[nabs-l] Success and Why I Left the NFB

[RJ Sandefur]

Joe, I agree with you. I had to attend both college, and Seminary without 
the NFB's help, although it would have been nice to have a mentoor. RJ
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joe" <jsoro620 at gmail.com>
To: "'National Association of Blind Students mailing list'" 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, March 30, 2014 12:25 PM
Subject: [nabs-l] Success and Why I Left the NFB


> 2006 was the last year I attended a national convention. While there I was
> caught up in the ra ra of the movement and felt glad to be in the company 
> of
> so many people who could relate to the challenges that awaited me as a
> recent college graduate. I left convention, finished up my summer as a
> counselor in Iowa, and set off for DC to begin my business with the real
> world. I would never take away someone's enthusiasm from attending a
> national convention or Washington Seminar or one of the weekend leadership
> seminars in Baltimore. They are very well-suited to boost a person's 
> spirit,
> but I believe too many people fall through the cracks when faced with
> reality outside of those infrequent gatherings.
>
> To be fair, the organization is no different from any other nonprofit
> business. It needs money to sustain itself, and in turn it needs more
> members to help raise the money. Still, I found it rather disappointing 
> that
> so much of the board meeting I tuned into listen to last summer was
> dominated by calls to raise money for this fund or that effort. I found it
> even sadder that a recent issue of the Braille Monitor, our monthly dose 
> of
> inspiration, featured several articles just to the focus of generating 
> more
> ways to drum up more financial support, but perhaps the most frustrating
> byproduct of this new NFB are the e-mails from so-called friends from whom 
> I
> have not heard in years but boldly ask me to contribute to their NFB
> fundraising campaigns.
>
> In short, at some point the NFB embraced enterprise and forgot about the
> movement. Between 2006 and 2012 I went on to help lead development efforts
> for other nonprofits outside of the blindness field, also national in 
> scope.
> They too made fundraising a priority, but it never felt like the top, or 
> the
> only, priority. It gets tiresome when we focus on recruiting new blood and
> raising new money and forget about strengthening the members and resources
> we've already had.
>
> Nowadays I have the privilege of knowing some excellent blind 
> professionals.
> I think they would do well in the NFB. They are smarter than I ever will 
> be
> and have accomplished more than I may ever achieve, but they shun the
> organization because they were turned away or because they were never
> welcomed in the first place. It's something I should have kept in mind 
> when
> I had my brief taste of leadership in the organization. I had too much of 
> a
> mouth on me to ever be anyone's golden child, but I was reliable enough to
> get the job done. But, getting the job done should have really meant
> attracting and pulling in these men and women who could have made the NFB
> lots better, listening to new ideas, and most important, remaining true to
> the cause and not some multi-million-dollar institute we find ourselves
> incapable of sustaining.
>
> So, what does any of this have to do with the original post? I don't want 
> it
> to ever be said I was a hypocrite. The leadership may as well know what I
> think of them, but more importantly, to the college kids on the verge of
> spreading their own wings, I want you to know the NFB banner will only 
> guide
> your way so far. Take what's great about the organization and leave the
> political drama and marketing ploys behind. In the end it will be your own
> wits and talents that will earn your pay check. The NFB will never give 
> you
> anything new. The philosophy merely helps you uncover what you always had 
> to
> be successful. Anything could happen with the new NFB president, and I 
> will
> be the first to retract my words if he is brave enough to reverse this
> downward spiral. You see, we no longer live in a world where the NFB is
> necessary for collective momentum. Technology has seen to that. Whether or
> not the movement sticks around largely depends on how badly we want it to
> exist.
>
> Is the ACB doing it any better? That's debatable, but you know what I've
> found from the people I've met on that side of the house? They seem 
> happier,
> and that's something we can't seem to figure out in our camp. The few
> victories they celebrate they do with even less money. Let that be a 
> lesson
> in financial management to you.
>
> I don't know what the hell I'm doing back here. I told myself I would 
> never
> become one of those bitter former NFB members. My only goal was to provide
> different perspectives to the new generation of leaders coming up through
> the ranks. After all, if you never taste the real world, you have no
> business leading. That's like the teacher who teaches because they 
> couldn't
> cut it, and believe it or not, I want to see more and more of you excel at
> whatever it is you want to do. The more of you there are, the greater our
> strength.
>
> Moving forward I reckon I'll keep my opinions to myself here lest I be the
> rotten apple that spoils the bunch, but in some lame attempt to answer the
> original question, my answer would be this:
>
> The characteristics of a successful blind person are humility to consume
> what they need to be successful, fortitude to turn away what will not, and
> wisdom to recognize the difference.
>
> Joe
>
> --
> Twitter: @ScribblingJoe
>
> Visit my blog:
> http://joeorozco.com/blog
>
>
>
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