[nfbwatlk] Fw: [Nabs-presidents] Grant Opportunities for Youth andDivisions

[Jedi]

Mike,

I personally have too much going on to try and make this grant thing 
work. However, I did feel it worth while to comment on your position 
regarding cultural awareness in our affiliate.

When it comes to cultural awareness, the key is acceptance, not just 
tolerance. For me, tolerance is that "live and let live" attitude. 
Acceptance on the other hand, feels more welcoming and active. For me, 
acceptance actively affirms differences and similarities between people 
of all kinds, not just those from other cultures. A great example of 
acceptance in our affiliate has been our active interest in young 
people, especially since our discussion last spring. When I was asked 
my opinion from a young person's perspective, I not only felt tolerated 
as a young person, but really accepted as someone who has value and can 
really contrubute to the greater welfare of the organization in a truly 
unique way. inside of that acceptance, I felt that even though my 
perspective was unique, it was also treated with the same value and 
respect as perspectives offered by older members. I feel that we can 
apply the same expressions toward people of different cultures.

The truth is that folks know when they're being truly loved, accepted, 
and embraced by some society, and folks also know instinctively when 
they're not. It's not always something that can be explained, pointed 
to, or expressed. More often than not, it's just an intuitive or gut 
feeling that we've all probably had at some point in our lives. I know 
there have been times when I haven't felt accepted, loved, and embraced 
by the affiliate. So to see those feelings change tells me that our 
affiliate has the potential for continued growth in the acceptance 
arena, and I think that will definitely make us truly available to all 
kinds of cultures whether they be ethnically based, religiously based, 
age based, or whatever based.

Respectfully,
Jedi


Original message:
> It depends upon the interpretation of "cross-cultural". I'm afraid some
> may misunderstand or misinterpret what I'm going to say next here,
> alleging that I am either a total pessimist or prejudiced. Neither is
> the case.

> First, from a sociological perspective, I imagine that it's quite
> amusing to watch the dance of grantors and grantees, the former
> perpetually trying to narrow the scope of their outlays to cover *just*
> the sort of projects they deem important and the latter trying to
> stretch, parlay and fit square pegs in round holes, every which way
> trying to get their pet projects to at least sound like the sort of
> thing the grantors are looking for. Since the grantors hold the purse
> strings, they usually have the uper hand. (big grin)

> Second, although I'd love to be proven wrong in the following assertion,
> I suspect that, culturally-speaking, this affiliate would not have a lot
> of appeal, say, for young Hispanics or African-American or
> native-American blind youth for, try as we may and being as admiring of
> their cultures (if they have any) as we might endeavor to be, we just
> don't quite fit and thus may not have much of an appeal. When these
> sorts of things come up, I am reminded of the situation that the First
> Unitarian-Universalist church in downtown Portland faced in the 1960's,
> 1970's and 1980's and, for all I know, still faces today. Many of its
> paritioners worried that the good congregation wasn't sufficiently
> welcome to black membership (there was *One* black member of whom I was
> aware). Yet nothing could have been further from the truth. It was one
> of the most welcoming, tolerant, open-minded church groups I've ever
> been in, ready and eager to learn and to let the members do their thing
> without prejudice or invalid assumptions. Yet if one of the humorous
> epithets UU people were heir to bak then was "God's Frozen People",
> First Church was emblematic of the monicker in spades! Very much
> old-time New England Congregationalist without the Trinity. So it had
> zilch appeal to native-Americans, African-Americans and Hispanics; the
> Church of the Nazarine next door was far more appealing. Yet First UU
> Church ran and, I think, still runs Outside Inn, one of the best drug
> rehabilitation projects in Portland.

> I suspect that we of NFB of Washington are, like it or not, in much the
> same boat. But if someone wishes to take this one on (AKA Grant Guru or
> Placer of Square Pegs in Round Holes -- should this be an elective
> office?), I am more than willing to support his/her efforts.

> Mike Freeman, President
> NFB of Washington

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jedi" <loneblindjedi at samobile.net>
> To: <nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Saturday, September 05, 2009 10:18 PM
> Subject: [nfbwatlk] Fw: [Nabs-presidents] Grant Opportunities for Youth
> andDivisions


> This is from the NABS list. Is this an opportunity we can use to fund
> our youth development projects in WA State?

> Respectfully,
> Jedi

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