[NFBofSC] FW: [Brl-monitor] The Braille Monitor, April 2022

[Frank Loza]

From: brl-monitor-bounces at nfbcal.org <brl-monitor-bounces at nfbcal.org> On
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Subject: [Brl-monitor] The Braille Monitor, April 2022

 


The Braille Monitor, April 2022


BRAILLE MONITOR


Vol. 65, No. 4 April 2022

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 <mailto:nfb at nfb.org> 

website address: http://www.nfb.org

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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

© 2022 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
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You can transfer the recording of each issue from the thumb drive to your
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when you return the device.

Vol. 65, No. 4 April 2022


Contents


New Orleans Site of 2022 Convention

by John Berggren

The 2022 Washington Seminar in Review

by Gary Wunder

Significance of the Washington Seminar 2022

by Mark Riccobono

Access Technology Affordability Act Fact Sheet

Medical Device Nonvisual Accessibility Act Fact Sheet

Twenty-First Century Websites & Applications Accessibility Act Fact Sheet

Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act Fact Sheet

The Movement at Work: Federationists March on Washington

by James Gashel

An Apology to Our Readers

by Gary Wunder

A Letter to Myself or an Awkward Stage

by Buddy Collier

See for Me: Finally, We’re on the Right Track

by Danielle McCann and Chris Danielsen

What Does It Mean to Be Part of a Civil Rights Organization Today?

by Maurice Peret

The 2022 Blind Educator of the Year Award

by Robin House

A Funny Thing Happened to Me Today, but Is It Really Funny?

by Gary Wunder

Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award Applications Accepted

by Everette Bacon

An Appeal for Help

by Kane Brolin

The 2022 Distinguished Educator of Blind Students Award

by Carla McQuillan

Recipes

Monitor Miniatures

[PHOTO CAPTION: An aerial view of the New Orleans Marriott]


New Orleans Site of 2022 Convention


by John Berggren

The 2022 Convention of the National Federation of the Blind will take place
in New Orleans, Louisiana, July 5 to July 10, at the New Orleans Marriott at
555 Canal Street, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70130. You can reserve a room now
at the Marriott by calling 800-654-3990 ensuring you’ll be in our
headquarters hotel. If you wish to stay in our overflow hotel directly
across Canal Street, call 855-516-1090 to book a room at the Sheraton New
Orleans.

The nightly rate for both the Marriott and the Sheraton is $109 for singles
and doubles. Triples and quads can be booked for $119 per night. You should
also anticipate the combined sales tax and tourism support rate of 16.2
percent, and note there is a hotel occupancy fee of $3.00 per night.

Both hotels will take a deposit of the first night’s room rate, taxes, and
fees 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 Monday, June 1, 2022, half of the deposit
will be returned. Refunds will not be issued for cancellations made beyond
that date.

The hotels sit astride the storied Canal Street at 555 and 500 Canal Street
respectively, only blocks from the mighty Mississippi River and even closer
to the historic French Quarter. Both hotels offer a range of dining options
as well as twenty-four-hour fitness centers. You’ll find a rooftop pool at
the Marriott, while the Sheraton features a Starbucks in its atrium lobby.

The schedule for the 2022 convention is:

Tuesday, July 5 Seminar Day
Wednesday, July 6 Registration and Resolutions Day
Thursday, July 7 Board Meeting and Division Day
Friday, July 8 Opening Session
Saturday, July 9 Business Session
Sunday, July 10 Banquet Day and Adjournment

The health of our members is of paramount importance as we plan for our
first in-person convention in three years. Both of our convention hotels are
committed to ensuring the safety of guests and have implemented cleaning
protocols and elevated practices to deliver on this commitment. The National
Federation of the Blind will continually monitor masking policies,
vaccination requirements, and other health guidelines that may apply to our
convention. Updates will be shared with members throughout the months
leading up to convention, so members can plan accordingly.

----------

[PHOTO CAPTION: Gary Wunder]


The 2022 Washington Seminar in Review


by Gary Wunder

How enabling it is to realize that, while others watch government from afar,
feel powerless over it, and believe themselves distant from the way it works
and how they might engage, we have a tremendous gift; we have one another
and the faith to believe that together we can make a difference. Things
don't happen as fast as we would like, and there is no question that some
have easier access to the levers of power than we do. But as true as this
is, we are strengthened not only by the changes we bring about but also by
the struggle to create them, the bonds we forge in working together, and the
actions we take to move from a dream to a strategy to an implementation of a
plan to make good things happen for ourselves and others.

Much work goes into the four-day event we call the Washington Seminar. Our
Government Affairs team carefully weighs what we have introduced before, new
issues that have surfaced, and the likelihood that something we need will be
positively received by Congress. Then the team makes its recommendations to
the President and the National Federation of the Blind Board of Directors.
Often our elected leaders are given more priority issues than we can handle,
so a part of their job is to decide not just what is important but what
issues we will take as the most important. Their service as elected
representatives of the blind means they are in touch with the wants and
needs of the people where they live as well as the people they meet
throughout the country on whom they rely for advice. Throw into the mix the
wisdom that comes from their own experience with the legislative process,
and you begin to get some idea about how the issues we take become our
legislative agenda each year.

Arranging the logistics is no small matter. When is the best time to hold
the seminar, given that Congress can change its schedule at will, and it may
vary from year to year? When can we get hotel space at the best price
available? Writing the fact sheets, getting them distributed, and organizing
meetings to go over our issues all takes planning and coordination. Often
our staff pulls this off so well we are tempted to think it is easy.

Monday began with a lively student seminar hosted by the National
Association of Blind Students. Their message was quite clear: we are
students, and every one of these issues pertains to us. We are at this
seminar because it is our opportunity to improve our present and to carve
out a future where we can live the lives we want. Discussing the issues from
the perspective of students and role-playing was a big part of the agenda,
and the participation was excellent.

In the afternoon the Government Affairs team held a seminar that also
involved reviewing the issues and featured two groups in meetings with Ron
Brown who was, for these meetings, Senator Ronald Brown. Questions were
invited after each session, and the beauty of having two of them was to see
how the same issues could be presented differently depending on the
spokesperson.

At 5:00 p.m. EST, President Riccobono convened the Great Gathering-In for an
audience present in the NFB of Utah Auditorium and the hundreds of us
located throughout the nation. President Biden has asked the nation to
embrace the challenge of building back better, but President Riccobono
believes that the real challenge should be building back better with the
blind. His keynote presentation stressed that we have been coming to the
United States Capitol for at least half a century, that the issues we
address make a real difference in the lives of blind people, and that, based
on the common sense that drives our legislative agenda, they are bipartisan
in nature. A copy of his address will be found later in this issue.

Social media is always a part of our legislative work, so President
Riccobono introduced Danielle McCann to give us an update. The conversations
we had can be viewed on Facebook and Twitter by using the hashtag #NFBINDC.
She reminded us that when we take or get pictures from any appointments, we
should make sure we post them with a caption. She concluded with a thank you
to Vispero for including our Access Technology Affordability Act in some of
its publicity, and John Paré was featured prominently in this effort.

President Riccobono interrupted the program to give special thanks to the
people who were making it possible: those maintaining the Zoom link, those
who were providing captioning, and those who were performing translation
from English to Spanish. In his expression of appreciation, the President
also thanked all of those attending through the Zoom platform and welcomed
those who are not currently members to become a part of our Federation
family. He observed that we have affiliates in every state, chapters in most
communities of any size, and a way for members at large to participate if
there simply are no chapters in their area. There are many special interest
divisions in which one might wish to participate, and the benefits one
derives from helping another are incalculable.

Our focus next turned to board member Everette Bacon of Utah and his work as
the chairman of the Dr. Jacob Bolotin Committee. Everette said that this is
one of the most prestigious awards that is given to recognize individuals
and organizations bettering the lives of blind people. The award is
presented in honor of a blind physician who practiced in Chicago, Illinois,
and funds are provided by a generous donation made by his family. To apply
for a Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award, go to www.nfb.org/bolotin
<http://www.nfb.org/bolotin> . Applications are taken until April 15, and
those chosen to receive the award must attend the National Federation of the
Blind Convention in New Orleans to receive it.

Blind people are a small part of the nation’s population, so we regard those
elected officials who work to pass legislation benefiting us as champions.
One such champion is Senator Steve Daines of Montana. He is the lead sponsor
of the Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act, S. 3238.
Before coming to the Senate, Steve Daines was a representative from Montana
and was voted the most effective first-term representative in 2013 and again
in 2014. In the Senate his commitment is to working for well-paying jobs in
the state of Montana, developing Montana’s energy resources, protecting our
public lands, and supporting the needs of Montana’s veterans and tribes.
Given this background, it is not surprising that he supports equal pay for
people with disabilities.

Senator Daines has been married to his wife, Cindy, for thirty-four years,
and they are the parents of four children and the grandparents of two. Like
those of us who serve in the National Federation of the Blind, the senator
strives to maintain a healthy life balance that acknowledges the crucial
importance of family and the very important work of public service aimed at
making the world a better place.

With these remarks of introduction, Senator Daines took center stage. Here
is some of what he said:

Thank you very much for that very gracious and warm introduction. I am truly
honored to be here with you all today and talk a bit about what we are
trying to do here in Congress to remedy an injustice that is occurring today
in our society. I am very thankful that, in a time when there are challenges
here in what is certainly a polarized nation and when there is not enough
bipartisan cooperation in many areas, we do have a bipartisan bill. I want
to tip my hat and give gratitude to Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, a
Democrat, working with me, a Republican, to fight on behalf of those with
disabilities.

The truth is that there are thousands of Americans with disabilities who are
paid less than minimum wage, in fact sometimes as little as a few cents an
hour to work. It is my belief and the belief of so many that treating
Americans differently based on their ability status isn’t right. It’s not
what we stand for as a nation, and that’s why we have this bipartisan bill
to ensure that people with disabilities are never paid below the minimum
wage. I do not think that is too much to ask.

There is dignity and there is hope in work. In fact, when you meet somebody,
the first thing you ask is 'What is your name.' But the second question you
ask is, 'What do you do?' Our work defines who we are, and there is great
dignity and there is great hope in waking up in the morning and having a job
and going to work. So I believe we should be doing all that we can, not just
for Montanans, but for all Americans who have disabilities, to support them
in the workforce. They must be treated fairly, not treated unfairly. This
bill will ensure that employers get the resources they need to close that
gap between paying minimum wage and below minimum wage so that all Americans
with disabilities are fairly compensated.

Mr. President, thank you for allowing me to share a few words about this
important legislation. Thank you for your advocacy; we are going to need
that here on the Hill, so talk with your members of Congress, and let them
know that you support this. I look forward to standing with you all shoulder
to shoulder to get this done.

The President next introduced a man of tremendous talent who has served as a
chapter president, state president, national board member, and a staff
member for more than ten years. He currently is the executive director of
our Blindness Initiatives program, and the name to which he brings such
honor is Anil Lewis. Anil began his presentation by addressing the
Federation as it was and as it is. The assertion that the Federation is not
the same organization it used to be is one with which he agrees and
vehemently disagrees. The Federation we have today is the same one that was
created by Dr. tenBroek. It is the same one nurtured and strengthened by Dr.
Jernigan, Dr. Maurer, and now by President Mark Riccobono. It believes in
blind people as it always has. It supports blind people as it always has. It
is committed to representing blind people to draw its strength, as it always
has. Yes, it is also different. The year is not 1940 but 2022. Society has
different views about the roles of men and women and the inferiority or
superiority of people who differ by race, and we view issues such as sexual
orientation and gender differently from the way we did eighty-two years ago.
What Dr. Jernigan said about our being a minority would not have played very
well in 1940. The idea that we were a civil rights organization became
popular only after the society in which we live embraced civil rights as a
worthy cause. Former President Maurer could actively confront the idea that
blind people are not broken sighted people only after we had time to
consider this and make it part of our organizational philosophy. He could
lead us in creating a research institute on blindness only after he helped
reinforce our competence to speak for ourselves and our credentials to do
and publish research.

All of our great leaders have shared one common characteristic: they have
not run from challenges but have aggressively marched to meet them. As a
Federationist, staff member, and leader in his own right, this is the style
Anil has tried to bring in all his work with the National Federation of the
Blind.

With this as a backdrop, our executive director of Blindness Initiatives
laid out the challenges in remaining true to our roots and in dealing with
the issues facing blind people in the third decade of the twenty-first
century. We saw blind students not getting what they needed in the reading
and writing of Braille, so we created the BELL Program. In the BELL Program
we dealt with the challenges posed by COVID and created our BELL In-Home
Edition. When we see racial inequality in our society and even in our
organization, we work to address it. As our society has turned its attention
to the painful issue of sexual abuse, we too have looked within our
organization for it and the means to eradicate such behavior. We need all of
our members to know that we are committed to see that every environment in
the Federation will be safe, protected, and will allow people to grow. Anil
notes that this takes courage, strength, and leadership, but the Federation
demands nothing less of our members.

Seeing the need for more teachers of the blind, we have reinstituted our
Teacher of Tomorrow program. Whether it is providing education in the fields
of science, technology, engineering, art, and math or whether it is focusing
on where the blind work in creating job opportunities, the National
Federation of the Blind is about initiatives that blind people want and
need. We will again hold our summer internship program. This year it will
run for ten weeks, and we are actively urging those who apply to tell us
what they would like to do that will innovatively address the needs of blind
people and simultaneously build this organization that belongs to the blind.

The important thing Executive Director Lewis wants us to understand is that
the Blindness Initiatives department is not supported only by the few people
who work in Baltimore. It is all of us who have an interest in our
present-day problems and who work today to bring about a better future
tomorrow.

Valerie Yingling coordinates much of the legal work we do in the Federation,
and Scott LaBarre is our General Counsel. The music introducing Scott was
the theme song from Perry Mason, a show starring Raymond Burr that was very
popular in the 1960s. Although Scott said he would briefly touch on several
cases, his recommendation is that all of us who are truly interested in some
in-depth coverage go to www.nfb.org/legal <http://www.nfb.org/legal> .

Scott began by describing a case in which we’re involved against Los Angeles
Community College District or LACCD. In the several years of involvement in
this case, we have won a few important victories. In both a lower court and
the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the LACCD is violating the Americans
with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act by not
providing accessible materials to blind students and by having websites that
are similarly inaccessible. We have won based on the law, but there will now
be a trial in which the facts of the case are in dispute. In an already
complicated situation, there is yet another wrinkle: the LACCD is actively
considering appealing the adverse rulings it has received to the United
States Supreme Court. The issue that keeps raising its ugly head is whether
the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation
Act allow plaintiffs to seek injunctive relief. In layman’s terms, the
question at hand is whether one is able to make any systemic change or
reform or whether all one can do is go to court and argue about the
individual facts and one’s case. If it is determined that each case speaks
only to the rights of one individual, this would be a huge blow to the
disability rights community because we would no longer be able to use these
laws to effect systemic change: we could only get change person by person.
With the hope that we can avoid a confrontation before the Supreme Court, a
petition has been circulated telling the LACCD not to appeal this but
instead to stand up for the rights of students and others with disabilities.
Many have signed the petition, and Scott encouraged all of us to do so.

[From the Editor: Since this meeting, the LACCD has decided not to appeal
its case. The Braille Monitor will cover this issue and LACCD’s decision
once it is resolved.]

Amazon is one of the largest retailers in the country. As such, it employs a
number of men and women to carry out its work. Blind people need to be a
part of that workforce, and we have been actively working with Amazon to see
that this is so. While we are making progress, there are difficulties still
to be overcome. If you have had difficulty in working with Amazon, please
contact Valerie Yingling at the national office by dialing 410-659-9314,
extension 2440.

We have continued to work hard on the right of blind people to vote
privately and independently. In New Hampshire we have made significant
strides, and the state has agreed to continue using its accessible
ballot-marking devices for absentee voting and is still working on all
aspects of its process to make it blind friendly. In the state of Maryland,
we have entered into a settlement to make sure that there are more
accessible ballot-marking devices at polling places.

Valerie said that on our legal page we have posted a number of templates
that can be used by students and parents who are running into inaccessible
education technology. We are asking that anyone who writes a letter copy
advocacy at nfb.org <mailto:advocacy at nfb.org> . Please use the NFB’s Technology
Survey to report both accessible and inaccessible technology.

In addition to education, we are also interested in seeing that blind
patients have an accessible experience when they go for examinations or
care. Again, we want to hear about the good and the bad, and Valerie is our
contact point for this information.

The agreements we have to monitor Uber and Lyft have expired, but we
continue to gather information about ongoing discrimination for our legal
advocacy work. If you have been discriminated against by either of these
ride services based on disability, whether or not you use a service animal
or white cane, we want to know. If you have encountered any kind of
inaccessible rideshare technology, please take time to report your
experience to us at NFB’s Rideshare Discrimination Survey, which is
available from the NFB legal webpage.

Lastly, we want everyone to know that the NFB has developed and actively
looks at the Contact Us form on our legal page for anyone needing to discuss
blindness-related legal concerns or questions. To reiterate, our legal folks
can be contacted at 410-659-9314, with Valerie being at extension 2440 and
Scott being reachable at 2424.

Given that legal issues will be one of the items receiving prominence on our
2022 Convention agenda, it seems reasonable to hear from the host of our
2022 Convention, the president of the National Federation of the Blind of
Louisiana, Pam Allen. It has been a long time since we all got to meet
together, and this only builds on the enthusiasm that the National
Federation of the Blind of Louisiana has for hosting this year’s convention
in New Orleans. Our last convention that set a record for attendance was in
New Orleans, and Pam has every hope that this will happen again in 2022.

One tradition of the Washington Seminar is that doughnuts are usually
provided by the District of Columbia Affiliate. Given that the seminar was
virtual this year, each affiliate had a chance to be in a drawing, and the
affiliate that will get doughnuts at the convention will be Georgia.
Congratulations to them, and let us hope that they extend their southern
hospitality to invite their friends.

Denise Avant, a member of the National Federation of the Blind Board of
Directors from Illinois, was next introduced to talk about the work of the
Membership Committee. Denise is a cochair of the committee, and the other is
Tarik Williams. The goal of the committee is to bring new members to the
largest advocacy organization in the United States and even the world. In
doing this, we want to make sure that they feel welcome and that they
understand our organization. To help ensure that this happens, we have an
onboarding process, and it takes all of us to onboard the new member. Watch
for a new video, a revised form, and the tips and tricks that we pass along
at all levels to help grow our organization.

Ryan Strunk is the cochairperson of our Preauthorized Contribution Program
known as PAC. This year we are excited, because this is the first time in
history that the program has raised more than half a million dollars
annually. Through the commitment of our members, we were in fact able to
raise $504,000. To demonstrate just how easy it is to join the PAC Plan and
in fact to get others to join, Ryan played a part of a phone call in which
he asked for support. His mother was on the other end of the phone, and
while they were talking she filled out the form, providing a description of
each field and how easily it was to complete.

There are several ways to begin giving or to increase your contribution. One
is to call 877-632-2722. Alternatively, one can email pac at nfb.org
<mailto:pac at nfb.org>  for assistance.

John Paré and his fantastic team were next introduced to discuss the issues
that resulted in our having more than four hundred meetings on Capitol Hill.
Given that these are discussed in detail in the fact sheets following this
article, we will not attempt to summarize them here.

President Riccobono introduced Trisha Kulkarni, the president of the
National Association of Blind Students, and she began with a video created
by the students demonstrating their enthusiasm for what brings them to do
the work of the Federation. The video suggests that the future is bright for
the organized blind of America.

As a final item on the evening's agenda, our President reviewed efforts to
push the administration for accessible COVID testing. Results of those
efforts were highlighted in the March issue, as is our ongoing work to help
with test interpretation by making them free through Aira. Below is the
letter from the White House acknowledging the need for testing and the role
of the NFB in moving us in this direction.

In response to a letter we sent to the White House on January 3, 2022, we
received the following statement which was read at the Washington Seminar by
President Riccobono:


>From the White House Office on the Covid19 Response


The White House Office on the Covid19 Response is incredibly grateful for
the advocacy of the National Federation of the Blind. Over the past month,
we have had fruitful discussions with your president and executive director
for Advocacy and Policy following up on the Federation’s January 3 letter
regarding accessible testing. We are glad that blind individuals have
successfully been able to order at-home tests through the administration’s
recent distribution and recognize the importance of ensuring that all people
in the United States, including blind individuals, can efficiently use them
and interpret the results on their own.

We are working quickly across the agencies to develop short-term solutions
for at-home tests currently on the market and long-term solutions around the
research and development of at-home tests and alternative solutions to get
accessible Covid19 testing to blind individuals.

We look forward to our continued partnership with the National Federation of
the Blind in this work.

With the conclusion of the Great Gathering-In, we went virtually to the
Hill, and our results were everything we could have wished for in our
wildest dreams. For our 2022 Washington Seminar, we spoke with almost 80
percent of the elected leaders in Washington and informed them about our
legislative priorities. And all your hard work is paying off. As of March 9,
our legislation has experienced tremendous cosponsor support. In fact, the
Access Technology Affordability Act now has more cosponsors in the House and
Senate than it ever has had in any previous Congress. In the House, the ATAA
has gained a total of twenty-seven cosponsors since the start of Washington
Seminar to bring the total count up to 145. In the Senate we gained three
cosponsors on ATAA to bring the total number up to thirty-seven.

However, the good news doesn’t stop there. We also saw twenty-eight new
cosponsors sign onto the Medical Device Nonvisual Accessibility Act (H.R.
4853), to bring the total for that bill up to thirty-eight. Furthermore,
sixteen representatives cosponsored the Transformation to Competitive
Integrated Employment (H.R. 2373) in the House to bring the total number up
to forty.

All of this additional support is fantastic, but let us not rest on our
laurels. We have to remember to keep pushing and keep advocating for our
legislative issues until they become law. As a great philosopher, who also
happened to be a pretty talented baseball player, once said, “It ain’t over
‘til it’s over.” And we say, “It ain’t over until we have won for the blind
of America."

----------

[PHOTO CAPTION: Mark Riccobono]


Significance of the Washington Seminar 2022


by Mark Riccobono

>From the Editor: President Riccobono kicked off the Great Gathering-In for
the 2022 Washington Seminar of the National Federation of the Blind with the
keynote address that follows. It not only set the tone for the evening but
its theme was repeated throughout the week as we went about the work of
addressing our elected officials on Capitol Hill. Here is what he said:

We gather in for this 2022 Washington Seminar of the National Federation of
the Blind to make America better. We gather because we want to put our hands
to the building. We want full participation in both the rights and
responsibilities of our democracy.

This is not our first, our fifth, or our twenty-fifth time coming back.
Since 1940 we have been bringing the voice of the nation’s blind to our
nation’s capital, seeking equal treatment, equal opportunity, and equal
access. For fifty consecutive years we have come by the hundreds to meet our
representatives and senators with our priorities, and it is a certainty
that, as long as the blind are forced to overcome inequality and
misunderstanding to enjoy the rights and responsibilities of this nation, we
will be back again.

While American society continues to hold us back with artificial barriers,
the blind continue to push back with hope and determination to overcome
those obstacles and live the lives we want. While our nation’s leaders speak
of building back better, the blind respond with the chant “build back better
with the blind.”

While our nation has enjoyed many achievements, one of them has not been
eliminating the systemic discrimination, low expectations, and harmful
barriers that actively hold us back from building with the rest of America.
There is a deep need and great opportunity to build back better with the
blind. We are tired of being told that once it is built someone will make
accommodations to include the blind. We are tired of being apologized to
because our nation’s leaders just did not think about us. We are tired of
fighting for the basic protections, benefits, freedoms, and quality of life
that many Americans enjoy without struggle or waiting for the second, third,
or fourteenth phase of implementation.

But though we are tired, we have not been broken. We come to this Washington
Seminar ready to build back America better than ever, because the blind
intend to be part of the solution. The blind are committed to meeting our
responsibilities in this nation to build communities that are equitable and
inclusive, as long as they do not leave us behind. The blind are prepared to
dedicate our energy and imagination to the innovative capacity of this
nation. The blind seek to contribute to the American economy through
meaningful work and to provide leadership in local communities through our
volunteer service. The blind also expect the protection of our equal rights
under law.

In order to fulfill these commitments, America must build back better with
the blind. We come with solutions to some of the pressing problems we face,
and we demand action over nice words.

Nonvisual technologies are required to give blind people meaningful access
to information in the digital age. While some technologies include a measure
of built-in accessibility features, frequently the most effective
accessibility tools require the blind to pay a premium above the cost
charged to the average non-blind user. We do not seek for the government to
supply all of this technology. We do seek a limited refundable tax credit
when blind people utilize their own financial resources to acquire the
technology needed to access the tremendous resources and capacities
available through digital interfaces. We have crafted our proposal, and it
has support from both political parties. The Access Technology Affordability
Act will allow blind people to improve our participation in building America
through employment, education, civic engagement, and commerce. Will this be
the year America commits to increasing our participation by passing the
ATAA? We say yes, and we demand that America build back better with the
blind.

Access to technology is not simply a luxury. Americans continue to benefit
from increased telehealth options and innovative in-home medical devices
that allow convenient monitoring and management of personal health. These
devices also assist parents and other caregivers in supporting their loved
ones. That is unless you are a blind American today. The vast majority of
these critical medical devices do not include the proven features that
facilitate independent nonvisual access. Improving the health of all
Americans is essential to a better America. Yet the law does not require
in-home medical devices to be accessible to the blind. We will not
compromise our health. The time has come for the medical device industry to
offer equal access to the blind or to have the government pull the plug on
their ability to profit from their discrimination against us. The Medical
Device Nonvisual Accessibility Act calls on the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) to promulgate nonvisual accessibility standards for Class II and Class
III medical devices to require that all of these devices be accessible to
the blind. A healthy America must include all of us, and we demand that
America build medical devices better with the blind.

Even if we have accessible technologies in our homes and offices, many other
related artificial barriers exist. The COVID-19 Pandemic has dramatically
highlighted the inequality that exists with nonvisual access to websites and
applications. This is a concern that the blind have been raising for more
than twenty-five years. We were hopeful that the United States Department of
Justice would establish regulations to support our work in the courts to
make it clear that the protections of existing accessibility laws extend to
the digital environment, but the government continues to physically distance
from action on this issue. Meanwhile the expansion of inaccessible websites
and applications has been exponential. There are those who say we should not
take our concern to Congress because our elected leaders may use this as an
opportunity to water down our existing rights under the law. By whom were
they elected anyway? The members of the Federation say we are not afraid. We
have come to Congress to ask America to build twenty-first century websites
and applications better with the blind. Every blind person experiences these
barriers any day that they attempt to access critical websites and
applications. We are going to educate Congress about this every day until we
gain the support we deserve. We will not wait any longer. We expect America
to build back better with the blind.

Our nation is experiencing a historical shift in pay for American workers.
With wages heading upward in many sectors of the economy, the potential to
build back better is giving some Americans a lot of hope. Yet what is the
expectation for people with disabilities? We continue to be held down by the
crushing history of the Fair Labor Standards Act which, even in 2022,
endorses the payment of pennies per hour to people with disabilities. We no
longer believe that America can be built back better as long as people with
disabilities are granted only second class status under the law. 2022 is the
year to build back better with the blind and other workers with disabilities
by enacting the Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act. We
commend those government and private agencies who have done their part to
build America without the use of the 14(c) provisions of the FLSA, but much
more must be done, and we demand it be accomplished in the Second Session of
the 117th Congress.

These are only some of our priorities. As the government continues to invest
in building back America and protecting its people from the coronavirus, we
say build back better with the blind. The government has failed to provide
any nonvisual access in its initial distribution of COVID-19 at-home testing
kits. However, thanks to the National Federation of the Blind, future
efforts will be built with the blind.

>From government to commerce, in work and in play, the blind seek to benefit
and participate in this nation on terms of equality. When America commits to
building back better with the blind, all of its people will be better. This
is the petition we make to our elected officials this week. This is the
hopeful future we intend to build. This is the determination of the
organized blind movement. This is the significance of the Washington
Seminar.

----------


Make a Difference 


Blind children, students, and adults are making powerful strides in
education and leadership every day across the United States. For more than
eighty years, the National Federation of the Blind has worked to transform
the dreams of hundreds of thousands of blind people into reality. With
support from individuals like you, we continue to provide powerful programs
and critical resources for decades to come. We sincerely hope you will plan
to be a part of our enduring movement by including the National Federation
of the Blind in your charitable giving and in your estate planning. It is
easier than you think.

 

With your help, the NFB will continue to:

*	Give blind children the gift of literacy through Braille.
*	Promote independent travel by providing free, long white canes to
blind people in need.
*	Develop dynamic educational projects and programs to show blind
youth that science and math careers are within their reach.
*	Deliver hundreds of accessible newspapers and magazines to provide
blind people the essential information necessary to be actively involved in
their communities.
*	Offer aids and appliances that help seniors losing vision maintain
their independence.


Plan to Leave a Legacy


The National Federation of the Blind legacy society, our Dream Makers
Circle, honors and recognizes the generosity and 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. You can join
the Dream Makers Circle in a myriad of ways.


Fixed Sum of Assets


You can specify that a fixed sum of your assets or property goes to the
National Federation of the Blind in your will, trust, pension, IRA, life
insurance policy, brokerage account, or other accounts.


Percentage of Assets


You can specify that a percentage of your assets or property goes to the
National Federation of the Blind in your will, trust, pension, IRA, life
insurance policy, brokerage account, or other accounts.


Payable on Death (POD) Account


You can name the National Federation of the Blind as the beneficiary on a
Payable on Death (POD) account through your bank. You can turn any checking
or savings account into a POD account. This is one of the simplest ways to
leave a legacy. The account is totally in your control during your lifetime
and you can change the beneficiary or percentage at any time with ease.


Will or Trust


If you do decide to create or revise your will, consider the National
Federation of the Blind as a partial beneficiary.

Visit our Planned Giving webpage
(https://www.nfb.org/get-involved/ways-give/planned-giving) or call
410-659-9314, extension 2422, for more information.

Together with love, hope, determination, and your support, we will continue
to transform dreams into reality.


Ways to Contribute Now 


Throughout 2021, the NFB:

*	Sent nearly one thousand Braille Santa and Winter Celebration
letters to blind children, encouraging excitement for Braille literacy.
*	Distributed over five thousand canes to blind people across the
United States, empowering them to travel safely and independently throughout
their communities.
*	Delivered audio newspaper and magazine services to 126,823
subscribers, providing free access to over five hundred local, national, and
international publications.
*	Gave over six hundred Braille-writing slates and styluses free of
charge to blind users.
*	Mentored 232 blind youth during our Braille Enrichment for Literacy
and Learning® Academy in-home editions.

Just imagine what we’ll do next year and, with your help, what can be
accomplished for years to come. Below are just a few of the many diverse,
tax-deductible ways you can lend your support to the National Federation of
the Blind.


Vehicle Donation Program


The NFB accepts donated vehicles, including cars, trucks, boats,
motorcycles, or recreational vehicles. Just call 855-659-9314 toll-free, and
a representative can make arrangements to pick up your donation. We can also
answer any questions you have.


General Donation


General donations help support the ongoing programs of the NFB and the work
to help blind people live the lives they want. You can call 410-659-9314 and
elect option 4 to donate by phone. Donate online with a credit card or
through the mail with check or money order. Visit our Ways to Give webpage
(https://www.nfb.org/get-involved/ways-give) for more information. 


Pre-Authorized Contribution


Through the Pre-Authorized Contribution (PAC) program, supporters sustain
the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind by making recurring
monthly donations by direct withdrawal of funds from a checking account or a
charge to a credit card. To enroll, call 410-659-9314, extension 2213, or
fill out our PAC Donation Form (https://www.nfb.org/pac) online.

If you have questions about giving, please send an email to outreach at nfb.org
<mailto:outreach at nfb.org>  or call 410-659-9314, extension 2422.

----------


Access Technology Affordability Act (H.R. 431/S. 212)


Issue–The cost of critically needed access technology is out of reach for
most blind Americans.

The high cost of access technology creates a difficult economic reality.
Most access technology ranges from $1,000 to $6,000. For example, a leading
screen reader is $900, a popular Braille notetaker is $5,495, one model of a
refreshable Braille display is $2,795, and a moderately priced Braille
embosser is $3,695. According to the United States Census Bureau 69.1
percent of blind Americans are either unemployed or underemployed.
Consequently, most blind Americans do not have sufficient financial
resources needed to purchase these items. These financial barriers can
ultimately lead to a loss of employment, insufficient education, or even
isolation from community activities.

Medical insurance will not cover the cost of access technology. Current
definitions of "medical care," "medical necessity," and "durable medical
equipment" within common insurance policies do not include access
technology. These definitions were adopted in the 1960s “when medical care
was viewed primarily as curative and palliative, with little or no
consideration given to increasing an individual's functional status.”
[National Council on Disability] Many states’ Medicaid programs and
individual health insurance plans have adopted similar definitions and
likewise will not cover the cost of access technology.

Access technology enables blind Americans to participate in today’s
workforce. Blindness is well-defined and measurable but affects each person
differently and at different ages. Since individuals’ needs differ,
manufacturers have designed various tools that enable blind Americans to
perform tasks that they were once unable to accomplish themselves due to
their blindness. Braille notetakers are frequently used in schools,
screen-reading software allows workers to check their email at home, and
screen-magnification software can help seniors losing vision learn about
community activities. Access technology equips blind Americans to seek
employment and stay employed. For the 69.1 percent of blind Americans who
are either unemployed or underemployed, it is a vehicle that facilitates the
job-seeking process. Despite this critical need, public and private entities
struggle to meet consumer demand. This leads to untimely delays in the
delivery of necessary technology and ultimately harms the blind consumer.


Solution–Access Technology Affordability Act (H.R. 431/S. 212):


Makes access technology more affordable so that blind Americans can procure
these items for themselves. It establishes a refundable tax credit for blind
Americans in the amount of $2,000 to be used over a three-year period to
offset the cost of access technology. The credit created by the Access
Technology Affordability Act will sunset after five years and will be
indexed for inflation.

Provides flexibility for individuals to obtain access technology based upon
their specific needs. Accessibility requires an individualized assessment of
one’s own skills and needs. Therefore, blind Americans should be given the
opportunity to procure access technology on their own to ensure that they
are receiving the tools that are most useful for them.

Will increase federal income tax revenue. More blind Americans working means
more people paying taxes. It also means that those blind Americans who
obtain gainful employment through this tax credit will no longer need to
draw from federal programs such as Supplemental Security Income or Social
Security Disability Insurance and will instead be paying into the Social
Security Program.

GOAL–IMPROVE AFFORDABILITY OF CRITICALLY NEEDED ACCESS TECHNOLOGY NECESSARY
FOR EMPLOYMENT AND INDEPENDENT LIVING.

Cosponsor the Access Technology Affordability Act (ATAA).

To cosponsor the ATAA in the House of Representatives (H.R. 431), contact:

Crozer Connor, Senior Legislative Assistant for Congressman Mike Thompson
(D-CA)
Phone: 202-225-3311, Email: crozer.connor at mail.house.gov

To cosponsor the ATAA in the Senate (S. 212), contact:

Ron Storhaug, Legislative Aide for Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD)

Phone: 202-224-4524, Email: Ron_Storhaug at sbc.senate.gov
<mailto:Ryan_Losak at boozman.senate.gov> 

For more information, contact:

Jeff Kaloc, Government Affairs Specialist, National Federation of the Blind

Phone: 410-659-9314, extension 2206, Email: jkaloc at nfb.org
<mailto:jkaloc at nfb.org> , or visit www.nfb.org <http://www.nfb.org> 

----------


Medical Device Nonvisual Accessibility Act (H.R. 4853)


Issue–Inaccessible digital interfaces prevent blind individuals from
independently and safely operating medical devices that are essential to
their daily healthcare needs.

Medical devices with a digital interface are becoming more prevalent and
less accessible for blind Americans. The rapid proliferation of advanced
technology is undeniable. Most new models of medical devices, such as
glucose and blood pressure monitors, along with the emergence of in-home
devices that offer medical care options, such as chemotherapy treatments and
dialysis, require consumers to interact with a digital display or other
interfaces. This new technology has been and continues to be developed and
deployed without nonvisual accessibility as an integral part of the design
phase, which creates a modern-day barrier. The inaccessibility of these
medical devices is not a mere inconvenience; if accessibility for blind
consumers is omitted from the medical technology landscape, the health,
safety, and independence of blind Americans will be in imminent danger.

Telehealth currently makes up 20 percent of all medical visits, and more
healthcare providers are looking to expand telemedicine services.
Unfortunately, these visits assume that a person has easy access to
accessible medical devices in order to take their own vitals. As a result of
inaccessibility, blind and low-vision Americans are at a distinct
disadvantage when it comes to receiving the same virtual healthcare as their
sighted counterparts.

Nonvisual access is achievable, as demonstrated by a number of mainstream
products. Apple has incorporated VoiceOver (a text-to-speech function) into
all of their products, making iPhones, Macbooks and Mac desktops, and iPads
fully accessible to blind people right out of the box. Virtually all ATMs
manufactured in the United States are accessible, and every polling place is
required to have a nonvisually accessible voting machine. Frequently, a
simple audio output or vibrotactile feature can make a product accessible at
little to no additional cost for manufacturers.

Current disability laws are not able to keep up with advancements due to the
expeditious evolution of medical technology and its incorporation into
medical devices. Although the Americans with Disabilities Act and other laws
require physical accessibility for people with disabilities (e.g.,
wheelchair ramps, Braille in public buildings), no laws protect the blind
consumer’s right to access medical devices. The National Council on
Disability concluded that accessibility standards lag behind the rapid pace
of technology, which can interfere with technology access. This trend of
inaccessibility will continue if accessibility solutions are ignored. Only a
fraction of medical device manufacturers have incorporated nonvisual access
standards into their product design, while others continue to resist these
solutions.


Solution–Medical Device Nonvisual Accessibility Act (H.R. 4853):


Calls on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to promulgate nonvisual
accessibility standards for Class II and Class III medical devices. The FDA
will consult with stakeholders with disabilities and manufacturers and issue
a notice of proposed rulemaking no later than twelve months after the date
of enactment of the Act. No later than twenty-four months after the date of
enactment of the Act, the FDA will publish the final rule including the
nonvisual accessibility standards.

Requires manufacturers of Class II and Class III medical devices to make
their products nonvisually accessible. Manufacturers will have twelve months
following the publication of the final rule to ensure that all of the Class
II and Class III medical devices they produce are nonvisually accessible.

Authorizes the FDA to enforce the nonvisual access standards for Class II
and Class III medical devices. Any manufactured device found to be out of
compliance, whether by a public complaint to the FDA or by an independent
FDA investigation, will be considered an adulterated product under the
Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

GOAL–END UNEQUAL ACCESS TO MEDICAL DEVICES FOR BLIND AMERICANS.

Cosponsor the Medical Device Nonvisual Accessibility Act (H.R. 4853)

To cosponsor H.R. 4853 contact:

Gidget Benitez, Health Policy Counsel, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-09), Phone:
202-225-2111, Email: gidget.benitez at mail.house.gov
<mailto:gidget.benitez at mail.house.gov> 

For more information, contact:

Jesa Medders, National Federation of the Blind, Phone: 410-659-9314,
extension 2207

Email: jmedders at nfb.org <mailto:jmedders at nfb.org> 
www.nfb.org <http://www.nfb.org/> 

----------


Twenty-First Century Websites & Applications Accessibility Act


Issue–Websites are required by law to be accessible, but without
implementing regulations, most businesses and retailers have little
understanding of what accessible means.

Websites and mobile applications are an essential part of modern living.
More than 313 million Americans use the internet, and 81 percent of
Americans say that they access the internet at least once each day. The need
to access websites and mobile applications doesn’t stop when it reaches
Americans with disabilities. According to the American Community Survey,
conducted by the United States Census Bureau, there are approximately forty
million Americans who currently have a disability. Based on the numbers
above, it is more than reasonable to assume that the vast majority of them
are trying to use websites and mobile applications.

The Department of Justice announced its intention to publish accessible
website regulations more than a decade ago. On July 26, 2010, the twentieth
anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the
government published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking to address
website accessibility. After that initial announcement, no further action
was taken to substantially advance website accessibility. Without
regulations in place, blind and disabled Americans are not reliably able to
electronically access businesses, apply for jobs, and work at places due to
the barriers created by inaccessible websites and mobile applications.

The past few years have seen a significant increase in the prevalence of
so-called “click-by” lawsuits. Accessibility is readily achievable, but many
businesses that are required by law to make their websites accessible claim
to have no clear-cut definition of what “accessible” actually means.
Meanwhile, people with disabilities must cope with inaccessible websites.
ADA Title III lawsuits, which include website accessibility suits, hit
record numbers in 2019, topping 11,000 for the first time. The number of
lawsuits has been increasing steadily since 2013, when the figure was first
tracked. Businesses yearn for a clear definition of accessibility standards
and to be able to expand their potential customer pool to consumers they
were not reaching before.


Solution–Twenty-First Century Websites & Applications Accessibility Act
will:


Direct the US Access Board to promulgate accessibility guidelines. The US
Access Board will have six months following the enactment of the legislation
to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking regarding website and mobile
application accessibility, then an additional six months to issue the final
rule.

Promulgate guidelines that strive to harmonize with Section 508 standards.
The Section 508 standards promulgated by the US Access Board on January 18,
2017, are established regulations for website and technology accessibility.
Therefore, the guidelines promulgated by the Access Board should harmonize
with these standards.

Authorize the Department of Justice and the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission to investigate the accessibility of websites and mobile
applications. Either of its own volition or via a logged complaint
pertaining to inaccessibility, the Department of Justice and the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission will have the authority to investigate
accessibility concerns and commence civil action if necessary.

GOAL–END WEBSITE AND MOBILE APPLICATION INACCESSIBILITY FOR BLIND AMERICANS.

Cosponsor the Twenty-First Century Websites & Applications Accessibility Act
when introduced.

For more information, contact:

Jeff Kaloc, Government Affairs Specialist, National Federation of the Blind
Phone: 410-659-9314, extension 2206

Email: jkaloc at nfb.org <mailto:jkaloc at nfb.org> 

www.nfb.org <http://www.nfb.org> 

----------


Transformation To Competitive Integrated Employment Act (H.R. 2373/S. 3238)


Promote competitive, integrated employment for people with disabilities.

Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act allows employers to
discriminate against people with disabilities. Passed in 1938, Section 14(c)
authorizes employers to pay workers with disabilities subminimum wages while
they perform mundane tasks that do not transfer into skills necessary to
transition to other employment options. This law only reinforces stigmatic
misconceptions of people with disabilities and creates an artificial barrier
to future employment opportunities.

The misconception that the elimination of 14(c) will displace workers with
disabilities is based on speculation and rhetoric. A growing number of
employers have already stopped relying on Section 14(c) and have voluntarily
withdrawn their certificates. In 2011 420,000 people with disabilities were
paid subminimum wages under the 14(c) program. Today, only 39,386 people
with disabilities continue to receive subminimum wages. During that same
time period (2011-2017), the employment rate for people with disabilities
has steadily increased every year from 33.4 percent to 37.3 percent.
Additionally, ten states have passed legislation limiting or barring the
payment of subminimum wages for people with disabilities.

Bipartisan consensus supports the phase out of Section 14(c). The Republican
and Democratic parties’ 2016 platforms both called for an end to subminimum
wages for people with disabilities. In 2016 a committee tasked by Congress
to increase employment opportunities for people with disabilities also
recommended the phase-out of Section 14(c). In addition, in an October 2018
report, the National Council on Disability, an independent federal agency
charged with advising Congress, recommended “the phase out of Section
14(c).” Furthermore, in September 2020, the US Commission on Civil Rights
recommended that “Congress should repeal Section 14(c) with a planned
phase-out period to allow transition among service providers and people with
disabilities to alternative service models prioritizing competitive
integrated employment.”


The Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act (H.R. 2373/S.
3238):


Discontinues the issuance of new Special Wage Certificates. The Secretary of
Labor will no longer issue Special Wage Certificates to new applicants.

Creates a grant program for states and individual 14(c) certificate holders
to assist with their transition to competitive, integrated employment. This
grant program will be available to all states and individual 14(c)
certificate holders who transition their business models to support
competitive, integrated employment for people with disabilities. States that
receive grants must establish an advisory committee that includes employers,
organizations specializing in employment for people with disabilities,
Medicaid agencies, AbilityOne contractors, people with disabilities, and
vocational rehabilitation agencies.

Creates a technical assistance center to support all 14(c) holders in their
transition to competitive integrated employment. Under the Department of
Labor, the technical assistance center will disseminate information about
best practices to facilitate transition of entities to competitive,
integrated employment.

Requires reporting and evaluation of the progress of creating and expanding
support for workers with disabilities. States and 14(c) certificate holders
will be required to report on their grant activities, evaluate changes in
employment for people with disabilities, report average wage information,
and evaluate employer actions taken to comply with the phase out of 14(c).

Sunsets Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Five years after
enactment of the TCIEA, employers will no longer be permitted to pay workers
with disabilities subminimum wages.

REMOVE ARTIFICIAL BARRIERS TO EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES.

Cosponsor the Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act

To cosponsor H.R. 2373 in the House of Representatives, contact:

Phoebe Ball, Disability Counsel, House Committee on Education and Labor,
Phone: 202-225-3725, Email: phoebe.ball at mail.house.gov
<mailto:phoebe.ball at mail.house.gov> 

or

Kristin Flukey, Senior Legislative Assistant for Representative Cathy
McMorris Rodgers (R-WA)

Phone: 202-225-2006, Email: kristin.flukey at mail.house.gov
<mailto:kristin.flukey at mail.house.gov> 

To cosponsor S. 3238 in the Senate, contact:

Michael Gamel-McCormick, Disability Policy Director, Senate Special
Committee on Aging, Phone: 202-224-4193, Email:
Michael_Gamel-McCormick at aging.senate.gov
<mailto:Michael_Gamel-McCormick at aging.senate.gov> 

For more information on the Transformation to Competitive Integrated
Employment Act, contact:

Jeff Kaloc, Government Affairs Specialist, National Federation of the Blind

Phone: 410-659-9314, extension 2206, Email: jkaloc at nfb.org
<mailto:jkaloc at nfb.org> 

----------

[PHOTO CAPTION: James Gashel]


The Movement at Work: Federationists March on Washington


by James Gashel

>From the Editor: I thought readers might like to see what our legislative
agenda and issues were forty years ago and contrast them with what we are
doing today. Some issues highlighted here have seen significant progress
because of our work. Other issues demonstrate the same old problems but with
a different focus. But through it all there is a consistency of purpose that
we see again and again: This is the same Federation we have always known,
and this is a Federation that evolves and remains the most effective vehicle
for the blind to express ourselves today. Our message goes to DC whether we
call it the March on Washington, as we did then, or the Washington Seminar,
as we do now. Here is what Mr. Gashel said in the Braille Monitor in April
of 1982 and the legislative agenda that followed:

The March on Washington is becoming an annual tradition in our movement.
Each year new states join the ranks of those sending representatives to walk
the halls of Congress and talk about the national issues of special concern
to the blind. The first of these marches was held back in the fall of 1973,
at the height of such historic events as Watergate, when we gathered to tell
Congress about how the federal government was harming blind people by
spending our tax dollars on annual grants to the National Accreditation
Council for Agencies Serving the Blind and Visually Handicapped (NAC).
Congress listened to us, and the rest—NAC's loss of federal support, along
with a steady decline ever since—is history.

In the years since 1973, we have had many great marches. While the specific
issues vary from time to time, the theme (that blind people want
independence and first-class status) is always the same. Carrying this
message to Congress from local communities throughout our land is vital to
the work and continued success of our movement, legislatively and otherwise.
A measure of our effectiveness in this effort is the fact that members who
have served in Congress for the past several years are now well aware of our
principal legislative goals. We know this by the encouraging patterns of
their responses and their willingness to help in a variety of ways.

During this particular march, we focused on six major areas of concern.
These will be presented later in detail. Our headquarters’ hotel was the
Holiday Inn Capitol, located only a few blocks west of the three office
buildings used by the members of the House of Representatives. This proved
to be a superb facility and an ideal location. Our work began as we
assembled for initial briefings on Sunday, January 31. Dr. Jernigan
conducted the opening session, giving us an update on recent events
affecting our movement throughout the country and laying out the challenge
for the work to be done on Capitol Hill. Plans were also made for anyone to
visit the National Center in Baltimore.

Then, on Monday, February 1, as the Second Session of the 97th Congress
entered its second week of business, Federationists went in teams and
individually to explain the status of the blind in America today and to
present our agenda for legislative action. After each meeting a report was
filed with a hardworking team assigned to coordinate all appointments and to
assemble the results. A bank of four telephones plus Federation-owned radio
communications equipment made for easy contact between Capitol Hill and our
Holiday Inn command post.

This was a professional operation through and through, showing the benefits
of several years of experience and organizational skills. In all, there were
more than 200 of us participating. Thirty states sent representatives; many
more than one. The NFB of Pennsylvania chartered a bus to bring in
Federationists for Tuesday, February 2. These people joined other
Pennsylvanians on hand in Washington throughout the entire march.

Among the highlights were meetings with both Administration and
Congressional leaders. In a meeting with members of the White House staff,
we described how current laws and federal programs are failing to fulfill
their intended objectives, keeping most blind people outside the workforce
and largely unassisted in any meaningful way. We explained our position that
many of the rehabilitation agencies (public as well as private) need to
undergo extensive reform. But, we also pointed out that the President's
programs have so far not stimulated the kind of reform necessary. Then, we
met with Congressional leaders, including House Speaker Thomas P. (Tip)
O'Neill, Senator Edward Kennedy, and Senator Howard Metzenbaum. These
gentlemen share political views quite different from those of the
Administration. There was a meeting with Senator Strom Thurmond, Chairman of
the Senate Judiciary Committee. His committee handles the voting rights
issues which will be discussed later. Meanwhile, on the House side of the
Capitol other state delegations were meeting with influential committee and
subcommittee chairpersons such as Carl Perkins and William Natcher.
Together, Mr. Perkins and Mr. Natcher have the principal responsibility for
all legislation and distribution of federal funds relating to programs of
greatest importance to the blind of this country. When the final reports
were in, we had visited every Congressional office.

And by all accounts, our meetings were constructive. For one thing, there is
a marked increase in the number of House and Senate cosponsors for the bills
of principal interest to us. Also, we made great progress in the Senate,
when on February 3, as the finale to our march, Senator Paul Tsongas
introduced a bill to prevent paying blind and visually impaired workers less
than the minimum wage. Senator Tsongas is a member of the Committee on Labor
and Human Resources, the Committee in the Senate having jurisdiction over
all bills, such as this one, relating to labor standards. In offering this
bill, S. 2056, Senator Tsongas said:


CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE


February 3, 1982

Fair Wages for Blind Workers

Mr. Tsongas. Mr. President, today I am joining with Senators Levin and
Chiles to introduce legislation that would bar sub-standard wages for blind
workers. It would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide that
blind persons may not be employed at less than the applicable minimum wage.

Currently the law allows blind workers to be paid at a rate that can be as
low as 25 percent of the Federal minimum wage. In sheltered workshops, which
employ one out of every seven blind workers, a sub-minimum wage is the norm.
Half of these workers are paid less than $1,500 a year.

A few sheltered workshops across the country have shown that fair pay is
practical. There are twenty workshops with more than 5,000 sightless
employees that pay the minimum wage. They produce a variety of products for
healthy profits, and they do it without taking economic advantage of the
workers.

By contrast, the others use the law to make enormous profits. They are
practicing economic discrimination against their blind employees.

Some people are concerned that closing this loophole would adversely affect
other benefits—Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability
Insurance. This is unfounded. A blind person can earn above the minimum wage
before SSI benefits are reduced.

Although the SSDI rules are not as flexible, a blind worker can earn $5,500
before those benefits are affected. This is much higher than the average
subminimum salary under the present law.

Current law is unjust and patronizing the blind workers. It is an affront to
the thousands of sightless workers who overcome major barriers to gainful
employment. Often they are placed in positions beneath their skills, with
little if any hope for advancement.

Mr. President, our blind citizens have many skills to contribute to
America's economic strength. They have every right to demand fair
compensation for productive efforts . . . every right except the legal
right. This legislation, which is strongly supported by the National
Federation of the Blind, will finally give these workers the right to a
decent wage. I urge my colleagues to join in ending this chronic injustice."

To those words, we can only say Amen! Yes, our voice is being heard in
communities around this country and on Capitol Hill, today. Reprinted below
are the position papers we are currently using in the 97th Congress. These
should be read and understood by every Federationist. Then, each of us
should actively join the effort to inform our Senators and Representatives
whenever we can arrange to see them. The March on Washington is not simply a
one-time event or even a once-a-year observance. It is part of a total
effort, and it is helping to keep our movement on the move.


LEGISLATIVE MEMORANDUM


FROM: Members of the National Federation of the Blind

TO: Members of the Ninety-Seventh Congress, Second Session

RE: The blind: An agenda for legislative action

Background: Nearly one-half million people in the United States are blind;
we do not see, or we do not see very well, but for most of us the lack of
eyesight has not been the principal obstacle. As much as any other group of
citizens, we want to shoulder our share of the burden by contributing to the
growth of our nation's economy, and most of us have the capacity (not merely
the desire) to do this; several thousand of us are already at work and
proving ourselves every day.

The rest of us have been sidetracked, and as the economic times grow harder,
our prospects for an equal chance to be part of the productive life of our
communities continue to diminish. The best statistics we can gather show
that only about 30,000 blind people have jobs which pay them more than $500
per month, just enough to lose all of their Social Security benefits but
hardly enough to live on. Most blind people are not able to find work, but
when they do, they may often be channeled into jobs far beneath their skills
and potential, such as working at below poverty-level wages in sheltered
workshops. Few blind people own their own businesses. About 4,000
participate in a special government-sponsored program, providing
opportunities for them to manage vending facilities on federal and other
property.

Most blind people have only their Social Security or Supplemental Security
Income checks to meet regular daily living expenses, yet many could be
self-sufficient and productive if given the opportunity to do so. Social
attitudes about blindness are our greatest obstacle. The National Federation
of the Blind is working to alter these conditions, principally by means of
educating the public to new ways of thinking. Yet, these educational efforts
need a framework of laws and related legislative actions in order to move
blind people from the historic status of isolation into the mainstream of
our social and economic life. A legislative agenda (described below) has
been forged to accomplish this. Comprehensive "fact sheets" on each item are
also attached. Our proposals address problems identified by the blind with
workable legislative solutions, and in each case, federal legislation
represents the most viable option available.

(1) Congress should amend the Wagner-O'Day Act of 1938 to strengthen
management and accountability in the distribution of federal contracts to
sheltered workshops. This proposal seeks improved administrative mechanisms
for allocating noncompetitive government contracts to sheltered workshops.
Under current law, a Presidentially-appointed "Committee for Purchase from
the Blind and Other Severely Handicapped" oversees government contracting
with sheltered workshops. The Committee has given National Industries for
the Blind (NIB) responsibility for allocating these contracts to workshops
employing the blind, and NIB (purportedly nonprofit) receives a commission
on each contract. NIB opposes guaranteeing minimum wage for blind workers
and their right to labor union representation, using money raised from sales
to the government to underwrite campaigns against these policy changes.
According to the General Accounting Office, in a recent report to Congress,
NIB's spending of such money acquired from government sales cannot be
controlled through the normal appropriations process. Thorough Congressional
oversight, leading toward legislative reform, is needed.

(2) Congress should amend the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 to
prohibit paying blind workers less than minimum wage. This proposal seeks
wage protection for low-income blind workers and asks for nothing more than
the wage guarantee which the FLSA extends to employees who are not blind.
FLSA allows wages as low as 25% of the federal minimum, but all studies
agree that there are numerous uncontrolled violations.

(3) Congress should amend Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to
prohibit employment discrimination based on blindness or physical
disability. This proposal seeks to expand employment opportunities for the
blind through a federal prohibition against employment discrimination based
on prejudice or misconception. Despite all of the efforts we are making to
change public attitudes, the image of the helpless, dependent blind person
is still widespread in our culture. This has resulted in limiting
substantially our opportunities for competitive employment, and laws must be
enacted to prevent these unjustified restrictions. In some states, the laws
which prohibit employment discrimination against women and minorities have
been amended to include protection for disabled persons, and the results
have shown that public policy against discrimination on the basis of
handicap can expand employment possibilities while reducing the burden on
our welfare system. The federal legislation in this area is limited, and
court rulings have largely eroded Congressional intent. This is why Congress
must act to insure equal employment opportunities for blind and handicapped
persons.

(4) Congress should amend Title II of the Social Security Act to remove
employment disincentives from the conditions of eligibility for blind
persons to receive disability insurance. This proposal seeks to eliminate a
substantial economic barrier (the $500 per month earnings limitation) placed
on blind persons receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)
checks. The concept of Social Security replacing income lost because of a
disability such as blindness has merit. Its shortcoming, however, is the
arbitrary limitation imposed on income derived from earnings. This denies a
hand up to those who want to achieve self-sufficiency again, stifling the
initiative of thousands of potentially productive blind citizens. A
legislative solution, calling for specific changes in Title II of the Social
Security Act, has enjoyed bi-partisan support in past Congresses and several
amendments to provide more work incentives for the blind have actually
become law; the most recent of these being part of the 1977 Social Security
amendments. Federal law should not continue to discourage the blind from
becoming self-supporting, tax-paying citizens, and the Social Security Act
must be amended accordingly.

(5) Congress should provide adequate appropriations under Title III of the
Comprehensive Employment and Training Act to allow continued federal support
for Job Opportunities for the Blind. This proposal seeks more and better
employment prospects for the blind through a targeted job information and
referral service, known as Job Opportunities for the Blind (JOB). JOB is
funded through a contract with the United States Department of Labor,
Employment and Training Administration. The program offers an especially
important service to blind people by identifying employment opportunities
and working with employers to provide accurate information about the
employment skills of qualified blind people. JOB's objectives are consistent
with our nation's current need for economic recovery, since every blind
person who becomes productive is one less individual requiring financial
assistance at public expense. Each member of Congress and each staff member
should know about and support with pride the work of JOB. Blind constituents
who require this service should be informed of its existence and may be
referred for help from JOB as long as the program continues to operate.

(6) Congress should amend the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to assure that each
blind person registered to vote will have the right to cast a vote in
private with the aid of a personal assistant freely chosen by the blind
voter. This proposal seeks nationwide observance of a fair and dignified
voting procedure for the blind and will thus encourage greater participation
by the blind in our democratic electoral process. Many states and political
subdivisions have already enacted laws which allow blind persons to vote
with the aid of personally chosen sighted assistants, but in other
jurisdictions this right is limited. For example, some states require the
assistant to be a "relative" of the blind voter, and some even add the
qualification that the assistant be a "friend." In some instances, state
laws suggest that a spouse must accompany the blind voter, or if the voter
has no spouse available, two election officials (who may be unknown to the
voter) must help in casting the ballot. Thus, the laws are vague and
inconsistent. In addition, their requirements are inconsistently applied,
even where they are specific. A federal solution is available by amending
the Voting Rights Act of 1965 during the current Congressional action to
extend certain expiring provisions of that Act. Moreover, because of the
language of a House-passed amendment, which introduces into the Voting
Rights Act the subject of voter assistance, it is imperative that clarifying
language be added in order to preserve and protect the voting assistance
rights of the blind.

Blind people are asking for your help in gathering support for legislation
in the areas here outlined. Bills to achieve our objectives have been
introduced in the 97th Congress, and cosponsors are actively being sought.
Many priorities confront this session of Congress, but none is more
important than putting America back to work again. The blind must not be
overlooked in fashioning the best possible legislative program to do the
job.

----------


An Apology to Our Readers


In the January 2022 issue we ran two articles concerning the trend of people
describing themselves in meetings and presentations. One article begins with
what we thought were silly, hyperbolic examples about the ways in which some
people have attended Zoom meetings in which they clearly did not intend
video to be a part. In the description, a hypothetical trans person
describes themself as being naked. In retrospect, we apologize for including
this example given the harmful and unacceptable stereotype of trans people
being sexually aggressive, as well as the equally harmful belief that trans
people "change their gender" due to mental illness or the desire to take
advantage of others. Perpetuating these stereotypes was certainly not our
intent. We value all people, regardless of gender or gender expression. We
made a mistake in failing to recognize how that language might affect people
we care about, and for that we most sincerely apologize.

----------

[PHOTO CAPTION: Buddy Collier]


A Letter to Myself or an Awkward Stage


by Buddy Collier

>From the Editor: Buddy is a member who lives in Nevada. He is an active
member of our affiliate, and in this article he expresses something we talk
little about in the NFB, that being the transition from sight to blindness.
Some of us have not known the experience. Others of us have been blind long
enough that we see it as a stage we passed through and are now about living
our lives as blind people. While reality dictates that we accept our new
situation and look for the advantages to be found in it, we can’t simply
offer the advice to work through the transition by keeping a stiff upper lip
and a positive attitude. For most of us, feelings are not so easily
manipulated, and feelings unacknowledged can lead to long-term problems and
a failure to transition to something better—the realization that we are
still human beings meant to thrive and not broken sighted persons. Here is
what Buddy, a person not yet blind but well on the way, has to say:

This is a letter to myself, that self that was trying to make sense of it
all six years ago when the retina detached in my right eye after a cataract
removal surgery. In this letter I speak to myself, the self that was going
through so much trauma and pain six years ago. It is also a kind of chat
with anyone who may be experiencing some degree of vision loss but who is
not legally blind.

Since all of that terrible stuff happened, I have seen three of my friends
suffer similar experiences. We are all sixty years of age or older.

If I had to give it a title, I would entitle this, “My Awkward Stage.”

After eight surgeries and weeks of holding my head down—hoping that the air
bubble, then the gas bubble, and then silicon oil all placed in the eye to
repair the retina—after all that, I can see, and there are things that I
can’t see. The vision in the right eye is gone. When it went, it was almost
a relief. The scleral buckle attached to the eye caused me to see double,
and that was worse than seeing with only one eye. So now, seeing with one
eye through trifocals, living with glaucoma, and a forming cataract means I
am frequently mindful of my vision situation. In addition there are things I
can see that confuse me. I think my brain is working overtime to translate
the signals it receives by making assumptions about the world that aren’t
so. I am someone who lives between the sighted world and the blind world. My
usable vision sets me outside the world of those who rely solely on other
senses to navigate their world. My impairment makes me cautious and
sometimes fearful. I love the vision that I have; I just don’t trust it
completely. My vision is frequently disorienting and unreliable.

The gradual and unpredictable loss of vision lasting months or years is a
life-changing process. I doubt that anyone who must live through the shock,
depression, and challenges brought to them because of vision loss found it
an easy thing to deal with. We might as well face it and call it what it is:
it is a loss. The uncertainty which accompanies it, like grief accompanies
sorrow, only adds to the miasma. Almost daily the person experiencing this
loss wonders how far it is going to go. Has it stopped yet? Or, am I going
to step entirely into the darkness? Perhaps this experience should be
categorized as an auxiliary experience in addition to a decline in vision.
One thing is for sure, though: When you are in the middle of it, you can’t
tell where one ends and the other begins.

In the beginning stages you probably appear normal to your sighted friends.
When they catch evidence of your impairment in an odd moment, they may
declare their surprise that it is real. Legally, you may very well be
sighted. You learn that the experts can’t agree 100 percent on a definition
of blindness. Kenneth Jernigan aptly explored the question of where the term
‘blindness’ might be applied in his article, "Who Are We? A Definition of
Blindness." You learn there is more to vision than the physical eye and that
blindness has more to do with function than with the state of the eye. You
know something in you is amiss. Things are not right, and you naturally feel
threatened. The eye specialists I consulted didn’t offer any direction or
help when it comes to dealing with vision loss or the emotional trauma
accompanying it. Their world seemed to be limited to numbers and observable
conditions which they dutifully record in files. My retina specialist stated
that the last surgery he conducted on my right eye had been a success. He
said this in spite of the obvious fact that my eye was now completely blind.
He casually added that the left eye would probably follow the same path as
the right. He said that in ten or fifteen years I’ll have serious challenges
with vision. His concern was so narrowly focused that he had excluded his
patient.

As an individual experiencing vision loss, you are acutely aware that
fundamental changes are taking place in your body and in your life. The
script of your life is being revised without your consent. You may, as I
did, feel that you are trying to live life from inside a box. In the early
days I had a feeling that I was physically disconnected from my environment.
It was a kind of numbness. At the beginning of this journey most people with
whom you will interact will be incapable of perceiving these changes
happening inside you. No one but you knows how you have cobbled together a
developing set of skills to navigate everyday life. Now you check the step
with your toe before climbing a staircase or when you encounter a curb. Then
there is how, at the grocery store checkout, you dip your card holding hand
below the payment device and slowly move up to find the slot where you’ll
insert the card. There’s that trick you figured out when people want to hand
you a cup or return your debit card. You learned that it is easier just to
extend your hand out and wait for them to push it into your fingers than to
feel about in front of them, making a show of it all. You choose a side to
walk on when going out with friends. Every day you wonder, "How far will
this go?" You learn that your current vision is not to be completely
trusted. It is like an old friend who has turned against you. Once you felt
you could trust it completely. Now it randomly lies, abandoning you to
figure out your next move without reliable guidance.

So, bit by bit, you start to figure out that your fingers can help fill in
some of the gaps. Are you about to graze the corner of the kitchen counter?
Your fingers can tell you. How far away is that overhanging branch or
cabinet door? Suddenly there are bumps and little ledges on common household
items that are speaking to you in a new language. Is that my toothbrush?
Feel the curve of the handle or put a rubber band around it so your fingers
will know. Do you over or under reach the glass when you are pouring a
liquid, making a mess? Let your fingers be the judge of distance there too.
Is there a dried bit of food on the top of the kitchen counter that your
eyes can’t see? Well, your fingers can find it. I have found my fingers are
much more strict about cleaning counter tops than my eyes had ever been. The
same goes for washing dishes.

You would think this would be enough, but the experience is bigger than
that. How about seeing things that aren’t there? In my journey I have seen
many illusions. My personal favorite was the pictures of galleons decorating
a restaurant wall. They looked as if they were leaving the painting and
sticking out into the air.

A word about complaining: You are going to be inclined to do a lot of
complaining that first year. Because we lack an adequate vocabulary to
explain our new experiences, we tend to struggle with words that can help
others understand our new world. Remember that there is a limit to how much
other people can focus on you. We don’t want to fatigue the patience of our
friends. This may invite you to become bitter and think no one cares. Try to
remember that to them understanding your situation may be like explaining
something that is happening on another planet. They know you are disturbed,
but they can’t see what you are seeing. And, as you are learning, what
people can’t see is frequently dismissed.

You may also seek some spiritual context in which to place all of this. At
some point you have to get on with it and do the best you can with what
you’ve got. I think it was at the place where I finally had cried enough and
complained enough that I began my journey to acceptance. That took me about
three years. Patience!

So, since I am a person who usually overreacts to situations, I chose to
inform myself as fully as possible about blindness issues and skills. I
really jumped in the deep end of the pool. This meant I decided to learn
Braille, some white cane techniques, some helpful technology, and decided to
talk to and listen to successful blind people in my town. If indeed the dark
is coming, do I really want to wait until that moment to decide to inform
myself? Being proactive is better than waiting until some overworked social
worker or family member takes on your case and decides for you.

Wait a minute! What if I never need any of this? Maybe it’s just easier to
have several magnifiers around the house and not go out as much as I did.
Well, maybe. And that is an option. But I believe it is the lessor of two
options, one of them clearly being an inferior choice. Personally, I have
always enjoyed learning new things. Braille has become a hobby of mine. I
don’t use it to function, but I enjoy reading and writing Braille. Shocked?
Why? Some people collect spoons or thimbles, and nobody thinks that’s odd.
It just so happens that my hobby may come in handy on a day when I really
need it.

What about having an identification cane when you need it? Crowded spaces
can be a problem for me. I’ve already learned that falling down is no fun,
and some people get mad when I bump into them. When I have that short little
cane in my hand, people give me a couple inches of extra space, and I don’t
feel like I’m about to slam into a stranger at any moment.

So, I walk in the world of the sighted, and I borrow things from the world
of the blind. The line between the two is blurred. You either see or you
don’t, right? Sorry, it is a lot more nuanced than that. Go read Kenneth
Jernigan’s article I mentioned above.

Even I, with an impairment, still harbor feelings that I haven’t fully come
to terms with. But I hope to someday. I have suffered a loss of some of my
visual acuity. Whether or not I experience further decline in my vision, my
world has become richer for the things I have learned and the people I have
befriended who teach me about living with various degrees of vision. You
lose something and you gain something if you reach out and try. Now, doesn’t
that sound better than sitting at home without an idea of what to do?

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[PHOTO CAPTION: Danielle McCann]

[PHOTO CAPTION: Chris Danielsen]


See for Me: Finally, We’re on the Right Track


by Danielle McCann and Chris Danielsen

>From the Editor: Both Danielle and Chris are members of the Communications
Team and are likely well known to readers. Both are talented and articulate,
so getting an article from either, not to mention both, is a real pleasure.
This originally appeared in our blog on Monday, February 14, 2022, and we
gladly reprint it. Here is what they say:

See for Me is a new thriller in which a young blind woman, played by blind,
autistic, and nonbinary actor Skyler Davenport in their feature film debut,
takes a house-sitting job in an isolated mansion. When three intruders break
in, the protagonist, Sophie, uses an app called See for Me to get help from
a gamer named Kelly. (The See for Me app is a fictional version of a visual
interpreting service.) The premise will probably (understandably) make many
readers apprehensive, but read on to find out why our reviewers think this
movie is well worth watching. Be aware, though, that it isn’t
family-friendly viewing. The film is rated R and contains strong language
and violence.

Danielle: Since the National Federation of the Blind began to push for
screen production companies to stop casting sighted people to play blind
characters, I was hopeful that they would listen and finally let blind
people represent ourselves in TV and film. Then, In the Dark came out, and I
was not only disappointed, but it felt cringy to know that once again the
world would be shown all sorts of misconceptions of what blind people are
like, because the industry couldn’t be bothered to cast authentically. Fast
forward a couple of years and there has been some progress. In particular,
Netflix understood the assignment and cast a blind person in You.* It has to
be noted that the standout reason, in my opinion, that this is a big deal is
that the character’s blindness has very little to do with the plot. He just
happens to be blind; that’s it. So when See for Me appeared on my Apple TV,
I was optimistic, and it did not disappoint.

While the plot of See for Me does revolve around Sophie’s blindness, it does
not seek to make her a myth, a miracle, or somehow magical. She’s actually
kind of a jerk, and I really like seeing that because it breaks down the
idea that blind people are happy, good, cheerful, and perfectly content all
of the time. Without giving too much of the story away, I also appreciate
how most everyone in the film pauses to acknowledge the blindness, but they
don’t let it sway them from their original intent. The only person I have a
hard time with is Sophie’s mom, because she hovers and worries way too much,
but at Sophie’s age, I had problems with my own mom for the same reasons. I
love the teamwork between Sophie and Kelly, because again the blindness is a
factor in the equation, but it is not the sum of all parts. There are a few
things that Sophie does in the movie that really feel genuine, and I think
that’s because the actor is blind, so these movements and mannerisms are
very natural to them. Where the lead in In the Dark is often overexaggerated
in her presence and feels clunky, Sophie’s performance is smooth.

The end of the movie is great because there’s a tiny twist to how we get
there, and it goes to show that blind people aren’t always who society has
played us up to be. There is no inspirational hook here. It’s just a really
good film with a really great actor in the lead role.

Chris: There was a time when the blind community collectively worried about
blind people being portrayed as jerks or villains, even as we cringed at the
sugary saintliness that some blind characters displayed. But See for Me
strikes the right balance. It’s definitely true that Sophie is hard to like
at first. Most of her problem is that she’s in the stage of adjustment to
blindness that Dr. Jernigan called rebellious independence. She is reluctant
to accept help from anyone. She’s also bitter about her situation, so she
uses her blindness to justify theft from the people who hire her to
house-sit (they would never suspect a blind girl, would they?) This sounds
contradictory, but the character was believable to me for exactly that
reason. Fortunately, the movie is smart enough to avoid becoming a cheap
thrill ride with a sappy ending about a blind person learning that it’s okay
to accept help sometimes. It’s hard to say more than that without spoiling
the plot, but this is most definitely not a film in which a sighted savior
rescues a helpless blind woman through the miracle of technology. Within the
confines of being a fast-paced thriller, it’s a complex story about two
complex characters navigating a frightening and unpredictable situation.
There are things to nitpick (no Braille, little independent cane travel),
but I can honestly say that See for Me has one of the most authentic
portrayals of a blind character that I have seen in a movie. While watching
it, I never felt as if either the capacity of blind people or my
intelligence were being insulted.

Overall, we think this is a solid offering from the film industry. They’ve
now seen for themselves how easy it is to cast blind people. See for Me is
available to rent or buy on Apple TV; audio description is available. Have
you watched it or do you plan to check out this film? We’d love to hear what
others think.

* Ben Mehl, a blind actor, plays a blind character named Dante in the series
You (season 3). Two blind actors will also make their screen debut later
this year in Netflix’s adaptation of the novel All the Light We Cannot See.

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[PHOTO CAPTION: Maurice Peret]


What Does It Mean to Be Part of a Civil Rights Organization Today?


by Maurice Peret

>From the Editor: Maurice is a frequent contributor to these pages. He and I
love one another, and with each of his articles we wrestle about which of
his views belong in our magazine and which belong in different forums. He is
always good natured about my extraction of pearls of wisdom he has inserted,
and though I extract them, I admire his attempt to make sense of the world
and his different take on politics, economics, and the danger of
corporations. With thanks for what he contributes to us, here is what he has
to say about not making too much of our differences when they lead to
conflict and estrangement:

As I sit before my PC, planning learning activities for youth and employment
engagement opportunities for adult job seekers and employers for our
Federation, I am constantly aware that the office that I occupy in either
our Jernigan Institute or the condominium from where I telework twice per
week sits inside the Baltimore City limits, within the state of Maryland,
inside the United States of America, and in an ever-shrinking world.

The blind of America need jobs, independence, financial and personal
security, along with the hard-won rights that must be persistently defended.
There are more of us than we are aware of who lack basic housing, medical
care, and decent living and working conditions. In these circumstances, we
are well integrated into the social and economic fabric of millions
struggling to keep hearth and home together.

That we co-exist in a class-divided society plagued by disparities of all
kinds is indisputable. The point is to properly understand the nature and
scope of these systemic inequities. Individuals may be forgiven for
harboring certain misunderstandings based often upon a lack of experience or
exposure to groups of people who are different from us. However, the same
megaphones controlling the airwaves, educational institutions controlling
learning platforms and materials, and profiteers governing our ability to
sell our labor power, they who would point to us individually for being to
blame for prejudices, are in fact the very ones who have denied and continue
to deny equal access on a hierarchy of power and money. We should not allow
ourselves to be taken in by the real divisions that exist among a tiny
minority who monopolize the message by deflecting their prejudices onto us.
Division makes news, tribalism makes news, and news sells advertising. So I
am reluctant to let my world view be largely shaped by the cynicism,
mistrust, and tribalism that are all too focused in the public arena.

The organized blind movement is but one clear example to me that we, in our
vast majority, are the solution, not the problem. The obvious remedy to all
the noise, of course, is to just simply tune out, turn off, and focus upon
the immediate important work before us. On the other hand, the world happens
around us and affects us in ways of varying urgency and severity. Some of us
worry about putting enough of our earnings away for retirement. Others of us
are concerned about where our next meal will come from or if there will be
enough work to avoid being laid off in the short term.

I find it useful to draw from proven strategies shared by the mighty mass
movements in our proud history. The most fundamental is instilling a strong
sense of individual empowerment, self-efficacy, and a positive self-concept.
This is a common thread through the Black rights movements both in this
country and abroad, the sense of connection to ancestral lands communicated
through the authentic lived wisdom of elder leaders among indigenous
peoples, and the close family, social, ethnic, and linguistic ties of
immigrant communities. Only when we can recognize our own individual worth
and human value can we even begin to see ourselves as part of a powerful
collective movement of people, many just like us, capable of societal
transformation.

Tremendous examples can be found in any of the publications on the website
of the National Federation of the Blind https://nfb.org/publications. There,
as our banner reads, you will find the true and authentic voice of the
nation’s blind. There is no shortage of stories about overcoming adversity,
but the emphasis is not so much upon external adverse factors as it is on
the internal and collective response to them. They are not merely stories of
victims of societal misunderstandings about blindness but about blind people
themselves and others who overcame those misperceptions.

How can our local chapters better position themselves to respond to a
diversity of needs? How can our local chapters tap into the resources
available in our communities in order to point blind and low vision folks
with whom we come across in the right direction? How can they be more
visible and accessible in the community? In other words, how do affiliate
and chapter members find blind members of our communities, and how do they
find us?

Our chapters and affiliates must be like magnets, attracting anyone
experiencing vision loss to our dynamic movement. Members should be
encouraged to function like little magnets in the community where we will
inevitably meet friends and family members of blind and low vision folks who
need the Federation in their lives. Even as we more clearly define what
responsible membership looks like in the Federation, we should also be
available to meet new candidates for membership where they are in their
blindness journey, understanding that, for most of us, it took years to
absorb and internalize the philosophical tenets of our organization. We
should also take an interest in what new members have to share about their
lives. In a sense, we should be prepared not only for them to join us but
also to join them. That is essentially what won me to the Federation: the
fact that a leader in my affiliate took enough interest in what I was
involved in to recognize in me the value in my potential contribution to the
movement.

It seems to me that something has been lost or forgotten as we strive to
extricate ourselves from the imposed isolation due to the COVID-19 crisis.
As wonderfully creative and innovative as we have been in putting
teleconferencing tools to our maximum use, there is simply no virtual
substitute to getting together. This struggle against inertia, I believe, is
also the challenge before any effective social movement worthy of the name.
I, for one, am looking forward to reacquainting myself with the enumerable
benefits of interacting, people-to-people and person-to-person, in the full
range of activities that define our movement from conventioneering,
marching, working, and playing together.

----------

[PHOTO CAPTION: Robin House]


The 2022 Blind Educator of the Year Award


by Robin House

>From the Editor: Robin House is an experienced educator in her own right,
with many titles to her name. She was named Blind Educator of the Year in
2018. She chairs the 2022 Blind Educator of the Year Award Selection
Committee, and she holds a Master of Education, is a Licensed Professional
Counselor, and is a Registered Play Therapist. What is harder to convey is
that, for the tremendous admiration we have for her accomplishments, the
thing that makes us blessed is that Robin is Robin and that she chooses to
be an active part of us. This is what she says:

A number of years ago the Blind Educator of the Year Award was established
by the National Organization of Blind Educators (the educators’ division of
the National Federation of the Blind) to pay tribute to a blind teacher
whose exceptional classroom performance, notable community service, and
uncommon commitment to the NFB merit national recognition. Beginning with
the 1991 presentation, this award became an honor bestowed by our entire
movement. This change reflects our recognition of the importance of good
teaching and the effect an outstanding blind teacher has on students,
faculty, community, and all blind Americans.

This award is presented in the spirit of the outstanding educators who
founded and have continued to nurture the National Federation of the Blind
and who, by example, have imparted knowledge of our strengths to us and
raised our expectations. We have learned from Dr. Jacobus tenBroek, Dr.
Kenneth Jernigan, Dr. Marc Maurer, and our current President Mark Riccobono
that a teacher not only provides a student with information but also
provides guidance, advocacy, and love. The recipient of the Blind Educator
of the Year Award must exhibit all these traits and must advance the cause
of blind people in the spirit and philosophy of the National Federation of
the Blind.

The Blind Educator of the Year Award is presented at the annual convention
of the National Federation of the Blind. Honorees must be present to receive
an appropriately inscribed plaque and a check for $1,000.

Nominations should be sent to Ms. Robin House by email to
robin at mindsrealm.net <mailto:robin at mindsrealm.net>  or by mail to Stix ECC,
647 Tower Grove Ave., St. Louis, MO 63110. Letters of nomination must be
accompanied by a copy of the nominee’s current résumé and supporting
documentation of community and Federation activity. All nomination materials
must be in the hands of the committee chairperson by May 1, 2022, to be
considered for this year’s award. For further information contact Robin
House at 314-265-6852, or robin at mindsrealm.net <mailto:robin at mindsrealm.net>
.

----------

[PHOTO CAPTION: Gary Wunder]


A Funny Thing Happened to Me Today, but Is It Really Funny?


by Gary Wunder

There are many different takes people have on humor. Some suggest that in
our humor we should be very circumspect. Never tell a joke that might offend
someone. Never tell a joke that tends to reinforce a stereotype. Never tell
a joke we would not tell our grandmother. Never tell a joke if we would be
uncomfortable as the object of its punchline. These seem like very common
sense guidelines, though I admit that I have not always followed them
religiously.

But it actually gets much more complicated. A few folks have said to me that
there is nothing funny about blindness and that people who relate humorous
incidents about blindness are showing a lack of respect for themselves and
other blind people. Some say that jokes are considered acceptable only if
told in certain groups. A few blind people tell me that they are perfectly
comfortable relating a blindness experience that generates a laugh, but they
are only willing to share it with other blind people. This they refer to as
“blindness moments,” ones we dare not share with the sighted public because
they would likely not understand. I assume we make an exception for those
sighted people who have joined our movement and are considered blind at
heart. This is an opinion I understand, but I think it does a disservice to
the sighted people I know who learn a little more each day about blindness
or at least my perspective on it.

At the other end of the spectrum comes my grandson and a whole host of
comedians who believe that there is nothing so sacred that it is beyond a
joke. The comedians he has introduced me to would contend that, if you want
to be offended, go ahead, but their freedom of speech and their audience’s
right to laugh takes priority. Although I am uncomfortable with this
unbridled take on humor, I have to admit that a search of the internet and
looking at the work of some of today’s popular comedians makes me think I
may be in the minority.

I am writing to find out how readers of the Braille Monitor feel about this.
Are there any funny incidents that arise from the fact that one or more
people in a story are blind? If you have such stories, would you share them
only with other blind people or with the wider public? If indeed there are
blindness moments that should only be shared within the community, what
makes them so, and can you provide me with examples? Are there humorous
incidents you would find acceptable in these pages and are willing to
contribute?

As a final thought, how do we act wisely in deciding when to register
objections to humor and when to leave the objectionable material alone?
Morally it feels as though we have an obligation to speak out any time
blindness is portrayed negatively and in a way that is inconsistent with our
experiences. But given how often registering objections can add to the wider
dissemination of information we do not like, it is hard to view this as a
clearcut obligation to object to the objectionable. Again, I do not write
this to state a firm opinion but to ask for yours. Write to me at
gwunder at nfb.org <mailto:gwunder at nfb.org> , and be as specific as you can
about the way you would have us make these difficult judgments.

---------


Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award Applications Accepted


by Everette Bacon

The National Federation of the Blind is accepting nominations of individuals
or organizations who are a positive force in the lives of blind people and
help us transform dreams into reality. Each application must include a
letter of recommendation.

Learn more and submit a nomination for the 2022 Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards at
https://nfb.org/bolotin

----------

[PHOTO CAPTION: Kane Brolin]


An Appeal for Help


by Kane Brolin

>From the Editor: Kane is a longtime chapter president who lives in Indiana.
He is always reaching out with the message of the Federation and trying to
help those who can benefit from our message. Here is a request he is making
for special expertise:

I am writing to ask humbly for the support of my Federation brothers and
sisters. I am not asking for financial help but for useful advice on behalf
of another individual residing outside of the United States who nonetheless
embodies the Federation spirit and who wishes earnestly to share in the
transformational strength and beauty of the NFB National Convention in 2022.

Mr. Youssef Makram is a blind, thirty-year-old, unmarried, male citizen of
Egypt to whom I talk on a bi-weekly basis. Striving toward a professional
career, his resources and available options in Egypt are few; yet he usually
Zooms into meetings of the NFB’s Michiana Chapter over which I preside, and
he very much wishes to attend our 2022 National Convention in New Orleans in
order to acquire knowledge, tools, and personal contacts that will help him
move forward in his life. Youssef is also fully vaccinated against COVID-19
and has sent proof of his inoculation.

>From what I have observed, Youssef demonstrates an insatiable desire to
learn, a boundless determination to keep pushing forward in spite of
significant obstacles, and a desire to help others in need. A dedicated
Federationist in his heart, he simply has heretofore not been able to
interact with the Federation in a meaningful way.

I have come to believe Youssef has a lot to recommend him. To this end, I am
committed to doing everything within reason to make 2022 in New Orleans
Youssef’s first-ever NFB National Convention. The trouble is that I am not
well versed in the nuance of gaining a student visa or travel visa for
anybody, nor am I one who is in a position to officially invite Youssef or
any other foreign national into the midst of our Convention. So if you are
reading this article and if you could provide the expertise or the authority
to help us figure out how to accomplish this from a diplomatic or practical
point of view, please phone me at (574) 386-8868 or email
kbrolin65 at gmail.com <mailto:kbrolin65 at gmail.com> . Thank you.

----------

[PHOTO CAPTION: Carla McQuillan]


The 2022 Distinguished Educator of Blind Students Award


by Carla McQuillan

>From the Editor: Carla McQuillan is the president of the National Federation
of the Blind of Oregon, a member of the national board of directors, and the
owner and executive director of Main Street Montessori Association,
operating two Montessori schools. She is the chairperson of the
Distinguished Educator of Blind Students Award Committee, and she has
written this announcement seeking applications for the 2022 award:

The National Federation of the Blind will recognize an outstanding teacher
of blind students at our 2022 National Convention taking place in New
Orleans, Louisiana, from July 5 through July 10, 2022. The winner of this
award will receive the following:

An expense-paid trip to attend the convention

A check for $1,000

A commemorative plaque

A place on the agenda of the annual meeting of the National Organization of
Parents of Blind Children to make a presentation regarding the education of
blind children, and

The opportunity to attend seminars and workshops that address the current
state of education of blind students, as well as a chance to meet and
network with hundreds of blind individuals, teachers, parents, and other
professionals in the field.

The education of blind children is one of the National Federation of the
Blind's highest priorities. We are committed to offering and supporting
programs that enhance educational opportunities for this group. Please help
us recognize dedicated and innovative teachers who provide quality education
and meaningful experiences and opportunities for their blind students.

Q: Who is eligible for this award?

A: Anyone who is currently a teacher, counselor, or the administrator of
programs for blind students.

Q: Does an applicant have to be a member of the National Federation of the
Blind?

A: No, but attending the 2022 convention of the National Federation of the
Blind in New Orleans is required.

Q: Can I nominate someone else for this award?

A: Yes. Applicants can be nominated by colleagues, parents, supervisors, or
friends who have first-hand knowledge of the individual’s work with blind
students.

Q: How would I apply?

A: You can fill out the application at the end of this article or find it on
our website at
https://nfb.org/images/nfb/documents/pdf/distinguished-educator-of-blind-stu
dents-award-form-fillable.pdf

Q: What is the deadline to submit an application or make a nomination?

A: All applications must be received no later than May 1, 2022.

Please complete the application and attach the required documents specified
in the application. If you are submitting a nomination for someone other
than yourself, please answer the questions to the best of your ability. Your
experience and observations of the nominee will assist the selection
committee in their decision. Questions? Contact Carla McQuillan at
541-653-9153, or by email at: president at nfb-oregon.org
<mailto:president at nfb-oregon.org> .


National Federation of the Blind


Distinguished Educator of Blind Students Award


2022 Application


Deadline: May 1, 2022

Name: _______________________________________________________

Home Address: _________________________________________________

City, State, Zip: _________________________________________________

Phone: (H) ____________________ (W) ____________________________

Email: ______________________________________________________

School/Program: ______________________________________________________

Address: _____________________________________________________

City, State, Zip: _________________________________________________

Please list any awards or commendations you have received.

How long and in what programs have you worked with blind children?

In what setting do you currently work?

Briefly describe your current job and teaching responsibilities.

How would you describe your philosophy of blindness as it relates to the
education of blind students?

What are your thoughts on teaching Braille and cane travel? When and at what
age would you begin? How do you determine whether to teach print or Braille?

What was your most memorable experience working with blind students?

Why should you be selected to receive this award?

Email is strongly encouraged for transmitting nominations; letters of
support and other relevant materials should be included as attachments.
Applications sent by mail and postmarked by the deadline will also be
accepted. Send all material by May 1, 2022, to Carla McQuillan, chairperson,
Teacher Award Committee, president at nfb-oregon.org
<mailto:president at nfb-oregon.org>  or by mail to:

522 65th Street, Springfield, OR 97478, Phone: 541-653-9153.

----------


Recipes


Recipes this month were contributed by members of the National Federation of
the Blind of Utah.


Bite-Size Shepherd's Pie


by Dannielle Frampton, 1st VP, Salt Lake Chapter

Dannielle is the Residence Manager/Instructor for Utah’s Services for the
Blind. She, her husband Cameron, and daughter Kada live in Salt Lake City.

Ingredients:

6 medium-sized potatoes or sweet potatoes, peal and dice

3 sticks of celery, finely minced

1 small zucchini, finely minced

3 cloves garlic, finely minced

1/2 pound lean or extra lean ground beef

1/2 cup shredded cheese

2 tablespoon butter

1/4 cup milk or cream

Method: Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Peel and dice potatoes, and
place in a pot of boiling water to soften. Finely mince celery, zucchini,
and garlic. In a frying pan, start browning ground beef. Add minced celery,
zucchini, and garlic to the pan and cook until vegetables are softened and
beef is cooked through. Season to taste. Drain water from potatoes, add
butter and cream, and mash thoroughly. Season to taste. In a six-cup
non-stick muffin tin, oil before adding a small layer of cheese, then add a
layer of mashed potatoes on the bottom of each cup. Spoon in meat and
vegetable mixture, and top each one off with another layer of mashed
potatoes. Sprinkle shredded cheese onto each mini-pie and bake uncovered for
eight minutes. Remove from oven and let stand for two to three minutes.
Carefully scoop out each mini-pie with a rubber spatula or put cookie sheet
on top like a lid, and flip over for them to hopefully slide out on their
own, and enjoy. Recipe makes six.


Funeral Potatoes AKA Cheesy Potato Casserole


by Barbie Elliott, Secretary, NFB of Utah

Barbie is the Home Management Instructor at Utah’s Services for the Blind.
She is also a proud mother and grandma. This recipe is a favorite amongst
members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Why Are They Called Funeral Potatoes?

What's in a Name: As the name suggests, in Utah this cheesy potato comfort
food is traditionally served at a meal for the grieving family following a
funeral by neighbors and friends. Most commonly known as Funeral Potatoes in
the western United States they are also known as a Cheesy Potato Casserole.
Why Funerals: Besides cheese and potatoes being an ultimate comfort food and
just delicious, they are easy to transport, easy to make, and easy to keep
warm. Perfect for a potluck and a time of need.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter (divided)

1 small onion finely chopped (optional)

1 to 2 cloves garlic minced (optional)

1 28 oz. bag hash browns-frozen, shredded, or cubed hash brown potatoes, (I
prefer the Ore-Ida Potatoes O’Brien with Onions and Peppers precut), or you
can make your own

1 10.5 oz. can condensed cream of chicken soup (creates creamy goodness and
flavor)

2 cups sour cream or plain Greek yogurt, for more creaminess and a bit of
tang

1/2 cup parmesan cheese (optional) to add a nice punch to the cheese.

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded and firmly packed, and don't skimp on
the good stuff.

2 cups crushed corn flake cereal, panko bread crumbs, Ritz crackers, or
French's fried onions—any of these will work

Method: Sauté: (If you choose not to add garlic and onions, skip this step.)
In a medium skillet melt two tablespoons of butter. Add the onions and cook
until translucent. Add the garlic and sauté, just until fragrant.

Mix: In a very large bowl combine the onions, garlic, soup, sour cream, 1/2
cup butter, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper and 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese.
Stir until well blended. Add the hash browns and stir until well coated.

Pan: Spread into a 9 x 13 pan and top with the remaining 1/2 cup of cheddar
cheese. Crush: Put the cereal, crackers, or fried onions into a plastic bag
and crush with a rolling pin or your hands or a glass to make crumbs. Melt:
Melt the remaining 1/4 cup of butter and mix with the crumbs. Sprinkle on
top of the potatoes.

Bake: Cover the pan loosely with foil and bake for 50-60 min. at 350 degrees
until bubbly and cooked throughout.

Tips for the Best Funeral Potatoes:

1. Make Ahead: These are one of those wonderful dishes you can make ahead.
Make as directed but do not put the crumb topping on. Refrigerate till ready
to bake. Remove from the fridge and let come to room temperature, if you
have time. Mix up the topping, put on top, and cook as directed.

2. Potatoes: Shredded potatoes as well as country style hash browns (cubed
potatoes) will work in this recipe. I like the O'Brien potatoes best, since
if using them you do not need to add onions because they have chopped
peppers and onions in the frozen potato bag.

3. Bake Your Own Potatoes: Make your own hash browns by parboiling twelve
small potatoes and grating them once cooled.

4. To Top or Not to Top: You can leave the topping off if you prefer. The
crunchy topping does go slightly soggy if you have leftovers. So if you know
you will have leftovers you might want to leave it off. Either way it's
still amazing!

5. Leftovers: Store leftovers covered in the fridge for up to four days.
They are almost even better the next day!

6. Make it a Meal: Add in diced ham, chicken, or bacon and turn this side
dish into the main dish!

7. Spice it up: I sometimes add red pepper flakes or green chilies or Cajun
spice.


Sweet “n” Sour Meat Loaf


by Cynthia Young

Cynthia Young is the treasurer of our Red Rocks Chapter located in St.
George, Utah. This is her favorite dish!

Sauce Mixture:

1 8-oz. can tomato sauce

1/4 cup vinegar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon prepared mustard

Meat Loaf Mixture:

1 egg, slightly beaten with fork

2 pounds hamburger

1/4 cup minced onions

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup quick oats or crushed

1/4 tsp. black pepper

Crackers

1/2 cup tomato sauce mixture

Method: Shape meat into oval loaf. Place in shallow baking dish. Pour rest
of tomato sauce mixture on top. Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes. Serves
eight.


Mexican Hot Dish


by Lisa Rowberry

Lisa Rowberry is the treasurer of the Utah Valley Chapter and is an
accountant with the State of Utah. Here is a favorite recipe passed to her
by her grandmother.

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef

1 chopped onion

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 cup milk

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can Rotel tomatoes w/green chilies

1 bag of Doritos (Nacho cheese)

1/2 pound grated cheese (I prefer mild cheddar)

Method: Brown ground beef and onion with salt and pepper. Mix together
Rotel, cream of mushroom soup, and milk. Pour mixture into meat. Bring to a
boil and then simmer on low for three to five minutes. Place a layer of
crushed Doritos in bottom of 13 x 9 inch baking dish. Place a layer of
meat-soup mixture over Doritos. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Repeat layers.
Bake at 350 degrees until cheese melts (about twenty minutes).

Recipe makes six.


Ceviche


by Ulivia Guadarrama

Ulvia Guadarrama is the founder of the NFB of Utah Spanish-Speaking
Division. She is also a low vision specialist at Utah’s Services for the
Blind.

Ceviche is a South American dish. It can be served as an appetizer and as a
side dish with tostadas or corn chips. Ceviche varies in flavor depending on
the ingredients and taste. Ceviche is best when using fresh ingredients.

Ingredients:

Tomatoes

Onion (of choice, I used a purple/red onion)

Cilantro

Cucumber

Hot peppers

Imitation crab

Avocado

Tostadas/chips

Lemon

Salt

Method: Start by chopping a small onion into small cubes; once it’s cut
place it in a dish and pour some lime juice to allow it to absorb the flavor
until everything is all cut and ready to mix. Chop up in cubes: one
jalapeño, one cucumber, two tomatoes (Roma tomatoes work great), and some
cilantro. Shred the full packet of flaked imitation crab. Place the
tomatoes, cucumbers, jalapeño, cilantro, onion with the lime juice, and the
shredded crab, all in a mixing bowl. Add to taste: salt, black pepper, and
the juice of three limes. Serve on a tostada or chips and top it with some
avocado and Valentina hot sauce. Yummy, enjoy!

----------


Monitor Miniatures 


News from the Federation Family


Rideshare Denials Due to Service Animals:

NFB and NAGDU are gathering video interviews about Uber and Lyft denials
from travelers with service animals. We hope to capture stories that
describe the significant barriers and stress travelers experience with each
denial and to use these videos in our advocacy efforts. If you were denied a
ride by Lyft or Uber because of your service animal anytime between October
1, 2021, and present and would like to participate in a recorded Zoom
interview, please contact the NAGDU board at 346-439-7444 or
board at nagdu.org.

Please Share Content with our Communications Team:

Our affiliates sponsor great content, and our outreach and communications
teams can repurpose and magnify it. We are asking that you record content
like presentations, podcasts, panels, and the like and send the link to your
recorded content with a quick explanation of what the content consists of,
to comunicationsteam at nfb.org. Please record anything you are doing as it is
too easy to miss good content. We don’t know how powerful a presentation or
panel will be until it is done. Let’s capture our amazing stories told
across the country.

2022-2023 Teachers of Tomorrow Program:

Individuals in the United States who are currently studying to be teachers
of blind students or career teachers who are currently employed teaching
blind/low-vision students in PK-12 settings are encouraged to apply for the
next cohort of NFB Teachers of Tomorrow. This is an immersive, professional
development program that connects teachers of blind and low-vision students
to the lived experiences of blind people. This program will begin in the
fall of 2022 and continue throughout the 2022-2023 school year, culminating
in a gathering at our 2023 National Convention. For more information and to
apply, visit https://nfb.org/programs-services/education/teachers-tomorrow.

----------


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.

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