[nfbwatlk] Greater Seattle Chapter meeting summaryand announcements

Wed Jun 6 07:25:43 UTC 2012

Hi,I think the "dining in the dark" thing could go either way, just like the 
blindfolding experiments so many groups do to "see what it is like to be 
blind."  I feel a little skeptical about it but if you guys can pull it off, 
great!  Let us know how it really goes.
Thanks
Lauren
advice from my cats: "meow when you feel like it."
"There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats." ~
Albert Schweitzer
My new book, "there's more than one way to love a cat," is available at 
amazon.com
Visit us at catliness.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Mello" <mike at mello.com>
To: "NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List" <nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2012 11:47 PM
Subject: Re: [nfbwatlk] Greater Seattle Chapter meeting summaryand 
announcements

It is my hope that with this response, you will further understand the 
intentions of this opportunity, and the reason for bringing
chapter members to volunteer with The Blind Caf,.

About a month ago, Rosh Rocheleau contacted me informing me of an event 
sponsored by the Blind Caf,. This opportunity
consists of a dinner, Q&A, and concert. These events occur in the dark. 
People from the community purchase tickets, and
are guided by blind wait staff. Blind people also facilitate and provide 
answers during the Q&A. Although the menu and
entertainment are prearranged, the event seemed to exert the intention of 
fostering community and open-mindedness. Rosh
included this sentence in his email. 
We really care about this event being 
an empowering and respectful event for the blind
community.
 His overall message was positive, but this sentence especially 
conveyed to me that this opportunity would be
unlike previous 
dining in the dark
 experiences I had heard about.

I contacted some NFB leaders I know in Texas before committing to the 
experience. I learned that The Blind Caf, stopped
in Austin, and that the local chapter and state affiliate found the 
experience positive and recommended that we endorse it as
well. These contacts are well-known and longtime federationists, and their 
positivity combined with the eagerness and
enthusiasm of Rosh and The Blind Caf, gave me comfort in committing to 
assist them in their event.

Four members of the Seattle chapter will assist at the event on the evenings 
of June 8 and 9, and all of these individuals
have a strong NFB philosophy and live independent and fulfilling lives. 
Since it was made clear to me that we would guide
the Q&A, I feel that this experience will assist in The Blind Caf,s mission 
of bringing people together and exploring new
ideas.

As with any idea we encounter, you can pick this experience apart and give 
advice. The Blind Caf, could certainly seek out
blind chefs and performers, and we might suggest this to them. However, this 
organization is grassroots and the nature of it is
to bring this experience to cities throughout the country. Even though this 
event has the potential of displaying more types of
blindness skills, I chose to act on the previously indicated positivity. And 
I know that through the example of the blind
volunteers of the chapter, this organization will only be empowered as their 
mission strives.

I understand that many 
disability awareness
 events make someone just aware 
enough of a disability to be scared to death
and cause them to leave the experience with a negative and 
youre so 
amazing, but I could never do that
 attitude. I also
understand that events sponsored by the Seattle local chapter, such as our 
annual chapter picnic in which many
nonmembers are invited to, are entirely created and implemented by blind 
people. However, there are some events and
fundraisers that the local chapter and state affiliate endorse that are not 
solely created and run by blind people. Many NFB
chapters participate in the Macys Shop for a Cause sale. Macys is not a 
chain owned and operated by blind people, yet
we choose to take advantage of a charitable opportunity. Although blind 
people are not solely responsible for this event, the
Seattle local chapter is sure to staff the information table with blind 
members and positive literature. Even though these
events are not synonymousThe Blind Caf, is designed to create community and 
to spread new ideas, and the Macys
Shop for a Cause is a fundraiserthey are both opportunities to provide a 
positive example of blindness, and any
opportunity to do this is priceless.

Given these circumstances, I feel that since we were offered an opportunity, 
and since it is evident both from conversations,
with and about the forerunners of The Blind Caf,, have conveyed positivity, 
we will continue to participate as planned.

I also understand that this event is a first for the Seattle chapter. And 
with this in mind, we will take note as to whether the
overall message aligns enough with the NFB. I feel that each chapter must 
undertake new experiences to stay vibrant and
active, and this is an example of a new event that the Seattle chapter is 
attempting. Like some fundraisers and membership
activities, this may not serve as an adequate representation of the chapter, 
but it has radiated enough encouragement that I
am confident to pursue it now and to evaluate its effectiveness afterword.

I would encourage you to view The Blind Caf,s website, 
www.theblindcafe.com, to better understand their mission. I would
especially like to point out that their mission encompasses much more than 
blindness or blind people. I know that most of
the work of the NFB deals directly with blindness, but I more importantly 
think that it is innovative for a nonprofit to choose
blindness as a tool of engaging communities. It is a new perspective for 
most, and a revolutionary concept that could afford
us a positive influence on countless individuals.

Mike Mello

On Tue, 5 Jun 2012 21:57:37 -0700, Humberto Avila wrote:

>Really? Dining in the dark event, for this chapter's events? I was told on 
>another NFB listserve, that blindness organizations
should not organize or do Dining in the Dark events, especially an 
organization like the NFB, that promotes positive attitudes
of blindness and positive philosophies of blindness. It has been claimed 
that, even though you are trying to make your
diners have a positive experience, no matter how positive you are, the 
diners still get the notions that "oh, how does this
blind person eat this?" or "how the heck can a blind person use a spoon or 
knife to cut and or put food in the mouth?" or "It
must be so hard being blind; I just can't think of myself not being able to 
even eat because I can't see!" or "Blind people are
so freekin' amazing! They have heightened senses! I am not sure if I could 
do that if I couldn't see!"

>Before organizing these events, you need to consider those things I just 
>mentioned. Dining in the Dark events do not show
sighted communities that in fact, blind people can do everything and 
anything a sighted person can, and that they are
normal beings, and simply, their eyesight does not work, causing them 
blindness, which is just a physical nuisance. Instead,
they show the negative perceptions I just quoted above, and bring those 
outdated stereotypes that people always seem to
have. If I were an experienced pilot or airline crew member, and was to make 
you get on the cockpit of a Boeing Jet plane,
take the pilot seat and the controls, and tell you, "Fly to this 
destination." What would you do? What would you think? What
would you say? How would you react? What attitudes may you have?

>Well, you might think, "how the h*ll can this pilot lift this thing into 
>the air and fly?" and "this is impossible. I can't do this; I'm
not a pilot." Why might you think this? Because you haven't had the training 
and crucial skills that pilots undergo in order to
fulfill the task of flying an air craft. You don't know what it's like, 
because you don't have the experience of flying and driving
an airplane into the air and knowing how to take off and land. Well, it is 
the same thing. A sighted person does not know that
a blind person can do all this and that and go here and there with 
independence and skill, competently and confidently, and
with freedom. Just like with the pilot Vs. Untrained person, the sighted 
need to realize that it takes us training, a lot of training
indeed to fulfill the tasks that we do every day. They need to know that, 
since we are little and learning, we need to learn how
to do everything nonvisually. They must know that we need to have 
instruction in the fields of Braille, Adaptive technology,
and learn to say "yes I can" to every challenge. Blind people need to be 
skilled, since they are kids, to do everything a
sighted person can do, self-sufficiently and with ease. Heck even I can 
insure you in the future that blind persons will be able
to drive, given the proper skill and training they could get! (smile).

>Marci, I am not cancelling your event what so ever. I am just making sure 
>that you can indeed understand and think about
all I have told you about promoting blindness with Dining in the Dark events 
like the one you are going to put together as a
chapter. Yes, I have learned a lot myself, even from reading the 
conversations and threads that were going around a couple
of months ago when a Calif. newspaper covered a story about a foundation 
that's supposedly doing a dining in the Dark
event to show how blind people could or could not eat, or more 
metaphorically, how they can or cannot do things. The facts,
according to list member, started the thread.

>If you really want to organize the event you are going to organize that 
>day, please find interesting, more appealing, creative
ways, and I mean Creative with a capital C, about this Dining in the Dark 
event, that fosters a positive view of blindness.
Something you could do is: you can bring together some blind chefs that you 
know in your chapter, or blind people who
have great experiences in cooking who are blind and are positive in their 
blindness themselves, who are willing to volunteer
their time. They could cook and put together a very delicious meal for 
dinner at a nice, public facility and many sighted
people can attend. They can support your local chapter by donating a few 
bucks for purchasing the meal cooked totally by
blind people, and, more importantly, they can watch how the meal is being 
cooked if they want to, and how they serve, ETC.
they could see for themselves that positive attitude of blindness the NFB is 
trying to promote. This could be quite the
contrary to a Dining in the Darks Event.
>Otherwise, if you don't come up with something so creative, a federation 
>leader or someone experienced in the positive
philosophies of Blindness of the NFB, will ticket the Dining in the Darks 
event and perhaps call it "quits". Isn't that right, Mike?

>Well, quick but quite lengthy reflection for you. My 5 dollars, for what is 
>worth.

>Cheers,
>Humberto

>-----Original Message-----
>From: nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
>Behalf Of mjc59 at q.com
>Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2012 7:55 PM
>To: NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List
>Subject: [nfbwatlk] Greater Seattle Chapter meeting summary and 
>announcements

>He everyone,

>

>Well, we had another great chapter meeting in May. We will be participating 
>in Dining In The Dark fundraisers this Friday
and Saturday, June 8th and 9th. These dinners are being coordinated by A 
Federation member and will incorporate positive
attitudes about blindness. They will take place at the Fremont Baptist 
Church at 7:30 p.m. each evening. Federation
members will sit at the tables with the sighted diners.

>

>We finalized plans for our chapter picnic. Noel Nightingale and Jim 
>Peterson will host the chapter picnic at their lovely
home. The picnic will be held on Saturday, July 28th at 4 p.m. The chapter 
will provide hamburgers and hot dogs. Those
attending are asked to bring a side dish or dessert. Address and 
transportation details will be included in the June meeting
summary. Everyone is welcome to attend. The picnic is always a lot of fun!

>

>Our iPad 3 raffle tickets will be available at the June meeting. Tickets 
>will be $5 each. The raffle drawing will occur during
the NFBW State Convention in Everett in October.

>

>We passed a motion officially supporting our participation in the 2012 Shop 
>For A Cause at Macy's at the end of August.
James Janney has secured a good location on the first floor for our table. 
For a suggested donation on $5 shoppers will
receive a coupon for a discount on their Macy's purchases.

>

>A new member, Cindy Bennett, joined the chapter. Cindy is a recent graduate 
>of BLIND, Inc. and has recently moved to
Seattle.

>

>Our June meeting will be held on Saturday, June 16th at 10:30 a.m. at the 
>Downtown Seattle Public Library, 1000 4th Avenue;
4th floor, room 2. Please join us there!

>

>Marci Carpenter

>Secretary

>Greater Seattle Chapter

>NFB of Washington
>
>_______________________________________________
>nfbwatlk mailing list
>nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org
>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbwatlk_nfbnet.org
>To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>nfbwatlk:
>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbwatlk_nfbnet.org/avila.bert.humberto2%40gmail.com

>_______________________________________________
>nfbwatlk mailing list
>nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org
>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbwatlk_nfbnet.org
>To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>nfbwatlk:
>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbwatlk_nfbnet.org/mike%40mello.com

Michael J. Mello

mike at mello.com

(208) 301-0565

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

> _______________________________________________
> nfbwatlk mailing list
> nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbwatlk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> nfbwatlk:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbwatlk_nfbnet.org/lauren1%40catliness.com
> 