[NFB-Talk] Civil rights advocate, Judy Heumann, dies at 75

Wed Mar 8 18:45:45 UTC 2023

Well, if the culture is changing, I'm glad. The example you gave strikes 
me as a little weak. How about all appliances having to be accessible, 
not just medical ones?

We need to stop thinking it is better for us to adapt to society than 
for society to adapt to us. At a basic level, That's not true. It can be 
true sometimes when the cost for  society to adapt is too high. The 
fundamental point here is that there is nothing wrong with trying to 
change society. That, in fact, is a good thing.

There is nothing wrong with asking for the moon. What you can do is to 
fight for all appliances to be made accessible. and if you have to, 
settle for just medical appliances.

On 3/8/23 11:50, Misty Kienzynski via nFB-Talk wrote:
> Now, I’ve only been a member for a few years, but I would 
> respectfully beg to differ with regard to your statement that the NFB 
> culture is still like this.
>
> Only take our present fight to get medical devices made accessible. Is 
> this not an example of wishing society to accommodate to our needs 
> instead of the other way around?
>
> I honestly think the culture that used to be is changing, and the 
> above is only one example.
>
> And, quite frankly, I’m glad to see the change!
>
> It is my belief that we shouldn’t keep looking backward but start 
> looking forward to what is possible with what I believe to be a far 
> more enlightened and, indeed, practical view.
>
> After all, it is my belief that we cannot wait. If we stick strictly 
> to the philosophy that we should adapt to society, our progress will 
> be (and, I would say, has been) stunted considerably.
>
> Sure, in theory, it is best for us to adapt to society. I actually 
> have no disagreement about this, but this approach is, today, simply 
> not practical.
>
> Nor do I believe that the issue is a binary one. We can work to adapt 
> to society while, at the same time, asking society to accommodate our 
> needs while we work toward that better goal.
>
> Just some cursory thoughts that could probably be better written and 
> thought-out. :)
>
> —
>
> Ms. Misty D. Kienzynski
>
> Incoming Treasurer, Indiana State Affiliate
>
> Membership Chair
>
> State Historian
>
> National Federation of the Blind of Indiana
>
> Phone: 812-381-0073
>
> E-mail: mkienzyn at alumni.iu.edu
>
> Twitter: @AuroraNebulosa
>
>
> Bonitas non est pessimis esse meliorem. — L. Annaeus Seneca
>
>
>> On Mar 8, 2023, at 11:20 AM, John Heim via nFB-Talk 
>> <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>
>> The culture in the NFB was, and still is,  to ask blind people to 
>> adapt to the world instead of asking for the world to adapt to us. 
>> You can see this in the recent debate over asking Disney to stop 
>> doing fireworks.
>>
>> Another good example from the distant past. The NFB was part of a 
>> coalition that asked Microsoft to not include a free screen reader in 
>> Windows. The rationale was that they might do a lousy job while still 
>> putting Freedom Scientific out of business. But what we should have 
>> done was to demand that every operating system have a free, built in 
>> screen reader. We should have fought to make that a law and if 
>> Microsoft or Apple did a crummy job, kick their ass.
>>
>> The NFB filed amicus briefs against accessible money and described 
>> video. The President of the NFB at the time, Marc Maurer, went to 
>> Washington and testified against accessible money. Imagine what the 
>> NFB could have accomplished if all that energy had been devoted to 
>> fighting for something instead of against something. Think about the 
>> amount of additional energy that could have been generated had the 
>> NFB been fighting *for* things that would have made the lives of 
>> blind people better.
>>
>> I know what some people on this list are thinking, what they are 
>> going to say. We can never know for sure what would have happened had 
>> the NFB taken the other side on these issues. But that's why I 
>> brought up the life story of Judy Heumann. She wouldn't have have 
>> said that we're asking for too much. She wouldn't have been afraid of 
>> what would happen if we failed.
>>
>>
>> On 3/7/23 12:41, Karen Rose via nFB-Talk wrote:
>>> Hi John. Just wondering why we would have a posed accessible 
>>> pedestrian signals??
>>>
>>> Karen Rose MFT/LPCC www.career-therapy.net
>>>
>>>> On Mar 7, 2023, at 9:29 AM, John Heim via nFB-Talk 
>>>> <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> We need to change the culture in the NFB. Years ago, the Access 
>>>> Board was going to propose a regulation requiring cities to install 
>>>> accessible pedestrian signals whenever an intersection was built or 
>>>> rebuilt. The Access Board can't just impose regulations like that. 
>>>> It would have had to go through channels. But had it been approved, 
>>>> by now there would be millions of these things around the country. 
>>>> And probably dozens of lives would have been saved. But the NFB 
>>>> organized protests to stop it and the Access Board dropped the idea.
>>>>
>>>> We need to change the culture so that kind of thing can never 
>>>> happen again. We should have been out there organizing sit-ins to 
>>>> make it happen, not fighting it.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> On 3/7/23 10:26, broanna49--- via nFB-Talk wrote:
>>>>> John thank you so much for sharing this information on the list. 
>>>>> Judy Heuman was a staunch activist for those with disabilities. I 
>>>>> am also of the firm belief that we need to fight for our rights. 
>>>>> The National Federation Of The Blind should join advocates in 
>>>>> fighting for our rights.
>>>>>
>>>>>> On Mar 7, 2023 11:01 AM, John Heim via nFB-Talk 
>>>>>> <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>>>> I think Judy Heumann's life story is a lesson for members of this 
>>>>>> list.
>>>>>> Please watch/listen to this:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/because-she-made-a-fuss-judy-heumann-made-everyone-s-life-better-164606021818
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Rachel Madow makes a point there that I have tried to make many 
>>>>>> times on
>>>>>> this list. By advocating for our rights, we make everyone's life 
>>>>>> better.
>>>>>> When we choose not to push for reform, we are damaging society as 
>>>>>> a whole.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Judy Heumann was once part of a cit-in at a federal building that 
>>>>>> lasted
>>>>>> 28 days. As messy and inconvenient as that was, it was a huge 
>>>>>> boon for
>>>>>> our society as a whole. Judy Heumann is a hero.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> We need to change the culture within the NFB. We shouldn't have 
>>>>>> fought
>>>>>> accessible money and accessible pedestrian signals. Yes, I know those
>>>>>> issues came up a long time ago. But the culture within the NFB is the
>>>>>> same as it was back when we made those mistakes. We need to start
>>>>>> believing that when we fight for our rights, we're helping our 
>>>>>> society.
>>>>>> We're correcting a mistake. That helps us all.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
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