[nabs-l] Why Are You a Member of the NFB?
Arielle Silverman
arielle71 at gmail.com
Wed Jan 21 02:08:48 UTC 2015
Hi Elizabeth and all,
I think it is hard for us to give you the answers you are seeking
because the answer to your question is complicated. As a good friend
once told me, "There are three sides to every story: what you think
happened, what the other person thinks happened and what actually
happened". The negative experiences you've had with NFB probably stem
from a combination of the specific NFB members you've interacted with,
your behavior, and your interpretations of those interactions.
Several listers have mentioned high expectations. The NFB does espouse
high expectations for blind people, but this often comes across as a
kind of tough love. The tough-love approach works well for many people
and those people tend to stay around the NFB. However, I think that
for some people this tough love feels more like harsh criticism. There
is absolutely nothing wrong with feeling this way. It just means that
style of mentoring doesn't work well for you personally. Conversely, I
think some NFB members take the NFB philosophy as a reason to harshly
judge other blind people who they think are not living up to
standards. This is sad but it does happen. So, if you happen to be a
person who doesn't respond well to tough love, and you came across
judgmental NFB members, this sounds like the conditions to create a
bad match between you and the organization. Again, it doesn't mean you
are bad, it doesn't mean the organization is bad, it just means the
organization may be a poor fit for your particular needs.
For the record, while I am happy being part of NFB, I am glad there
are multiple blindness organizations out there because I think it's
good for blind people to have a choice in which organization they can
join. If any of you have tried out NFB and feel like it's not quite
what you were looking for, I'd encourage you to check out the ACB,
check out local blindness groups, until you find a group you feel
truly welcome in and that captures your interests. I happen to believe
there are many blind folks who are NFB at heart, meaning they believe
it is respectable to be blind, even though they choose not to join the
NFB. I've met some of those guys. I think any blind person who is
living the life they want is an asset to the organized blind no matter
what groups they join or don't join. I also think those blind folks
who are struggling to live the lives they want are definitely worthy
of joining with us, including you Elizabeth. While I encourage anyone
who's unhappy in NFB to check out alternatives,I also think we as an
organization need to really evaluate how we can be better meeting the
needs of those who are unhappy. Part of it is just understanding that
different people respond to different styles of mentoring and that for
some, blindness is not their primary issue they are dealing with. I
think we as an organization need to work on loving our members
unconditionally even as we encourage them to raise expectations for
themselves.
Best, Arielle
On 1/20/15, Elizabeth Mohnke via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hello Carl,
>
> I was trying to frame my questions in a more positive way because
> continuing
> to focus on the negative only seems to upset me and create more negativity.
> I have shared bits and pieces of my specific experience with a number of
> individuals privately, and sharing these specifics of my personal
> experience
> with others has never really done anything to answer the question as to why
> I am treated so poorly within the National Federation of the Blind.
>
> As I have already stated, my overall experience within the NFB has been
> marked with harsh criticism and rejection rather than encouragement,
> support, and acceptance. Because of this I am questioning why I keep trying
> to remain a part of the National Federation of the Blind.
>
> Therefore, I thought it would be beneficial to hear why others are a part
> of
> the NFB, what factors make their experience a positive one rather than a
> negative one, and the strengths of the organization. I thought perhaps this
> would help me identify any positives from my own experience even though it
> is rather negative. I also wanted to see how I might be able to make my
> experience with the NFB a more positive one while trying to prevent someone
> else from having the same negative experience as me.
>
> However, it would appear as though trying to use this more positive
> approach
> has not been all that successful, and I apologize for bringing up such a
> controversial subject on the email list.
>
> Warm regards,
> Elizabeth
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Karl Martin Adam [mailto:kmaent1 at gmail.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2015 12:01 PM
> To: Elizabeth Mohnke; National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Why Are You a Member of the NFB?
>
> Hi Elizabeth, I understand why you might want to be vague about exactly
> what
> your negative experiences have been, but this makes it difficult for any of
> us to give you constructive answers.
> Without knowing what problems you've had and how they came about, we can't
> tell you what we've done differently or point out that we've interacted
> with
> different people or realize that we evaluate certain things as being less
> negative or anything like that. At least in my case, one difference in our
> experience is probably that I've never had a need or desire to contact the
> president of the organization or anyone that powerful and busy.
> My interactions have been mostly with ordinary members, who have in the
> vast
> majority of cases been open and welcoming. I'm also primarily a member
> because I support the NFB's advocacy goals, not because I'm looking for
> self-affirmation from leadership.
> That being said, when I was young, I was involved in the local mentoring
> program led by Allan Harris where I learned Braille and my basic mobility
> skills, which was overwhelmingly a positive experience. As Arielle said,
> it
> is very sad that you, and others, have had negative experiences, and we
> should all work to reduce those as much as possible. I hope that you can
> feel comfortable enough to talk about exactly what problems you've had, so
> that people can try to fix them. Of course, I can think of many reasons
> you
> might not want to do that, so please don't feel pressured in any way.
>
> Best,
> Karl
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Elizabeth Mohnke via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> To: "'Manners, Derek'" <dmanners at jd16.law.harvard.edu>,"'National
> Association of Blind Students mailing list'" <nabs-l at nfbnet.org Date sent:
> Tue, 20 Jan 2015 10:47:32 -0500
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Why Are You a Member of the NFB?
>
> Hello Justin,
>
> Thank you for sharing your experience with the National Federation of the
> Blind. However, I am honestly wondering if we are talking about the same
> organization here as my overall experience with the National Federation of
> the Blind is absolutely nothing like what you have described in this email.
> What do you believe accounts for these differences? What makes your overall
> experience so positive while my overall experience has been so negative?
> Why
> have you been able to find encouraging words from people who truly seem to
> care about you while I have mostly received criticism and rejection from
> peple who do not seem to care all that much about me? I have a lot more
> questions, but I am honestly not sure which ones would be appropriate to
> post on such a public email list.
>
> And for those of you who believe my negative experience with the National
> Federation of the Blind simply stems from a bad interaction with leaders on
> a local level, I simply do not agree with you. My negative experience with
> the National Federation of the Blind appears to occur at all levels of the
> organization. Whether it be my first interaction with an NFB board member,
> an email exchange with the new President of the NFB, interactions with the
> NABS board, or interactions with state affiliate and local chapter leaders,
> I would say that most of these interactions are nothing like what you have
> described in your email.
>
> And so I am just wondering, and I have been wondering this for quite some
> time now, why are there such drastic differences between what I have
> experienced as a member of the National Federation of the Blind and what
> others have experienced as members of the National Federation of the Blind?
> I honestly feel as though I have been sold a lot of empty promises and
> false
> advertising because for me the NFB has never really been anything that
> anyone has ever told me it would be. Hopefully, I have framed my questions
> in such a way that they elicit a constructive positive dialog rather than
> offend anyone who believes my overall experience with the National
> Federation of the Blind could possibly be anything less than positive.
>
> Warm regards,
> Elizabeth
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Manners, Derek
> via nabs-l
> Sent: Monday, January 19, 2015 11:03 PM
> To: Justin Salisbury; National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Why Are You a Member of the NFB?
>
> 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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