[NFBNJ] Love Conquers Hate: An Open Letter from President Riccobono to Members

Sun May 31 23:51:39 UTC 2020

Greetings to all!
Many of us received the following letter from President Riccobono.
Many on this list are not members in the Federation however, I wanted to 
share.
Warmly,
Joe

We care. We share. We grow. We make a difference
Joe Ruffalo, President
National Federation of the Blind of New Jersey
973 743 0075
nfbnj1 at verizon.net
www.nfbnj.org
Raising Expectations To Live TheLife You Want!

Your old car keys can be keys to literacy for the blind.
Donate your unwanted vehicle to us by clicking
www.carshelpingtheblind.org
or call 855 659 9314

--- 

From: National Federation of the Blind

Subject: Love Conquers Hate: An Open Letter from President Riccobono to 
Members

      An Open Letter to the Members of the National Federation of the Blind

      I write this message to you as the elected President of the National 
Federation of the Blind. I also write it to you as an American who is 
struggling this week. I call upon members of our organization to recognize 
the solidarity we share as blind people and that the value we place on love 
within our movement is needed more today than at any other time in our 
history.

      I watched the horrific video shot by a brave seventeen year-old of the 
killing of George Floyd, a citizen of our great nation. Before I watched the 
video, I wondered what I could do and how I could contribute to healing the 
pain. I had no answers. After I watched the video, I realized I still did 
not have the answers and I was sad, angry, scared, frustrated, and without 
hope. Then I realized that we share tools in the National Federation of the 
Blind that can help. We can not look away and we need to share what we know 
from our experience in this peopleï¿½s movement.

      Our movement has been sustained for the purpose of serving as a 
vehicle for collective action by the blind of the nation to promote the 
vocational, cultural, and social advancement of the blind; to achieve the 
integration of the blind into society on a basis of equality with the 
sighted; and to take any other action which will improve the overall 
condition and standard of living of the blind. While racial equality in our 
nation is not within our mission, we also recognize that blindness affects 
all races and that the society we live within has an impact on our 
membership.

      The Federationï¿½s Code of Conduct specifically emphasizes our 
commitments to diversity. In short "We respect differences of opinion, 
beliefs, identities, and other characteristics that demonstrate that blind 
people are a diverse cross section of society...In promoting a diverse and 
growing organization, we expect integrity and honesty in our relationships 
with each other and openness to learning about and experiencing cultural 
diversity. We believe that these qualities are crucial to fostering social 
and intellectual maturity. Intellectual maturity also requires individual 
struggle with unfamiliar ideas." This week, I have been struggling to 
comprehend the fear and anger that black members of my Federation family are 
experiencing. I do not, and never can, have the authentic lived experience 
that you have, but yet I am also completely outraged by the hate and 
injustice that fell upon George Floyd on Monday. I recognize there are many 
centuries of painful layers wrapped up in that moment. I recognize that 
George is neither the first nor the last in a chain of injustices that need 
to be addressed. I want you to know I stand with you in facing the injustice 
that persists against you because of the color of your skin. I want you to 
know that I love you and I struggle with not being able to fully know your 
pain and fear. I want you to know I am prepared to be guided by you as to 
how I can make a difference. I cannot say that I have not become 
desensitized in times past, but I can tell you I will never turn away again.

      While our organization is dedicated to advancing the rights of blind 
people, we should not act as though race does not exist. As our chapters 
attempt to do business, as we urge our members to take up our priorities, we 
should recognize that thousands of our members are impacted by the painful 
realizations of this week. As a people's movement, we cannot pretend that 
our people only have one characteristic. Now is the time to let each member 
know we love them and we recognize their hurt. Now is also the time for us 
to recognize, as individuals, that we carry implicit bias learned from the 
society around us, and to seek the training that will enhance our awareness. 
Now is the time to give love to our black members so that we might learn how 
we can do better in building the understanding that powers the organized 
blind movement.

      Now is not the time for us to use our organizational communication 
tools to offer position statements about the activities playing out on the 
streets of our nation. it is easy to write messages and posts of solidarity 
without having a true understanding of the issues. It is easy to suggest 
that we share the concerns of our black members. The harder thing for us to 
do is to consciously listen and seek understanding while supporting others 
in their pain and frustration. The Federation has never been known for 
merely doing what is easy. The priority today is to ensure all of our black 
members know they are welcomed and loved in this movement. In fact, we 
should extend that same truth to any others who feel the real pain sweeping 
our nation. Please do not use organizational assets to enter the dialogue 
around race. That is not our purpose as an organization and we may 
unintentionally make it worse. We need to continue to coordinate messaging 
and to be guided by the wisdom of our diversity and inclusion committee. As 
leaders of our movement, we should also be conscious that our public posts 
may be misunderstood as representing the Federation. Our personal feelings 
and misunderstanding around the death of George Floyd, the protests sweeping 
our nation, and the underlying systemic discrimination may hurt and divide 
members of the organization. We cannot let that happen and we must be 
careful as leaders not to add to the pain our members are experiencing. As 
it relates to our public messaging, let us stay focused on the priorities of 
the organized blind movement. As it comes to our cherished friends, let our 
priority be to reach out personally to listen and offer our hands in 
support.

      I have had the opportunity to gather virtually with some of our top 
black leadersï¿½a group who will continue to guide my actions related to these 
issues. I asked them for wisdom and love in finding ways that I could guide 
our membership during this trying time in our nation. Their message was 
clear. Our movement is built on love and love always conquers hate. The 
Federation family needs to shine a light for the rest of the nation by 
continuing to demonstrate that the love, and solidarity, that we share with 
each other in this movement makes all the difference. They also noted that 
our organization has always valued civil disobedience and persistent pursuit 
of equality. They urged that we continue to pray for peace, justice, and 
equality. I could not agree more with these friends I have been blessed to 
learn from in our movement. Furthermore, I am thankful that we have a 
movement that provides us a meaningful opportunity to know people whose 
lived experience is so different from our own while sharing a common bond as 
blind people.

      In the National Federation of the Blind we know that blindness is not 
the characteristic that defines us or our future. Blindness is the thing 
that brings us together but it is not the thing that makes us want to stay 
together. That, in a word, is love.  We have love in our movement and we 
strengthen it by giving it. We have some wisdom and we strengthen it by 
continuing to seek greater understanding. We need more of both love and 
wisdom at every opportunity. Let's continue to share love, hope, and 
determination with each other so that together we transform our dreams into 
reality. One of those dreams still left tobe transformed is that of a nation 
where we can join together regardless of our unique characteristics. That is 
a dream I am struggling to help my own children understand so they may do 
better than I in making it come true. I speak for all of our national board 
members when I say we sincerely believe that the love and togetherness 
demonstrated in our movement can go a long way in contributing to that 
dream. It can be hard to remember that in this moment when so many of us are 
hurting, angry, frustrated, and scared. Let us continue to support each 
other in the Federation family. Let us avoid the harmful language that will 
only serve to divide us in this time. Let us go forward together, love one 
another, and change the world for the better.

      Sincerely,

      Mark A. Riccobono, President

      National Federation of the Blind

      National Federation of the Blind | 200 E Wells Street | Baltimore, MD 
21230 | 410-659-9314
      Unsubscribe | Opt Out |  Sign Up for Our E-newsletter
      ..

     Virus-free. www.avg.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
_______________________________________________
NFBNet-Members-List mailing list
NFBNet-Members-List at nfbnet.org
List archives: 
<http://www.nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfbnet-members-list_nfbnet.org>
To unsubscribe from NFBNet-Members-List:
goto 
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbnet-members-list_nfbnet.org/nfbnj1%40verizon.net
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfbnj_nfbnet.org/attachments/20200531/f913d74b/attachment.html>