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

Sun Mar 30 19:30:45 UTC 2014

Hi Arielle,
Your leadership and your openness to new ideas is a feature I thoroughly still enjoy on this list. :) Keep it up!
I sadly have noticed that for a person who may have multiple disabilities and may not be able to follow, say structured disorcovery to a tee, they have felt put out or less than. Thankfully this does not happen to everyone, and like you said there are always other chapters and devisions. When I next talk to a few friends who have felt like outsiders I will be sure to mention this option.

-Anjelina
Sent from my iPad

> On Mar 30, 2014, at 2:00 PM, Arielle Silverman <arielle71 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi Joe,
> 
> Thanks for sharing your experiences. I have not been following the
> Braille Monitor that closely but I can understand what you are saying
> about the increased emphasis on fund-raising. I have also felt like
> the national convention is turning into more of a carnival with all
> the exhibitors and prizes being given away, and much of banquet that
> used to focus on philosophy and NFB spirit is now taken up with prize
> drawings and the like.
> To be fair, NFB was stronger financially when we joined than it is
> now, and I understand that some national programs have been cut due to
> a decrease in revenue from what used to be steady reliable income
> sources. So NFB may be pushing fund-raising more, but the alternative
> could be a loss of programs and resources.
> I have not heard of anyone being blatantly turned away or refused
> membership in an NFB chapter. If that ever happens it is truly
> shameful. I do think that sometimes prospective members choose not to
> join because they perceive hostility from the organization or judgment
> of their lifestyle choices. I think part of that is perception only,
> and part of it is reality. The NFB is stereotyped as a radical
> one-size-fits-all organization, and new members expecting to find that
> could be especially sensitive to cues of hostility. However, there
> probably is some real lack of acceptance among certain segments of the
> organization, which, again, is unfortunate. I will say that I am not
> the most graceful blind person and was relatively unskilled when I
> first joined, and I still felt completely accepted. But I know not all
> of us are so lucky. I would encourage prospective members who have a
> negative experience to try again in a different chapter or division
> and perhaps they will find acceptance there. But at the same time,
> this is something we need to be sensitive to in the organization.
> 
> Arielle
> 
>> On 3/30/14, Michael Capelle <michael.capelle at frontier.com> wrote:
>> Hello all.
>> This is why I am not apart of any "blind movement."  I live my own life,
>> live my own philosophy, ETC.  I do not believe in a one size fits all
>> mentality, which is unfurtunately what the NFB does.
>> Thanks.
>> Mike
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: RJ Sandefur
>> Sent: Sunday, March 30, 2014 11:51 AM
>> To: jsoro620 at gmail.com ; National Association of Blind Students mailing
>> list
>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Success and Why I Left the NFB
>> 
>> 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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>> 
>> 
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>> 
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