[Nfb-editors] Purpose of a NFB publication

[Wunder, Gary]

Hello Robert. I see that this thread has generated some very thoughtful posts, and I appreciate the willingness of folks to put in there ore. I think that the essence of your message is absolutely correct. We are not looking for gloom and doom here. We are not trying to categorize young people as misguided or lacking in attention or unwilling to help. We are simply trying to figure out how they respond, what they feel worth helping, and how, when it comes to the bottom line, we can help them. If that isn't the ultimate goal, we might as well enjoy what we have and simply move along. I have always felt a tremendous obligation to do justice to the memory of those who came before me and it obligation to pay forward so that I help people who come after. I don't believe this is at all a unique perspective, either on this list or in the community of blind people. The question is how we channel what is out there, and how we help without seeming to be critical.

So many of you have been helpful to me in your responses that I'm going to try a more in-depth note later on. I am responding here to Robert because I think he sets a tone which is very helpful.

Tina makes one observation that I think deserves an immediate response. We are not looking for one solution. Sometimes we will cast our net wide and will try to help a number of people with the message we send. At other times we are going to do one-on-one instruction, listening, and offering our hand in friendship. There is no one-size-fits-all.

Warmly,

Gary
-----Original Message-----
From: nfb-editors-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-editors-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Robert Leslie Newman
Sent: Sunday, April 10, 2011 9:43 AM
To: 'Correspondence Committee Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [Nfb-editors] Purpose of a NFB publication

Gary, Mike, Bridgit, Chris and others:

Ya know, I look around and depending upon where I look, I do see that we've had a positive impact upon --- parents, kids, educators, law makers, the public in general, employers, etc. Yet, the problem of blindness is so large and pervasive, that it just carries on with us as our society goes along.
The blind computer homies, that were once the radio freeks (A play on the short-form of frequency), and all those signs and trappings  of old that showed us that the blind were on the out-side looking in --- well, they are all still with us, just in a new suit of clothing. (An older gentleman I once met would put it like this- "It's the same old circus, just a different set of clowns.) {Clowns in this case, are the negative guys, not us.} And in saying this, I'm saying --- yes, our work is not done. That some of our tools are now faster and reach out further, but it is still  mostly one of those deals where we see most of our progress being won, on a one-by-one basis. We are like they say, a low incidence group, our impact upon all others is small and so change is slow. But change we are adoing. Looking around we can see the small improvements and there is what I celebrate.
(Just my musings; we need to do what we are doing, improving where we can in how we do it; a newsletter still has its place, and we just need to work better some of the newer options.) 

-----Original Message-----
From: nfb-editors-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-editors-bounces at nfbnet.org]
On Behalf Of Mike Freeman
Sent: Saturday, April 09, 2011 1:22 PM
To: 'Correspondence Committee Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [Nfb-editors] Purpose of a NFB publication

Gary:

Great post as usual.  I've commented upon some of these issues in my reply to Bridgit's post.  But some of your ponderings merit comment on their own.

In the case of the ham radio operators of which you write below, I think that in addition to knowing they were helping people, they received kudos and praise from other ham operators who, if truth be told, saw them as much as miraculous freaks (I can't figure out how they do it!) as anything else.
Sadly, I don't think this has changed a lot in the world of amateur radio.
Look at the way the American Radio League and other ham organizations look to the Courage Center handiham system to inform them what disabled amateur radio operators need and want.  I'm not knocking Handihams.  But several of us have gotten virtually nowhere in getting ARRL to recognize us as a separate group with valid concerns.  For that matter, ACB Radio Amateurs hasn't done any better in this regard than have we although they tend to be less uncomfortable with the stereotypical mold of being alternately miraculous or pitiable than NFB hams are.

I point this out only to opine that, as in days of yore, we, the blind, are often rewarded for spending our days on the Internet; we are less well thought of when we try to rock the boat for increasing accessibility and, in my view, we have been to some degree our own worst enemy in that many young folks expect as a matter of right that technology in and of itself will knock down barriers -- and should be expected to do so -- and less emphasis is placed on our being inventive and devising our own solutions to the world's problems.  If you will, the Structured Discovery method of living, while taught at our NFB training centers, is not quite as fashionable among many young folks as it once was when we had little else to fall back on.

Compounding our difficulty (and here we come back to newsletters and the
Monitor) is the societal trend to be intolerant of complicated/sophisticated messages that take more than a few sound bytes to communicate.  In other words, like much of today's society, we are growing intolerant of skills training or tasks that require prolonged effort, thought and determination.

The question is how to deal with this effectively, rekindling the dream in a world where this sort of effort seems out of fashion.  About my only answer is to *not* lower our standards and to keep doing the sort of in-depth analysis and thinking that we are famous for; it is this that wins us many of our battles.  Such victories are noticed and, presuming people wish to emulate us, we can then point out to them that precision of thought and action and determination are valuable assets to cultivate.

Has anyone come up with a rap song for the NFB Pledge yet? (grin)

Mike


-----Original Message-----
From: nfb-editors-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-editors-bounces at nfbnet.org]
On Behalf Of Wunder, Gary
Sent: Thursday, April 07, 2011 12:07 PM
To: Correspondence Committee Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Nfb-editors] Purpose of a NFB publication

Hi Bridgit. One of the things I like in your note was your observation that "We now have the opportunity to explore a future of our own making.  Jobs, school and families are not dreams we long for, but are realities within our reach." 

One of the questions I've been struggling with is how to start a dialogue, probably in the Braille Monitor, about whether these are still the widely-shared dreams of blind people. I read the statistics about our unemployment, and in my job searches have certainly encountered discrimination, but I can't tell you of very many Missourians who are actively out looking for work. Neither can I tell you about many who are employed.

In my younger days there were blind people who were smart and articulate who simply would not tackle the challenge of going to get a job. Some of them were amateur radio operators and spent their days doing good by taking Western Union style messages and sending them free of charge across the country and the world. The message might be as simple as happy birthday or as complicated as "I'm going in for surgery tomorrow. I will let you know how it goes. I will appreciate your prayers." Still other amateur radio operators would connect their telephone and radio and help people talk to loved ones. This, of course, was before the days of free long distance. 

The thing I want to focus on here was that the folks who spent most of their time doing this substituted these volunteer tasks for employment. They were not seeking jobs. They were getting fulfillment but from a very different source because our society, whether through SSI, SSDI I, the Missouri blind pension, or some other program, was perfectly willing to give them at least a minimal level of support and didn't challenge them with the tough question "Why aren't you employed?"

Today I think I see our young blind folks substituting the Internet for ham radio. Maybe they are all about building websites to communicate something special they believe they know about blindness. Some do their own radio shows. Some make podcasts. The shows and topics seem to be all over the place. On one podcast I follow, which is usually technical in nature, one person put up a recording demonstrating how to change a diaper, while another produced a podcast of his dog guide popping the bubbles that are found in shrink wrap. Both were similar--lots of rustling plastic but not a lot of information. I do not object to what anyone wants to do for entertainment, but my concern is that these playtime activities are being substituted for what I see as a major life activity and responsibility, that being to earn a living and do these other things as time allows.

I think the question I would like to explore is whether the work ethic which burned in so many folks of my generation still is prevalently found today.
If not, who put out the fire and how do we rekindle it? Is our safety net frequently being used as a means of permanent support, and, if it is, is there something we can and should do about it? 

Some folks I know claim they had to do upwards of a hundred interviews to get their first job. Is this still true today? If so, I'm not hearing about it. My fear is that, with all of the civil rights protections and advances in technology, we still have a significant number of intelligent blind people who aren't taking advantage of a world which is more receptive today than ever it has been in the past to getting us employed and accepting us as capable human beings in society.

I think the dream we share is worth dreaming and that what we dream of is attainable. Are there more effective ways for us to sell this dream? If so, how can our newsletters and our Braille Monitor help?  As I look at the most recent issue of the students late, it is perfectly obvious to me that some still buy the dream. The question really is how many, and are there better ways for us to sell the dream of equality so that more young folks act on it?

Gary

_______________________________________________
Nfb-editors mailing list
Nfb-editors at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-editors_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
Nfb-editors:
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfb-editors_nfbnet.org/k7uij%40panix.c
om


_______________________________________________
Nfb-editors mailing list
Nfb-editors at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-editors_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
Nfb-editors:
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfb-editors_nfbnet.org/newmanrl%40cox.
net



_______________________________________________
Nfb-editors mailing list
Nfb-editors at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-editors_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for Nfb-editors:
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfb-editors_nfbnet.org/gwunder%40nfb.org