[nfbwatlk] [Wcb-l] from the same 1966 Monitor

[debby phillips]

Regardless of what happened later on, this is still part of OUR 
Federation history.    Debby

 ---- Original Message ------
From: "Carl Jarvis" <carjar82 at gmail.com
Subject: [Wcb-l] from the same 1966 Monitor
Date sent: Wed, 26 Sep 2012 11:30:53 -0700

One more article from that Braille Monitor, September 1966.

WSAB was the original name of the organization which later merged 
with the
WCB in 1990.  In 1966, I had been blind for just one year.  Four 
years later
in 1970 I was elected as president of the King County White Cane
Association.  At that time we had built the membership in Seattle 
to 67
members.  That same year I wrote the resolution calling for WSAB 
to go
before the state legislature and request that a Commission for 
the Blind be
established.  The convention met in Hoquiam and passed the 
resolution,
beginning a 7 year struggle to ultimate victory.
Carl Jarvis

PS:
After the establishment of Community Services for the Blind, 
Director
Charles Brown took over the Social Center where the King County 
White Cane
Association had been meeting.
CJ

WSAB SUPPORTS SEATTLE CLUB IN FIGHT WITH CSB
To save the political and constitutional rights of blind persons 
as
citizens, the Washington State Association of the Blind has 
resolved to
support and help the organized blind of Seattle in their 
confrontation with
the Community Services for the Blind (CSB), a local agency formed 
in 1965
which reflects COMSTAC policies.

In March Charles E.  Brown, executive director of the Seattle 
CSB, wrote to
Tom Gronning, president of the White Cane Association of King 
County,
setting forth demands on the association as conditions for 
continued use of
meeting facilities recently placed under CSB's control.  These 
demands
included furnishing CSB with a copy of the organization's 
constitution and
bylaws and a list of elected officers -- with a person designated 
as direct
liaison.

"Further, it is essential that we request that you consult with 
us before
you engage in any fund raising program, or any organized 
political
activity," wrote Brown.  "This is solely because we need to be 
aware of these
matters, and also could not condone any such activities which 
would in any
way be contradictory to our principals [sic] , or which would be, 
for one
reason or another, embarrassing."

The White Cane Association rejected the demands as "paternalism 
of the most
exaggerated and obnoxious kind." It's letter to Brown firmly 
stated:

'Whatever may be the demands of paternalistic social agencies, we 
shall
maintain and exercise our God-given and our constitutional rights 
to engage
in whatever political activity we please so long as it be within 
the laws of
the State and Nation.  We shall equally maintain and exercise our 
right to
engage in public fund raising campaigns.  You talk about what you 
insist
upon.  This is what we insist upon.  We insist upon it, moreover, 
whether you
'condone' our actions and activities or not, whether our actions 
and
activities are 'contradictory' to your 'principals [ sic] and 
practices',
whether they are 'embarrassing' to you for one reason or for 
ten."

In his banquet speech at the Louisville Convention, NFB President 
Jacobus
tenBroek gave his and the Federation's wholehearted support to 
the Seattle
affiliate, labeling CSB's action as "out of this world" 
paternalism.  As for
the standards of the Commission on Standards and Accreditation of 
Services
for the Blind -- which CSB professes to follow -- President 
tenBroek
described them as "mis -conceived , mis -directed , and 
mischievous."

Eager to take a stand against such dictatorial action before it 
set a
dangerous precedent, the WSAB issued its resolution, which in 
full reads:

"WHEREAS, the WSAB in convention assembled in Everett, 
Washington, August 6,
1966 has studied in detail the report of Public Relations 
Committee of WSAB;
And, More particularly, the exchange of letters between Mr.  Tom 
Gronning
dated March 21, 1966 and Mrs.  Charles E.  Brown, dated May 9, 
1966; and

"WHEREAS, we, of WSAB, feel that it must be obvious to all 
concerned that
the Community Services for the Blind Organization of Seattle is 
flagrantly
attempting to silence the voice of the Blind and their activities 
in the
area; and

"WHEREAS, this highhanded and shocking approach of the Community 
Service for
the Blind Agency is 'justified' in the name of Commission on 
Standards and
Accreditation of Services for the Blind; and

"WHEREAS, this newly formed Commission is a self-appointed and
self-perpetuating 'Super Agency' promoting the dominance of 
Agencies for the
Blind over the Blind and which give only lip service to the 
blind.

"NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the WSAB in Convention 
assembled this 6th
day of August, 1966, in Everett, Washington, that this 
Organization fully
and without reservation supports the position of the King County 
White Cane
Association and stands ready and waiting to lend every possible 
support in
this crusade to retain the freedom of Blind persons to decide 
their own
destinies and to speak for themselves."


WSAB SUPPORTS SEATTLE CLUB IN FIGHT WITH CSB
To save the political and constitutional rights of blind persons 
as
citizens, the Washington State Association of the Blind has 
resolved to
support and help the organized blind of Seattle in their 
confrontation with
the Community Services for the Blind (CSB), a local agency formed 
in 1965
which reflects COMSTAC policies.

In March Charles E.  Brown, executive director of the Seattle 
CSB, wrote to
Tom Gronning, president of the White Cane Association of King 
County,
setting forth demands on the association as conditions for 
continued use of
meeting facilities recently placed under CSB's control.  These 
demands
included furnishing CSB with a copy of the organization's 
constitution and
bylaws and a list of elected officers -- with a person designated 
as direct
liaison.

"Further, it is essential that we request that you consult with 
us before
you engage in any fund raising program, or any organized 
political
activity," wrote Brown.  "This is solely because we need to be 
aware of these
matters, and also could not condone any such activities which 
would in any
way be contradictory to our principals [sic] , or which would be, 
for one
reason or another, embarrassing."

The White Cane Association rejected the demands as "paternalism 
of the most
exaggerated and obnoxious kind." It's letter to Brown firmly 
stated:

'Whatever may be the demands of paternalistic social agencies, we 
shall
maintain and exercise our God-given and our constitutional rights 
to engage
in whatever political activity we please so long as it be within 
the laws of
the State and Nation.  We shall equally maintain and exercise our 
right to
engage in public fund raising campaigns.  You talk about what you 
insist
upon.  This is what we insist upon.  We insist upon it, moreover, 
whether you
'condone' our actions and activities or not, whether our actions 
and
activities are 'contradictory' to your 'principals [ sic] and 
practices',
whether they are 'embarrassing' to you for one reason or for 
ten."

In his banquet speech at the Louisville Convention, NFB President 
Jacobus
tenBroek gave his and the Federation's wholehearted support to 
the Seattle
affiliate, labelling CSB's action as "out of this world" 
paternalism.  As for
the standards of the Commission on Standards and Accreditation of 
Services
for the Blind -- which CSB professes to follow -- President 
tenBroek
described them as "mis -conceived , mis -directed , and 
mischievous."

Eager to take a stand against such dictatorial action before it 
set a
dangerous precedent, the WSAB issued its resolution, which in 
full reads:

"WHEREAS, the WSAB in convention assembled in Everett, 
Washington, August 6,
1966 has studied in detail the report of Public Relations 
Committee of WSAB;
And, More particularly, the exchange of letters between Mr.  Tom 
Gronning
dated March 21, 1966 and Mrs.  Charles E.  Brown, dated May 9, 
1966; and

"WHEREAS, we, of WSAB, feel that it must be obvious to all 
concerned that
the Community Services for the Blind Organization of Seattle is 
flagrantly
attempting to silence the voice of the Blind and their activities 
in the
area; and

"WHEREAS, this highhanded and shocking approach of the Community 
Service for
the Blind Agency is 'justified' in the name of Commission on 
Standards and
Accreditation of Services for the Blind; and

"WHEREAS, this newly formed Commission is a self-appointed and
self-perpetuating 'Super Agency' promoting the dominance of 
Agencies for the
Blind over the Blind and which give only lip service to the 
blind.

"NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the WSAB in Convention 
assembled this 6th
day of August, 1966, in Everett, Washington, that this 
Organization fully
and without reservation supports the position of the King County 
White Cane
Association and stands ready and waiting to lend every possible 
support in
this crusade to retain the freedom of Blind persons to decide 
their own
destinies and to speak for themselves."