[NFB-Utah] At Large Chapter Meeting

[Nfb Utah]

Hello fellow at-large members:

            I hope everyone is fully reenergized from our fantastic
state convention! Just a friendly reminder that our at-large meeting
will be this upcoming Wednesday, May 8, at 7:30PM. Our topic for this
meeting is membership. What does it mean to be a member of this
organization? What are some of the benefits we get as members? How can
we encourage people to join?

To facilitate our discussion, I would like everyone to read the
article our national president wrote about membership. The link is
pasted below for your convenience. You can also find the text of this
article at the end of this email.

Membership in the National Federation of the Blind: Equality,
Opportunity, and Security through Collective Action
By Mark Riccobono
https://www.nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm19/bm1904/bm190402.htm

In addition, we will be talking about convention. What were some of
your highlights of our state convention, and what are some things you
feel we could do better for next year. We will also have a national
convention update from our state president, Everette Bacon.

To join our meeting, call (877) 394-5901. Access code, 6328824#

Looking forward to our call

Yadiel J. Sotomayor
Member, National Federation of the Blind.

Membership in the National Federation of the Blind: Equality,
Opportunity, and Security through Collective Action
by Mark Riccobono

One of the most important titles I have been able to put next to my
name is member, National Federation of the Blind. I first became a
member in 1996, and I cannot imagine a day in my life when I will
decide to no longer be a member of this great organization. As I
travel the country talking to people about the work of our movement,
certain predictable questions come up including but not limited to:
what does it mean to be a member; how do I join; and what are the
benefits of membership? More often than not, I find that people have
not joined because of misconceptions about membership in our organized
blind movement. I also find that the idea of “membership” in an
organization takes on different meanings depending on your background
and perspective. In this article I will attempt to share with you what
membership in the National Federation of the Blind means to me and
what I believe we, collectively, hope it means for each of our present
and future members. If you are not yet a member, this article is an
invitation to explore joining us and an opportunity to create
understanding about who we are and why we need you to be in our
family. If you are already a member, I hope this article speaks to
your experience in our movement and contributes to your growth as a
leader. If you are not sure whether you are or are not a member, I
hope this clears things up and encourages you to make your membership
status definitive.
What Do We Mean by Membership?
It is important to begin with some organizational basics related to
membership. Let us start by talking about what membership in our
organization is not. I grew up in the 1980s when the Members Only
brand emerged in the United States. It was a cool thing to have
something that sported the name “Members Only,” and we sought
opportunities to create social circles for ourselves that we
considered “members only” regardless of whether you owned any of the
merchandise. For example, in elementary school my friends and I had a
Ghostbusters Club (based on the 1984 movie) where we could easily
limit the participants since there just were not many characters in
the movie. We created our own rules and expectations for
participation—sometimes driven by the movie but often with our own
agreed-upon alterations—and we had a good time. However, the goal was
not to bring other people into our club. In fact, we liked that it was
a closed membership. We were already friends and our “members only”
club strengthened our bond. This notion of membership is much
different from what I have found in the National Federation of the
Blind over the past twenty years. In our organization we believe in an
open membership policy where all are welcome to be considered for
membership and, with only a few exceptions, our meetings are open to
non-members to observe even if they cannot vote on matters of
importance—only Federation members can determine its policies and
elect its leaders. While only members of the Federation have certain
rights and privileges within the organization, we hope to have as many
blind people as possible join with us in our mission to improve the
lives of all blind people.
Open membership means that we do not put significant qualifiers on
being a member of our organization. It is worth talking about the
handful of qualifiers we do have for membership.
To begin, you have to want to be a member, and you need to pay dues to
a chapter, division, affiliate, or the national organization. Our goal
is not simply to sign people up for the membership roll; we seek
members who want to actively participate.
In general, another qualifier is that the majority of our members have
to be blind. On a nationwide basis better than 90 percent of our
members are. Thus, on a national basis, we do not need to worry about
sighted individuals joining and taking over our organization. However,
at the local level this sometimes becomes a problem when a small
chapter starts inviting many sighted people to be members. The
constitution of the National Federation of the Blind and every entity
under the Federation requires a majority of the membership be blind.
By blind, we mean a functional definition of blindness as Kenneth
Jernigan so eloquently described it decades ago in his speech “A
Definition of Blindness.” One major exception to this policy is our
National Organization of Parents of Blind Children—one of our national
special interest divisions—where a majority of the members in that
specific division need not be blind. In fact, that division includes
the vast majority of the Federation’s sighted members, but it is not
the exclusive place where sighted people participate actively as
members. I list this as a membership qualifier because we are, first
and foremost, an organization of blind people, led by blind people,
and directed by blind people. While we are on the topic, you cannot be
elected to our national board of directors unless you are blind.
A final qualifier is that an individual must be prepared to uphold the
standards we expect from each other in this organization. The
standards of membership and for leaders of our organization are set by
Federation members themselves. They are articulated in our Code of
Conduct (https://www.nfb.org/about-us/history-and-governance/code-conduct).
Essentially, we come together through the common bond of blindness to
serve as a vehicle for collective action by the blind. We seek to
treat each other with dignity and respect, and we value an atmosphere
free from discrimination and harassment of any type. It is worth
noting that those seeking to be leaders of this organization have
additional responsibilities above those of everyday members. While all
members of the organization are asked to support the policies and
programs of the Federation—see the Federation pledge at the end of
this article—leaders of the organization are expected to implement the
policies and programs. This means that leaders need to take actions
consistent with the organization’s policies and that leaders should
not commit themselves to organizations that actively work against the
Federation.
In short, the membership of the National Federation of the Blind is
the class of individuals, a majority of whom are required to be blind,
who pay dues to the organization at the local, state, or national
level (joining at the local and/or state level gives you automatic
membership in the national organization).
The mechanics of qualifying to be a member of the National Federation
of the Blind are truly that easy. However, the process of
understanding the power of membership in this organization and coming
to be an active participant in the decision-making process of it often
feels much more daunting to new members. This is why we have recently
initiated an onboarding process for new members to welcome people into
our organization and assist with navigating the things that long-time
members like me take for granted today.
How Do you Become a Member?
In order to become a member of the National Federation of the Blind,
you have to join one of the parts of our organization. While there is
not one path to membership, keep in mind that where you join makes a
difference as to when you can actively vote on Federation matters.
Here is a simple breakdown.
Our organization operates at three levels: local, state, and national.
Local: The local level of the Federation is typically represented by a
chapter—in my city I participate in the Greater Baltimore Chapter.
Chapters are typically geographically organized, and in larger
communities there are sometimes multiple chapters in order to
facilitate local meetings more effectively. Again, using Baltimore as
an example, we have three local chapters that meet in the Baltimore
region comprising Baltimore City and Baltimore County. Local chapters
are generally not incorporated but serve as a subordinate part of the
state affiliate which is incorporated as a 501(c)(3) organization.
Most chapters meet in person, but some state affiliates have
established at-large chapters which are meant to bring together
members who cannot, for one reason or another, meet in person
regularly. Additionally, state affiliates will frequently establish
special interest divisions which bring blind people together around a
common topic. These divisions are distinguished from chapters in a
couple of ways. Divisions bring people together around a topic area
rather than organizing geographically, and they typically have one
major business meeting each year as part of the affiliate
convention—whereas most chapters meet every month. Although it is not
required, it works best when members of a division also participate in
a local chapter. Members of local chapters or divisions are
automatically made members of their state affiliate and the national
organization. Additionally, members of a state affiliate division are
often automatically made members of the corresponding national
division. Local division membership dues reflect inclusion of a small
amount—generally $2—for dues to the state affiliate and national
organization. Local chapters set their dues, and they are generally at
$5 or $10 per year. The goal is to ensure that economic status is not
a barrier to membership, and the Federation does not use dues as a
fundraising activity.
State: There is one state affiliate in each of the fifty states, the
District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Local chapters and divisions
report to their state affiliate which helps to coordinate the
activities of the organization. Each affiliate has an annual
convention which serves as the annual business meeting and determines
the policy direction for the affiliate. At the state level, the
affiliate convention elects the board of directors and establishes the
local priorities. Through the charter of affiliation with the national
organization, the state affiliate work must be consistent with the
policies and programs of the national organization, but otherwise
there is significant discretion as to the implementation of program
activities.
National: The state affiliates come together to form the national
organization. According to the constitution of the National Federation
of the Blind, the annual national convention is the supreme authority
of the organization. The convention sets policy and elects the board
of directors. The constitution sets forth the duties of the President
of the Federation, who serves as the chief executive, and the duties
of the board to manage the organization between conventions. Members
who attend the national convention are invited to vote on policy
matters with the exception of roll call votes where each affiliate
gets one vote. Each affiliate selects a delegate to represent the
affiliate at the convention and cast votes when necessary. The
delegate frequently is the individual who serves on the organization’s
nominating committee—the one committee in the Federation which is not
appointed by the President. There are some members who only join the
national level, but it is not the general membership path. Frequently
people join the Federation as members of one of our national
divisions. That membership only grants membership in the division and
the national organization as a whole—it does not give you any
membership rights at the local and state level. However, national
divisions are a common way for people to come to know our
organization. Frequently, this is an avenue for getting people
connected with our local chapters and state affiliates where the real
engagement in the work of the organization can happen. Individuals can
also join as at-large members of the national organization. At-large
members are typically people who wish to show their support without
plans to be actively involved. However, this can also be an avenue for
people to get to know us before they join at the local level. At-large
membership at the national level is extremely small, and it is not a
membership option we actively promote because it is much more
effective if people participate in the organization through our local
affiliates. What makes our organization strong is a powerful local
network of organized and engaged members.
What Does It Mean to Be a Member?
Membership in the National Federation of the Blind opens up
opportunities for service and for fellowship that I believe are
unparalleled. Being a member gives you a connection to thousands of
other members all over the country. In my experience, this means
having thousands of people who are prepared to support and assist you
at every turn in your journey as a blind person. That includes people
who are newly blind and struggling to learn what blindness means in
their lives as well as people like me who start to think we have it
all figured out—until something new comes along or a blind person
breaks into a new area that we had not considered previously. I find
that every day I am learning something from the powerful network of
the Federation.
Being a member also gives you the power of collective action when
dealing with issues facing the blind in all aspects of life. This
includes at the individual level where if I run into a problem—like
someone wanting to take my children away because of my blindness—I
know I can call upon my friends in the Federation for help. Membership
also gives me access to the training and experts who can help me be a
stronger self-advocate. So often the discrimination and artificial
barriers we face can be dealt with when we are equipped with the
knowledge and resources to understand the law and the expectations
that should flow from it. On a broader scale, being a member gives us
the power of individual effort collectively focused. In our
organization, we select our direction together, and we push toward
that end together. It makes our outcomes more effective and more
likely to succeed. Similarly, we uphold the value of not dividing
ourselves—when we pick a position, we all agree to push in that
direction without fighting among each other. Together we are able to
make significant progress that we could never accomplish alone.
This brings me to what membership is not. Membership is not giving up
our own individual perspectives and beliefs. Those who are not members
of our organization sometimes falsely say that we must be brainwashed.
In fact, the membership of the Federation is as diverse and
opinionated as you can find, and we continue to seek channels to
strengthen our diversity. Debates happen throughout the membership
about policies to pursue, what our shared philosophy about blindness
means and how it applies today, and whether or not a specific concern
is within the area of interest to our organization—blindness. Our
diversity helps to make our decision-making better. Once we agree by a
vote to have a policy or elect a leader, we support them until we vote
in a different direction. To some degree, we are constantly testing
our policy positions, sometimes through actions in the halls of power
and sometimes on the streets of America where we face the low
expectations of society. Those who do not know us mistake unity for
lack of individuality. This is not the case.
It is worth saying that membership means supporting the will of the
majority. This sometimes means that your idea wins, it sometimes means
that someone else’s idea wins, but it most often means that a combined
idea is the one we select and pursue. The membership moments I enjoy
the most are when we get a room full of blind people discussing a
topic, and in the end whatever action is decided upon cannot easily be
credited to any one individual. It is important to recognize that
being part of an organization like ours means that you will not, and
should not, always get your way. We are a team, and that means members
have an obligation to work together. From my perspective, it is
actually the joy of working together. In fact, that is exactly why our
membership medallions have the Braille contraction of the word
“together” embossed on them.
The original launch of the Members Only brand in the 1980s used the
tagline "When you put it on, something happens." This tagline applies
equally to membership in the National Federation of the Blind. I know
that when I started being a proud member of the Federation my
confidence completely changed. As a Federation member I walked more
confidently because I learned the techniques that blind people used to
be successful, and also because I knew that thousands of people had my
back. Furthermore, I wore the pride of knowing that I had their backs
as well. Even more importantly, through my active participation in the
National Federation of the Blind I got to know other members in a very
personal way, and I came to think of them as part of my Federation
family. I now have family members all over the country and not just
family in name only. I know them, and I know I can count on them. This
is something you can really only understand by coming to be a member
of our organization and participating actively in it. When you start
wearing your membership in the National Federation of the
Blind—understanding it in your heart and your mind—things will happen
to change your life for the better. These are the benefits of
membership that are too priceless to value and too intangible to
measure. If you make the commitment to participate actively in our
movement, you will begin to discover the reasons that I am a lifelong
member and wear this organization proudly in my daily life.
There are lots of other things that membership means and benefits that
membership provides to us. I think it is more meaningful if you come
discover them for yourself, and by becoming a member you get to help
decide how we use our resources and what our priorities will be in the
future. Very selfishly, I hope you become a member because it will
enhance my own membership experience. I will have another person to
work with, another friend to lean on, and another blind person to
steal nifty tips and tricks from. I know from my experience that we
are stronger together and that your diversity will enhance and improve
our organization. Once you join, please share your ideas about how we
can do what we do even better, including articulating the meaning of
membership and the benefits of our collective action.



-- 
National Federation of the Blind of Utah
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