[NFBNJ] The Braile Monitor, March 2020
joe ruffalo
nfbnj1 at verizon.net
Sat Feb 29 05:37:58 UTC 2020
Greetings to all!
It is my policy to distribute the monthly publication of the National
Federation of the Blind, The Braille Monitor to all on the NFBNJ
distribution list.
Please read and share with others.
Each issue provides an opportunity to learn from others the road to live the
life you want!
You will read many articles titled, "Live The Life You Want," and when
reading through all articles, I invite you to submit your thoughts to the
editor of the Braill Monitor, Gary Wunder at gwunder at nfb.org.
Take notice on the article by President Mark Riccobono as he highlights the
brand of the Federation and the tag line, "Live The Life You Want."
Take notice on a new phone for possible consideration, Blindshell.
Take notice on the application process for first timers to attend the
national convention in Texas this summer.
Grab a cup of coffee,tea or glass of wine, sit back and enjoy the March
issue of the Braille Monitor.
Warmly,
Joe
____
Subject: [Brl-monitor] The Braile Monitor, March 2020
BRAILLE MONITOR
Vol. 63, No. 3 March 2020
Gary Wunder, Editor
Distributed by email, in inkprint, in Braille, and on USB flash
drive, by the
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
Mark Riccobono, President
telephone: 410-659-9314
email address: nfb at nfb.org
website address: http://www.nfb.org
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Letters to the President, address changes, subscription requests, and
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for the Monitor and letters to the editor may also be sent to the national
office or may be emailed to gwunder at nfb.org.
Monitor subscriptions cost the Federation about forty dollars per year.
Members are invited, and nonmembers are requested, to cover the
subscription cost. Donations should be made payable to National Federation
of the Blind and sent to:
National Federation of the Blind
200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place
Baltimore, Maryland 21230-4998
THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND KNOWS THAT BLINDNESS IS NOT THE
CHARACTERISTIC THAT DEFINES YOU OR YOUR FUTURE. EVERY DAY WE RAISE THE
EXPECTATIONS OF BLIND PEOPLE, BECAUSE LOW EXPECTATIONS CREATE OBSTACLES
BETWEEN BLIND PEOPLE AND OUR DREAMS. YOU CAN LIVE THE LIFE YOU WANT;
BLINDNESS IS NOT WHAT HOLDS YOU BACK. THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
IS NOT AN ORGANIZATION SPEAKING FOR THE BLIND-IT IS THE BLIND SPEAKING FOR
OURSELVES.
ISSN 0006-8829
� 2020 by the National Federation of the Blind
Each issue is recorded on a thumb drive (also called a memory stick
or USB flash drive). You can read this audio edition using a computer or a
National Library Service digital player. The NLS machine has two slots-the
familiar book-cartridge slot just above the retractable carrying handle and
a second slot located on the right side near the headphone jack. This
smaller slot is used to play thumb drives. Remove the protective rubber pad
covering this slot and insert the thumb drive. It will insert only in one
position. If you encounter resistance, flip the drive over and try again.
(Note: If the cartridge slot is not empty when you insert the thumb drive,
the digital player will ignore the thumb drive.) Once the thumb drive is
inserted, the player buttons will function as usual for reading digital
materials. If you remove the thumb drive to use the player for cartridges,
when you insert it again, reading should resume at the point you stopped.
You can transfer the recording of each issue from the thumb drive to
your computer or preserve it on the thumb drive. However, because thumb
drives can be used hundreds of times, we would appreciate their return in
order to stretch our funding. Please use the return envelope enclosed with
the drive when you return the device.
Vol. 63, No. 3 March
2020
Contents
Houston Site of 2020 NFB Convention
Participate in Braille Monitor Survey
Blind and Respectable in Ancient Rome: Unearthing the Forgotten Genius of
Appius Claudius Caecus
by Kane Brolin
The Journey Worth Sharing: Marching Together Toward the Lives We Want
by Mark A. Riccobono
My Thoughts on Living the Life You Want
by Scott LaBarre
Live the Life You Want: A Choice or a Prescription for Being an Elite Blind
Person
by Gary Wunder
What Living the Life You Want Means to a Computer Professional, Athlete,
Cook, and Leader
by Randi Strunk
Living the Life I Want: A Dream I Thought Might Never be Possible
by Amy Wilson
The Supreme Court of Massachusetts Affirms Blind People are the Peers of
Sighted People
by Marc Maurer
Commonwealth vs. Lawrence L. Heywood
More Interesting Thoughts about Sighted Privilege
Keeping My Balance
by Annie Schlesinger
The Trouble with Inclusion
by Peter Slatin
The BlindShell: An Accessible Cell Phone with Real Buttons
by Curtis Chong
John Langston Gwaltney
by Peggy Chong
The Extra Effort to Be a Blind Person: What Part Myth, What Part Reality?
by Gary Wunder
My Shot
by Brooke Tousley
An Apology to a Fine Humorist and One of Our Own
by Gary Wunder
Living the Life I Want is a Work in Progress
by Carolyn Corrigan
Dream Makers Circle
by Patti Chang
Kenneth Jernigan Convention Scholarship
by Tracy Soforenko
Recipes
Monitor Miniatures
Houston Site of 2020 NFB Convention
The 2020 convention of the National Federation of the Blind will take
place in Houston, Texas, July 14 to July 19, at the Hilton Americas-Houston
hotel, 1600 Lamar Street, Houston, TX 77010. Make your room reservation as
soon as possible with the Hilton Americas-Houston staff only. Call 1-800-
236-2905 to reserve your room in the main hotel. If you wish to stay in our
overflow hotel, the Marriott Marquis Houston, the number to call is 1-877-
688-4323.
The 2020 room rate at our main hotel is $105.00 per night and applies
to singles and doubles as well as triples and quads. Hotel and sales taxes
are 13.38 percent and 8.25 percent, respectively. The rate for the overflow
Marriott Marquis is slightly higher at $119 and includes Hotel and sales
taxes of 13.38 percent and 8.25 percent, respectively. As with our main
hotel, this rate is good for up to four in a room. Both hotels will take a
deposit of the first night's room rate for each room and will require a
credit card or a personal check. If you use a credit card, the deposit will
be charged against your card immediately. If a reservation is cancelled
before Friday, June 1, 2020, half of the deposit will be returned.
Otherwise refunds will not be made.
Rooms will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Reservations may be made before June 1, 2020, assuming that rooms are still
available. After that time the hotels will not hold our room block for the
convention. In other words, you should get your reservation in soon.
The schedule for the 2020 convention is:
Tuesday, July 14 Seminar Day
Wednesday, July 15 Registration and Resolutions Day
Thursday, July 16 Board Meeting and Division Day
Friday, July 17 Opening Session
Saturday, July 18 Business Session
Sunday, July 19 Banquet Day and Adjournment
----------
Participate in Braille Monitor Survey
The Braille Monitor is a magazine that the Federation has published
since 1957. We call it our flagship publication. In terms not so tied to
the Navy, this means that it should be the lead publication of our
organization, the one which all of us follow and contribute to in order to
share what is going on in our Federation Family, the latest news about
blindness-related activities, and the place we record the major milestones
of the National Federation of the Blind's progress.
For some time now, we have been seeing Federationists-new
Federationists in particular, we believe-who don't seem to know about the
Braille Monitor and who have not subscribed because of it. We have
assembled a survey that will ask participants a number of things about the
Monitor, including whether someone has offered to sign them up for it;
whether they read it and why not if the answer is no; and what should
change to make the Monitor more the kind of magazine they want to see as
the flagship publication of our organization.
The Braille Monitor reflects many of our traditions, but it also must
evolve enough to clearly be relevant in this decade and those to come.
Please help us by telling us what you want, what you need, and what you
will read. Together we will keep making history, and the Braille Monitor
will continue to tell our story about defining a problem, talking it
through, and doing what it takes to see that it gets solved. Thank you for
helping the publication that states boldly "We are the Blind Speaking for
Ourselves."
How to Complete the Survey
. Online: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BrailleMonitor
. Phone: 667-888-2454
. Mail: Remove the survey from Monitor, mark your answers with an "X,"
and mail FREE MATTER FOR THE BLIND to Braille Monitor Survey, National
Federation of the Blind, 200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230.
Braille Monitor Survey
Please complete the following survey questions.
1. How long have you been reading the Braille Monitor?
. I've never read the Braille Monitor.
. 0-5 years.
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2. If you've never read the Braille Monitor or you decided not to
continue reading it, please tell us why. If you read it regularly,
skip to question three.
. I didn't know about it.
. I am not much of a reader.
. From the name I thought it was only available in Braille.
. The articles do not seem relevant to me.
. I would read it if the articles were (please specify)
3. How did you hear about the Braille Monitor?
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4. What is your preferred reading method for magazines?
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5. What information are you looking for in the Braille Monitor? You may
select more than one.
. Organization philosophy
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6. Please provide any additional feedback regarding the Braille Monitor.
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Your responses will be anonymous. Thank you for your participation in our
Braille Monitor Survey.
----------
[PHOTO CAPTION: Kane Brolin]
Blind and Respectable in Ancient Rome:
Unearthing the Forgotten Genius of Appius Claudius Caecus
by Kane Brolin
From the Editor: Kane Brolin is the president of the National
Federation of the Blind Michiana Chapter which, as you can guess from its
name, borders Indiana and Michigan. Kane honors the Braille Monitor with an
occasional piece that goes beyond the surface and shows the intellect and
talent he possesses. What I find most heartwarming is that he chooses to
share some of his gifts with us, and here is one of the finest I have seen:
No matter how long you or your ancestors have lived in the United
States of America, you play a role in something that still is fairly new
here on planet Earth. Maybe the newness of the American experiment, coupled
with the fact that everything changes so rapidly these days, is why for us
Americans learning history tends not to be a high priority. The movers and
shakers of our nation are known for conquering frontiers, inventing
technologies, fighting battles, and solving problems with the goal of
carving out a legacy. We teach our children to be ambitious and to point
their gaze mostly forward, seldom backward.
This is evident even in the everyday language we use. In my peer
group, ancient history was what we said to describe some episode in a
friend's life that we believe should be discarded for irrelevancy (I
vaguely recall using this phrase to dismiss some of the things my parents
used to say, too).
Sometimes our choice to discount the value of history isn't just
cultural; it's personal. It can get painful when we find ourselves to be
members of a class that has been ignored or marginalized as long as anyone
can remember. If I am blind and spend a lot of my time meditating on
treatment of the blind in bygone eras, this would seem to produce a result
much more depressing than edifying. The Encyclopedia Britannica has a brief
online entry that discusses the blind and their place in antiquity:
It has long been assumed that in the ancient world the blind enjoyed
few opportunities and lived out their days in penury as beggars or as
wards of their families in the absence of any systematic state or
government assistance. Historical knowledge of the lives of blind
people in the premodern Western world is extremely limited, and it is
strongly influenced by literary or religious texts. Traditional
interpretations of classical literary representations hold that
blindness is a punishment for social or religious transgressions or,
alternatively, is the price one pays to gain spiritual vision and
insight. ... The negative historical assumption is of the blind as
objects of charity rather than active agents in history. Occasionally,
the blind could be found clustered in certain state- or church-
sanctioned professions or guilds, but in large part blindness was
assumed to be a ticket to misery, a curse, or a sentence to second-
class status.[1]
Of course, noteworthy exceptions exist. Memorable blind individuals do
figure prominently as characters even in classical literature.[2] Even
Homer, possibly the most widely known epic poet of ancient Greece, is said
to have been blind. But even with those exceptions, some try to erode their
credibility by downplaying or stripping away the characteristic of
blindness. The main page devoted to Homer and Homeric scholarship on
Wikipedia puts it this way: "Some claims were established early and
repeated often. They include that Homer was blind (taking as self-
referential a passage describing the blind bard...) Many traditions
circulated in the ancient world concerning Homer, most of which are lost.
Modern scholarly consensus is that they have no value as history."[3]
But in other cases, there is no disputing it. Triumph rises above what
could have been tragedy. Enter the person of Appius Claudius Caecus.
Judging from his name alone, we learn of Appius Claudius' most noticeable
characteristic; caecus means "totally blind" in Latin. It is universally
recognized that he was blind, and that he lived some two centuries before
Julius Caesar sprang onto the scene. Yet, blind or not, he stands as one of
the most accomplished and memorable figures of the Roman Republic.
So who was Appius Claudius Caecus? He was a statesman, urban planner,
and civil engineer within the Roman Republic, who attained political
prominence after being appointed to serve in the role of censor in the year
312 BCE. "According to [the ancient Roman historian] Livy, he had gone
blind because of a curse... "Appius is best known for two undertakings he
began as censor: the Appian Way (Latin: Via Appia), the first major Roman
road, running
between Rome and Beneventum to the south; and the first aqueduct in Rome,
the Aqua Appia."[4] An aqueduct is "an artificial channel conveying water,
typically across a bridge or other gap."[5] The Aqua Appia was built
largely underground to protect the water supply from enemies and prevent
water pollution. A consistent supply of clean water was essential to a
thriving population center such as Rome to provide for public baths,
private homes, fountains, and crop irrigation. The Roman establishment had
so much trust in Appius Claudius that, first in 292 BCE and again in 285
BCE, they appointed him dictator.[6] Although it is said that he became
blind later in life, Appius Claudius never quit his service to the state.
Since his second term as dictator would have corresponded to his 55th
birthday, it is reasonable to think that a lot of what Appius Claudius
accomplished for his country was concluded while he was completely without
eyesight.
Appius Claudius' moment on the Roman stage was anything but fleeting,
his accomplishments much more than a mere flash in the pan. His career in
Roman governance was lengthy: something that would have been hard for
anyone, sighted or blind, to achieve in the scandal-ridden, often
treacherous, and sometimes deadly vocation of statecraft in the ancient
Mediterranean world. "After his time as censor, he came to serve as consul
twice, in 307 BCE and 296 BCE."[7] "Appius wrote a book called Sententiae,
based upon a verse of Greek model. It was "the first Roman book of literary
character. He was also concerned with literature and rhetoric, and
instituted reforms in Latin orthography, allegedly ending the use of the
letter Z."[8]
You might ask, "So what?" That was then, this is now. Appius Claudius
Caecus' remains have returned to dust. His accomplishments, while
magnificent, are yesterday's news. And, by the way, he was an aristocrat,
one from a noble and wealthy family who should have had all possible
worldly advantage: plenty of tutors, plenty of servants. If he needed
someone to read to him, prepare food or apparel for him, or transport him
wherever he needed to go, help presumably was no farther away than the snap
of a finger. Few of us who read the Braille Monitor ever could count on
social or financial advantages like those Appius Claudius must have had. Is
there anything about this blind dignitary's life that is worth our
celebrating? I argue very strongly that there is.
To me, Appius Claudius' accomplishments are not what makes his story
stand out. Even more amazing is that even though this man lost all of his
eyesight, he seems to have lost no respect from the citizens of the Roman
Republic because of it. Those who came afterward to preserve his legacy
were deliberate in recording for posterity who he was and that he lived
with the characteristic of blindness; but they did not cast that
characteristic in a negative light. Appius Claudius easily could have
responded to his condition by hiding himself in the protective folds of a
wealthy and large clan, losing himself to momentary pleasure from every
available source and receiving unquestioning service from slaves and
clients even if he had not lifted a finger to help himself or to serve
others. Little would have been expected of him after he was made to bear
the "curse" of blindness.
But again, so what? For those of us who find ourselves imprisoned by
the here and now, it might seem hard to come up with a useful takeaway for
our own lives. However, he achieved things. We know Appius Claudius had to
get by without the tools our tech-laden age demands: the smartphone, the
notetaker, and Bookshare. Not even the white cane or Braille was available
to him. But a closer look reveals that he did share two things in common
with members of the National Federation of the Blind: a lifelong commitment
to public service and a lifelong desire to raise expectations of himself
continually. Born in 340 BCE, Appius Claudius had assumed the role of
censor over the whole republic by age twenty-eight. At an age when many in
Western society today are still struggling just to get a handle on who they
are, this gifted and goal-driven 28-year-old was serving as "a magistrate
whose original functions of registering citizens and their property were
greatly expanded to include supervision of senatorial rolls and moral
conduct."[9] Not content to serve only himself or his own patrician class,
Appius Claudius "sought support from the lower classes, allowing sons of
freedmen to serve in the Senate, and extending voting privileges to men in
the rural tribes who did not own land."[10] He reformed land laws and left
a permanent mark on Roman grammar, poetry, and rhetoric.[11] Perhaps his
greatest contribution to the common people of Rome was that in 305 BCE he
authorized the publication of a calendar of court days and a formulary of
legal procedures for the use of the public. Until then, that essential
information had been kept for the private viewing of mostly an elite
priestly class.[12]
It would, of course, be a mistake to superimpose our 21st century
cultural values of equality and diversity onto the subject of this article.
All men and women certainly never were thought to have been created equal
in ancient Rome, and it seems pretty certain that Appius Claudius would not
have looked for opportunities to emancipate, educate, and empower slaves or
to carve out an activist organization of the blind formed from a cross
section of all Roman society. But the point is not to hold our standards
over the head of Appius Claudius Caecus, nor is it helpful to compare the
lifestyle of a Roman aristocrat who lived three centuries before Christ to
a "woke," 21st century citizen who stands to benefit from the Fourth
Industrial Revolution. But we can without a doubt draw inspiration from
Appius Claudius Caecus, a man who beat the odds by focusing on his
strengths and refusing to be held back by his limitations.
Around the year 280 BCE, Appius Claudius gave a resoundingly patriotic
speech which is recognized as the earliest known political speech in Latin.
In that oration, Roman historian Livy records that Appius Claudius used the
phrase "every man is the architect of his own fortune" (Latin: quisque
faber suae fortunae).[13] I feel that this phrase and this speech stood
out not so much because of what words were spoken, but because of the deep
respect Rome held for the individual who spoke them. By this time, he was
not only blind, but apparently unable to move under his own power. Livy
records that he had to be carried into the forum so he could speak to the
senate. This was in essence a deathbed speech. His oration had so much
impact that it decided the fate of an ongoing war and influenced Roman
military doctrine for centuries to come.
As someone who is blind myself, I have gained over the years a deep
interest in the skills, training, and tools of blindness-many of which we
ourselves have helped to develop and promote through the National
Federation of the Blind. As I try to imagine what Appius Claudius' life
must have been like, I am hugely curious about what alternative techniques
this brilliant and strong man must have learned or developed after the
onset of blindness to manage his affairs and to live out his career journey
while navigating the daily grind in ancient Rome-whatever that felt like
then. I am sad that I cannot ask Appius Claudius Caecus how he did it. Yet,
even knowing as little as I do, I am thankful to history for at least
preserving the truth that he did it.
----------
[PHOTO CAPTION: Mark Riccobono]
The Journey Worth Sharing: Marching Together Toward the Lives We Want
by Mark A. Riccobono
From the Editor: Probably no one is asked more to recite, explain, and
live out the values found in our brand than our President. Here are his
thoughts about our messages and in part our tagline. What he says here is a
wonderful blend of what the things we say mean both for his individual
growth and for our continuing to prosper as an organization:
"When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we
strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better
too."
-Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
I was recently asked about our tagline, "Live the Life You Want" and
why it has meaning for the National Federation of the Blind. I know
something about this topic as I helped to coordinate the evaluation of the
Federation's brand that the board of directors undertook a couple of years
before our seventy-fifth anniversary. More than that, I have been thinking
about and participating in the understanding and development of the
Federation for more than twenty years. Maybe by reflecting on my journey
within the Federation and my journey to understand myself, I may help to
illuminate why our brand has meaning and power.
I found the National Federation of the Blind in 1996. In short, I was
living a life of faking that I could see things that I could not. I had no
idea what techniques blind people used, and I had no idea what kind of life
a blind person could pursue. Why would I? I was not blind; I was visually
challenged. In reality I was a mess, standing on a fragile cliff where at
any moment I would fall into a lonely and empty space in which I had no
prospects.
When I came to the national convention of the Federation in 1996, I
met blind person after blind person who said, "I've got you; I will show
you how we do it; I will go with you." They started sharing what they did
and challenged me to think about how I could be better. I met blind people
doing things I had never imagined I could or should do in my life. I was
inspired.
I recognize that the notion of inspiration porn is real-the image of
disability as something amazing and awe-inspiring for the benefit of making
nondisabled people feel better about their place in the world-but this was
genuine inspiration. I needed to witness that blind people were doing
incredible things. The difference was, and still is today, that the
inspiration was always accompanied by the message, "and this can be you,
and we want to help you live out your dreams." Now I was inspired by a lot
of blind people that were doing things that I simply had no interest in
doing. I did not have an interest in going into law or engineering, but if
I am honest, I did not know what I wanted to do because I was still
building my understanding of who I wanted to be-the life I wanted to live.
Up until that point I had been pursuing the life I understood others
believed I could achieve (one that was fairly limited).
I was welcomed into the Federation. I was invited to freely take
advantage of every technique, resource, and idea I could find from
interacting with other members. I heard people say how much they got out of
being a member and from participating actively, but it was hard to
understand what it was they got. Did they get free stuff, new technology,
scholarships, tax breaks, or something else? I could not understand, so I
started asking the friends I had made. They said the biggest thing they
receive is building relationships with blind people in the Federation
family and having a network of people across the country that can be called
on regarding any question that might come up about blindness or life for
that matter. They said it is about having authentic, honest, and sometimes
challenging conversations-the kind of interactions best friends have in
order to make each other better. They said, "just watch, and if you feel
compelled, help out, and you will experience what we mean." That is exactly
what happened.
Then I went to the general session, where I experienced the powerful
strength of the collective movement. From the friends I had made in just a
few days, I already knew I was not alone. The convention fully assembled
demonstrated to me that a force that was very powerful had my back. This
was not inspiration but real power, the power to change everything that was
wrong in the way that society socialized and institutionalized the
stereotypes about blindness. This was the power to change what I had
internalized for twenty years and now had to try to get out of my system. I
wanted to be part of this powerful force for change, not just take from it.
The message I got was that it would be stronger if I helped with it.
Throughout the rest of the convention I got another message: that the
National Federation of the Blind is innovative, smart, solution-oriented,
and creative. This definitely appealed to my business and marketing chops.
The Federation was not simply willing to live within society as it existed
today but was actively working on designing and building the future. At
that convention, the beginnings of NFB-NEWSLINE� were being discussed as
well as other projects that have now made a big difference in the lives of
blind people, and all of these projects were sparked by blind people
themselves.
Inspirational, inviting, powerful, and innovative were all qualities I
experienced at my first convention, and they remain the core traits of the
Federation's brand today. I could tell you all about my journey in
understanding myself and the Federation since 1996. However, I think the
editor would be forced to dedicate a special issue just to that writing.
You should know that these qualities have helped me define what I want for
my life. They also have helped me to discover that by contributing actively
to the movement that is the National Federation of the Blind, I continue to
refuel my understanding and make the world better for all blind people.
This journey of self-development and community-building continues today and
will until I have nothing left to give or improve. Due to the mentoring and
perspective I have gained as a member of this organization, I am certain
that I will always be working on doing better in my life or, as we say,
living the life I want.
Let us return to the evaluation of the Federation's brand, which
started in 2013. The National Federation of the Blind Board of Directors
decided that in advance of our seventy-fifth anniversary we should review
and update our brand. Our President at the time, Marc Maurer, asked me to
manage the project, and he appointed a number of Federationists to
participate in the branding work. This ad hoc committee was comprised of
newer as well as long-time Federation members with a demonstrated
commitment to building the organization. At the beginning, many of the
committee members were uneasy about the process. Questions such as "What's
wrong with our current brand," "Why do we need this, we are not selling a
product; we're a civil rights movement," and "We do not need a consultant
to tell us how to run our organization," were on the minds of committee
members and sometimes expressed openly at the first meeting. I remember
that our President reminded us at the beginning that the Federation is
always willing to carefully examine what we do and that we should not be
afraid to say we can do things better. The message was that change is
necessary for growth. Yet change is hard for most people to deal with, and
it is difficult for people to understand that change does not mean what has
been done before is wrong. Our movement continues to evolve as society
changes, a necessary component if we are to have continued and perhaps even
greater success in fulfilling our mission.
Our committee engaged in a number of conversations about where we have
been as an organization and where we are going. The first step in that
focus was gathering data from our membership, which happened in focus
groups at our 2013 National Convention as well as through a series of
telephone interviews with members. Obviously, it was impossible to capture
data from every member of the Federation (at least to do this in a timely
fashion), but we worked hard to capture a strong diversity of viewpoints.
Our philosophy about blindness-the distilled understanding we have from the
shared authentic experience of blind people-was at the center of our
evaluation. As we identified elements of our brand, we spent considerable
time and energy ensuring that we got the words right. Our consultants did a
skillful job of facilitating our discussions and giving us a framework for
success. They praised us for being much more heavily engaged in the process
than any other organization with which they had worked. What they did not
realize is how seriously we take ownership for our organization, and we
wanted a product that reflected our growing understanding and not that of
an outside consultant.
One of the last steps in the branding evaluation was examining our
tagline. "Changing What It Means to be Blind" had served us well, but it
was not consistent with the brand framework we have developed over the
evaluation process. A brand is the reputation that you want to have. Our
former tagline looked back to a time when blind people were fighting to get
in the door and working to have enough influence that we could make
significant change once inside. It also had the disadvantage of making it
sound like we did not need new members. If we were already "changing
things," maybe we did not need help. Many of us struggled with the
realization that there is still lots of change required in the public
understanding of blindness.
How was it that this one little phrase, the tagline, could be the most
complicated part of the process? I think it was because the tagline was
personal for us. The tagline for our movement represented for many of us
how we think of our role as individuals. I participate actively because I
am changing what it means to be blind. The personal aspect makes sense
because the tagline is intended to capture the attention of the primary
audience for the organization. For us, blind people are our primary
audience. As America's membership and civil rights organization of the
blind, the tagline has to speak to all blind people. In an organization
that is built so strongly on individual contributions collectively focused,
where we expect blind people to run it, and elect the representative
leaders to coordinate the work, the tagline becomes personal as much as
organizational. Although I have a bachelor's of business administration
with a major in marketing from the University of Wisconsin, I had not
thought of a tagline in the context of a membership organization and what
it is intended to accomplish until getting into this project.
The committee grappled with many options for a tagline. A number of
interesting suggestions were made. Each suggestion had to be tested against
the new brand framework we had worked hard to craft-a framework everyone
felt articulated where we want to go as a movement. An additional
complication was that we made it a nonnegotiable priority that we would
create a tagline that distinguishes our unique role in the nation compared
to the hundreds of public and private agencies for the blind. We are a
membership and civil rights organization of the blind, not just another
agency or professional organization.
The committee presented a recommendation to the Federation's board of
directors early in 2014. The recommendation was to use "National Federation
of the Blind Live the Life You Want." The tagline is always intended to be
presented with our name, so putting the word blind in was not necessary.
The board considered the recommendation and rejected it. A subcommittee of
the board was tasked with further examining the question of a tagline.
After another two months, the subcommittee recommended to the full board
that the tagline be, "National Federation of the Blind Live the Life You
Want." Let me save you going word by word to try to detect the difference.
The tagline remained as it was submitted because it spells out as clearly
as we can what we intend to do and who we intend to be for blind people.
Clearly this tagline has been deeply studied and thoughtfully evaluated by
some of the most dynamic blind people in the nation-a group of individuals
who engage with thousands of other blind people every year.
For me there were two important realizations that happened in this
process. When I was considering taglines, I thought of two things: about
the blind people who have not found us and about the pictures on the walls
at the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute. In our building
we have pictures of a diverse range of blind people doing any number of
activities-blind people doing things that many would not expect and at
other times doing the everyday things that people do. I imagined each
tagline as a caption for each of those photos. If a prospective member came
to our building and they came across one of these photos with a tagline,
would they connect with it. Furthermore, if an existing member came across
that same photo and tagline, would they connect. Many taglines dropped off
the list quickly under that evaluation. The only one that stuck every time
was "Live the Life You Want."
Our branding consultants were clear that choosing a tagline would not
be enough. This is where the second realization connected for me. A tagline
gains its power from being activated along with the brand. The tagline
grows based on our continuing to move the organization toward that tagline.
I began to understand that if a brand is the reputation that we want to
have, then it only partially represents where we are today. The goal is to
build the organization to the next level and keep it growing beyond what it
is now or tomorrow or next year. So, the tagline should pull us forward and
not merely reflect on the progress we have made. Using this measure, "Live
the Life You Want" was the pull we needed to the future we seek as blind
people. I was pleased that the board of directors chose this direction, and
months later I was elected President of the organization and, thus,
responsible for leading our progress toward fulfilling our brand.
I have heard all of the concerns about our brand and our tagline. I
also continue to measure that against the tremendous benefits and success I
have observed in our progress over the almost six years our brand has been
in place. From our membership projects to our program development to our
evolving organizational culture, our brand and our tagline have pulled us
toward the future we seek. It is helping us grow to be even stronger and
more dynamic as a movement. It is encouraging our investment in diversity
and fueling discussions about questions we have not yet answered. It is
part of our journey to living the lives we want. It encourages us to be
better, and it makes everything around us better.
Two of the primary criticisms of the tagline are that it says there
is a particular way that blind people should live. Others contradict this
and suggest that it allows blind people to settle for low expectations-if I
want to live unemployed and second-class, I can do that. Neither of these
is reflected in our brand values or in the extensive process used to get us
to this point. In fact, "Live the Life You Want" was very intentionally
chosen because it represents our continuous work to raise expectations for
all blind people and to welcome all blind people into our organization. Our
movement encouraged me to do better than I was doing, and in fact, it still
continues to do that. I fully expect that in twenty-five years or so when I
consider retirement, it will continue to urge me to raise my expectations,
and I anticipate with joy what that will mean in my life. I am thankful
that I am surrounded by thousands of blind people striving to live the
lives they want because it inspires me, gives me the power to activate the
meaning of that in my own life and for the betterment of others, allows me
to share in and contribute to the innovative ideas, and invites me to be
part of a family of support. If you get past the words themselves and
examine what the words represent in terms of where we want to go, I believe
completely that you will find the same realization.
This journey is worth sharing, and we need you to be part of it. If
you find areas of our organization where we are not meeting our brand
values and where we are not honoring the spirit of "Live the Life You
Want," then we need you to help adjust our practices so we are headed
toward that future. This is why we went through the branding process. I am
extremely proud of the work our members have done in the past six years to
activate on our brand and drive toward that future we want. It works
because we debate it, we talk about it, and we share in the journey and
what it means to us. I want you to be part of that. Share what "Live the
Life You Want" means to you. Share the value that you find in this
organization and your ability to help share it as America's membership
organization of blind people. Also share in where we are not fulfilling our
brand, and do your part to make it better for us. When I come across
examples of our being off brand, I talk to people about it. Often I learn
something from the conversation, and often others learn from me. Most
importantly, our work together is better, and our journey together is more
successful.
I am not sure when I will fully realize living the life I want. I
have realized a lot of it because of the National Federation of the Blind.
Yet, I still face barriers in society that prevent me from fully and easily
living the life I want. I recognize the power of the Federation is the best
chance to eliminate those obstacles. However, I also face barriers within
myself that my Federation family helps me to overcome. Just when I think
there is something that I might not do as a blind person, I find a blind
person who is tackling that thing I thought was not possible. Some of those
things I decide I do not want to do-I have no interest in climbing Mt.
Everest-but others get on my personal development list. Whether it's
cooking something I had not considered, trying a new hobby, or just
generally continuing to understand that blindness is not the characteristic
that holds me back, it is the Federation family and our quest to live the
lives we want that supports me in the journey. Join me, and together, with
love, hope, and determination, we will transform dreams into reality.
----------
[PHOTO CAPTION: Scott LaBarre]
My Thoughts on Living the Life You Want
by Scott LaBarre
From the Editor: This piece was taken from Colorado Talk, the listserv
of the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado. Scott is the president
of the affiliate, and I think he has helpful thoughts in explaining an
important part of our tagline. Here is what he says:
First, I want to wish everyone here a very happy new year! My hope is
that 2020 will be outstanding for all of us. Next, I want to thank Jenny
for raising the topic of what our tagline "Live the Life You Want!" really
means. I appreciate everyone's thoughtful comments about how it should be
interpreted and implemented.
Before I delve into the substance of my comments, I want to give you a
little background, which helps to form my perspective. I first joined the
NFB in 1986, and I have had the honor and privilege of being a very active
member and leader on many different levels. As part of that experience I
served on a committee which formed in 2013, maybe even late 2012, whose
purpose was to develop our plan for celebrating the 75th anniversary of the
Federation. After some discussion, we decided that it was time to rebrand
our messaging so that we could more effectively communicate who we are. One
part of that rebranding was changing our tagline from "We are changing what
it means to be blind" to the current "Live the Life You Want!" Beyond just
the tagline, we developed a comprehensive brand architecture which has many
elements that would serve as an excellent focal point for future
discussions. In any event, I mention all this because I think I have some
idea of what we intended regarding the message we were attempting to
communicate.
Ever since I have been involved in the NFB, there has been a
conception that the NFB only supports and celebrates the "super blind" and
that if you do not go about blindness in a very specific manner, you are
not really living the life the NFB endorses. I emphatically and whole-
heartedly believe that this misconception is not true! There is no such
thing as a model Federationist, and there certainly is not one singular
script from which we must all lead our lives.
The idea of "Live the Life You Want!" is that your blindness should
not hold you back from pursuing your dreams and ambitions. Undeniably, all
of our dreams and ambitions are limited and somewhat governed by the
realities we face, whether those are financial, educational, health-based,
or otherwise. There is no one way to live the life you want. It does not
matter if you are pursuing a high stakes profession, working from home,
volunteering in the community, or not working at all. Our main message is
that whatever you are doing with your life, your blindness should not be
the chief reason holding you back from whatever brings you fulfillment and
purpose. Our one-minute message, another creation of our rebranding, brings
this point out.
"The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the
expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles
between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want;
blindness is not what holds you back." A key part of this message is that
we are raising expectations. That has both external and internal aspects to
it. On the external side, we are working to convince the general population
that they can and should expect more from us. All of us often run into very
low expectations held by the public. Pretty much every time I travel to and
through an airport, somebody tells me how amazing I am for simply putting
one foot in front of the other.
On the internal side, we should encourage one another to become the
best versions of ourselves that we can. Doing so must always be done with
love and understanding. Every year that I am in the Federation, I learn so
much from our members on how I can lead my life in a better way-a new
technology trick or something that enhances my independent travel or
whatever it might be. I certainly haven't figured it all out, and I know
that sometimes I do in fact let my blindness limit me in a way that isn't
truly necessary.
Regardless, we must accept people where they are in their lives and be
ready to encourage them to achieve more when that is appropriate. This is
what we aim to do at our centers. We work with people from all walks of
life and who have a wide variety of challenges. No student's program is or
should be the same. We have some general policies and expectations, but
these are always adjusted to the individual student.
Living the life you want is all about independence and freedom. As our
founder Dr. tenBroek so eloquently put it, we have a right to live in the
world. That means we have the right to be free and independent and to
determine our own destiny. The exact mechanism we use to achieve that
freedom and independence is not the key issue, but rather that we know and
believe that we have the right to achieve it. I think the Federation's best
speech regarding independence is "The Nature of Independence" by Dr.
Jernigan from the 1993 National Convention. If you have not read it, I
encourage you to do so. It is available through our national website.
Before closing this out, I want to address another point Jenny raised
in her original message-the idea that perhaps we sometimes emphasize
success stories based on traditional notions of success and that we don't
celebrate other forms of achievement. I think this is a great point, and we
should endeavor to paint a more comprehensive picture. Convincing an animal
shelter to let you volunteer despite your blindness is just as important as
someone winning a national scholarship based on academic achievement at the
highest level. Both are part of living the life we want.
In closing, I want to share two other elements from our brand
architecture: the Brand Promise and Value Proposition. I do this because,
for me, it so eloquently sums up why I am involved in our Federation.
"Together with love, hope, and determination, we transform dreams into
reality. I am filled with hope, energy, and love by participating in the
National Federation of the Blind because my expectations are raised, my
contributions make a difference to me and to others, and I can celebrate
the realization of my dreams with my Federation family."
-------
[PHOTO CAPTION: Gary Wunder]
Live the Life You Want: A Choice or a Prescription
for Being an Elite Blind Person
by Gary Wunder
When I was asked to be a part of coming up with branding messages and
we selected "Live the Life You Want," I was keenly aware that anything we
chose would perpetuate the questions folks on the outside have always had
about us: Is the Federation's goal to help blind people travel their own
path, or is it the Federation telling blind folks how to live? I knew that
the way people perceived a message was everything and feared that if it
took much explaining, it wouldn't be the right tagline. My concern didn't
spring from some innate ability to predict the future but from living
through some of our past.
I clearly remember other messages that tried to briefly speak to our
mission and work-nowadays called an elevator speech. If you only get the
time it takes to go from floor three to four, can you briefly explain what
this organization that means so much to you does and why others might want
to help further its goals?
"We are Changing What It Means to be Blind" was a phrase I liked very
much. It was on the lips of many of my generation in the movement. But the
problem with it was that too many people thought we were pledging to change
visual acuity, and it took too much time to explain that it was social
change that filled our agenda. Then there was "It is Respectable to be
Blind," the reaction to the fact that some didn't believe that people
perceived as broken could ever garner true acceptance and respect. But some
folks objected to this one because they thought we were saying that the
mere presence of blindness in one's life conveyed respectability. They
agreed that being blind didn't preclude being respectable but neither did
it convey respectability
The criticism of our tagline isn't the five words "Live the Life You
Want." It is the suspicion that what we really mean is that blind people
are to live their lives in such a way that they become the elite blind, the
people who go further than anyone expects, the people who are admired by
all because of their undeniable intellect, motivation, and accomplishment.
To some extent I understand the concern and the way that some have elevated
it to a criticism. Every civil rights organization pushes its people to go
beyond where they are. All of us believe that many of the things that keep
us from being all we can be are socially constructed barriers. But beyond
this, most people involved in civil rights also believe that part of the
problem we face comes from buying the societal expectations that do so much
to limit us. So yes, there is upward pressure to do more and be more, but
no organization encouraging the advancement of a class is free from this
expectation.
For me our tagline asks each of us to exercise some faith: faith that
we will help when one of us encounters problems in living the life they
want, and faith that each of us can dare to dream and dare to act on those
dreams. Not every dream will come true, and not every dream is meant to. As
a youngster I dreamed of being an astronaut, and that hasn't happened. But
many of my generation shared that dream, and only a small number achieved
it. Blindness certainly precluded me from flying in space, but so too did a
number of things: the few positions there were to be had, the training that
was required, and even the height and weight requirements that were and
probably still are a part of the program.
Nobody in the Federation has ever questioned what I have wanted or
done in my life except a dear friend who once told me that before writing a
book about myself, I'd first need to do something worth writing about. My
Federation colleagues, friends, and family have asked me to be honest in
distinguishing between real accomplishments and the faint praise I can
easily get by being blind. They have asked that I look at the things I have
in my life and try to see that others have it at least as good, and they
have allowed me to participate in something I believe makes that possible.
At least from my perspective as the editor of this publication, I
welcome articles from people whose aspirations and achievements vary
widely. If you volunteer for an organization that values your work and
gives you satisfaction, write us. If you work a job that pays at or
slightly above minimum wage and you have a story to tell about how you do
it as a blind person, write us. If there is something you do in lieu of
paid employment and there are good reasons why you don't pursue something
that pays, tell us about it. If you have tried and failed and there may be
a way we can help or benefit from your experience, together let's put that
out for public discussion and concerted action.
Please don't assume that because you don't see articles about people
like you, it is because we actively discourage them or outright turn them
down. I believe we mean what we say in our tagline and that we find value
in anyone brave enough to dream, brave enough to try, and brave enough to
share their story with blind people who share in common this pledge of
helping each blind person live the life they want.
----------
What Living the Life You Want Means to a Computer Professional,
Athlete, Cook, and Leader
by Randi Strunk
From the Editor: Randi is an incredible person. She is a lead
accessibility consultant for Target, meaning that much of what you find
convenient and usable on the Target site is because of her influence and
competence. She has been at her job for more than eight years and has been
married to Ryan Strunk, the president of the National Federation of the
Blind of Minnesota, for thirteen years. Both her work and home life
indicate she is able to handle blessings and challenges at the same time.
She is also an acknowledged athlete; she has done more than ten triathlons,
including one full Ironman in 2018. She also likes to cook, and with all of
this activity, she still has time for reflection and gratitude. She and
Ryan are two very fortunate people. Here is what Randi says about her
interpretation of our tagline:
Live the Life You Want: The tagline of the National Federation of the
Blind is such a powerful statement to me because it's simple, yet
challenges me to not let blindness dictate the type of life I lead. It
reminds me to push for what I want both personally and professionally, and
it motivates me to pursue my dreams. As an uncertain blind kid, I worried
about what I would be able to do as a blind person and struggled with these
questions: What types of jobs could blind people do? What types of
relationships could I have? Where would I be able to live? I didn't
understand yet that all of that was up to me to decide. However, once I
found my friends in the National Federation of the Blind, I shifted my
perspective from one of "What can I do based on the limitations of
blindness," to "What do I want to do based on my interests and dreams?" My
younger self would not have pictured herself as a lead accessibility
consultant for a Fortune 500 company. She would not have considered living
in a large city beyond the borders of her home state, and she never in her
wildest dreams would have thought of becoming an Ironman Triathlon
finisher. The support, guidance, and philosophy I gained from my
involvement in the NFB however, has resulted in all these things being a
part of the life I live today. I have a job that challenges me, I live in a
place I enjoy, and I am pursuing a hobby I love because I was shown I can
live the life I want.
----------
Living the Life I Want: A Dream I Thought Might Never be Possible
by Amy Wilson
From the Editor: Amy Wilson is the director of our social media
efforts in the NFB of Missouri. She is married, has one child, and is very
active on Facebook and ever more so on Twitter. If there is an impression
to be had on behalf of the National Federation of the Blind's Missouri
Affiliate, she wants to take advantage of it. Here are some brief remarks
she has written about a line that means so much to her:
I still feel like I am new to the NFB, however, our tag line moves me
deeply. When I think of the statement, "Live the Life You Want," it opens
my mind to life's possibilities. Knowing I am not the only one who
struggles and overcomes those struggles is powerful. I spent too many years
not knowing others who are blind, and now I have a great affirmation for
life and a Federation family.
----------
[PHOTO CAPTION: Marc Maurer]
The Supreme Court of Massachusetts Affirms Blind People are the Peers of
Sighted People
by Marc Maurer
From the Editor: Dr. Marc Maurer knows the law. He also knows about
being blind and the way preconceptions and the law often interact to the
disadvantage of blind people. When he sees this negative interaction, he
tries to do something about it, and he asks those of us who rally around
making lives better for blind people to help financially, spiritually, and
economically. Since serving as the President of our national organization
longer than anyone, he has focused most of his attention on finding
problems blind people have with the law and setting them right. Here is
what he says about a most important case in which we prevailed:
On January 30, 2020, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
handed down an opinion in the criminal law case of Commonwealth of
Massachusetts v. Lawrence L. Heywood affirming the conviction of the
defendant of assault with "serious bodily injury." In August of 2019 the
National Federation of the Blind filed a brief in the case. Ordinarily the
Federation does not participate in matters involving accusation of crime.
However, in the Heywood case the jury that convicted the defendant included
a blind person. Mr. Heywood appealed his conviction because he said he had
not had the fair trial guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the
Constitution of the United States. The blind juror could not effectively
evaluate the evidence against him, he said. A conviction of crime can be
secured only if the accused person is judged by an impartial jury of his
peers who possess the capacity to make the judgments required for a fair
trial. The blind person could not independently assess photographic
evidence in the case, said the defendant, and the conviction must be
overturned. Equality for the blind in participating in civic activities,
such as serving on juries, must not be permitted to deprive a defendant of
the right to a fair and impartial hearing. This line of reasoning is a
central tenet in the argument of Mr. Heywood for reversal.
The complaining witness in the case, who said that he had been injured
by Mr. Heywood, was attending a basketball game in the fall of 2015. Mr.
Heywood approached him, and without warning, punched him in the face with
sufficient force to fracture his cheekbone, fracture the orbital bone
around the eye, and to cause retinal bleeding. Mr. Heywood was charged with
assault and battery with serious bodily injury. The judge in the trial
court proceeded with jury selection and seated a jury which included juror
number six, who is blind. After the jury found the defendant guilty as
charged, the appeal was filed. The Supreme Judicial Court learned of the
appeal and moved the case to the highest tribunal in Massachusetts. The
court also asked interested parties who had specialized knowledge of the
subject of blindness to present amicus curiae briefs, and the National
Federation of the Blind, the National Federation of the Blind of
Massachusetts, and the Disability Law Center in Massachusetts accepted the
offer.
At one time in many parts of the United States, blind people were
prohibited from serving on juries. The National Federation of the Blind
sought to change this by drafting state legislation that could be used to
remove the prohibition. Especially in the 1960s and '70s, a campaign to
change state laws occurred. Jury service for the blind was sufficiently
unusual that articles about participation on juries appeared in the Braille
Monitor when our members found themselves in the jury box. Although the
laws have been changed, blind people still find themselves routinely
removed from jury pools. Sometimes the courthouse officials who manage the
jury pool indicate to blind individuals that they need not proceed to a
courtroom because to do so would be difficult or dangerous. If the proposed
jury members must move from one building to another, must cross a street,
must proceed up and down stairs, or must navigate a complicated hallway
system, the blind participants in the jury pool are directed to wait
without being assigned to participate.
When the potential jury members are in the courtroom, judges sometimes
dismiss blind persons from consideration as a matter of course. In the
National Federation of the Blind, we attempt to instruct court personnel on
the suitability of blind people to serve on juries, but the prejudicial
attitudes that are carried into the courtroom remain. Whether blind people
are permitted to serve or not is hit or miss. However, it is most unusual
for a person accused of crime to seek to have a conviction overturned on
the grounds that blindness in itself is evidence of unsuitability for
service on a jury, therefore the National Federation of the Blind sought to
provide information. The court in Massachusetts might make the right
decision, but we thought it would be good to offer perspective.
The brief we filed notes that the prohibition against jury service for
the blind has been removed from state law throughout the United States. The
last state to change its law was Arkansas, which removed its prohibition in
1994. Furthermore, not only have the prohibitions against jury service been
removed from the law but positive provisions of statute prohibiting
discrimination on the basis of disability have been added.
Perhaps of most significance in our argument to the court is that we
reject the false dichotomy proposed by the language of the appellant. Mr.
Heywood argues that having a blind person on his jury was a detriment to
fairness. However, the experience brought to the deliberation process of a
jury by a blind person adds a measure of depth to the decision-making that
would not be available without the participation of that blind person.
Consequently, having a blind person on the jury adds a measure of fairness
that would be absent without it.
Take a fanciful example. The argument is sometimes made that beautiful
people in the court are treated better than ugly ones. If Mr. Heywood had
been ugly, (the deliberations of the court do not say), the jury might have
been prejudiced against him because of his visual appearance. However, the
blind juror would not be affected by this characteristic. A different set
of information would be uppermost in the blind juror's mind because of the
altered mechanism of gathering information from that of other jurors. This
offers a broader set of experience to the decision-making process in the
jury room than would be available without it. The brief we filed rejects
the false characterization of the blind person as a positive burden against
fair decision-making that Mr. Heywood attempts to portray.
The Supreme Judicial Court held that blind people may not be
prohibited from jury service, that justice is served by having the blind
participate in jury service, and that in the process of deliberation the
blind are competent decision makers.
----------
COMMONWEALTH vs. LAWRENCE L. HEYWOOD.
Suffolk. September 9, 2019. - January 30, 2020. Present: Gants, J., Lenk,
Gaziano, Lowy, Budd, Cypher, & Kafker, JJ.
Complaint received and sworn to in the Roxbury Division of the Boston
Municipal Court Department on October 21, 2015. The case was tried before
Debra A. DelVecchio, J. The Supreme Judicial Court on its own initiative
transferred the case from the Appeals Court. Joseph Maggiacomo, III, for
the defendant. Cailin M. Campbell, Assistant District Attorney, for the
Commonwealth. The following submitted briefs for amici curiae: Emily L.
Levenson, of Maryland, & Richard M. Glassman for National Federation of the
Blind & others. Jonathan M. Albano for Boston Bar Association.
The defendant, Lawrence L. Heywood, was convicted of assault and
battery causing serious bodily injury in violation of G. L. c. 265, � 13A
(b), in connection with an incident in which the defendant, without
warning, punched the victim in the face. He now appeals, claiming that it
was error for a blind individual to serve on the jury. The defendant
further argues that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to
support a finding of serious bodily injury.
We transferred the defendant's appeal to this court on our own motion.
We discern no error with respect to the seating of the blind juror.
Additionally, we conclude that the Commonwealth presented sufficient
evidence for a jury to find that the defendant's action resulted in the
victim suffering serious bodily injury. We therefore affirm the defendant's
conviction.
We acknowledge the amicus brief submitted by the National Federation
of the Blind, National Federation of the Blind of Massachusetts, and
Disability Law Center; as well as the amicus letter submitted by the Boston
Bar Association.
Background.
We summarize the facts the jury could have found, reserving some
details for later discussion. The defendant and the victim knew each other
through an adult basketball team. At a league event in May 2015, while the
victim was talking to another individual, the defendant, without warning,
punched the victim in the right cheek, just below his eye. As a result, the
victim suffered a fractured orbital bone and cheekbone, and retinal
bleeding. He required surgery to repair the structure of his face, which
involved inserting two titanium plates into his face to hold the bones in
place. To avoid "significant discomfort" in cold temperatures due to the
titanium plates, the victim must apply warm compresses to his face. As a
result of either the assault or the subsequent surgery, the victim also
suffered nerve damage to his cheek; consequently, he can "barely feel" the
right side of his face.
Discussion.
1. Juror competency.
"A criminal defendant is entitled to a trial by an impartial jury
pursuant to the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution and
article twelve of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights." Commonwealth v.
Williams, 481 Mass. 443, 447 (2019). "Fundamental to the right of an
'impartial' jury is the requirement that jurors be competent and qualified"
(citation omitted). Commonwealth v. Susi, 394 Mass. 784, 786 (1985). "The
failure to grant a defendant a fair hearing before an impartial jury
violates even minimal standards of due process."
Here, during the jury voir dire, juror no. six indicated to the judge
that, although he was blind, his disability would not be an impediment to
serving as a juror, and that he could access the evidence if a fellow juror
described photographic evidence to him. After determining that jury service
would not otherwise be a hardship, the judge empaneled juror no. six
without objection.
The defendant argues that his right to a fair and impartial jury was
violated because the blind juror was unable to see the physical evidence
and had to have the documentary evidence read to him. The defendant faults
the judge for failing to strike the juror for cause and faults his trial
counsel for failing to object to the empanelment of the juror.
As an initial matter, we note that the defendant failed to object
contemporaneously to the seating of the juror who the defendant now claims
was unqualified to serve. Where a defendant has been denied an impartial
jury, and the issue is properly preserved, the error is structural and
requires reversal without a showing of actual prejudice. See Williams, 481
Mass. at 454; Commonwealth v. Hampton, 457 Mass. 152, 163 (2010). However,
"[w]here a defendant fails to challenge a juror for cause, the questions of
the impartiality of that juror and the adequacy of voir dire are waived."
Commonwealth v. McCoy, 456 Mass. 838, 842 (2010). See Commonwealth v.
Zakas, 358 Mass. 265, 268 (1970). Therefore, any error is reviewed for a
substantial risk of a miscarriage of justice. See Commonwealth v. Marinho,
464 Mass. 115, 118 (2013). Here, there was no such risk, as the defendant's
claim lacks merit.
"We afford a trial judge a large degree of discretion in the jury
selection process." Commonwealth v. Vann Long, 419 Mass. 798, 803 (1995),
and cases cited. See Commonwealth v. Lopes, 440 Mass. 731, 736 (2004) ("The
scope of voir dire rests in the sound discretion of the trial judge . .
"). This discretion extends to a judge's determination whether a juror is
competent to serve. See Susi, 394 Mass. at 787. An abuse of discretion is a
"clear error of judgment in weighing the factors relevant to the decision,
. . such that the decision falls outside the range of reasonable
alternatives" (quotations and citations omitted). L.L. v. Commonwealth, 470
Mass. 169, 185 n.27 (2014). The judge did not abuse her discretion in
finding juror no. six competent to serve despite the juror's blindness.
During jury empanelment, the judge conducted an individual voir dire
of juror no. six to evaluate the juror's ability to serve. The juror
responded affirmatively when the judge asked him if he would "feel
comfortable" with having another juror describe the photographic evidence
and, with regard to testimony from witnesses, whether he would be able to
"follow along" without assistance. The judge satisfied herself that the
juror was competent and qualified to serve.
This decision was entirely appropriate. Because the identification of
the perpetrator was not in question, the jury had to determine only whether
the victim suffered serious bodily injury. As the injuries suffered by the
victim were not visible at the time of trial, the ability to see the
victim's face during his testimony was not essential to reaching a verdict.
Similarly, because of the internal nature of the injuries and subsequent
surgery, photographs of the victim's face taken close in time to the
assault would not have assisted the jury in determining whether the victim
suffered serious bodily injury as defined by G. L. c. 265, � 13A (c). On
the other hand, the juror had appropriate access to the testimony of the
victim and the medical records, which were directly relevant to the
question whether the victim suffered serious bodily injury. The defendant
contends that the fact that jurors described photographic evidence and read
documentary evidence to the juror who was impaired visually resulted in a
verdict based on extraneous information. We disagree. "An extraneous matter
is one that involves information not part of the evidence at trial . . . ."
Commonwealth v. Guisti, 434 Mass. 245, 251 (2001). Here, the photographs
and medical documents were admitted in evidence, and the victim described
the photographs during his testimony. A fellow juror's descriptions of the
admitted evidence did not constitute extraneous evidence. See Id. Although
perhaps not ideal the solution crafted with input from juror no. six, and
implemented without objection by the parties, provided satisfactory access
to the evidence allowing the juror to participate effectively in
deliberations. Here, the medical records, rather than the photographs,
provided the critical evidence upon which the jury could find serious
bodily injury. Because in this instance the photographic evidence would not
have materially assisted the jury in determining serious bodily injury,
seating juror no. six was well within the judge's discretion. Contrast
Susi, 394 Mass. at 786 (empanelment of blind juror constituted reversible
error where identification of perpetrator was contested, and ability to
compare visually physical evidence was required). Further, the judge's voir
dire inquiry to determine juror no. six's competency to serve was mandated
by G. L. c. 234A, � 3, which ensures that the right to participate in jury
service is extended to all eligible citizens, including those with physical
disabilities. The statute provides in pertinent part:
"All persons shall have equal opportunity to be considered for jury
service. All persons shall serve as jurors when selected and summoned
for that purpose except as hereinafter provided. No person shall be
exempted or excluded from serving as a grand or trial juror because of
race, color, religion, sex, national origin, economic status, or
occupation. Physically handicapped persons shall serve except where
the court finds such service is not feasible. The court shall strictly
enforce the provisions in this section." (Emphases added.)
This statutory protection against discrimination in jury selection
dovetails well with a defendant's right to a fair jury of his or her peers,
an essential component of which is being able to select jurors from a fair
and representative cross section of the community. See Batson v. Kentucky,
476 U.S. 79, 86 (1986); Taylor v. Louisiana, 419 U.S. 522, 528 (1975);
Commonwealth v. Soares, 377 Mass. 461, 478, cert. denied, 444 8 U.S. 881
(1979). Because a cross section of the community necessarily includes,
among others, citizens with disabilities, the defendant's right to a fair
jury trial and the protection against discrimination in jury selection work
in tandem.
In 2016, approximately 11.7 percent of individuals living in the
Commonwealth had a physical disability. Massachusetts Rehabilitation
Commission, Massachusetts & U.S. Disability Facts & Statistics: 2017,
https://www.mass.gov/files/documents/2018/08/30/MRC-Disability-Fact-Sheet-
2017.pdf [https://perma.cc/H988-6FZK]. General Laws c. 234A, � 3, creates a
presumption of competency for all jurors, including those with
disabilities, who then must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis to
determine whether service is "feasible." See Susi, 394 Mass. at 788. Here,
the judge's individual voir dire and subsequent seating of juror no. six
followed the case-by-case determination specifically required by G. L. c.
234A, � 3. See generally Adjartey v. Central Div. of the Hous. Court Dep't,
481 Mass. 830, 848-849 (2019) (if litigant requests accommodation for
disability and court determines litigant has disability, court shall
provide reasonable accommodations determined on case-by-case basis).
We note that such case-by-case determinations may also be required by
Title II of the Federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA),
which provides:
"[N]o qualified individual with a disability shall, by reason of such
disability, be excluded from participation in or be denied the
benefits of the services, programs, or activities of a public entity,
or be subjected to discrimination by any such entity."
42 U.S.C. � 12132. A "public entity" includes "any State or local
government" and any department or agency thereof. See 42 U.S.C. � 12131.
Under Title II of the ADA and the regulations implementing it, public
entities may be required to implement a variety of measures to prevent
exclusion or discrimination on the basis of disability. Such measures may
include, among others, making reasonable modifications to policies and
practices, removing architectural and communication barriers, and providing
auxiliary aids and services. A public entity need not make a modification
if it can demonstrate that the modification "would fundamentally alter the
nature of the service, program, or activity."
Although at least one court has held that a court's "policy of
categorical exclusion of all blind persons" from jury service violates the
ADA, see Galloway v. Superior Court of D.C., 816 F. Supp. 12, 19 (D.D.C.
1993), we are not aware of any cases clarifying how Title II of the ADA and
its implementing regulations apply to individualized determinations of
juror competency. Without attempting to determine what specific procedures
Title II of the ADA and its associated regulations require to determine the
competency of a juror who is blind, we note that the judge here clearly
complied with the ADA. The judge conducted an individualized voir dire of
juror no. six and determined that he was competent to serve. Furthermore,
the judge furnished, with the input and approval of juror no. six,
auxiliary services allowing him to serve while another juror described the
visual evidence. ("In determining what types of auxiliary aids and services
are necessary, a public entity shall give primary consideration to the
requests of individuals with disabilities"). There was no error."
In Tennessee v. Lane, 541 U.S. 509, 531 (2004), the United States
Supreme Court held that Title II of the ADA applies to State courts with
regard to ensuring that litigants with disabilities have equal access to
judicial services. In Lane, the Court held that the ADA requires State
courts to take "reasonable measures to remove architectural and other
barriers to accessibility," but that courts need not "employ any and all
means to make judicial services accessible to persons with disabilities."
Id. at 531-532. Unlike Lane, which involved a litigant who was "denied the
benefits of the services" of a court, Id. at 513, this case involves
"participation in . . . [the] activities of a public entity," namely, the
ability to participate as a juror in the adjudication of cases.
Although the accommodation provided to juror no. six satisfied the
ADA, other accommodations for jurors who are blind or have a visual
impairment may be preferable to having another juror describe visual
evidence. For instance, the ADA's implementing regulations list a variety
of potential visual auxiliary aids and services, including qualified
readers, Brailled materials and displays, and screen reader software. There
was no error.
Furthermore, because there was no error, trial counsel was not
ineffective for failing to object to the seating of juror no. six. See
Commonwealth v. Lessieur, 472 Mass. 317, 327 (2015) (no ineffective
assistance where counsel failed to object to properly admitted evidence).
See also Commonwealth v. Carroll, 439 Mass. 547, 557 (2003) (failure to
pursue futile tactic does not constitute ineffective assistance of
counsel); Commonwealth v. Vieux, 41 Mass. App. Ct. 526, 527 (1996), cert.
denied, 520 U.S. 1245 (1997) (same).
2. Sufficiency of the evidence.
General Laws c. 265, � 13A (b) (i), provides for an enhanced penalty
for conviction of an assault and battery that causes "serious bodily
injury." Although the defendant disputes neither that he struck the victim
nor that the victim was injured, he argues on appeal, as he did at trial,
that there was insufficient evidence from which the jury could conclude
that he caused serious bodily injury to the victim.
An unsigned motion for a required finding of not guilty based on an
unspecified insufficiency of the evidence appears in the record but
apparently was not argued. At any rate, "[c]onvictions based on
insufficient evidence are inherently serious enough to create a substantial
risk of a miscarriage of justice.'" Commonwealth v. Melton, 436 Mass. 291,
294 n.2 (2002), quoting Commonwealth v. McGovern, 397 Mass. 863, 867-868
(1986). The question, then, is whether, in viewing the evidence in the
light most favorable to the Commonwealth, the jury could have found that
the victim suffered serious bodily injury as a result of the assault and
battery beyond a reasonable doubt. See Commonwealth v. Bin, 480 Mass. 665,
674 (2018), quoting Commonwealth v. Latimore, 378 Mass. 671, 677 (1979).
"Serious bodily injury" is defined under G. L. c. 265, � 13A, as
"bodily injury that results in [1] a permanent disfigurement, [2] loss or
impairment of a bodily function, limb or organ, or [3] a substantial risk
of death." G. L. c. 265, � 13A (c). See Commonwealth v. Scott, 464 Mass.
355, 357 (2013) (statute sets forth "three distinct routes for establishing
serious bodily injury"). Here, we conclude that the evidence was sufficient
to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the victim suffered a permanent
disfigurement as well as the impairment of a bodily function.
a. Permanent disfigurement.
The statute does not define the phrase "permanent disfigurement."
"When a statute does not define its words we give them their usual and
accepted meanings, as long as these meanings are consistent with the
statutory purpose. . . . We derive the words' usual and accepted meanings
from sources presumably known to the statute's enactors, such as their use
in other legal contexts and dictionary definitions." Commonwealth v. Bell,
442 Mass. 118, 124 (2004), quoting Commonwealth v. Zone Book, Inc., 372
Mass. 366, 369 (1977).
"Permanent" is defined as "continuing or enduring (as in the same
state, status, or place) without fundamental or marked change," synonymous
with the words "lasting" or "stable." Webster's Third New International
Dictionary 1683 (1993). "Disfigurement" is "the state of being disfigured,"
that is, to be "made less complete, perfect, or beautiful in appearance or
character." Id. at 649. Hence, a permanent disfigurement is a significant
and enduring injury that affects the appearance or the character of a
person's bodily integrity. See generally Commonwealth v. Jean-Pierre, 65
Mass. App. Ct. 162, 163 (2005) (word "permanent" modifies only
"disfigurement" in G. L. c. 265, � 13A [c]).
The defendant argues that a permanent disfigurement occurs only when
there is a visible, significant, and permanent change in a person's outward
appearance or, in the alternative, scarring. We disagree. Although the
trier of fact certainly may consider visible evidence, the fact an injury
can be or was concealed or repaired does not preclude a finding of
permanent disfigurement. See State v. Alvarez, 240 Or. App. 167, 171 (2010)
("we decline to hold that an injury is not disfiguring merely because, by
limiting his or her fashion or style options, the victim can conceal it").
See also Fisher v. Blankenship, 286 Mich. App. 54, 66-67 (2009) (injury
need not be visible to be disfigurement).
Here, we conclude that the evidence presented at trial was sufficient
for the jury to have found permanent disfigurement. The medical records and
the victim's testimony detailed the number and extent of the fractures
which compromised the integrity of the victim's face. The computed
tomography scan of the victim's face and jaw showed a "blowout" fracture of
his right orbital socket, as well as fractures to his cheekbone and other
facial bones. The victim testified that there was a visible indentation in
his face after the defendant's punch. The medical records indicate that
surgery was required to correct and repair the anatomical structure of the
victim's face. The operative report noted that the fracture was mobile and
required the surgeons to affix titanium plates to the bones in the victim's
face to hold the bone structure together and to ensure that the bones
remained stable. Although the titanium plates conceal the visible evidence
of the disfigurement, they are attached permanently to the bones in the
victim's face. Therefore, the evidence was sufficient for a reasonable and
rational jury to have found a permanent disfigurement.
b. Impairment of a bodily function.
"Impairment of a bodily function" similarly is not defined in the
statute; however, we previously interpreted the phrase to mean "a part or
system of the body [that] is significantly impeded in its ability to fulfil
its role." Scott, 464 Mass. at 359. Unlike disfigurement, an impairment of
a bodily function need not be permanent to constitute serious bodily
injury. Marinho, 464 Mass. at 118.
Here, according to the medical records and the victim's testimony at
trial, the nerve damage in the victim's right cheek resulted in chronic
numbness in that area of his face. He described the lack of sensation as
feeling like he had been given Novocain. The inability of the affected
nerves to communicate properly with the brain indicates an impairment of a
bodily function, namely, the victim's peripheral nervous system. We note
that, based on the evidence presented, it was unclear whether the numbness
that the victim experienced was a result of the physical assault (delayed
onset), surgery, or a combination of the two. However, "the Commonwealth
may establish causation in an assault and battery case by proving beyond a
reasonable doubt that the defendant either directly caused or directly and
substantially set in motion a chain of events that produced the serious
injury in a natural and continuous sequence" (quotations and citation
omitted).
We conclude, therefore, that in addition to permanent disfigurement,
there was sufficient evidence for a rational jury to find that the
defendant caused impairment of a bodily function.
Judgment affirmed.
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More Interesting Thoughts about Sighted Privilege
From the Editor: Justin Salisbury's article last month about sighted
privilege has sparked some discussion, and given that this is what he
wanted to come from his article and what I want in our publication, I am
excited. I hope more will come.
Part of our job in publishing the Braille Monitor is to get people
talking not just to one another but with one another. I thank all of you
who've contributed. I have intentionally left the names of those who wrote
out. I want the ideas they express to stand on their own merit, and later
we can attribute them if we wish. All are nuanced, but some are in favor
and some have significant reservations. I find them stimulating, and I hope
you do as well.
Before we jump in, allow me to say this: One of the concerns sometimes
expressed is that the National Federation of the Blind has a liberal bias
and that the very fact we would discuss something such as sighted privilege
proves this because people on the left tend to be more comfortable with the
term than people on the right. I do not believe it is our intention for the
National Federation of the Blind or its flagship publication to have either
a conservative or a liberal bias. Unless we judge an article to be un-
interesting, unrelated to blindness, or destructive, we are likely to
publish it. If there are other points of view that need to be heard, send
them. Remember that some things that appear in our publication are a
reflection of our philosophy, and others represent discussions in which we
are participating or in which we should be. Remember that if you don't see
your point of view here, it may be because you haven't yet written it. Here
are the reactions:
Respondent 1.
I don't know exactly what we are to do about sighted privilege except
to keep doing what we are doing and always improving on it. The concept nor
term shouldn't be a surprise to anybody. That said, this is an overarching
term that doesn't at all capture the nuance that must be applied to
everything if we are to make further inroads to equality. And, anyway, all
equality means in my mind is an equal opportunity to become as unequal as
possible, to use a network marketing definition.
Some blind people, including me, would bristle if told that they
couldn't ever have access to the same privileges as sighted people because
of sighted privilege. Yet, the concept of sighted privilege suggests that
until the sighted are prepared to relinquish their privilege, they will
keep it. Since when do we wait for the sighted to run our lives the way
they see fit?
There is only one game of life. I know that as a blind person I intend
to live that game to the best of my capacities. If I am perceived as being
more successful than most sighted or blind people at this game, by whatever
criterion of success one might choose to use, then so be it. After all,
it's my life, and I am, of course, the best judge of its success or failure
as it flows along. All of this becomes rather academic anyway once we are
six feet under or cremated.
Respondent 2.
As you know, the current issue of the Braille Monitor has an article
titled "Sighted Privilege" written by Justin Salisbury, who is a frequent
contributor to our national magazine and one of my favorite writers. I have
to say that this article came at a very opportune time. If it had been
published earlier, I might have had a visceral reaction at the title given
how the fact that, in our negative political discourse, some people
carelessly throw around the phrase "white privilege."
In the past few days, however, I have come to some of the same
conclusions expressed in the article. What else would explain the fact that
the state of Missouri owes Amtrak $6.5 million if not sighted privilege?
What else would explain the poor attitudes of some state legislators with
regard to the concept of passenger rail service if not sighted privilege?
The January 26 issue of the Kansas City Star editorial page had an opinion
piece written by Robbie Makinen, CEO of the Kansas City Area Transportation
Authority, in which he says that when he lost his sight seven years ago, he
began to understand the value of public transit.
Dr. Jernigan told us that the public is not against us. Though the
world is built mostly for the benefit of sighted people, sighted people
mean us no harm, and some people may not realize that their attitudes are
harmful to the blind.
I think that once again Justin Salisbury has hit another home run out
of the park! Whether people agree or not with the views expressed in this
article, I think it will generate much thinking that will help refine our
philosophy of blindness.
Respondent 3.
I liked the article and hope to read similar material in the future.
Privilege is not about blame. It is about what you naturally have because
of the institutional power of your group and recognizing that. Because I am
white, I am not as likely to get stopped by the police, followed around the
store, accused of shoplifting, and sent to prison from the school to prison
pipeline. As a blind white person, I am more likely to get better services
and probably am thought of as a more worthwhile investment than a black
blind person. It's uncomfortable, but it is part of our society.
Trying to correct the imbalance is definitely good, but it doesn't
erase the fact that such an imbalance exists, and because of the
institutional power or lack thereof in your group, you are a part of it. It
isn't something you steal or something you do. It is just the privilege you
naturally have for being a part of a group.
The article discussed how the girls got to go on the field trips, and
this made at least one boy mad. But compared to men, girls and women are
destined to be rejected and marginalized in STEM fields as well as
underpaid.
The sighted people around me don't steal anything from me, but even
though they wish that sighted privilege didn't exist or get talked about,
they still have it. This is about groups, not individual people. That is
why you can't just say that you will be an honorable person, and then you
will not have privilege. You have to except that the group you are a part
of could have privilege, and that fact is separate from your honorability
or your individual beliefs or actions. Also when you read about white
privilege, don't read about other white people talking about it because
they do not talk about it correctly. Read about ethnic minority groups who
talk about it instead. That is how I learned about it, and it makes sense
to me.
Privilege can also vary based on different areas of your life. I can
lack privilege because I am a blind woman. But then I can have privilege
because I am straight and cisgender and because I am white.
Respondent 4.
Dear Gary,
Thanks for having the courage to begin a nuanced discussion with
implications that extend beyond even your thoughtful and carefully worded
introduction.
Following your good advice and working to understand the other
person's perspective can ultimately lead to deeper understanding. My
question is whether the "privilege" concept is necessary to teach about
blindness. I contend that we already have language and concepts within our
literature that accomplish the same result without the necessity of working
through "loaded" language.
I'm also quite concerned that we be meticulous about maintaining our
political evenhandedness. We have always had strong support from liberals
and conservatives. When our clarion cries for justice are not compelling,
our insistence on self-reliance is. "Privilege" language is so closely
associated with one side of the political and cultural divide in the United
States and so reviled by the other side that the simple act of using the
terms could easily cause the doors of some minds to slam closed. If we can
accomplish the education we desire without paying that price, I believe we
should.
Pragmatic considerations aside, applying this framework has
philosophical dangers. Thinking of our difficulties based on the lack of
sight itself, rather than ascribing them to structural circumstances in the
built environment and/or ignorant attitudes, could lead to a sense of
powerlessness or inevitability. Attitudes and structures can be changed;
the presence or absence of eyesight is largely unchangeable. Helplessness
or hopelessness was not said or implied in Justin's article. Someone
failing to thoroughly think through his carefully constructed arguments
could feel victimized by attributing privilege to sight rather than to more
nuanced concepts.
Sight is different from race and gender. There are all the emotional
issues involved in attitude and coming to believe in one's equal human
worth that have parallels for other traditionally disadvantaged minority
groups. But nobody needs several months of training to learn the skills of
blackness. We must develop confidence in our ability to use blindness
skills and a firm belief in their efficacy.
I do not in any way intend to diminish all the emotional complexities
of sight and blindness, but I think of eyesight in a fundamentally
different way than sighted people do. Sight is a commodity. It isn't a
commodity for those who have it, because sight is so ubiquitous. The built
environment assumes eyesight. Typical patterns of behavior incorporate the
use of eyesight. It follows that people with eyesight are automatically in
a privileged position. We have basic tools, such as training or
accessibility, for diminishing our need for the commodity of sight.
The second way of diminishing the practical sight privilege is by working
with those who are willing to loan or rent us the use of their eyes.
Learning how to work with others who are willing to "see" for us in
specific situations is part of a good blindness skill set. I'm thinking of
interactions as simple as reading a street sign and as complex as driving
across town. We have always said that the "handicap" of blindness is
situational. Living in an urban area with good public transit is less
handicapping than living on an isolated farm with no family or friends in
the area. Clearly having money diminishes the handicaps we face. It's
mighty useful to have cash to hire a driver or call a taxi when no bus goes
where we want to go when we want to go there.
"Privilege" language can be misconstrued as implying malevolent intent
or taking unfair advantage of others. Sighted people should not feel guilty
that they're "privileged" with eyesight. White people have no reason to
feel guilty about the color of their skin or the circumstances of their
birth. Human beings are born with inherent dignity and equality but not
identical circumstances. Humanity requires each of us to behave in
opportunity-affirming ways. Sadly, we don't always know the ways in which
we unintentionally fail to do so.
I understand Justin's use of the word "ally" to categorize sighted
Federationists. I prefer the word "colleague" because Federationism is a
way of thinking, not an optical condition. I feel a sense of family with
sighted Federation colleagues and no real sense of being allied with some
blind people who don't share our understanding of blindness.
The public education provided by the Federation tends to assume a high
level of goodwill and a low level of knowledge. Unless someone has proven
him or herself to be a bad actor, we gain nothing by encouraging guilt.
It's a bad motivator. (Our legal program is there for those times when
affirmative goodwill is lacking.)
Getting an accurate read and understanding the underlying meaning of
interpersonal encounters can be hard. Did that tone of voice signify
condescension, or does the person use that voice with everyone? Each of us
filters our experiences through our history and our point of view. Because
of my previous experiences with the airlines, I walk into the airport on
high emotional alert. I'm apt to hear authoritarianism and condescension
from every employee. I find myself asking people who offer assistance
whether they work for the airline. If they say "no," I can feel my muscles
relaxing and my manner loosening. Because I'm aware that my reactions are
potentially unjust, I struggle to mute my initial prickly reaction to
people I meet. Yet there is no question that I feel differently about
encounters with staff in an airport than those at the shopping mall, even
if shopping mall employees respond to me with ignorance every bit as awful
as the ignorance of airline employees. No question that I have very good
reasons, but also no doubt that my default of assuming the worst makes air
travel even more unpleasant than it is for those without my history and
emotional reaction.
Inasmuch as is possible, having an open and affirmative impression of
those we meet until direct experience requires us to change that perception
makes life better. When something jarring happens, it's easy to overreact,
underreact, or muddle through without knowing how to react. Invariably I
think of precisely the right thing to say or do about thirty minutes after
the event. I overthink a lot! Did my friend reword my explanation to the
store clerk and get a better reaction because I'm blind, or did my friend
do a better job of explaining? It's easy to rationalize situations that are
related to blindness and dismiss them as unimportant. It can also be easy
to attribute to blindness things that are really due to something else.
Then there are those highly confusing times where blindness plays a part
but is not the entire explanation. After the fact I ask myself if blindness
is the most plausible explanation.
Several years ago, my husband and I were at a church fundraiser
dinner. Our member of the legislature and his wife sat across from us. The
legislator is a former college teacher, his wife is a French-speaker from
Quebec, and our children are about the same ages. These similarities make
for convivial conversation. Unfortunately, this legislator has never been
receptive to any of our suggestions for improving the government's
interaction with blind people. During the course of the meal, my blind
husband ordered a bottle of spring water. It came, but he continued eating
and did not open it immediately. Suddenly the wife of the legislator
interrupted the conversation to say "Sir, don't think there is something
wrong with your water bottle; Norm opened it." They finished their meal
before we did and left. My husband and I turned to one another and said
simultaneously, "That explains why he never takes our legislative
initiatives seriously." Neither of us could think of a reason, other than
limited belief in the basic competence of blind people, for the man to open
a blind man's water bottle.
Jim Omvig wrote that one of the goals of good rehabilitation is for
the student to come to understand public misconceptions and learn to deal
with them effectively without becoming emotionally upset. I've always found
that to be a worthy goal and a very tall order. Justin's article
articulates many of our traditional philosophical beliefs using different
language. Reworking our ideas in different ways may make them fresh for a
new generation. Whatever terms we choose, we intend to help one another to
understand what blindness means and what it doesn't mean. We strive to
develop the skill and courage to deal effectively with misconceptions
without becoming overwhelmed. Above all, we must remain committed to
thinking of ourselves as capable of making progress, both individually and
as a movement. Circumstances may be victimizing, but we can never think of
ourselves as victims, because striving for opportunity, even when we lose,
is more powerful than victimhood.
----------
Keeping My Balance
by Annie Schlesinger
From the Editor: Annie joined the NFB shortly after moving to Tucson
in 1998. She has been chapter secretary, on the chapter board, and for
years sent out email notifications. She is a member of the Tucson Society
of the Blind, a self-help group and co-leader of the Low Vision Support
Group at her senior complex. She enjoys reading and playing games.
Since falls are the leading cause of death for people over fifty, this
article is very important to everyone, the assumption being that either we
are over fifty or hope to be some day. Here is what Annie says about
dealing with aging, blindness, and balance:
Problems with balance happen more often as we age. At age eighty-
three, I want to reduce my risk of falling and continue to get around
independently using my long white cane. "Having good balance means being
able to control and maintain your body's position, whether you are moving
or remaining still. Good balance helps you walk without staggering, get up
from a chair without falling, climb stairs without tripping, and bend over
without falling. Good balance is important to help you get around, stay
independent, and carry out daily activities" (NIH).
Before our mid-sixties most of us do not think about balance. But many
deaths are related to hip fractures and traumatic brain injuries. As we
live longer and have chronic conditions, we also take medications that
affect balance. Vision and balance are highly integrated in the brain;
thus, poor vision can equal poor balance.
The inner ear part that is responsible for balance is the vestibular
system; a number of physical problems can affect this system. The
vestibular system works with other systems in the body such as visual and
muscle and joint receptors which maintain the body's position at rest and
in motion.
Last year I had sessions with a physical therapist for the Epley
Maneuver which is the treatment for my recurring vertigo. I then had some
sessions with her about my balance. Fortunately, I have been active and
have exercised for years. So far my balance is okay, but as I look around
Fellowship Square, my retirement complex, I see many folks using
rollators/walkers for balance. The walkers are also great to carry things:
grocery bags, laundry, trash, etc.
After some research and discussions with orientation and mobility
instructors, I found these three options for someone with poor balance and
using a long white cane:
1. The way to use a walker with my long white cane is to probe ahead with
the cane, take one step with the walker, and repeat cane-walker, one step
at a time. It is very slow!
2. I have trained using a support cane in step with the long white cane,
and it is faster than one stepping with the walker, but I do not feel as
secure.
3. It is possible for a blind person to sit in a wheelchair, propel it with
their feet, and use the long white cane to check ahead. I tried it and it
works; safe, but also slow and unappealing.
Faced with these choices, maintaining my balance becomes very
important. I do my prescribed exercises for balance and other exercises to
maintain my strength and cardiovascular health. I do stretches for my
shoulder tendinitis.
Some exercises help make up for a balance disorder by moving the head
and body in certain ways. The body learns muscle memory, and in theory,
gets used to being off balance and recovering. Exercises can be developed
for an individual by a physical therapist or trainer who understands the
balance system. It is never too late to start! Pima Council on Aging,
SAAVI, and some health plans offer exercise and balance classes. There are
some aspects of aging that can't be avoided, but by practice, maintaining
balance is one I can proactively fight.
References: Mayo Clinic, Vision Aware, Selectheath.org, National Institute
on Aging. Futurity.org
----------
The Trouble with Inclusion
by Peter Slatin
From the Editor: Peter Slatin is the founder and president of Slatin
Group LLC, which provides education and training to the hospitality and
tourism industry on service to consumers with disabilities. Peter is a
director and graduate of the Colorado Center for the Blind. Peter also
writes about undoing norms that inhibit success for disabled people. His
articles have appeared in Forbes, The New York Times, the Wall Street
Journal, Barron's, and many other publications. Here is what he says:
Groucho Marx got it right when he said he did not want to belong to
any club that would have him as a member. I feel much the same way about
the inclusion mantra that is being parroted from corporate offices to
nonprofit stalwarts and piggybacking on the diversity whale like a pilot
fish.
Diversity itself has come pretty late in the game. After all, it is
finally getting through to "includers" that different people bring
different perspectives and skills and simply add essential strengths and
immeasurable qualities to organizations from which they have been excluded
for most of American history.
The use of exclusion, whether through explicit laws and covenants or
by means of more covert restrictions or simply by tacit understanding among
a class, has waxed and waned. Exclusion has been a key tool in establishing
and maintaining economic, cultural, and political power throughout the
development of American life.
Inclusion is a nice enough word, connoting magnanimity and beneficence
as well as welcoming and tolerance. But, that is the problem. The
generosity of spirit that inclusion carries also informs us of who is
leading the way: the same forces that maintained exclusionary policies
until the realization dawned that fashions have changed. So now that this
longstanding behavior is being actively reversed under the aegis of
inclusivity, anyone formerly excluded should be grateful, no?
No, or at least not so much. Wariness is certainly called for. Because
the excluded never made a choice concerning their status. Their exclusion
was convenient for those who had seen inclusion as a birthright, and now it
is less so. Either way, the change of status conferred is arbitrary.
Exclusion and inclusion are passive states assigned to those designated to
be either kept out or brought in. The active agent is not the newly
welcomed but instead the welcoming committee, which sets the terms of
inclusion and will assign and enable a bouncer should one be deemed
necessary. Even when those terms are beneficial, the person newly included
will retain that sense of being an outsider who has been invited to a party
and only allowed to join by the grace of the host. Is it nice to finally be
allowed in? Of course-but we have been here all along. That is true for
people of color, LGBTQ people, people with disabilities, and more. Ever so
slowly, the ways of thinking about homogeneity and exclusion have shifted
as awareness grows that these groups are actual market segments worth
mining. Their members are as skilled, dedicated, and eager to progress as
all those who never encountered the particular barrier to entry that
defines the existence of an excluded class.
As Groucho knew, the only way to be excluded is to allow someone to
choose your exclusion. His response was to decline to be included as well,
to self-exclude. If I, a person who happens to be blind, accepts exclusion-
from work or play or education or whatever endeavor I desire to participate
in-then I cede control of my life and agency to whoever is challenging my
right to participate. On what grounds would they make the case for my
exclusion?
It is not inclusion that I want-it's access. And access is something I
can actively seek to create or acquire. I may need assistance doing so. I
may need to change laws and minds, not necessarily in that order. I may
need to fight. In the end though, I will be part of designing what access
looks like and how it works. Accessibility today has been designed by those
who have historically been excluded. Inclusion was designed by those who
decided that it was time to get inclusive, and it does not involve much
design or even thinking. It just means standing down from privilege-or
including yourself among those who have stood up to privilege for so long.
----------
[PHOTO CAPTION: Curtis Chong]
The BlindShell: An Accessible Cell Phone with Real Buttons
by Curtis Chong
From the Editor: Many of us have had an electronic partner that stays
with us almost all the time. It is a smart phone. But many blind people
have felt left out in this world of accessible phones, because they lack
the interest or the dexterity to use a touchscreen. They want buttons, and
they want menus they can hear and use to accomplish some of the tasks that
their smart phone buddies using touch screens have. Curtis Chong offers
what may be a good solution. His credentials to evaluate and explain
technology are well known to readers of the Braille Monitor, so let us go
directly into his article:
When we think about accessible smart phones, the Apple iPhone is
usually the first thing that comes to mind (apologies to those blind people
who have had success with Android-based phones). I do believe that for a
lot of us, the iPhone has turned out to be the most nonvisually accessible
and usable smart phone that we have ever used. However, I am equally
certain that there are blind people out there who would still prefer to
have an accessible cell phone with real buttons or (for whatever reason)
have not been able to learn to use the iPhone and its touch screen.
Enter BlindShell. BlindShell is manufactured by a company called
Matapo s.r.o. in the Czech Republic and sold in the United States by a
number of organizations. Based on the audio and YouTube presentations I
have been able to find, the BlindShell seems to harken back to those early
accessible cell phones that had real buttons, simple menus, and built-in
speech.
Samuel Seavey (sam at blindshell.com) serves as the BlindShell product
representative in the United States. According to Mr. Seavey, "The
[BlindShell] phone is unlocked on GSM networks and fully supports 2G, 3G,
and 4G." BlindShell is an intuitive and simple cell phone with big, tactile
buttons and many features. In addition to making phone calls and sending
text messages, you can get the current weather forecast, listen to internet
radio, or find out your current location. BlindShell works with AT&T and T-
Mobile as well as other GSM networks. It is available in black or red. I
have gleaned the following information from a variety of web-based sources.
VOICE CONTROL
With voice control, you can give the phone voice commands without having to
use the keypad. For example, you can:
. Call and send a message to a contact
. Open any application in the phone
. Get information about the weather
. Get your approximate location
VOICE DICTATION
You can use Voice Dictation to:
. Write a text message
. Dictate the text of an email
. Take notes
. Dictate an agenda
PHYSICAL KEYBOARD
The BlindShell has a physical keyboard with tactile buttons. The spacing
between the keys makes it easier to distinguish one key from another.
USEFUL APPLICATIONS
The BlindShell includes a number of useful applications. With the Email
client, you can write and receive emails from your friends and colleagues.
With internet radio you can listen to thousands of radio stations from
around the world. The weather app will tell you the current weather and
forecast for the next three days. The location app can tell you your
current GPS location or the nearest address.
SOS EMERGENCY BUTTON
If you get into a situation where emergency help is required, you can use
the SOS emergency button to reach your designated emergency contact.
Pressing the button for at least three seconds will call your emergency
contact, which can be set whenever and however you want. Do not worry about
triggering this function accidentally; you must confirm the emergency call
before it is actually made.
SIMPLE VERSUS COMPLEX OPERATION
The BlindShell can be configured to hide its more complex features, making
it appear to be a simpler cell phone. In this simplified mode, you can only
make calls and handle text messages. At any time, the hidden complex
features can be made visible through a simple menu change.
ADVANCED FEATURES
. SOS emergency button
. Email
. Object tagging
. FM radio
. Internet radio
. Audio player
. Voice recorder
. Book reader
. Service menu
. Weather forecast
. GPS location
. Color recognition
I myself have not yet had a chance to use the BlindShell as a working
telephone. But I must admit some interest in having, once again, a cell
phone which enables me to send text messages and answer calls without
having to use both hands. Honestly, I doubt that I will abandon my iPhone,
but I am, nevertheless, glad that the BlindShell is available as an
alternative to the iPhone. I have worked with quite a few people who I
think will be glad to have something like the BlindShell, and I hope that
this product stays around for a lot longer than models tend to do in the
fast-changing cell phone industry.
Samuel Seavey has put together a comprehensive series of YouTube
tutorials about the BlindShell. They can be found at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Mona4Y73hI&list=PLD_a5HsW9Ry5IAjXc1CQAAPY2P
uZiAVJg.
If you just want to hear how the BlindShell performs, I believe the
best audio demonstration is the one produced by A T Guys. The presentation
is thirteen minutes long. Here is the link:
https://www.atguys.com/files/audio/BlindShell.mp3.
----------
[PHOTO CAPTION: Peggy Chong]
John Langston Gwaltney
by Peggy Chong, The Blind History Lady
From the Editor: Peggy Chong lives in Colorado, and for a long time
now she has been compiling biographies of blind men and women who have
routinely gone unnoticed. She has earned the nickname The Blind History
Lady, and she is available for presentations in person or by phone. If you
want to speak with her, she can be reached at
theblindhistorylady at gmail.com. You can read more of her books at
https://www.smashwords.com/books/byseries/24325. Here is her latest
offering to the Braille Monitor:
Hello Blind History Lady Fans:
February as you know is Black History Month. In our blind family tree
we have too many ancestors of color whose trail has been swept away by
time. But that does not mean that we do not have black and blind ancestors
to celebrate. This month's profile is of a man who enriched the lives of
many as much as they enriched his life. He was fortunate to be mentored by
his hero and became a hero to those whom he mentored.
Meet John Langston Gwaltney, born September 25, 1928, in Orange, New
Jersey, the son of a merchant seaman, Stanley Gwaltney, and his mother,
Mabel Gwaltney.
Blind from birth, John's mother Mabel tried everything that she could
to see if there was a cure for her son's blindness. She took him to many
doctors, chiropractors, and faith healers who told her there was nothing
they could do. She turned to herbal medicine, and still there was no
improvement in her son's vision.
His mother and oldest sister Lucy had the most influence over his
life. Mabel relied on the community and family to help her raise her five
children. Their black community was close-knit, supportive of each other
through businesses and church. She led by example in teaching her son to
observe, question, and seek out knowledge.
Lucy read to John from a variety of books. She taught him what a
campfire was by lighting a fire in the great iron pot in the middle of
their living room. She taught him how to make cheese biscuits and even
perfume.
Being black was one handicap, but to be blind as well left few doors
open to him. The only blind occupations that his mother thought a black man
would be accepted in were music and ministry. To that end, she taught him
at home from a young age. She cut out print letters and objects from
cardboard to teach him to read. There was always a piano in the house, and
she encouraged him to play every day.
When he was eight, she introduced him to woodcarving. Mabel handed
him a knife and a stick of wood. John's uncle was an excellent wood
sculptor and took John under his wing. Family and friends introduced him to
everything tactile for him to study and transform into art. This became a
life-long passion for John.
When he was school age, Mabel wanted him to stay near her but at the
same time to get a good education. She wrote to Eleanor Roosevelt and
pleaded her son's case. Mrs. Roosevelt, who was a proponent of the
education of the disabled in their local public schools, helped John enter
classes near his home.
He was hooked on geography. Two elementary teachers in particular
encouraged his studies of the world. His father told him vivid stories of
the many people and places he'd seen as a seaman. At night, John would go
to bed dreaming of the adventures he would have when he explored for
himself these far-away lands.
Each week John would listen to CBS's School of the Air. One episode
had Margaret Mead, a woman who was a famous anthropologist, as the guest.
Her presentation took root in his mind, and he began to dream of becoming
an anthropologist.
After graduating from high school, he enrolled at Upsala College in
East Orange during the fall of 1947. He graduated with a degree in history
in 1952.
With scholarships in hand and some assistance through the New Jersey
Commission for the Blind, John moved to New York to study for a master's
degree in political science at the New School of Social Research. He
completed his master's in 1957. His siblings acted as readers for him when
working on his vast research. His brother Robert was helpful in finding
funding for some of the equipment John would need for his expeditions.
In 1956 John married Judith Jacobson. She too became a reader and
supporter in his career. That first year of their marriage was John's first
field research project in Mexico. Judith went along with her husband as a
research assistant.
Although he wanted to continue with school, he needed to earn a
living. He secured a teaching job at the Henry George School of Social
Sciences. This high school attracted students wishing to pursue careers in
the social sciences. It was here that he first learned to sharpen his
teaching skills.
In 1959 he enrolled at Columbia University in New York to begin his
doctoral degree. Although he had excellent professors at Columbia, he
learned the most from Dr. Margaret Mead, his instructor that had the
greatest impact on him. Mead was the woman who had caused his thirst for
anthropology. Now here she was in person, working with him and most
supportive as well! She helped him plan his major research project. She did
not stand in his way because of his blindness. The project was the study of
blindness in the Indians who lived in the village of San Padro Yolox in
southwestern Mexico. The village was not accessible by vehicle and the
inhabitants spoke the ancient tongues of their Chinantec ancestors, not
Spanish. The village was set in an area with rough terrain, steep hills,
valleys, and drastic climate changes.
Having done his research on the area early on, he knew he needed a
few more skills under his belt. He needed to walk or ride a horse to the
village and other places he wanted to go. He took horseback riding lessons
and had some extra strong metal canes made to take along.
His yearlong study focused on how the village maintained its social
order when so many of its members were blind. With a grant from the
National Institutes of Health, he had almost all of his expenses covered.
In 1966 John returned to New York and received his doctorate from
Columbia in 1967. His thesis was entitled "Role of Expectations in
Blindness in an Oaxaca Village." The thesis won him the Ansley Dissertation
Award in the fall of 1967.
He took a position as an instructor at the State University in
Cortland, New York, where he was promoted to associate professor in 1969.
In 1970, his book The Thrice Shy: Cultural Accommodations to Blindness and
Other Disasters in a Mexican Community was published.
In 1971 John accepted a professorship at Syracuse University where he
focused his attention on the lives of black men and women in the United
States. Through interviews and research, he set out to demonstrate that
there is a black culture. The culmination of his research was his book
Drylongso: A Self-Portrait of Black America, published in 1981. In the book
were many stories of the average black man or woman. Through his book, he
hoped that the white public would start to see the average black person as
just like them and not the negative images portrayed on the nightly news
and media.
In 1986 he published another book entitled The Dissenters: Voices from
Contemporary America. This book was a collection of interviews with
revolutionaries from all walks of life. The premise was that the dissenters
helped the general public stay in touch with reality. The book was
nominated for a Robert F. Kennedy Book Award in 1967.
John retired from teaching in 1989. During his career, he also found
time to work on projects for the Smithsonian, the New York State Creative
Artist Public Services, the New York Council for the Humanities, and
several national science organizations.
Much more can be learned about John in a book entitled The Second
Generation of African-American Pioneers in Anthropology edited by Ira E.
Harrison, Deborah Johnson-Simon, and Erica Lorraine Williams.
----------
The Extra Effort to Be a Blind Person: What Part Myth, What Part Reality?
by Gary Wunder
In many items that pass my desk are two assertions that I let go
unchallenged as though they must be taken as articles of faith.
The assertions are usually found in these statements: As blind
people we have to work harder than and perhaps even twice as hard as our
sighted colleagues to get things done. Parallel with this is the assertion
that in order to get the same grade or do the same job as our sighted
colleagues, we have to be twice as good. I hear these arguments from blind
people in almost every walk of life, from the student trying to earn a
grade to the employee or businessperson trying to earn a check. I've never
felt comfortable letting these pass unchallenged, but neither have I felt
up to questioning the assertions directly, especially since I've taken
comfort in espousing them myself from time to time.
So let me start with the person I know best or at least the person I
try to present to the world. Until late in high school I'm not sure I
worked harder than anyone to get the grades I got, and they weren't
anything to brag about. It took a long time for me to realize that school
had something to do with whether I was going to be able to earn a living.
Until that realization, I took seriously only those parts of the curriculum
I found fun or thought to be relevant. I did not take seriously many of the
things I was asked to work on if I found them hard or if I judged them, in
my ever so worldly mind, to be irrelevant. Even wising up in my last year
or so of high school could not salvage my class rank, which was twenty-
second in the class of forty-three.
Was my difficulty caused by blindness? Perhaps a little. It would've
been nice to have my textbook for algebra in Braille. The same would've
been helpful in Spanish. Perhaps the assistance with readers extended to me
in college would have been helpful in high school. But most certainly I
would've done better had I been mature enough to realize that the people
who came before me probably knew more about life and what it took to be
successful than I did. Most certainly I would've done better had I not been
so arrogant as to think that the words relevant and irrelevant were the
most important in the English language and that I was capable of deciding
what would and would not be important in my future. Sometimes I was called
lazy, but I think it was more a case of not being able to connect the dots
and to see how my work at the time would result in future opportunities. Is
it acceptable for a good Braille reader to claim he has sometimes had
trouble connecting the dots?
In addition to studying electronics technology, I took advanced work
in computer science and got an entry-level job that soon turned into
promotions until I became a senior programmer analyst and a project
manager. At the end of that career, I was making more than five times my
starting salary, and let me say that I will always remember my first
contract saying I would be paid the princely sum of $12,134 a year. I
posted that contract on the refrigerator and probably should've laminated
it, but soon I was making more, and I became accustomed to promotions and
merit raises and not just cost-of-living increases. But let me return to
the assertion that to do my job required that I be twice as good and work
twice as hard as everyone else. I'm proud of the work I did, the work ethic
I brought, and the way I was able to contribute to our team. But, I was not
the best programmer on the staff. Some were better at looking at older
programs and instantly seeing what they were intended to do and why they
weren't doing it. Some were better at coming up with completely different
ideas about how to tackle a problem and in so doing either making the code
easier to understand or making it more efficient when run by the computer.
In my work career, sometimes I was on top. There were times when
suggestions I made changed the whole design of the system for the better.
One innovation I brought to an existing process ended up saving us two
thousand dollars a week in computer processing time. But I did not work
twice as hard, nor was I the best programmer on our staff.
Was blindness sometimes a problem? You bet it was. Did I sometimes
work extra hours to make my screen reader read things that were obvious to
other people just by looking? You bet. Did I have to look for buried
keystrokes and sometimes write my own scripts so that I could do what
others easily did with the mouse? You bet. But there were people with whom
I worked who got more done than I did, people who stayed later into the
night than I did, people who were more dedicated to being number one at
their jobs than I was. I desperately wanted to do right by my employer, to
know that I earned my money, but I wanted other things as well. I wanted
time for my family. I wanted time for our Federation. I wanted time for
recreation, exercise, and the sense that there was balance in my life and
not all just serious work.
Today as the editor of the Braille Monitor, I know I am not the most
qualified editor this publication has ever had. Jacobus tenBroek preceded
me in this job, and my educational accomplishments are nothing compared
with his. Perry Sundquist put out a wonderful magazine. Hazel tenBroek,
Kenneth Jernigan, and Barbara Pierce all had strengths I don't have. How
would this magazine be today if Daniel Frye had remained its editor? We
can't know, but it is clear to me that mine is not the best mind ever to be
put to the task of generating this publication. I'm not trying to be modest-
I like the mind I have and the work I do, but my mind tells me that
perspective is important and that each of us should know our strengths and
our weaknesses.
So how hard is my job compared with what it would be were I sighted?
Who can really say? Would I have problems with screen-reading software? I
may never have heard of it. Would I have a cheaper way to read and write
while on the road? Probably so. But would my job be easier or my work
product superior? Do I spend twice as long as a sighted person would on our
magazine? I don't think so. Would it be twice as good if a person with
sight did the editing? Again, I don't believe so.
Why, you may ask, does the answer to the question of extra effort and
clearly being superior to the other person matter? If it is true, we should
say it. But if it is not, there are good reasons to avoid saying it.
Interestingly, what is spawned from the belief that everything we do takes
more energy, creativity, effort, and psychological toughness is precisely
the thing that makes some people in society believe as they do about us. We
get angry when we are patronized, when people tell us we are inspiring, or
when they say that if they had to live our lives, they just couldn't do it.
But perhaps our proclamations that our lives are harder is likely a
contributor to these perceptions. Did we generate the belief among sighted
people that we work twice as hard and that life is harder for us, or did we
buy this notion from the very public we are trying to inform about the
authentic experience of blindness?
I often wonder how we can assert that we work harder or twice as hard
than other people when we have not walked in their shoes. I know a woman
with food allergies that are so severe that she spends at least five
minutes whenever we go to a restaurant figuring out whether there is
anything she can eat and how she can communicate her order. I know a man
who is a deep thinker, appreciates the subtlety and complexity of many
things, but finds it difficult to communicate these in a way that is
direct, easily understandable, and in a timeframe that will keep the focus
of those who are impatient or perhaps have a short attention span. How well
do I really understand the burdens that people carry when they live in
poverty and get an education that doesn't begin to compare with what they
will need to succeed? Is my life really harder than the person who lives
with chronic depression or frequent migraine headaches? Is my life or our
lives more difficult than the lives of single mothers caught between the
demand that they raise their children with solid values and the demand that
they be absent from the home in order to earn a living and not be a burden
to the state?
As if it wasn't obvious, this is a tickler for those of you with
opinions that should find their way into the Braille Monitor, whether they
affirm what I am suggesting or whether they soundly refute it. One of the
things we suggest to the world is that we have something worth listening
to: the truth about blindness, or, perhaps more modestly, some truths about
blindness that work for us. We should use these pages to help establish
some of those truths, to understand their subtleties, the way they play out
differently for others, and the way we all come to work together to benefit
one another.
----------
[PHOTO CAPTION: Brooke Tousley]
My Shot
by Brooke Tousley
From the Editor: Brooke is a member of the National Federation of the
Blind of Nevada and accepted the opportunity to speak at a state
convention. President Terri Rupp thought so much of these comments that she
sent them to the Braille Monitor. I thank Brooke for writing this and Terri
for sending it. Here is what Brooke says:
I was asked to give a speech about my experiences with being blind and
being an actor. As an actor and as a person who is blind, I am happy to
share my experiences on how I self-advocate in a completive field that
doesn't always seem visible. As a point of reference, I have been legally
blind since I was born. My normal is being blind. I have staged my life
around having a disability. My family and friends have always taught me to
be my true authentic self. I was taught not to see the word "disabled" as
"un-able" but as "differently abled." I have different abilities that
contribute to my authenticity.
Growing up, I never saw authenticity in television, film, or onstage.
I saw abled-bodied actors un-authentically portraying me. I did not
understand why authenticity was presumably unattainable or uneventful. I
did not understand why people who are blind or low vision are not included
in the inclusion of authenticity.
Letting us play is important. It is important because inclusion allows
us to be seen and to be present and authentic. As performers, we are
storytellers. I started storytelling when I was a senior in high school.
Theatre was an after-school activity that I participated in alongside my
friends who wanted to tell their story. From high school to now, I have
performed with many local theatre companies, including Merry War Theatre
Group, Br�ka Theatre of the Sierra, Mercury Momentum, and Reno Little
Theatre. I fell in love with the Reno community theatres because they
became a creative space for me to play without limitations. I am passionate
about the arts because art is another extension of my self-expression. I am
able, in every sense of the word. Performing onstage is a place where I can
let go and feel safe. There is something truly profound about a space where
you can speak and move and let go of the world's limitations placed on you
as well as others grueling interoperations of you and blindness.
A Ted Talks [a popular series of short videos] I listened to the other
day, "Disability: Casting a Revolution" from Jenny Sealey, the Artistic
Director and CEO of Graeae, spoke about the artistic process of disability.
Sealey stated, "Art informs the creative process of access, and access
informs the creative process." What she meant by this was that art is
always evolving and changing to stay relevant. Accessibility should stay
relevant. Disability and accessibility should not be an afterthought. The
notion of integrating accessibility should take center stage. Being
authentic is accessible.
I humbly admit that I have blind privileges. I am not a cane user, a
Braille user, nor do I have a guide dog. I am the world's acceptable
version of being blind and having a disability. I have been told "You do
not look blind or act blind," whatever that means.
When do you tell your director you are blind? Or, do you even tell
them at all? Am I not authentic if I don't share that in my resum�, or am I
saving myself the rejection of "You don't look like the role." Blindness
doesn't fit the role. I memorize lines just like everyone else, but I also
memorize the stage and where people are standing and where I stand. I
memorize my blocking and cues like everyone else, but I also memorize other
people's blocking so I know I am safe. I have had the opportunity to
portray Shakespearian characters, possessed characters, a widow, and a cat
among many others, despite my different abilities.
I am grateful to have peers who have helped guide me through my craft
and authenticity without hesitation. People seem to act as if blindness is
a debilitating and life-ending diagnosis. There is a stigma toward us that
we are incapable of being able. Sometimes I do feel the pressure to
assimilate into society's definition and expectations of blindness. I felt
the need to make sure that the people around me felt comfortable around my
blindness, when in fact they were the ones who made me feel uncomfortable.
Theatre always provides a stage for creating and sharing stories for
all who welcome it. William Shakespeare said it best when he informed us
that "We are not ourselves, when nature, being oppressed, commands the mind
to suffer with the body" (King Lear, Act 2 Scene 4). Theatre has allowed me
to create and sustain my authenticity. I am in an environment in which I
can be what I want to be and express what I want to feel. Theatre has been
a teacher for me about the world around me as I explore and self-discover
about people and love, life, and the human condition. Theatre has given me
my shot to be me and truly abled me.
----------
An Apology to a Fine Humorist and One of Our Own
by Gary Wunder
In the November 2019 issue we ran an article entitled "Meet the
Sighted Month" and said it had been seen floating around Facebook. Well we
should have been smart enough to know that nothing floats around Facebook
without an author, and how wonderful it is to find that the author is none
other than Angela Fowler, a wonderful mother, humorist, and Federationist.
We apologize for running her article without attribution and take the
opportunity to share it once again, this time giving credit where it is
deserved.
Meet the Sighted Month
by Angela Fowler
October is Meet the Sighted Month. Throughout the month, sighted
people will hold events where we can mix and mingle and learn about the
special equipment and techniques they use to cope with the presence of
eyesight. Also, many sighted people will post invitations on Facebook
encouraging us to ask them questions, any questions we want, about their
sightedness. To kick off Meet the Sighted Month, I have put together this
list of things to keep in mind when interacting with the sighted.
1. Sighted people are often incapable of traveling, cooking, or doing
much of anything without the aid of light. While we use our other
senses to enable us to function perfectly well in the dark, sighted
people have great difficulty developing these skills. When you welcome
the sighted into your home, don't forget to turn on the lights.
2. Sighted people often cannot understand synthesized speech, and the
text on a Braille display is almost always unreadable to them. They
must depend on special equipment such as computer monitors and phone
and tablet screens to use their electronic devices. If you let a
sighted person use your phone or computer and forget to turn the
screen on, they will be very confused.
3. Sighted people have difficulty learning from textual and verbal
explanations or tactile models. They often must be presented with
pictures. A good rule of thumb, when writing instructions for the
sighted, is to include a picture with each step.
4. Sighted people have great difficulty distinguishing auditory cues in
their environment. While we can tell when to cross a street by the
sound of traffic or where an entrance is by the sounds of people
entering and exiting, sighted people often must rely on visual
information alone.
5. Sighted people rely heavily on an inaudible code called color. They
use color to safely navigate by car and perform countless other tasks
we can perform using auditory and tactile cues. Also, they are often
quick to judge us based on what colors we present to the world. It is
important to gain at least a working knowledge of color, so they don't
think we're weird.
6. Sighted people often communicate displeasure using a secret signal
called a dirty look. I'll admit, I'm not exactly sure what this
entails, except that it sometimes causes sighted people to behave in
ways which seem inappropriate to the situation, i.e. telling someone
off for no apparent reason. As blind people immune to the effects of
the dirty look, we can only try to teach the sighted to use their
words when communicating displeasure with us.
So, there you have it. Keep these points in mind, and your next
encounter with a sighted person should be as smooth as a brand new NFB cane
tip.
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[PHOTO CAPTION: Carolyn Corrigan]
Living the Life I Want is a Work in Progress
by Carolyn Corrigan
From the Editor: Carolyn Corrigan lives in New Hampshire and is a
state officer, the secretary of her affiliate. She is not afraid of work.
Her state president says she can always be counted on and gives her the
highest recommendation I have heard her give anyone.
Carolyn's story is one of significant challenge and adaptation.
Sometimes she changes the way she wants to accomplish something, and at
other times she decides that what she wants to accomplish must be different
given her life situation and the satisfaction she wants from it. Here is
her story:
I am grateful beyond words that I had tremendous parents. I know that
watching me struggle with this disability must have been hard for them, but
they always gave me so much support as I adapted to my blindness. They
provided daily reminders to be true to myself, and they had so much hope
for me to get out there and live a productive life like everyone else.
I often traveled to Boston Children's Medical Center as they tried to
determine how affected my vision was. I got sick of the regular
evaluations. I knew they were trying to help me, but the sheer number of
things they would ask me to do wore me out. After all the tests and
evaluations, we finally had more answers about my visual limitations-I am
blind.
With glasses, I am nearsighted; without them, I see a fuzzy picture.
After half an hour of the fuzzy pictures, I become dizzy and disoriented. I
first realized this when kids took my glasses as a joke. It's definitely
not fun being disoriented, especially when people are laughing at you. They
did not know the situation they created wasn't humorous at all.
Despite my setbacks with some of the children, I was still excited
about heading off to school. I was excited to be with other students and
nervous at the same time about fitting in with others my age.
Unfortunately, I am what they call a visual learner, kind of complicated
when one is blind. I also have to deal with my eyes twitching while trying
to focus on an object or reading a book. The twitching activity makes me
more exhausted because of the amount of energy it takes. In class, I did
take notes but was always trying to catch up.
During both elementary and high school I was using the resource room
on a frequent basis. It was great to be around the diversity of students in
this space. The students that the resource room assisted also had similar
issues to the ones I was experiencing. However, the impression held by
other students was that if you were in the resource room, you must be dumb
or retarded. I disliked my disability more and more when I heard that, but
I fought that perception. I fought because I disliked being unable to
participate in certain activities because teachers thought they were too
hard for me.
Therefore, I did my work the best I could. When in lectures, I found
it difficult to remember all the material covered. I listened, but again,
getting information audibly isn't my strength. I took notes, but half of it
I would miss.
All I wanted during this time was to have a chance like everyone else.
Besides resource room assistance in the classroom, I had my documents
enlarged so I could read them, I had tutors in the classroom to assist me
with taking notes or to review material for future quizzes or tests, and I
had a tape recorder for books on tape. However, because I am a visual
learner, just listening to information did not help it stick in my memory.
I also had a scope for use in the classroom. I was placed in the front row
to be closer to the chalkboard, and I used my scope to read information the
teacher wrote there. When I took tests, I was taken out of the classroom
and did them separately to minimize distraction.
I was pleased to have had some extracurricular activities in school.
I was part of a youth softball team that was coached by a friend of my
parents. I really appreciated that I had an opportunity playing softball
because of that connection. I know that for reasons of safety I was
assigned to play deep right field most of the time because hits often do
not land in that area. Out of boredom waiting for the ball to come my way,
I obviously cheered for my team, but I was also frequently singing out in
right field.
Toward middle school, I tried to get involved with groups such as
band. I played flute from middle school into high school. In high school
the band teacher I had was amazing. He knew I had limitations, but he
treated me like a part of the group and assisted me when I needed extra
help. There were times I didn't hit every note because of slow response,
but I made the effort to play regardless.
My other instrument is my voice. Anyone who knew me at the time could
tell you my favorite class was chorus. The key thing about both band and
chorus is that my ears were my eyes, and I believe my lack of vision
heightened my other senses. I also participated in an afterschool acting
group called Acting Out, which was open to younger students as well as
teenagers. This group made a real difference in my life because of how
diverse it was. It also gave me the sense that there is more to me than my
visual limitations. The group leader welcomed me with open arms. I had that
feeling like I belonged somewhere, which helped tremendously.
There were also other important outreach activities for me on the
weekends throughout the year. In these programs I interacted with other
young teenagers with disabilities. We learned about working together,
independent living, and other things that helped us build the confidence
that we could do things for ourselves.
Anxiety over tests began to heighten in my sophomore year of high
school due to a negative experience with a professional, causing me to feel
degraded in front of peers. I hope the screening process today is more
advanced-no student should have to deal with a disrespectful professional
degrading him or her, especially in front of other people. That was the
worst experience I have been through. It took me a while to speak up, but
when I did, the tutor did not last much longer. This is why tests were not
my favorite part of school. Even when people would try to help me, the
words I had been called such as dumb and stupid would haunt me and make me
defensive. There is a time to be pushed, but there is also a time to be
rewarded for what you know and how hard you are trying.
I graduated from high school, and I thought the nerve-racking
educational experiences in my life had ended, but then there was college.
Many questions went through my mind before beginning my fall semester. In
high school, the SAT was supposed to help you find your place in college.
My score was not very high because of my learning challenges, so I started
college slow. I took continuing education courses to get my GPA up before
matriculating as a full-time student. At first my goal was to study
education and work as a teacher because I love children. Unfortunately, I
did not have that option financially.
In high school the tests posed challenges, but at the college level
there were more questions, and they were more complicated to answer. The
more questions I got and the harder they were, the more I panicked. I
discovered that with my learning challenges, I retained a certain amount of
information, but when my mind gets overwhelmed, I forget the rest of it.
When I started failing my college exams, I felt like a failure. I
questioned whether I would ever graduate from college.
I started looking for jobs to make money to help with college
expenses. Job searching proved to be frustrating and taxing despite having
assistance from vocational rehabilitation. Many people were still very
ignorant about the value of diversity in the workplace, and some would not
hire me because they judged that it would be too hard for me and that I
could not do the job. When blind, it is commonly accepted that you should
take any job you can get, but I was not even getting interviews, so I had
to change tactics. I focused on volunteering instead to gain experience,
working at various childcare programs. Next, I began working a paying job
at the college dining commons. I continued on to being a front-end clerk
bagging groceries for a supermarket. With each of these jobs, at first I
would be a bit slow learning the tasks that needed to be done, but once it
became a routine for me, people commented that I did things quickly and
efficiently. I always try to get better, but I also know my limitations and
to not try to exceed what I can do.
I graduated from college with an associate's degree in general
education. I may not have landed in the education field as a teacher, but
it was a valuable accomplishment for me. However, the year after I
graduated, I did get to experience being a paraprofessional at the middle
school I attended. It was a valuable tutoring opportunity; I felt like I
was a voice for some of these students. I could feel how they felt and was
able to help them academically. I was pleased when I came up with a game
for a student to remember her social studies material, even if the teacher
I worked for didn't appreciate it much. I do not think that the teachers
are always as resourceful as they should be. I don't think they get enough
training to see the individual possibilities that exist in those of us who
learn differently. At the very least training must make it possible for
inclusion to be a possibility rather than just a word.
After a year I decided to move on. I was not bad at being a tutor and
paraprofessional, but I realized there was something more for me. I loved
children, but professionally working with them just didn't click for me.
Witnessing some of the treatment and attitudes toward the students made me
realize that advocacy was in my blood when opportunities arose later.
Continuing with job searching, I came across an opportunity that led
to my next challenge. I heard through the Red Cross that they were holding
LNA (Licensed Nurse Assistant) classes. I had never thought of this career
before, but it interested me because I like to help take care of people. I
thought, "Why not go for it? Life is too short to not try different
opportunities." I knew that the materials and the tests would be obstacles
for me, but support from the teacher and other participants helped a lot. I
also had the benefit of some of our vocational rehabilitation counselors
who were willing to help outside of class to go over some of the rather
challenging clinical aspects. It was difficult, but with determination, I
kept going. My family and friends knew I was getting the material and that
I knew my stuff, despite exams not being a high point for me. No test can
define what I know.
It was getting close to the time we were preparing to get into a
clinical setting, and I was feeling hopeful until one day in class. I could
tell the teacher was heartbroken to tell me the bad news. She knew I had
worked hard, but she had a job to do and could not pass me. The state board
in charge of these programs told her that I could not go any further in the
clinical because of my limited vision and slow learning in medical
situations. Their reasoning was because of liability and safety. Safety I
can understand; you have to be safe in medical settings. Liability I felt
was more about their fear of something they don't know, and we can always
see the worst when we think about bad things that may happen. At first, I
was crushed; my hopes were dashed. It didn't help when someone told me they
wouldn't want someone like me taking care of them.
I have struggled with depression after going through numerous
experiences like this and having the plug pulled too soon on each of them.
Vocational rehabilitation helped me learn massage therapy, but again my
test scores were not adequate. The state tests said I was close to passing,
but in my mind I passed with flying colors. In the end though I was a
winner for facing myself, finding my own confidence, and being here today.
I still offer massages to family friends and make frequent visits to the
elderly home I work for to provide hand massages to Alzheimer's residents.
I also decided to revisit the Keene State College's Aspire Program.
It had done a lot for me, and I wanted to show my appreciation. I
reconnected with staff members I knew, and I was also introduced to the
disabilities coordinator. I started out mentoring students by taking them
to a coffee place I had gotten familiar with, and from there I was
introduced to a group called the National Federation of the Blind. Until
then I had no idea that this organization existed. I had heard of other
associations of the blind and like organizations, but this one was
different. I officially joined the NFB in 2007. I believe my first trip was
the Washington Seminar. This was when having advocacy in my blood really
crystalized. What struck me immediately about this group was how much this
national organization works together and provides support for others while
also defining our rights and what we deserve. I am still involved today,
and many things have come from it. Not only is it my second family, but due
to my continued interest, I have several roles in the organization that I
never in my wildest dreams would have thought I'd be undertaking at this
point in my life. Besides advocacy, my Federation family helped me build
the confidence to educate people and stand up for myself when I feel that I
or other members are being discriminated against.
I have realized that as a woman with visual limitations I am not
limited in opportunities. I have discovered I have other talents that I am
pursuing further to see where they lead me. Photography has been a huge
interest of mine for a long time. Family members have nicknamed me "Flash"
Corrigan. Photography is stress relief for me and gives me an opportunity
to focus on beauty. I love having the ability to create an image from an
instant shot when I take the photo and the ability to use photo editing to
create exactly what I have in my mind. I've had a lot of positive feedback
on my photography from those around me, and this is something I continue to
pursue because life is too short to feel like you have nothing that you can
do. That kind of attitude will not take us far in life.
My final message to anyone reading this is that we are all different.
It's perfectly okay to be different and unique. You have abilities just
like everyone else; how you use them is up to you. If you encounter any
kind of discrimination, remember the problem is with the person who
discriminates, not with you. There is a purpose for all of us in our lives.
We just have to trust the higher power to remind us of that on a daily
basis. Never give up on something just because other people say it's too
hard and discourage you. It's not up to them whether or not you can do it,
it's up to you. I would like to thank you for letting me share my story,
and I hope it inspires all of you to find your own dreams. My life is not
finished yet; there is more to come in my story. Appreciate and embrace
yours, and steer it so that you are moving toward the life you want.
----------
[PHOTO CAPTION: Patti Chang]
Dream Makers Circle
by Patti Chang
From the Editor: Patti Chang is our energetic director of outreach who
works tirelessly to see that we have the tools to do the work that is
required of us. Here is what she says about how we can keep on giving long
after we think we can:
Join our Dream Makers Circle
For more than seventy-eight years, the National Federation of the
Blind has worked to transform the dreams of hundreds of thousands of blind
people into reality, and with your support, we will continue to do so for
decades to come. We sincerely hope you will plan to be a part of our
enduring movement by joining our legacy society, the Dream Makers Circle.
It is much easier than you think. Please join so we can make a difference
by:
. Giving blind children the gift of literacy through Braille
. Promoting independent travel of the blind by providing free, long
white canes to blind people in need
. Developing dynamic educational projects and programs that prove to
blind youth that science and math are within their reach
. Delivering hundreds of accessible newspapers and magazines to provide
blind people the essential information necessary to be actively
involved in their communities
. Offering aids and appliances that help seniors losing vision maintain
their independence
. Funding scholarship programs so that blind people can achieve their
dreams
. And so much more
How do you join our Dream Makers Circle?
You can decide to join in one or more simple ways. You can plan to
give all or part of a bank account, insurance proceeds, investment assets,
real estate, or a retirement account. You can even give a required minimum
distribution from your IRA directly to charity and avoid taxes on that
money.
The National Federation of the Blind Legacy Society, our Dream Makers
Circle, honors and recognizes the generosity and the vision of members and
special friends of the National Federation of the Blind who have chosen to
leave a legacy through a will or other planned giving option.
If you wish to give part or all of an account, simply fill out a
P.O.D. (payable on death) or T.O.D. (transfer on death) form. For pensions
and insurance assets, simply designate a charity as a beneficiary. If you
would like to leave a legacy to the National Federation of the Blind in
your will, simply include the following language:
"I give, devise, and bequeath unto the National Federation of the Blind,
200 East Wells at Jernigan Place Baltimore, Maryland 21230, a Maryland
nonprofit corporation, the sum of $______________ (or) _________ percent of
my net estate" or "the following stocks and bonds: ____________________, to
be used for its worthy purposes on behalf of blind persons."
Once you have completed your paperwork, please reach out to let us know you
are joining our Dream Makers Circle.
In 2019 with generous support, the National Federation of the Blind:
. Distributed 6,644 canes to blind people across the United States,
empowering them to travel safely and independently throughout their
communities
. Hosted forty-eight NFB BELL Academy programs, which served more than
350 blind students throughout the United States
. Provided over one hundred thousand dollars in scholarships to blind
students, making a post-secondary education affordable and attainable
. Delivered audio newspaper and magazine services to 122,802
subscribers, providing free access to over five hundred local,
national, and international publications
. In 2019 over 500 (592 total) Braille-writing slates and styluses were
given free of charge to blind children and adults.
Please consider joining our legacy society so we can continue to make a
real difference in the lives of the next generation of blind children and
adults. Together with love, hope, determination, and your support, we will
continue to transform dreams into reality.
To learn more visit: www.nfb.org/planned-giving or call 410-659-9314,
extension 2422.
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[PHOTO CAPTION: Tracy Soforenko]
Kenneth Jernigan Convention Scholarship
by Tracy Soforenko
From the Editor: Tracy Soforenko is the newly appointed chairperson
of the Kenneth Jernigan Fund and is the president of the National
Federation of the Blind of Virginia. The Kenneth Jernigan Fund plays a big
role in helping first-timers attend the national convention, and here is
what he has to say:
Have you always wanted to attend an NFB annual convention but have
not done so because of the lack of funds? The Kenneth Jernigan Convention
Scholarship Fund invites you to make an application for a scholarship
grant. Perhaps this July you too can be in the Hilton Americas Hotel in
Houston, Texas, enjoying the many pleasures and learning opportunities at
the largest and most important yearly convention of blind people in the
world.
The three biggest ticket items you need to cover when attending an NFB
national convention are the roundtrip transportation, the hotel room for a
week, and the food (which tends to be higher priced than at home). We
attempt to award additional funds to families, but, whether a family or an
individual is granted a scholarship, this fund can only help; it won't pay
all the costs. Most years the grants were in the range of $400 to $500 per
individual. In 2019, ninety grants were offered.
We recommend that you find an NFB member as your personal convention
mentor, someone who has been to many national conventions and is able to
share money-saving tips with you and tips on navigating the extensive
agenda in the big hotel. Your mentor will help you get the most out of the
amazing experience that is convention week.
Who is eligible? Active NFB members, blind or sighted, who have not
yet attended an NFB national convention because of lack of funding are
eligible to apply.
How do I apply for funding assistance? This year, we will be accepting
applications online. Since applications must be completed in a single
session online, we strongly recommend you prepare your responses in a
document then cut and paste your responses into the application form. The
application form does not support complex formatting, so we recommend
avoiding formatting such as bullet points and fonts/styles. Effective,
January 1, 2020, the application form can be found at the following link:
https://www.nfb.org/get-involved/national-convention/kenneth-jernigan-
convention-scholarship.
The application will ask for the following information:
Contact information: Include your full name and both your primary
phone where you can be contacted by your state President and your mobile
phone you might use at convention, if available. Please include your
mailing address and, if you have one, your email address. If you don't have
an email address, please consider if there is a friend or chapter member
who might be able to assist with email correspondence.
State affiliate/chapter information: Include your state affiliate,
your state president, chapter, and chapter president, if you attend a
chapter.
Mentor information: Include your personal convention mentor and
provide that person's phone number.
Funding request: Include your specific request and explain how much
money you need from this fund to make this trip possible for you. We
suggest you consult with other members to make a rough budget for yourself.
Essay questions to explain why this is a good investment for the NFB:
How do you currently participate in the Federation? Why do you want to
attend a national convention? What would you receive? What can you share or
give? Any special circumstances you hope the committee will take into
consideration.
If you cannot apply online, you can still apply by writing a letter
to your state affiliate president answering the above questions. This
letter should be emailed to your state affiliate President. Once you have
decided you will apply, please contact your state president in person or by
phone to request his or her help in obtaining funding. Be sure to tell the
state affiliate president when to expect that your application will be
submitted and mention the deadline is April 15.
Once your application has been submitted, a copy of your application
will be provided to your state president via email. It is still your
responsibility to contact your affiliate President. He or she must email a
president's recommendation directly to the Kenneth Jernigan Convention
Scholarship Fund Committee at kjscholarships at nfb.org. Your president must
email the recommendation no later than the deadline of April 15, 2020. If
you have applied outside of the online form, the state affiliate president
must email both the recommendation and the application letter.
Notification of Award
If you are chosen to receive this scholarship, you will receive a
letter with convention details that should answer most of your questions.
The committee makes every effort to notify winners by May 15, but you must
do several things before that to be prepared to attend if you are chosen:
Make your own hotel reservation. If something prevents you from attending,
you can cancel the reservation. (Yes, you may arrange for roommates of your
own to reduce the cost.) Register online for the entire convention,
including the banquet, by May 31. Find someone in your chapter or affiliate
who has been to many conventions and can answer your questions as a friend
and mentor. If you do not hear from the committee by May 15, then you did
not win a scholarship this year.
Receiving the Award
At the convention you will be given a debit card or credit card
loaded with the amount of your award. The times and locations to pick up
your card will be listed in the letter we send you. The committee is not
able to provide funds before the convention, so work with your chapter and
state affiliate to assist you by obtaining an agreement to advance funds if
you win a scholarship, and to pay your treasury back after you receive your
debit or credit card.
More Information
For additional information, please contact the chairperson of the
Kenneth Jernigan Convention Scholarship Fund Committee, Tracy Soforenko,
at kjscholarships at nfb.org or 410-659-9314, extension 2415.
Above all, please use this opportunity to attend your first
convention on the national level and join several thousand active
Federationists in the most important meeting of the blind in the world. We
hope to see you in Houston.
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Recipes
Recipes this month were contributed by members of the National Federation
of the Blind of New York.
Chicken Mac Salad with a Twist
by Bernice Bird
I am always trying to think up different things to feed my friend who comes
once a week to help with mail and other sighted tasks. I had chicken
already cooked and came up with this combination. I served it with cool
ranch tortilla chips and fruit for dessert.
Ingredients:
8 ounces of cooked chicken, diced
1 small onion, diced
2 stalks of celery, chopped
� each sweet bell pepper, green, yellow, red, and/or orange, seeded and
diced
8 ounces rotini pasta
8 ounces monterey jack or pepper jack cheese, grated
2/3 cups mayonnaise
1� cups salsa of your choice
Salt and pepper to taste
Method: Boil the pasta with a pinch of salt and a dash of olive oil until
al dente or fully cooked according to your preference, drain, and cool.
Cooking hint: if you are in a hurry and don't have time for the pasta to
cool, just put a couple of handfuls of ice cubes into the colander with the
hot pasta, then stir it around gently so as not to break up the pieces of
rotini too much. Combine all ingredients in a large serving or mixing bowl
and toss gently. Cooking tip: select a bigger bowl than you think you will
need as pasta and other salad types tend to grow larger than you would
expect as you add ingredients into the mix. Serve and enjoy, with corn or
flour tortilla chips of your choice on the side or crumbled over the top.
Extra salsa or mayonnaise can be added if you find that you want or
need more moisture, especially after the salad has had time to rest. Mild
salsa and monterey jack cheese make for a kid-friendly dish, or hot salsa
and pepper jack cheese can kick it up a notch. Sour cream can be
substituted for the mayonnaise for those with soy allergies, or ranch
dressing can be substituted for even more flavor. Let your creativity guide
you to customize this versatile and delicious dish.
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Pizza Pasta Salad
by Bernice Bird
I provided this very large bowl of pasta salad at our state
convention. When the bowl was empty, we were asked if we had more. I guess
that is how it should be: leave people wanting more. My daughter and I
developed this particular salad together over a number of years. We each
added or subtracted items from this recipe according to our likes or
dislikes and/or dietary needs.
Pasta Salad Ingredients:
1 pound rotini or fusilli pasta, or another shape of your choosing
8 to 12 ounces pepperoni, sliced
12 to 16 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
8 to 12 ounces aged Italian cheeses: parmesan, romano, asiago, grana
padano, or a combination of these, grated
1 each red, yellow, orange, and green sweet bell peppers, seeded and diced
(Tip: many grocery stores sell 3-packs of the red, orange, and yellow bell
peppers for convenience, and all four colors have slightly different
flavors and nutritional profiles.)
� large seedless cucumber, peeled and diced
2 stalks celery, diced
8 to 12 ounces packaged grape tomatoes, sliced lengthwise
1 cup black or green olives, sliced in half, if desired
1 small head fresh broccoli, cut into florets
2 large carrots, peeled
1 cup Vidalia, red, Spanish, or another onion of your choice, diced
1 cup each frozen corn and peas
Dressing Ingredients:
1 cup olive oil
2 cups balsamic vinegar or another vinegar of your choice such as apple
cider vinegar or red wine
� cup to 4 tablespoons dried basil
1/8 cup to 2 tablespoons dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried rosemary
� cup to 4 tablespoons dried parsley flakes
� cup to 4 tablespoons dried chives
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder (Flavor tip: three cloves of fresh garlic, or two
of black garlic, or one of elephant garlic can be put through a garlic
presser or finely chopped, and each has a unique flavor and nutritional
benefit.)
1 teaspoon dried paprika
2 teaspoons dried marjoram
3 teaspoons dried savory
Sea salt and black pepper to taste
Pasta Salad Method: Boil pasta with a pinch of salt and a pat of
butter until al dente or fully cooked, according to preference, then drain
and cool. Cooking hint: gently toss the hot pasta in a colander with a
couple handfuls of ice cubes to cool it quickly if you are in a hurry.
Rinse all vegetables and drain on paper towels or in colander before
cutting to avoid a bland or watery salad. Dice the peppers, onion, celery,
and cucumber. Slice tomatoes, and olives if you choose to include them, in
half. Peel the carrots and discard peels and one slice off of each end,
then use your peeler to produce thin carrot strips to include in the salad,
or grate on a box grater. Cut broccoli florets into smaller pieces. Place
pepperoni slices into small stacks, then cut each stack into quarters,
producing small quarter circle wedge shapes. Thaw corn and peas in the
microwave, defrost setting can be helpful, and drain. Combine all
ingredients, including the cheese, meat, all vegetables, and pasta in a
very large mixing bowl. Cooking tip: This salad is most cohesive and
flavorful when prepared a day ahead. If you will be doing so or if there
will likely be leftovers, then double the dressing recipe and add
additional dressing prior to serving as the pasta will absorb the initial
dressing application, making it more flavorful, but also drier. This was
the method I followed when transporting the salad to our state convention.
Dressing Method: Use a mortar and pestle to finely crush all herbs; if
you do not own one, then you will want to run the dressing through a
blender. Combine herbs, spices, oil, and vinegar in a blender bottle and
shake well to combine. Refrigerate any additional dressing, but allow it to
come to room temperature by removing it from the refrigerator several hours
before adding it to and serving the salad. Shake the dressing well before
each use if using this dressing for other salads or recipes. If you intend
to use this dressing in a cooked dish such as a marinade for meat,
substitute avocado oil for the olive oil as EVOO is damaged at high heat
and avocado oil has a much higher smoke point. This bulk recipe is great
for events but can be reduced in size for other occasions.
Variations: The homemade dressing is the rock star of this salad. You
can substitute a bottled dressing, but making your own gives it the
standout quality at any party or gathering. Let your creativity and tastes
shape this recipe by adding or substituting a variety of cooked or raw
vegetables or even fruits, such as: mushrooms, zucchini, summer squash,
artichokes, etc. We conceived this as a "pizza pasta salad," but
substitutions or additions could change the character to suit other tastes,
such as adding sweet pickle relish, salsa, soy sauce, or substituting
chicken, shrimp or tuna for the pepperoni, or selecting other cheeses or
spices from a different culture and cuisine. This recipe is a road map for
a journey where you are encouraged to take side trips, not an absolute road
map.
----------
[PHOTO/CAPTION: Linda Kaminski]
Peanut Butter Cookies
by Linda Kaminski
Linda has been active in the Buffalo Chapter for more than 25 years.
She has headed the communication the entire time. Linda also runs a support
group for blind persons in the Buffalo area, is active on many committees,
and attends every meeting associated with the Buffalo Chapter.
Ingredients:
1 large box yellow cake mix
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
2 eggs
1/3 cup water
Method: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Add half of cake mix to bowl. Add
peanut butter, water, and eggs; mix well. Add remaining cake mix and mix
well. Roll into balls the size of walnuts. Press with fork. Bake on
ungreased cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes.
----------
[PHOTO/CAPTION: Angie Robinson]
Carrot Cake
by Angie Robinson
Angie has been an active member of the Buffalo Chapter for thirty
years. She has served in many positions within the chapter and is the
extremely supportive spouse of the New York affiliate president, Mike
Robinson. The recipe below has been prepared for the New York State
Convention and has helped create funds for the affiliate.
Cake Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups oil
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups shredded carrots
1 cup chopped walnuts
Frosting Ingredients:
1 box confectioner sugar
1 8-ounce package cream cheese
1/2 stick butter
Method: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine and mix oil, sugar,
eggs, and vanilla. Sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
When mixed, add grated carrots and nuts. Bake 50-60 minutes. Cool and
frost.
----------
Tator Tot Casserole
by Angie Robinson
Ingredients:
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
16 ounces Tator Tots
1 can Durkee Onions
1 bunch broccoli florets or a frozen package
1 can cream of celery (or chicken or mushroom) soup
1 teaspoon garlic salt
� cup milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Method: Cook chicken and cut into cubes. Cook broccoli (if fresh)
until tender. Line a large greased casserole dish with Tator Tots (sides
and bottom). Bake lined dish at 450 for approximately twenty minutes until
crispy. Mix cooked broccoli, half can Durkee onions, and cooked chicken;
pour into Tator Tot shell. Mix soup, a half-cup milk, garlic salt, and half-
cup cheese. Pour over top. Cover and bake at 450 for twenty minutes until
cooked through. Uncover, add remaining cheese and onions. Bake eight
minutes more until golden brown. Recipe note: This can be made and frozen
ahead. Kids love this recipe!
----------
[PHOTO/CAPTION: Caleb Jonas]
Cheesy Artichoke Pasta
by Caleb Jonas
This was one of my son Caleb's favorite dishes when he was a toddler
and preschooler; he still really likes it, and it's healthy. I wrote the
recipe in his voice, because blind people cooking is a great thing, but
blind kids cooking is a fantastic thing. Caleb really enjoys helping me
make this and now needs very little help to do so safely; he just turned
six years old. And whenever kids get excited about a fruit or vegetable,
artichokes in this case, then do a happy dance and get excited right along
with them. When he heard me typing up the recipe to submit, he wanted to
contribute. When I asked him what to do for the one he picked, his
instructions were filled with the little teachable moments, nonvisual
techniques, and fun kid comments that I just had to write it his way.
"Maybe sighted moms will read this to their blind kids, then they'll have
to cook with them, but the blind kids will keep bugging them until they let
them cook stuff." Caleb Jonas, age six.
Ingredients:
1 cup dry acini de peppe pasta, 100 percent whole wheat, orzo is an
acceptable substitution
A sprinkling of sea salt
2 ounces organic ricotta cheese
2 ounces Boursin cheese, garlic and fine herbs flavor is best
1 fresh lemon
1 tablespoon capers
1 can of artichoke hearts
2 ounces Italian cheese blend or salad cheese blend; usually contains three
or four of: parmesan, romano, asiago, provolone, fontina, grana padano,
etc.
Caleb's Method: Mom says that blind people get to touch all the food,
but we have to wash our hands before we cook and every time we touch
anything but the food or the utensils, like our face, the fridge door, or
raw meat or eggs. Shake a sprinkle of sea salt into your pan then put in
water so the pan is at least half-full. Put the pan on the stove, and make
sure it is in the middle of the burner, then ask your mom or dad to turn it
on to medium hot if you are a kid. You can hear it go "fwump" when it
lights. When the water is boiling, that means bubbling, and steam can make
your hand wet when you hold it about a foot above the top of the pot, then
you are ready to put in your pasta. Fill up your measuring cup with pasta,
and pour it in over the middle of the pan slowly so it doesn't splash. Let
it cook until the pasta is half softened, my mom calls it al dente, which
means "to the tooth, in Italian." Stir it to keep it from sticking to the
bottom. Turn off the heat and put a colander into the sink, then have your
mom or dad take it over and pour it into the colander to drain, or you can
do it yourself. Just practice with a pan of cold water first, and see if
you can do it without touching anything but the handle or getting any of
the water on you, because it will be hot when you do it for real. Do not
rinse the pasta because the sticky stuff called starch on it helps the
sauce stick to it better.
Pour the hot pasta into a medium big mixing bowl, then put in the
ricotta and Boursen cheese and stir it up until it makes a sauce out of the
cheeses. The hot pasta will melt them together. Juice the lemon, hold it
carefully and cut it with a really sharp serrated-that means jaggidy-knife
in half, and put each half into a juice press, then squeeze it hard over a
small bowl. You can pick out any seeds with your hands and throw them away.
Or you can throw them at your big brother. Mom says put the peels down the
garbage disposal to clean it and make it smell nice. Put the lemon juice
into the pasta, and then add the capers. They are little salty things, and
they are actually berries, weird, and cool! Open the can of artichokes and
turn it upside down over the sink with your hand over the top and let all
the water drain out. Put the artichokes in a bowl, use the one from the
lemon juice, and take the artichokes apart, just peel off the petals and
throw them into the pasta, like pulling a flower apart, then toss the tops
in too, they're good. Stir in the lemon juice, capers and artichokes, then
put the cheese blend on top, and serve. Don't tell your friends there are
vegetables in it. Be careful with the sharp things and the hot things, and
have fun freaking out the sighted people who watch you cook-that's the best
part.
----------
Monitor Miniatures
News from the Federation Family
New Drupal Theme Honors Rachel Olivero
Rachel Olivero (1982-2019) was a dedicated member and leader of the
nation's blind, a well-known accessibility expert, and a friend to many.
She tirelessly devoted herself to her role as head of the organizational
technology group at the National Federation of the Blind, a position from
which she leveraged her passion to change the understanding of
accessibility everywhere she could by raising the competency of her peers,
and challenging companies and organizations to stop making excuses and
start building accessibly from the beginning.
As we reflect on the one-year anniversary of her passing, we are
reminded of her many contributions both to our organization and to the
accessibility community at large. Because of her leadership, knowledge, and
collaborative spirit, her impact on modern accessibility best practices
cannot be overstated.
In October 2019, the Drupal Association, which maintains the open-
sourced platform the NFB uses for its websites, honored her lasting legacy
by naming its new default front-end theme "Olivero." "She was committed to
making technology accessible to all people," a Drupal expert said in the
announcement, which was made at DrupalCon 2019. "We chose the name Olivero
not just because we have made accessibility a top priority, but also
because we aspire to develop this new theme in our community in a manner
that is consistent with the qualities that Rachel embodied, including
patience, generosity, and inclusivity."
"In the National Federation of the Blind, individual blind people
come together to focus their efforts into collective action that raises
expectations in society and transforms dreams into reality. In a lifetime
that was far too short, Rachel Olivero used her own lived experiences as a
blind person as the basis for advancing the position of the blind in
society. As her friends in the organized blind movement, we remember her
daily," said Mark Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the
Blind. "As her colleagues carrying the march for equality of the blind
forward, we celebrate the Drupal community for recognizing Rachel's
commitment to equality and skillful advancement of accessibility. The
naming of the Olivero theme is more than simply a nice memory; it
represents a commitment by the Drupal community that accessibility will be
baked into the websites of the future so that all may have access to the
knowledge of the worldwide web. That is a legacy worthy of our friend
Rachel Olivero, the mission of the National Federation of the Blind, and
the core values of the Drupal community. As we cross the one-year
anniversary of losing Rachel's leadership on our behalf, our hearts are
filled with joy that accessibility in her name continues to spread around
the world."
Read more about Rachel Olivero in President Riccobono's tribute to
her life and work, "From Member to Memorable: Rachel Olivero's Legacy of
Love," in the April 2019 Braille Monitor.
This news brief is also available at: https://www.nfb.org/about-
us/press-room/new-drupal-theme-honors-rachel-olivero.
National Federation of the Blind and Others Settle Lawsuit against United
States Department of Education
DOE to Reopen Investigations, Allow Appeals
Washington, DC (February 6, 2020): The National Federation of the
Blind, the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA), and the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) have
resolved the lawsuit they brought against the United States Department of
Education (DOE). The suit was filed when DOE's Office for Civil Rights
(OCR) changed the way it handles discrimination complaints, by revising its
case processing manual, in March of 2018. The changes required OCR to
dismiss discrimination complaints without investigating if an individual or
organization had filed complaints before, or when complaints were filed
against multiple schools or colleges. The right to appeal was also
eliminated. DOE revised the manual again to roll back some of the changes
in November of 2018, but the status of complaints that had already been
dismissed under the March 2018 procedures was not resolved.
Under the agreement, OCR has reopened all the nearly seven hundred
disability rights complaints it dismissed and will investigate them
following the complaint investigation processes as of November 2018. In
addition, complainants who were denied the right to appeal the dismissal of
their complaints between March and November of 2018 will be able to do so.
"As America's civil rights organization of the blind, the National
Federation of the Blind routinely combats discrimination by K-12 schools,
colleges, and universities, often manifest as the use of inaccessible
technology and materials," said Mark Riccobono, President of the National
Federation of the Blind. "Department of Education OCR investigations are an
important avenue for protecting the rights of blind students. We are
therefore proud of the work we have done with our partners to ensure the
civil rights of the blind and of others who experience discrimination in
education."
In Brief
Notices and information in this section may be of interest to Monitor
readers. We are not responsible for the accuracy of the information; we
have edited only for space and clarity.
Summer Experience Camp - Making Teens Unstoppable!
We are holding a free program at Leader Dogs for the Blind. The
application deadline is April 1, 2020.
Summer Experience Camp is a week of fun, friendship, and skill
building. The program combines activities like zip lining, tandem biking
with independence building exercises, and things exclusively Leader Dog-GPS
training and spending time with future Leader Dogs. The combination helps
increase independent travel skills, interpersonal skills, and leadership
skills.
The free program is for boys and girls ages sixteen and seventeen who
are legally blind. Leader Dog covers all costs including airfare to
Michigan-and everyone receives a free HumanWare Victor Reader Trek GPS
device. The 2020 camp dates are June 24-July 1. Applications are due by
April 1, 2020.
You can view a Fox Sports clip about camp, read camper stories, and
download an application at LeaderDog.org.
----------
NFB Pledge
I pledge to participate actively in the efforts of the National
Federation of the Blind to achieve equality, opportunity, and security for
the blind; to support the policies and programs of the Federation; and to
abide by its constitution.
-----------------------
[1] Taken from "History of the Blind"
[2] For a more detailed survey of this topic that emphasizes Western
literary traditions, read "Blindness: Is Literature Against Us?", a banquet
speech delivered by Dr. Kenneth Jernigan at the National Convention of the
National Federation of the Blind, Chicago, Illinois, on July 3, 1974.
[3]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homer
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appius_Claudius_Caecus
[5] https://www.dictionary.com/browse/aqueduct
[6] In the early Republic, a dictator held nearly absolute power, but one
was appointed only when the need came to address a military or civil
emergency posing an existential threat to the state. The term of the
dictator's rule was usually limited to nine months or fewer, and following
the emergency the dictator would step down as rule by the people was once
again affirmed.
[7] See the Wikipedia entry on Appius Claudius Caecus, as cited just above.
[8] Ibid.
[9] https://www.britannica.com/topic/censor-ancient-Roman-official
[10] See the Wikipedia entry on Appius Claudius Caecus, as cited just
above.
[11] Caesar and Christ: The Story of Civilization, Volume III by Will
Durant, � 1944, p. 29.
[12]Ibid., p. 32.
[13] Ibid., p. 36.
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