[nfbwatlk] Fwd: [List] Braille Monitor: September, 1977: Part 1:

Elizabeth Rene rene0373 at gmail.com
Sat Aug 2 18:46:31 UTC 2014


Yesterday evening, Paul Gabias from our Canadian counterpart list (CFB) sent me four  large emails comprising the Braille  Monitor from September, 1977. He prefaced them with some comments about his own movement toward Federated blindness. I deleted his emails, because I was too busy to read them, and almost cleared the trash. Then I read his comments and changed my mind.
I wrote to Paul to tell him why.
My comment, with  Paul's original post to follow, is in this forwarded message. We express our appreciation for the NFB.
Best,
Elizabeth 

Elizabeth M René 
Attorney at Law 
WSBA #10710
KCBA #21824 
rene0373 at gmail.com

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Elizabeth Rene <rene0373 at gmail.com>
> Date: August 2, 2014 at 1:26:30 AM PDT
> To: "list at cfb.ca" <list at cfb.ca>
> Subject: Re: [List] Braille Monitor: September, 1977: Part 1:
> 
> Dear Paul,
> Thank you for your thoughtful message. And thank you for the email installments of the 1977 Braille Monitor.
> I am a Canadian born United States citizen living in Washington state. In 1977, I was in law school in St. Louis, Missouri. I had not heard of the national Federation of the blind except at home in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on midnight public-service announcements, the ad beginning with the sound of a tapping cane and reflections on life in the Middle Ages for blind people. Kenneth Jernigan pleaded for a chance to be accepted as a normal person. The ad chilled me. I did not want to be a blind person (though I had been one since birth), I WAS ME, a person who couldn't see as others did, but who was doing what she wanted in life. References to "the blind," or worse, to the "blind community" made my flesh creep. Language like that still repels me. Imagine calling someone one of "the black," "the gay" or "the weaker sex" – oh well, that final language was used, wasn't it?
>  Point is, I didn't want to be one of "the blind." That was a device to shade windows.
> So I didn't look for organized movements to further my own civil rights. I worked for the civil rights of others. I think that you and I traveled similar paths.
> Over the years, I have become more and more familiar with the National Federation of the Blind, and have become more and more impressed with what blind people can do as a movement to advance our common cause.
> I finally joined the NFB this summer, and have pledged to pull my weight to make the vision and mission of the NFB part of American culture.
> I smile when I read your reference to the difficult times that the NFB headed into in 1977. You seemed to imply that that would not have been the Canadian way. I wonder if you aren't right. This American woman, reared from  Canadian terroir, was put off by the stridency and inner turmoil of the NFB I first encountered. I may not have been old enough to realize that the civil rights organizations of black people during the 50s and 60s might have had their own internal struggles too. Yet I built my own coming of age identity upon their ideals: I may be blind, but I am somebody.
> All this is to admit that tonight, as I went through my email, I almost trashed all those long articles you sent. I was too busy to read them. I didn't want to dredge up painful memories that might be aroused by those early texts.
> But your message stopped me. Your call to learn from the past, to reflect upon the gains that the NFB has achieved for all of us, and to ponder anew what we all might do together that we might not dare alone has made me change my mind.
> I'll read those articles. Maybe not by myself. Maybe I'll want other blind friends to read them with me and talk about them. Some journeys need to be walked hand-in-hand. And maybe that's what the NFB is about.
> 
> Best wishes from across the border,
> Elizabeth  
> 
> Elizabeth M René 
> Attorney at Law 
> WSBA #10710
> KCBA #21824 
> rene0373 at gmail.com
> 
>> On Aug 1, 2014, at 4:15 PM, "Gabias, Paul" <paul.gabias at ubc.ca> wrote:
>> 
>> Hello Everybody,
>>  
>> For anybody interested in the history of the National Federation of the Blind, this Braille Monitor, September, 1977, is really important.  Dr. Jernigan resigns from the presidency, for health reasons, and Ralph Sanders is elected president.
>>  
>> As I read this monitor, I remember my own state of mind vis a vis the organized blind.  I was fully engaged in Graduate School, in New York City, but I did read the Braille Monitor, while or before going to sleep at night.  I was too involved in my own affairs to give it much thought. 
>> I was a student, trying to excel and survive at NYU.  By that time, I had probably just been accepted into the PhD program in Experimental Psychology.  I was probably concerned with the histograms of different cells in the visual pathway to the brain, something that I teach today.  At that time, I was probably becoming familiar with single cell recordings.  I felt far removed from the problems of the blind.  To some degree, I still feel that way. 
>> But, there is still the persistent feeling on the part of the sighted, that we are somehow amazing, for just about anything that we do, while, at the same time, they are reluctant to let us in, as individuals and mostly, as a class!!! 
>> All of that, was, at that time for me, too overwhelming.  I was dealing with it, on my own terms, at the University.  I simply couldn’t imagine trying to help people deal with it collectively.  
>> It wasn’t until the airlines became a seemingly unbreakable wall of discrimination that I knew that I had to get involved.  I became aware of that feeling in the mid-eighties.  And, moving to Nevada, really gave me a sense of isolation from the Federation.  There was no chapter in Reno, and therefore, no presidential releases. 
>> I tell you of all of this, because when I read the September Braille Monitor today, I feel the tremendous intensity in it, intensity that only Dr. Jernigan had the knack to bring to everything that he did.  But, in the mid-seventies, I didn’t feel it, the way I feel it today. 
>> Living in Canada, you can almost get a feeling that everything is pretty peaceful for the blind, and always has been, and always will be.  Are governments and people in Canada, simply nicer to the blind than in the United States?  It’s as if, the blind are simply ignored.  The blind, for all practical purposes, simply don’t exist.  There are little brailled signs on the money, but, it’s as if, those signs are for pretend people, people that don’t actually exist!!!  There is an agency for the blind, but, it’s for pretend people too!!!  The agency collects money from the public, but the public has no idea where that money goes, or who that money serves.  The government gives money to the agency, but that money is just for pretend people.  In a real  sense, it’s a pretend agency. 
>> They say that still waters run deep, but is there anything running in the hearts and the minds of blind Canadians?  One would never know it; everything is so tranquil!!! 
>> In the last twenty years, there have been those who have truly become interested in the history of the National Federation of the Blind.  Quite a few of us, in Canada, are now aware of the NFB, and some of us, are active members in it, through our work with the CFB. 
>> I guess, what I am saying, is if you have a mind to do so, read the September 1977 Monitor, which I have copied below.  Try to resonate to its intensity.  Back in 1977, there will be great struggles ahead for the NFB.  We are now, back in 1977, just about to embark on some difficult times, which the NFB did live through. 
>> You know, I can’t imagine that in Canada, things will always be so peaceful.  Even in the United States, I do feel that there is a very disturbing kind of peacefulness, a peacefulness that is not at all commensurate with the problems that blind people still face, as a class.  It is so important to be informed by the past.
>>  
>> All The Best
>>  
>> Paul Gabias
>>  
>>  
>> Full text of "Braille Monitor (September 1977)"
>> Braille 
>> Monitor 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> SEPTEMBER, 1977 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> VOICE OF THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND 
>>  
>>  
>> National Federation of the Blind (NFB) 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> http://www.archive.org/details/braillemonitorse1977nati 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> THE BRAILLE MONITOR 
>>  
>> PUBLICATION OF THE 
>>  
>> NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> SEPTEMBER 1977 
>>  
>> CONTENTS 
>>  
>> PRESIDENT JERNIGAN RESIGNS; 
>>  
>> RALPH SANDERS IS THE NEW NFB PRESIDENT 277 
>>  
>> RESPONSE FROM FEDERATIONISTS 278 
>>  
>> ISABELLE L. D. GRANT DIES 281 
>>  
>> CONVENTION ROUNDUP 282 
>>  
>> TO EVERY THING THERE IS A SEASON 300 
>>  
>> BY KENNETH JERNIGAN 
>>  
>> RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY THE THIRTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL 
>>  
>> CONVENTION OF THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND 308 
>>  
>> RECIPE OF THE MONTH 321 
>>  
>> BY VERA BRANDT 
>>  
>> MONITOR MINIATURES 321 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> THE DEADLINE FOR ARTICLES TO APPEAR IN THE NOVEMBER ISSUE IS SEPTEMBER 10th. 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> THE BRAILLE MONITOR 
>>  
>> PUBLISHED MONTHLY IN INKPRINT, BRAILLE, AND ON TALKING-BOOK DISCS BY 
>>  
>> THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND 
>>  
>> RALPH SANDERS, President 
>>  
>> CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE PRESIDENT SHOULD BE SENT TO: 
>>  
>> BOX 4422 
>>  
>> BALTIMORE, MARYLAND 21223 
>>  
>> NATIONAL OFFICE 
>>  
>> 218 RANDOLPH HOTEL BUILDING 
>>  
>> FOURTH &. COURT STREETS 
>>  
>> DES MOINES, IOWA 50309 
>>  
>> WASHINGTON OFFICE 
>>  
>> 1346 CONNECTICUT AVENUE, NW., SUITE 212 
>>  
>> WASHINGTON, D.C. 20036 
>>  
>> ADDRESS CHANGES AND SUBSCRIPTION REQUESTS SHOULD BE SENT TO 
>> THE NATIONAL OFFICE, WITH THE ENVELOPE MARKED "BRAILLE MONITOR." 
>>  
>> ARTICLES AND CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE EDITOR SHOULD BE 
>> ADDRESSED TO THE EDITOR AND SENT TO THE WASHINGTON OFFICE. 
>>  
>> DONALD McCONNELL, tditor 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> MONITOR SUBSCRIPTIONS COST THE FEDERATION ABOUT $15 YEARLY. 
>>  
>> MEMBERS WHO CAN AFFORD TO DO SO ARE INVITED, 
>>  
>> AND NON-MEMBERS ARE REQUESTED, TO COVER THE SUBSCRIPTION COST. 
>>  
>> BRAILLE IS AVAILABLE ONLY TO THE DEAF-BLIND AND THOSE WITH 
>>  
>> A SIMILARLY COMPELLING NEED FOR THAT MEDIUM. 
>>  
>> DONATIONS AND SUBSCRIPTION PAYMENTS SHOULD BE MADE PAYABLE TO: 
>> THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND, AND SENT TO: 
>>  
>> RICHARD EDLUND, Treasurer 
>>  
>> NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND 
>>  
>> BOX 11185 
>>  
>> KANSAS CITY, KANSAS 66111 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> If you or a friend would like to remember the National Federation of the Blind in your will, 
>> you can do so by employing the following language: 
>>  
>> "I give, devise, and bequeath unto National Federation of the Blind, a District of Columbia non- 
>> profit corporation, the sum of $ (or " percent of my net estate" or "the following 
>>  
>> stocks and bonds: ") to be used for its worthy purposes on behalf of blind persons." 
>>  
>> If your wishes are more complex, you may have your attorney communicate with iho 
>> National Office for other suggested forms. 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND IS NOT AN ORGANIZATION 
>> SPEAKING FOR THE BLIND IT IS THE BLIND SPEAKING FOR THEMSELVES. 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> ISSN 0006-8829 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> SEPTEMBER 1977 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> ■ THE BRAILLE MONITOR ■ 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> 277 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> PRESIDENT JERNIGAN RESIGNS; 
>> RALPH SANDERS IS THE NEW NFB PRESIDENT 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> Tlie 1^)77 Convention of tlic National 
>> Federation of tiie Blind is over, and its pass- 
>> ing marks the end of a chapter in the history 
>> of tile organized blind movement. Because 
>> of increasingly troubled health, aggravated 
>> by an unrelenting work load, Kenneth 
>> Jernigan has been forced to resign after ten 
>> years as President of the NFB. The Conven- 
>> tion elected Ralph Sanders to succeed him, 
>> making President Sanders only the sixth 
>> man to hold the presidency of the organiza- 
>> tion in 37 years. Thus an era in the history 
>> of the NFB comes to an end. 
>>  
>> When President Jernigan announced his 
>> decision at the conclusion of the first day 
>> of the Convention, the room was filled 
>> with cries of "No! "-expressing the unwill- 
>> ingness of Federationists to hear and accept 
>> what was being said. As President Jernigan 
>> went on to say that-were his health to im- 
>> prove -he might one day again seek the 
>> presidency, he was interrupted once more, 
>> this time by a prolonged and tumultuous 
>> ovation. This was the first of many outpour- 
>> ings of the intense affection and loyalty to 
>> this man felt by the members of the Feder- 
>> ation. Both responses recalled the events of 
>> a decade earlier when the movement lost 
>> the leadership of another giant in the affairs 
>> of the blind. 
>>  
>> But aside from the emotional blow experi- 
>> enced by the Federation on both occasions, 
>> the differences between this resignation and 
>> and the earlier resignation, and later the 
>> death, of Jacobus tenBroek were very great. 
>> These differences reflect both the progress 
>> we have made and the effects of the unceas- 
>> ing labors and enormous strengths of 
>> Kenneth Jernigan. If Professor tenBroek 
>> was the visionary who looked within him- 
>> self and knew that the traditional concept 
>> of a blind man was a lie, and who spent a 
>> lifetime challenging that lie-submitting its 
>> premises and oppressive corollaries to the 
>> analysis of a mind endowed with genius 
>> and bolstered by profound scholarship, then 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> President Jernigan is the one who brought 
>> this liberating message home to the experi- 
>> ence of blind people throughout the coun- 
>> try. For 25 years, as board member, officer, 
>> and leader of the Federation, he has spread 
>> the message of Federationism; he has 
>> preached and exhorted and led us to a per- 
>> sonal realization of our normalcy; and in 
>> doing so he has unleashed, and even more, 
>> directed to coherent action, the energies of 
>> the blind population. The results are the 
>> proof of the thesis that the blind are normal 
>> human beings, capable of the failings of 
>> normal people, but capable also of their 
>> amazing ability to act cohesively and effec- 
>> tively, and capable also of their same hero- 
>> ism. Thus President Sanders assumes leader- 
>> ship of a unified movement-an organization 
>> which knows its purpose and has tasted the 
>> victories which grow from carefully directed 
>> collective action. 
>>  
>> But if the chapter of the Jernigan Presi- 
>> dency is completed, the story of this man's 
>> involvement in the Federation is far from 
>> finished. As the week of the Convention 
>> proceeded and President Jernigan chaired 
>> the sessions with all of his accustomed spirit 
>> and wit, his promise of continued participa- 
>> tion in the activities of the organization 
>> was clearly not an empty one. His leader- 
>> ship during the last year has not been that 
>> of weakness. Indeed, from almost every 
>> point of view, this has been our best year, 
>> bringing to conclusion projects that have 
>> been underway for a generation, and making 
>> our power in the affairs of the blind indis- 
>> putable. 
>>  
>> We have been lucky in the Federation, 
>> although most of our luck has been of the 
>> kind painstakingly created by ourselves. 
>> But the diligence and commitment of the 
>> blind has been matched by the appearance 
>> of leaders with the capacity to make the 
>> most of these virtues and direct us to sub- 
>> stantive achievement. In Ralph Sanders we 
>> have another such leader. In his few years 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> 278 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> • THE BRAILLE MONITOR 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> in leadership roles in the organization-for 
>> President Sanders is still a young man, nearly 
>> as young as Jacobus tenBroek was when he 
>> founded the Federation-Ralph Sanders has 
>> shown the kind of intense commitment and 
>> the ability for intelligent strategy which 
>> we have come to expect from our leaders. 
>> He comes to an office already dignified by 
>> greatness, and it is the common expectation 
>> that he will continue this tradition undi- 
>> minished. 
>>  
>> Indeed, it has been our experience that 
>> each leader brings his own strengths, his 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> own peculiar talents, and we look forward 
>> to the years ahead. 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> In some ways, the situation is a happy 
>> one and different from those in our past. A 
>> new President comes to the fore, but he has 
>> available to him the experience and wisdom 
>> of the President stepping aside. The transi- 
>> tion takes place at a time of great strength 
>> in the movement, of abundant talent in the 
>> other officers and the members, and with 
>> the lessons and guidance of our history to 
>> direct the changeover. We have not lost a 
>> leader, but gained another. D 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> RESPONSE FROM FEDERATIONISTS 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> Since the Convention, the National Office 
>> has received many letters expressing the feel- 
>> ings of Federationists about Dr. Jernigan's 
>> resignation. We reprint three of them here. 
>>  
>> DEAR MR. JERNIGAN: In the midst of my 
>> struggle to get the family ready to leave for 
>> London, I'm going to try to chisel out a 
>> few minutes to put down on paper what I 
>> have been thinking for the past week. First 
>> of all, I am coming to accept what has al- 
>> ways been unimaginable- the Federation 
>> without you at its head. For many of us 
>> who are new, you have been synonymous 
>> with the movement. Your leaving center 
>> stage leaves me with a painful sense of loss, 
>> but I must also admit feeling exultant at 
>> discovering that the movement can and will 
>> forge ahead. You were right when you said 
>> that we now have leadership in depth. I have 
>> no illusions about why. From the bottom 
>> of my heart I thank you for the time and 
>> skill and insight which you have given to 
>> preparing all of us to carry on. 
>>  
>> I must tell you of and thank you for 
>> something much more personal. I was never 
>> one of those really imprisoned by society 
>> and circumstance in the crushing way many 
>> of those I now love have been. My bondage 
>> was much subtler, more nebulous. I spent 
>> time manipulating events so that I could 
>> avoid things I didn't want to face. I felt 
>> vaguely apologetic about the way I did 
>> things. You've heard it all a thousand times 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> before. The Federation changed all that. 
>> Knowing other people who were living the 
>> kind of lives I wanted to be free to live 
>> showed me that I could do it too. But most 
>> of all it was your encouragement, your 
>> thoughtful support for my efforts with the 
>> local chapter, your respect for my mind 
>> and ability, and your speeches. You have 
>> given me an understanding of myself and 
>> have freed me to fulfill my potential. It is 
>> no wonder that I love you so much. You 
>> have unfettered my future, and you have 
>> my profound thanks. 
>>  
>> This year will be an important one for 
>> the Federation, and it pains me that I will 
>> not be here to help. But I have found work 
>> to do for the blind in England, so what you 
>> have taught me and believed me to be will 
>> be exported. Thank you for what you are 
>> and what you have made of me. 
>>  
>> My love and gratitude, 
>>  
>> BARBARA PIERCE. 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> DEAR SIR: I have thought long and hard 
>> about what I should say to you in this let- 
>> ter. I find that, for a change, 1 am not able 
>> to express all that I feel in words. In 1972, 
>> I had just graduated from college and was 
>> looking around for financial aid to attend 
>> law school. The agency in this state wanted 
>> desperately to avoid helping students in 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> SEPTEMBER 1977 • 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> 279 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> postgraduate work. For that reason alone, I 
>> dug up an application for the NFB scholar- 
>> siiip. My particular counselor hates the NFB 
>> with an intensity that I have seldom seen 
>> matched. But on this particular occasion he 
>> forgot that hatred and put me in touch 
>> with tlie organized blind movement. 1 tilled 
>> out the application, caught a bus, and went 
>> to an Indianapolis chapter meeting to join, 
>> since the application said that you had to 
>> be a member. I found the Indianapolis chap- 
>> ter pretty much like I always thought orga- 
>> nizations of the blind would be. There was 
>> ample coffee and doughnuts, a door prize, 
>> much talk about the upcoming picnic, and 
>> a good time was had by all. 
>>  
>> At this time I had no idea what the NFB 
>> was all about. I attended the 1972 Conven- 
>> tion in Chicago. 1 went to the Convention 
>> for the sole purpose of registering so that 
>> the next year I would be eligible for the 
>> scholarship. I will never forget the reaction 
>> that I had when I came into the meeting 
>> room and heard you speaking. You were 
>> announcing the ACB Iowa lawsuit. My reac- 
>> tion was instant. For the first time in my 
>> life I heard a blind man speaking forcibly, 
>> with direction and purpose, to those who 
>> seek to oppress us. I had often thought that 
>> what the blind needed was an NAACP of 
>> their own. Like other blind people. I had 
>> suffered discrimination and the misunder- 
>> standing that go hand in glove in our soci- 
>> ety. Before I left the Convention, I visited 
>> the literature table. I was like a kid in a 
>> toy store. I wanted everything. The next 
>> week I took one piece of literature to work 
>> with me each day-reading it on the bus, cof- 
>> fee breaks, lunch hours, whenever I could. 
>>  
>> I had started that summer working at the 
>> sheltered workshop at the Indiana agency 
>> for the blind. Fortunately, I only worked 
>> there ten days. I found another job, one 
>> that the agency had told me was not availa- 
>> ble. I really believe that if I had worked all 
>> of that summer in the sheltered workshop, 
>> and if I had not attended the NFB Conven- 
>> tion, thereby stumbling across the literature, 
>> I would not be a lawyer today. The depres- 
>> sion that set in as soon as I started my job 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> in the workshop was enormous. Although 
>> college-trained, I was paid 80 cents an hour. 
>> My job was to place ten hose clamps in a 
>> small cardboard box, stick that box in a 
>> case, and then start over. The boredom was 
>> maddening. Everwhere one turned he was 
>> under constant surveillance and supervision 
>> by the overseers of the shop. At lunch and 
>> coffee-break times, each of us had a certain 
>> seat at a certain table. And woe be to the 
>> offender who sat in someone else's seat. It 
>> was like first grade all over again, except I 
>> was 28. Even when you left the hideous 
>> workshop, the reminders that you were dif- 
>> ferent and a fit subject for segregation were 
>> all about. 
>>  
>> A bell rang to stop traffic for us; signs 
>> that cautioned the driver to take care be- 
>> cause there were blind pedestrians in the 
>> neighborhood; advertisements for blind- 
>> made products. When you finally got out 
>> of the neighborhood, you had tomorrow to 
>> look forward to. After ten days I felt ready 
>> to strangle the moron who was my overseer. 
>> I felt worthless and had an overwhelming 
>> desire to get drunk at night. Many of my 
>> fellow workers had been in this same shop 
>> for five, ten, maybe even twenty years. I 
>> still do not understand how they have kept 
>> their sanity. At the time of the NFB Con- 
>> vention, I had just found a new job. My 
>> relief at being out of the workhouse was 
>> great. I did not want to jeopardize my new 
>> job by being gone for a week, and therefore, 
>> I was at the Convention for only one day. 
>> However, I brought home with me the 
>> books and articles that were to give me the 
>> best part of my education. Much of what 
>> you and Dr. tenBroek said about blindness 
>> was only common sense. But yet I had 
>> never really thought of it that way. The en- 
>> tire philosophy was organized and integrated 
>> in such a fashion as to make the meaning of 
>> the NFB apparent. 
>>  
>> I started law school in September. The 
>> first semester was the most challenging four 
>> months of my life. Not only did I have the 
>> same problems all first-year law students 
>> have-the confusion, self-doubt, and harass- 
>> ment by law professors who wished to weed 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> 280 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> ■ THE BRAILLE MONITOR 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> out those who cannot stand the heat— but I 
>> also had people all around me telling me I 
>> could not do it. The agency had warned me 
>> against this course I had embarked on. Each 
>> law professor could easily think of ten 
>> things that 1 would not be able to do or 
>> would be able to do only with great dif- 
>> ficulty. My readers said that not even they 
>> could read that much material, and after 
>> all, they were sighted. Nay, even my wife 
>> counseled that I should drop classes, take a 
>> lighter load so as to be more competitive 
>> with those who had so many advantages 
>> over me. 
>>  
>> Although January found my name on the 
>> dean's list, I almost gave up several times. 
>> I am sure that I was sustained by the inspi- 
>> ration that I had drawn from your life and 
>> the history of our movement. The Braille 
>> Monitor came monthly, and it almost al- 
>> ways included a story about someone who 
>> had overcome greater obstacles than I was 
>> deahng with, and it always included stories 
>> about people whose opportunities were far 
>> less than the one I currently had. I had a 
>> lot of discouragement around me but in 
>> times of doubt, I had only to turn to what 
>> you had written to reassure myself. You 
>> have given far more than we had a right to 
>> expect of you. You have been our leader, 
>> our teacher, and our counselor. I am sure 
>> that I speak for thousands of others who 
>> will not for one reason or another write to 
>> you. We love you. You are to be respected 
>> in every way. We wish only the best of 
>> things for you, that your life may be long, 
>> happy, and healthy. I am sure that if you 
>> had devoted your life to something other 
>> than trying to better the lot of your fellow 
>> blind, you would not be a Senator, Gover- 
>> nor, or whatever else you might liked to 
>> have done. 
>>  
>> I think that we shall always look to you 
>> for guidance and wisdom. It is not possible 
>> to properly thank you for what you have 
>> done forme personally or for the blind peo- 
>> ple of this nation. Therefore. I will close 
>> this letter simply by saying that, thanks to 
>> you, we know who we are and we will never 
>> go back. 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> With deepest affection. 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> JAMES A LEWIS. 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> DEAR DR. JERNIGAN: I decided to write 
>> you a letter after the New Orleans Conven- 
>> tion of NFB because there were some things 
>> that I wanted to say personally to you and 
>> could not, due to time constraints. 
>>  
>> As many Federationists (including you) 
>> were saddened at your resignation, so was I. 
>> I believe Ralph Sanders is a good choice. I 
>> have had contact with him and like him tre- 
>> mendously. I believe that you are a difficult 
>> act to follow. But instead of comparing 
>> Ralph to you, I'll get right in there and do 
>> what I can in my own way to help him. 
>>  
>> 1 have read almost everything that you 
>> have ever written pertaining to blindness 
>> and the Federation. Your articles, speeches, 
>> and modern philosophies concerning blind- 
>> ness and work in the field of the blind have 
>> aided me to really "know who 1 am." My 
>> whole life has changed because of the Na- 
>> tional Federation of the Blind and I have 
>> you to thank for it. 
>>  
>> You have given tirelessly to the organized 
>> blind movement. You have given of your 
>> time, your self, your energies, and your 
>> money. That is a lot to give. When things 
>> go wrong with the affiliate here in New Jer- 
>> sey, no more will I get discouraged as in 
>> the past. I will remember what you have 
>> done and just simply do what I can. 
>>  
>> I have no doubt whatsoever that you will 
>> be back as President one day. But for now, 
>> I hope you get a chance to take vacations 
>> and get lots of fun out of life. Having two 
>> full-time jobs is difficult. Although 1 am 
>> sad that you aren't President of NFB any- 
>> more, I am glad that you will be taking bet- 
>> ter care of yourself. 
>>  
>> When Peggy Pinder received her scholar- 
>> ship at the 1976 banquet. I believe her 
>> remarks were true. She stated that it was 
>> you who was the real scholar and through 
>> your teachings she was able to achieve her 
>> end. As 1 remember, you modestly passed 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> SEPTEMBER 1977 ■ 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> 281 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> over her remarks. I firmly agree with Peggy. 
>> In a while I have to go to court it per- 
>> tains to a landlord-tenant situation. In the 
>> past, I would have thrown up my hands in 
>> disgust and let whatever happens happen. 
>> But now, I know who I am and I'll never 
>> go back. A friend told me: "What are you 
>> trying to do? tight a civil rights case?" I 
>> said: "Yes. I am fighting for my right to 
>> live in the world as every other person al- 
>> ready has the right to do." Of course, the 
>> situation has a great deal to do with my 
>> blindness. I even have been getting anony- 
>> mous letters from someone in the apartment 
>> building where I live. Lots of the passages 
>> pertain to my blindness and how I really 
>> can see and how I am a fake. In that past 
>> I could have never stood up under all of 
>> this. Now, because of NFB and what you 
>> have taught me, I will fight until the day I 
>> die for my rights as well as other blind per- 
>> sons' rights to achieve equal status and 
>> bury the second-class status which society 
>> has placed us in. 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> It goes without saying that you will be 
>> greatly missed. I hope that you are able to 
>> continue in the Federation and make your 
>> voice heard loud and clear. 
>>  
>> There is an anonymous poem which goes 
>> something like this: "I shall never pass this 
>> way again. Therefore, if there is any good 
>> that I can do, let me do it now, for I shall 
>> never pass this way again." I believe you 
>> have done that good, and unlike the poem, 
>> I definitely believe you will pass this way 
>> again and again. 
>>  
>> Dr. Jemigan, you are our beloved leader. 
>> 1 beUeve I feel the same way as the many 
>> thousands of blind men and women across 
>> these great United States when I say: "We 
>> love and admire you." You have helped to 
>> infiuence and shape many blind people's 
>> lives. For that we commend you; for that 
>> we love you. 
>>  
>> With sincerest regards, 
>>  
>> DORIS PARNOFIELLO. 
>>  
>> D 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> ISABELLE L. D. GRANT DIES 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> We are sorry to announce the death of 
>> Dr. Isabelle L. D. Grant, mainstay of the 
>> International Federation of the Blind, and 
>> longtime and beloved Federationist. Dr. 
>> Grant died the week before the 1977 NFB 
>> Convention, and the announcement in New 
>> Orleans of her death brought sadness to her 
>> many friends in the movement. Dr. Grant, 
>> whose extensive travels abroad and indefati- 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> gable labors spread the message of Federa- 
>> tionism around the world, was actively en- 
>> gaged in the work of the IFB until the very 
>> end. She died the day before she was to fly 
>> to New York to make a presentation to the 
>> United Nations on the needs of the blind. 
>> Her death is a loss to the blind of this 
>> nation and of the world. She will be sorely 
>> missed. D 
>>  
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> _______________________________________________
>> List mailing list
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>> http://box334.bluehost.com/mailman/listinfo/list_cfb.ca



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