[nabs-l] Why Are You a Member of the NFB?

Manners, Derek dmanners at jd16.law.harvard.edu
Tue Jan 20 04:02:56 UTC 2015


I would add to Justin's words and say that the main reason I chose the
National Federation of the Blind over the ACB is that the NFB tries to make
the word accessible for blind people and expects us to be a part of it.
For example, in Massachusetts, our state treasurer (a blind Harvard
graduate) was the first blind teacher in America in large part due to
pressure and advocacy from the NFB.  The NFB of MA pushed for blind people
to be able to buy life insurance for the same price as sighted people and
not to be discriminated against due to our disability.  The NFB of MA also
pushed to allow blind people to serve on juries.  Can you imagine a world
in which we could not sit on juries despite being lawyers, scientists,
teachers, etc.?  We are continuing to make strides in accessible voting,
accessible ATMs, accessible taxis.  However, these efforts were started by
the NFB.  The reason Apple and iTunes are so accessible is because of
lawsuits by the NFB.

Those efforts of the past have made the world a better place for blind
people.  If our generation has as much success, the world will be that much
closer to full accessibility and that is why I'm with the NFB.

I understand that some states are better than others and that it can be
very frustrating when you don't feel like you can work with the people in
your state.  I'd be happy to talk to you off list about those issues as I
had a similar issue in Massachusetts when I first joined.  Our state
president at the time was overwhelmed by the job and did not respond to me
for months at a time.

Best Wishes
Derek Manners

On Mon, Jan 19, 2015 at 10:26 PM, Justin Salisbury via nabs-l <
nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> Dear Elizabeth,
>
> Thank you for catalyzing this discussion. I'm going to reply with my
> knee-jerk answers and may follow up later if more ideas develop. I think
> the answer that comes by reflex can be the most authentic.
>
> Why do you choose to be a member of the National Federation of the Blind?
> The National Federation of the Blind has created so many opportunities for
> me and changed the world before I was even born. When I became a blind
> person in 2005, the society that I faced was much better because of the 65
> years of work of the National Federation of the Blind. I believe it is my
> duty to the people who came before me (people I will never meet) and to
> those blind people of the future to carry the baton and run my leg of the
> race. I actually keep a quote from Dr. Jernigan's speech about climbing the
> stairs to freedom in my email signature. You can read it if you like.
> I also have found so many mentors through the Federation who have changed
> my life by changing how I look at it. Before I found the Federation, I used
> to wield blindness as a source of pity to get scholarship money and to
> impress news reporters with the fact that I would get out of bed every
> morning. At my first NFB event, a state convention where I was a
> scholarship winner, I was trying to complain about how hard science was as
> a blind person. Three blind people surrounded me and started encouraging
> me, telling me that the Federation would help me get through it. They were
> a chemist, a civil engineer, and an environmental scientist. I wanted pity,
> but they wouldn't let me give up on myself. Still today, we have 50,000
> blind people who won't accept low expectations for blind people. We have
> training centers that give people their lives back-or give them the lives
> they never had but always deserved. I can't not be  a part of that.
>
> If you believe your experience with the National Federation of the blind
> is a positive one, what do you believe are the key factors that you believe
> makes your experience positive rather than negative?
>
> 1. Good Mentoring
> 2. Good Blind Role Models
> 3. Learning about leadership
> 4. Helping other people by empowering them
> 5. Nourishment in the philosophy that equips me to face the low
> expectations in society and do it effectively
> 6. Friendship with a lot of great people
> 7. Let's not forget all the fun! Things like room parties at national
> convention, pie-in-the-face fundraisers, latin dancing, you name it!
>
> And finally, what do you believe are the current strengths of the National
> Federation of the Blind as it looks into the future?
>
> 1. Relationship-oriented leadership: our personal relationships in our
> movement help carry us through the tough times and are still fun in the
> good times
> 2. Focus on a common goal: We're all fighting for the same thing.
> 3. Giving each other second chances: For example, I made some pretty bad
> mistakes in my campaign for NABS President, and a lot of the NABS members
> and leaders-and National Federation of the Blind members and leaders-could
> have chosen to never let me live those down. The totem animal in my Native
> American name is the Phoenix, which can burst into flame and be reborn any
> time it wants to reinvent itself. I have been able to reinvent myself, but
> a necessary part of that is others' willingness to let me. I bring this up
> because, no matter what it is that people have on you or against you, if
> they are truly leaders in our movement, they will give you a chance to
> reinvent yourself. It's all about us getting to the same common goals,
> right?
> 4. We have a rock-solid understanding of something that is true. The
> National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
> characterist that defines you or your future. Every day, we raise the
> expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles
> between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want;
> blindness is not what holds you back.
>
> With much love for my Federation family,
>
> Justin Salisbury
>
> Justin Salisbury - Running Thunder Phoenix
> Graduate Student
> Professional Development and Research Institute on Blindness
> Louisiana Tech University
> Email: jms132 at latech.edu
> Twitter: @SalisburyJustin
>
> But, of course, we will not fail. We will continue to climb. Our heritage
> demands it; our faith confirms it; our humanity requires it. Whatever the
> sacrifice, we will make it. Whatever the price, we will pay it. Seen from
> this perspective, the hostility and backlash (the challenges and
> confrontations) are hardly worth noticing. They are only an irritant. My
> brothers and my sisters, the future is ours. Come! Join me on the stairs,
> and we will finish the journey.
> - Dr. Kenneth Jernigan
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Elizabeth
> Mohnke via nabs-l
> Sent: Monday, January 19, 2015 8:52 PM
> To: 'National Association of Blind Students mailing list'
> Subject: [nabs-l] Why Are You a Member of the NFB?
>
> Hello All,
>
> It appears to me that I have started to become a rather disheartened
> member of the NFB. Although, I am sure some of you would argue that I am
> already there. Anyway, as I try to work through the questions that seem to
> keep rumbling through my mind, I thought I would ask a few questions to
> spur on some discussion on this email list.
>
> Why do you choose to be a member of the National Federation of the Blind?
> If you believe your experience with the National Federation of the blind is
> a positive one, what do you believe are the key factors that you believe
> makes your experience positive rather than negative? And finally, what do
> you believe are the current strengths of the National Federation of the
> Blind as it looks into the future?
>
> Please feel free to answer any or all of the questions, or any other
> question related to these ones. If you feel as though you relate more to
> being a member of the National Association of Blind Students rather than
> the National Federation of the Blind as a whole, you can answer these
> questions from this point of view as well.
>
> I look forward to hearing your responses.
>
> Warm regards,
> Elizabeth
>
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