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

Sun Mar 30 22:53:21 UTC 2014

Beth,
Oh my goodness, I don't know where you had this experience. But, I'd have to 
say that we have people with other disabilities in our local chapters.
I don't think your perception is accurate of NFB totally. NFB has many 
diverse members. However, I think your individual experience with a 
particular chapter may make you characterize it this way. I can see why 
those with multiple disabilities may feel unwelcome in some chapters, yet, I 
see nothing in our constitution or philosophy precluding those with mental 
disabilities from joining.

Ashley

-----Original Message----- 
From: Beth Taurasi
Sent: Sunday, March 30, 2014 3:03 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Success and Why I Left the NFB

Because of the mental health issues I've experienced, the NFB has
shunned me, and any division having to do with blind/mental illness
folks has been shunned by the NFB.  I'm sorry, but that sounds weird to
me that anyone would shun another person in the disabled community.
Beth
On 3/30/2014 11:53 AM, Juanita Herrera wrote:
> Hello Joe,
> I strongly agree with you. I once held a leadership position in the NFB. 
> However, due to health issues I was unable to continue holding that 
> position, so I found myself having to give it up. Since then maybe one or 
> two people have kept in touch with me. That brought me to the realization 
> that this particular organization only wants people when that person has 
> something to offer. If a person is unable to contribute, it seems like 
> those people are pushed to the side or forgotten. Just as you stated, I 
> feel that I have fallen through the cracks. In my opinion, if an 
> organization wants to keep its members active and it's membership growing, 
> then they should continue to reach out to their members even when those 
> members are unable to contribute because maybe at a later time they'll be 
> able to do so again. However, being that I have fallen through the cracks 
> I don't know if I'll be able to do that again. I sort of feel rejected by 
> my own community. Sorry for the long rant but these have been my feelings 
> for a while now.
> Juanita
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>> On Mar 30, 2014, at 9:25 AM, "Joe" <jsoro620 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> 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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