[NFBC-Info] President's Notebook, March 2022

Tue Mar 1 07:55:32 UTC 2022

Hello friends,

We are reviving the President’s Notebook. I was tempted to call it
“Keeping up with California” after the CABS periodicals, but I thought
that would be overkill.

The President’s notebook is a great way to stay up-to-date on
affiliate efforts and events. We will provide contact info if you want
to get more involved with events, legislative advocacy, etc. If you
think something is missing, feel free to contact your chapter
presidents and ask them to send me updates.

This time, I have attached the notebook as a word document. It is also
pasted below if you want to make good use of that “read all” command.
Want it in different formats? Let me know for future editions. If a
format is requested by enough people, I will do it. Or try, at any
rate.

One more note from me before the real updates: March is Women’s
History Month. Take some time to celebrate the strong women in your
lives. Women have struggled to obtain equal rights, and though we sort
of have those on paper, we still work to overcome the prejudices that
run rampant in society. I’d like to give particular kudos (in no
specific order) to Bobbi Pompey, Lisamaria Martinez, Ever Lee
Hairston, and Rachel Grider. I admire the confidence with which all of
you pursue life, and I am proud to work alongside you.

That’s all from me. Enjoy those updates. Questions? Comments?
Complaints? Let me know.

Cheers,
Cricket

In this edition, you will find:
A Note from the President
Updates from CABS, Bakersfield, and Central Valley
A few Resources

A note from the President:
President: Tim Elder
Email: president at nfbcal.org

Dear family:
We have been working hard in 2022 as we continue to advocate for
greater accessibility in education, employment, and recreation.  I
want to thank you all for the work you do each day to promote our
positive philosophy on blindness. Just within the last few months, our
members have started two new divisions: the Sports and Recreation
Division, and the DeafBlind Division in our affiliate, and we are also
working on starting the Spanish At-Large Chapter. In addition, we
continue to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in California
with a standing committee. Great work, everyone!

Last month, several of our California Federationists met with Congress
to promote four of our legislative priorities for this year during our
annual Washington Seminar.  While we were able to gain several
cosponsors, there is still much work to do to get our priorities
passed.  Stay tuned for opportunities to call on your representatives
to promote our bills.  Meanwhile, you can learn more about our
legislative priorities here:
https://nfb.org/programs-services/advocacy/washington-seminar

We still need your help to protect the civil rights of blind students
at Los Angeles Community College.  Please continue engaging with the
hashtag #BackOffLACCD on Twitter to help stop Los Angeles Community
College District from petitioning the Supreme Court to limit the
rights of students with disabilities. These are our blind students.
While some of the petitions circulating on social media did not
mention the National Federation of the Blind, you should feel free to
join with those cross-disability movements to support our case.

The National Federation of the Blind continues to investigate access
barriers with Labcorp kiosks.  If you have visited Labcorp and
encountered an inaccessible kiosk, please contact Valerie Yingling at
vyingling at nfb.org.

Our 2022 National Convention will take place in New Orleans from July
5 through July 10.  You can reserve a room at the main hotel, New
Orleans Marriott, by calling (800) 654-3990, or at the overflow hotel
across the street, The Sheraton New Orleans, at (855) 516-1090.
Registration for convention opens on March 1st. Click the below link
for more information.
https://nfb.org/get-involved/national-convention

I am excited to work with everyone here to continue marching forward
in our movement. Behind the scenes, we have been revamping our website
and building some information technology infrastructure to better
serve members and leaders in our digital age. I’m looking forward to
being in the same space with folks again and attending some in-person
chapter meetings around the state this spring. Together, we are
showing the state of California what it really means to be blind!
--Tim Elder

CABS Update:
President: Shelbi Felter
Email: sfelts at hotmail.com

Cabs has been busy with Washington seminar, as well as the various
events that NABS runs during it. We relaunched our podcast, Educating
Blind Bears, which can be found on Spotify. Our committees,
Fundraising and Outreach, have been very busy planning. Our committees
meet every third Saturday of the month at 4:00 and 5:00 PM,
respectively. Our next membership call will be on March 12th at 4:00
pm, and will be all about women in the movement.
--Shelbi Felter

Bakersfield:
President: Veronica Martinez
Email: veronica38martinez at gmail.com

The Bakersfield chapter of the National Federation of the blind will
be having a presentation at our March meeting. We are planning a
fundraiser, with sensi. Anyone is welcomed to attend. Please contact
me For more information. Thank you.
--Veronica Martinez

Central Valley:
President: Rachel Grider
Email: Rachel.grider at gmail.com

The Central Valley Chapter is working with Starship Technologies to
help improve accessibility in their delivery service. We are very
excited to build a relationship with this company so that blind people
will be able to independently use their app and website.

Also, save the date! On June 12, the Central Valley Chapter will be
partnering with Opera Modesto for a special recital fundraiser at
Mistlin Art Gallery, 1015 J Street, Modesto. More information will be
coming soon.
--Rachel Grider

General resources:
NFB of California site: http://www.nfbcal.org
NFB site: http://www.nfb.org
National Convention page: http://www.nfb.org/convention
Request a free white cane here:
https://nfb.org/programs-services/free-white-cane-program
Article on LACC and blind students:
https://www.legalreader.com/los-angeles-community-college-district-plans-to-appeal-decision-in-disability-discrimination-suit/

-- 
Cricket X. Bidleman, B.A (she/her/hers)
M.A Candidate | Stanford Journalism Class of 2022
Accessibility Consultant | Stanford University Computer Science
Chairperson | Stanford Daily Editorial Board
Co-Chair | Stanford Daily Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee
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