[NFBF-Melbourne] FW: [NFBF-Leaders] NFB FB Post: JOBS, EQUALITY, AND THE BLIND

[Camille Tate]

For your information.

 

 

Sincerely, 

Camille Tate 

President, Melbourne Space Coast Chapter, National Federation of the Blind of Florida 

2nd Vice President, National Federation of the Blind of Florida 

Phone: 321 372 4899 

 

From: NFBF-Leaders <nfbf-leaders-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of DENISE VALKEMA via NFBF-Leaders
Sent: Tuesday, October 12, 2021 8:40 PM
To: NFBF <nfbf-l at nfbnet.org>; NFBF <nfbf-leaders at nfbnet.org>
Cc: DENISE VALKEMA <valkemadenise at aol.com>
Subject: [NFBF-Leaders] NFB FB Post: JOBS, EQUALITY, AND THE BLIND

 



NFB Post on Facebook Though this article is twenty-two years old, the core messaging within is still relevant. Given the same career opportunities and room for advancement as the sighted, blind people can and do rise to the occasion and shatter low expectations every day. 

 

JOBS, EQUALITY, AND THE BLIND

by Patricia Munson 





Superintendent Andrew Viscovich honors Pat Munson on her twenty-five years of teaching in the Berkeley United School District

>From the Editor.- Patricia (Pat) Munson is one of the leaders of the National Federation of the Blind of California.

   This year I am celebrating my twenty-fifth year as a regular public school teacher. It was on March 13, 1964, that I stepped off the bus and walked to the personnel office of the Berkeley Unified School District. As I was waiting to be called in for the interview, the secretary's telephone rang. I heard her repeat, as she wrote, that a music teacher at one of the junior high schools would be leaving at the end of that school year. Right then and there I made up my mind that I was going to get that job! 

   I had had a number of job interviews prior to this one, so I knew what to expect. I possessed the credentials, and I knew all I had to do was convince the personnel director that Berkeley simply could not survive without my services. The minute I affixed my signature to that contract was the happiest day of my life, not just because I got a job but also because I was one more blind person moving into the mainstream of society. My family was thrilled, my college professors elated, and the blind I knew gained hope for their economic future. 

   In late August my reader and I went into my classroom and sorted through and attached Braille labels to all the material I was to use. This very large classroom was used for five classes of introduction to music plus the girts'glee club. The glee club had about 100 girls. I was a very nervous, happy new teacher that first day of school. 

   Being about two miles from the University of California, we had many demonstrations against the Vietnam War and all the rest. I survived it all, but when a transfer was offered to me to teach English to foreign students, I jumped at the chance. 

   For almost eighteen years now I have been teaching these students. The work is interesting and rewarding and would now qualify me to work as an ambassador, foreign service employee, or who knows what. I have taught English to almost all cultural groups on earth. 

   Of course, most students are shocked to find a blind teacher when they enter my room, for it is no secret that the blind of most of the rest of the world do not have as good a life as the blind in the United States. The blind of this country have jobs and more rights than before because of the collective work of the members of the National Federation of the Blind. My foreign students learn the very first day that I operate exactly the same way as all the other teachers. The only difference is my use of Braille. I keep my records in Braille and later copy the information on the appropriate records or student papers. I use exactly the same texts as they, but mine are in Braille. Around the room I have many pictures which I use for demonstration purposes. I hang them all myself and know what is in each, for Braille is on all of them. I discuss blindness, and they see me walking independently in the community. We openly talk about blindness so that when they return to their countries they can encourage blind adults and children. 

   Before the 1950's the blind in the United States were excluded from all public school jobs. The law pertaining to teachers mandated that a teacher have "normal" vision. Members of the National Federation of the Blind worked long and hard to delete the discriminatory language and, of course, were successful. I, along with many other blind teachers, have eradicated the myth that the blind cannot teach the sighted. Like me, the blind who have been teaching in the public schools of this country have opened the doors for the generations of the blind to come. 

   I proudly share this momentous occasion with all the blind, for it is in concert that we all make large strides toward total equality in this land, which promises liberty and freedom for all.

—-

Denise Valkema

NFBF affiliate board #2

NFBF Jacksonville board #1

(305)972-8529

 

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