[nFBMI-Talk] article referenced in presidential release

[christine Boone]

Greetings Michiganders- 
I want only to express my thanks to President Mike Powell for sharing the
excellent Monitor article written by President Riccobono with an excellent
intro by Editor Gary Wunder. 

I also want to give my best wishes to Evelyn Weckerly for a healthier 2018 
Evelyn is truly one of our best-- having quietly served to lead us through
her example as a school teacher out there in the real world! My NAC
experiences began later but I still remember reading about Dr. Jernigan's
struggles first with his decision to join COMSTACK and then with the painful
but inevitable choice to withdraw, when he knew beyond a doubt that no
amount of work on the inside would change the dreadfully repressive,
shameful entity that NAC would become!

I have never been a member of the Association for the Education and
Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired, AKA AER- because I
believe it has always stood for the importance of itself as an organization
and the selflessness of its members who spend their working lives helping
those who "suffer" from "vision loss". AER has never stood for truly
improving programs and services for people who are blind...it has not even
stood for improving programs and services for people who are visually
impaired. Alas. I know that many good people, including some fine
Federationists retain membership in AER and have continued through the years
to inject reason into the midst of this body politic.   Despite the presence
of reason within the beast, there is little doubt that a-thousand
inscrutable voices inside AER decrying its misguided decision to take over
the shell of NAC could never have prevailed against the will of the
organization's leadership.   
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NFBMI-Talk [mailto:nfbmi-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
> evelyn weckerly via NFBMI-Talk
> Sent: Saturday, January 6, 2018 10:14 PM
> To: NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: evelyn weckerly <weckerly at i2k.com>
> Subject: Re: [nFBMI-Talk] article referenced in presidential release
> 
> Hi, Michael and all,
> 
> I attended my first NFB convention in 1966.  At that convention Dr.
Jernigan
> went into extensive discussion about what was then known as COMSTAC, the
> commission charged with organizing what became NAC.  The principal
> sponsor of all this was the American Foundation for the Blind.  Dr.
Jernigan
> had been invited to join COMSTAC.  After considerable reflection and
> analysis-a main part of his presentation-he told us that he had accepted
the
> invitation because he felt that the NFB needed to know firsthand what was
> going on and to try to influence the direction of COMSTAC.  Eventually, he
> found that the effort to change this outfit's direction was futile and
that it
> had to be fought and destroyed because of what it would do to the quality
of
> agencies serving the blind.  By 1973, when we met in New York, there was a
> major demonstration in front of AFB offices.  For many years, whereever
> NAC met, the NFB was there demonstrating and providing literature to the
> public.  NAC tried to hide the whereabouts of its meetings, but the NFB
was
> always there.  I'm not sure just when, but finally NAC came to one of our
> conventions and made what was a feeble attempt to establish some kind of
> communication and harmony.  Their presentation left me with the
> impression that NAC was almost dead and rather desperate.  Obviously, the
> Federation didn't kill it.  I suspect (but cannot prove) that the demise
of our
> state school for the blind may have been related to its having become
> accredited by NAC.
> 
> On a different note, I had to miss both the national convention and the
state
> convention in 2017 because of more health problems.
> I hope that 2016 will not turn out to be my last convention.
> 
> Cordially,
> 
> Evelyn
>  ----- Original Message -----
> From: Michael Powell via NFBMI-Talk <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org
> To: "'NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List'"
> <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org
> Date sent: Sat, 6 Jan 2018 21:05:13 -0500
> Subject: [nFBMI-Talk] article referenced in presidential release
> 
> Hello To all on this list.  As you have seen from a previous posting
President
> Riccobono, in the January Presidential Release, asked us to read the
article in
> the January Braille Monitor concerning the efforts to reestablish
> accreditation of agencies for the blind with a new emphasis that does not
> replace, but rather builds on the model of the old system that excluded
the
> blind and their elected representatives which our organization opposed in
> the70's, 80's and the 90's.
> 
> I am attaching the article for your convenience.  I ask chapter leaders to
> become familiar with this material and its history and be prepared to
discuss
> it with your members.  Those of us who were around in those times will
> recognize some very disturbing patterns.
> 
> If the new professionals in the field of work for the blind really believe
this is
> a new beginning that is in process you sure wouldn't know it in how
> forthcoming they were  in only responding when they were asked about it
> rather than offer all potential stakeholders the opportunity to get
involved in
> discussions from the start.
> 
> So review this information.   I urge you to read, discuss and
> learn.
> 
> Michael Powell
> 
> President
> 
> National Federation of the Blind of Michigan
> 
> (586)754-1325
> 
> Mpowell7583 at yahoo.com
> 
> president at nfbmi.org
> 
> 
> 
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