazing! Even though we're making progress it
>>>> will take time, as with all great things. Big things come in small
>>>> packages and voices and efforts.
>>>>
>>>> Your small actions towards your granddaughter will be remembered,
>>>> and appreciated, and used very well even though they may seem as
>>>> though they are not getting anywhere at the moment they will blossom
>>>> into something big. People like us just have to continue to be loud
>>>> positive vocal people who will both advocate and educate for the
>>>> blind and the visually impaired. We can't rely on just blindness
>>>> groups because then we will be sitting on our hands talking, taking no
> action.
>>>>
>>>> I just want to say hell yes you're a good grandmother. She knows
>>>> Braille;
>>
>>>> she's standing up for herself. You're giving her all she needs, even
>>>> if it's not right now. Even a small ripple can make a big wave.
>>>> We're making
>>
>>>> a big wave, even if that wave won't come until years later. Our
>>>> small actions will impact the world, and that's why I do what I do.
>>>> That's why I don't give up because no matter how much arguing goes
>>>> on, ignorance is displayed, services are denied, etc. I know that I
>>>> have the power to change things. I'm proud to use my particular
>>>> power of writing to change the world and to change what it means to
>>>> be blind. You are changing your granddaughter's world, and someday,
>>>> she will remember how you changed her
>>
>>>> world and then she will change other people's lives and that will be
>>>> all because of you, xxx, you're an amazing ripple. Continue to make
>>>> that wave!
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Take care,
>>> Ty
>>> http://tds-solutions.net
>>> The aspen project: a barebones light-weight mud engine:
>>> http://code.google.com/p/aspenmud
>>> He that will not reason is a bigot; he that cannot reason is a fool;
>>> he that dares not reason is a slave.
>>>
>>>
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