[nabs-l] Justin Salisbury for NABS President

[Justin Salisbury]

Fellow Federationists:
Did you know that the National Association of Blind Students board, a bunch of people I love, has a private agreement that presenters on the agenda cannot run for officer positions? I think the mere fact that I am blowing this whistle tells you where I stand on it. I am running for President of the National Association of Blind Students (NABS) because I love NABS, including my fellow board members, and don't like the way NABS functions today. I was going to disappear from the board and NABS leadership because I was discouraged.  I wanted to focus on chapter, affiliate, and division development, legislative advocacy, and the broader initiatives of the National Federation of the Blind. I wanted to "participate as an integral part of the National Federation of the Blind," which I quote from the NABS constitution, but I did not feel like NABS was a vehicle to do that.  I had come to believe that the primary role of NABS had become a blind student networking outlet. Thankfully, some friends and role models of mine from Baltimore picked me up off the ground and told me not to give up on NABS.
We will not have to sacrifice the social element of NABS if we move it to our peripheral attention. People love people, and I have faith that we will always build personal relationships. I want us to focus more on activity between the big, face-to-face gatherings that only happen a couple of times per year. I want our board to be more hands-on as regional representatives, and, fundamentally, I want to bring more organization to our organization. The National Federation of the Blind is the organized blind movement. I have led workshops and written an article in the Student Slate about creating advertising directories in student divisions. This master email list through which I am contacting you was my idea and my project. I want to focus on unified communication structures for student divisions, like Facebook, Twitter, and NFBnet email lists. The power that comes from being organized is tremendous; a little organizing goes a long way. Then, we can focus on both student-specific issues and the broader efforts of the National Federation of the Blind. If we look around the country, college campuses are hotspots for legislative advocacy. I want NABS to reflect this in the organized blind movement.
I have a mind for organizing everything except my apartment. The more highly we prioritize organization, the more organized we will be and the stronger the organization skills of our members and leaders will be.
I have the kind of love that enables me to work all night long to further our movement, and it's because I love NABS and my fellow blind students that I am not giving up on NABS. I always focus on preparing and empowering my successors, evident in my article on leadership philosophy in the April 2014 Braille Monitor. I do not hold grudges. I grew up on a gravel road in northeastern Connecticut and attended a regional high school on the UConn campus. I attack a problem with the same tenacity and work ethic that has produced two years of dual NCAA men's and women's basketball championships from my hometown UConn Huskies. This job will not be easy, but I will not give up on NABS.
I love doing the work of the Federation so much that I have left my top-ten economics doctoral program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to attend Louisiana Tech University to become a cane travel instructor. I am in the pool of potential speakers for our agenda so that I can tell everyone how my experience at the Louisiana Center for the Blind changed my life and career path. I pray that I will have the opportunity to share my story, but I understand that this would violate the private agreement within the NABS board and will attempt to get it adjusted in my case. Whether I speak or not, I am writing my story as another article to submit to the Braille Monitor.
I am proud to be a national leader in our movement and even more proud to have other national leaders supporting and encouraging me. I have a decorated resume with many titles and accomplishments, but I want voters to focus on my love for NABS and my fellow blind students, on the railroad that we can build together, and on the effort to achieve equality, opportunity and security for the blind.
I will be forever grateful for your vote, Justin Salisbury for NABS President, at our national convention. I guarantee that countless other blind students and non-students will be grateful, as well.

Love,

Justin Salisbury
Board Member
National Association of Blind Students
president at alumni.ecu.edu<mailto:president at alumni.ecu.edu>