<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto">It’s a must read for anyone who is depressed, embarrassed or ashamed of being blind. If anyone wants to listen to him read it himself, you can tune in to the Jonathan Mozon at large podcast, episode 119. It’s one of the most inspirational statements About blindness, that I’ve ever heard or read. I am also sharing this with sighted friends and family. I think it’s important for them to understand that blindness is just another one of our characteristics, just like our haircolor and I color. It is just another part of who we are. Nothing to be ashamed of. Love yourselves. Appreciate life. It’s what it’s all about. Thank you guys.<br><br><div dir="ltr">Tony Santiago<div>Sent from my iPhone</div></div><div dir="ltr"><br><blockquote type="cite">On May 3, 2021, at 7:41 PM, jane degenshein via NJTechDiv <njtechdiv@nfbnet.org> wrote:<br><br></blockquote></div><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr">
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<div><font color="#000000" size="4">It is truly inspirational</font></div>
<div><font size="4">What a beautifully written piece</font></div>
<div><font size="4">We will use it on our senior division call</font></div>
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<div style="font-color: black"><b>From:</b> <a title="njtechdiv@nfbnet.org" href="mailto:njtechdiv@nfbnet.org">Tony Santiago via NJTechDiv</a> </div>
<div><b>Sent:</b> Monday, May 03, 2021 6:23 PM</div>
<div><b>To:</b> <a title="NJTechDiv@nfbnet.org" href="mailto:NJTechDiv@nfbnet.org">NJTechDiv@nfbnet.org</a> </div>
<div><b>Cc:</b> <a title="ts12865@yahoo.com" href="mailto:ts12865@yahoo.com">Tony
Santiago</a> </div>
<div><b>Subject:</b> [NJTechDiv] Blind pride, had to
share.</div></div></div>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: calibri, sans-serif; MARGIN: 0in">Some
of
you may have already heard or read this, but I thought it so good I had to
share. Enjoy.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: calibri, sans-serif; MARGIN: 0in"><span lang="EN-IE">Why I am proud to be blind<br><br>written by Jonathan
Mosen<br><br>I
often mention on my Mosen At Large podcast that I am proud to be <br>blind.
Recently, I was challenged by a listener and asked how I can <br>possibly be
proud of having a serious, debilitating condition.<br>I am glad to say that
disability pride, and blind pride as a subset of <br>that, is on the rise.
Yet
it is an incomprehensible concept to some.<br>I keep a gratitude journal,
where
I write at least 10 things every day <br>for which I am grateful. So it was
easy
for me to consult that journal, <br>where I have often written of things
relating to blindness for which I <br>am grateful and write this piece on
why I
am proud to be blind. You can <br>hear the audio of this in Mosen At Large
episode 119, but here is the <br>text of what I said.<br>I am profoundly
proud
to be blind. I am proud of the fact that as a kid, <br>when my older
siblings
would have been found out for reading at night, I <br>read in the dark as
much
as I liked, a Braille book tucked under the <br>covers on winter
nights.<br>I am
proud to be blind, because it connects me with a proud history. I <br>share
a
characteristic with a man who gave us the priceless gift of <br>functional,
efficient literacy. Louis Braille was an example of “nothing <br>about us
without us” in the 19th century, long before we used that <br>phrase. His
genius
invention was derided by sighted people who were <br>certain they knew what
was
best for us. He was ridiculed. His code was <br>driven underground and his
books
were burned. But he prevailed, because <br>he was blind. He devised his code
for
himself, he gave it, at <br>considerable personal cost, to all of us.<br>I
am
proud to be blind, because of all the other blind people who <br>followed in
Louis Braille’s footsteps, blind people innovating and <br>inventing for our
collective advancement, imagining a better future and <br>making it real.
Whether it be Larry Skutchan with his methodical mind <br>and interminable
patience, or Ted Henter with his zeal and <br>entrepreneurship, or David
Costution and Glen Gordon who believed that <br>Windows could be truly
useable
and then made it come true, or the blind <br>people now working on the
inside of
mainstream companies who are our <br>champions, we dreamed it, we created
it.<br>I am proud to be blind, because blind people are the reason the 33
RPM
<br>record was developed, initially so talking books could be distributed
<br>more efficiently.<br>And speaking of talking books, I am proud to be
blind,
because blind <br>people are the reason talking books exist. Now, sighted
people
are using <br>them too.<br>I am proud to be blind, because the original
reading
machine was created <br>for us. We started the journey of digitising printed
text that resulted <br>in the scanners that are still commonplace in offices
today.<br>I am proud to be blind, because long before the term PDA was in
the
<br>lexicon of sighted people, we were taking notes, keeping track of
<br>appointments and reading books on devices like Keynotes and
<br>Braille’n’Speaks.<br>I am proud to be blind, because we were one of the
reasons computers <br>started to talk. Technology is better because of blind
people. There are <br>so many examples of technology when we, proudly, have
been
the blind who <br>led the sighted.<br>I am proud to be blind, because I am
not
influenced by someone’s <br>physical appearance, but instead gain
information
from the tone of a <br>voice and the words that are said.<br>I am proud to
be
blind, because it has made me a more lateral thinker, <br>developing and
refining alternative techniques to access a wide range of <br>information so
I
can thrive in a largely sight-dependent world.<br>I am proud to be blind,
because even though my other senses aren’t <br>sharper than anyone else’s,
in
fact I have a dual sensory loss, like <br>many blind people I use them well.
It
makes me smile when I can tell <br>what type of audio processor is being
used on
a radio station, or when <br>another blind person can tell the kind of car
that’s passing by simply <br>by the sound it’s making, or when a blind
person
gives another blind <br>person an instruction like, “when your cane hits a
pole
on my street <br>that emits a fifth octave A-Flat, you’re outside my
house”.<br>I am proud to be blind, because of the legacy of great blind
civil
<br>rights leaders around the world. Often ostracised and branded radical
<br>troublemakers, they confronted, and are still confronting today, the
<br>tyranny of low expectations and the disabling decisions society has
<br>chosen to make. They challenged the damaging, fundamentally flawed
<br>notion that we had neither the ability nor the right to achieve
<br>self-determination, that it wasn’t necessary for society to be
<br>accessible, or inclusive, or accepting. Their belief in a fairer
<br>tomorrow unshackled us from institutions and shattered disempowering
<br>paternalism. Their tenacity has seen the increasing availability of
<br>better training, much of it driven by blind people ourselves, and
<br>increased opportunity through civil rights legislation.<br>I am proud to
be
blind, because as a subset of the world’s largest <br>minority, disabled
people,
blind people led the way in the disability <br>movement, securing
legislative
victories long before they were common <br>for much of the rest of the
sector. I
am grateful every day of my life <br>for those blind people who took on
those
difficult causes, displayed <br>tenacity and stated their cases again, and
again, and again until <br>progress was slowly but surely made. I am proud
of
the personal <br>responsibility I feel as a blind person to always cherish
and
defend, <br>never take for granted, and constantly build upon the legacy of
civil <br>rights victories that I have inherited and benefited from. I am
mindful <br>that they must not be squandered, and I am proud to stand up, be
<br>counted, and do my moral duty to advance that legacy so that the next
<br>generation has even more opportunity than I have had.<br>I am proud to
be
blind, because it has shaped who I am, it is part of my <br>identity and it
has
helped define me. I accept that. I embrace that.<br>I am proud to be blind,
because in being blind I contribute to the rich <br>tapestry and the
diversity
of humankind.<br>I am proud to be blind, because no matter how many negative
signals are <br>sent, I know that being blind makes me no less a person of
worth.<br>I am proud to be blind, because the opposite of pride is shame,
and my
<br>blindness is nothing to be ashamed of.<br>I am proud to be blind, and
therefore share a characteristic with <br>talented people from all walks of
life. Blind people are parents, <br>devoted, loving parents, some of whom
have
had their babies literally <br>snatched from their loving arms, an atrocity
no
capable and loving <br>parent should endure, and all for no other reason
than
people getting it <br>horribly wrong about blindness. I am proud that we as
blind people show <br>those parents love, solidarity, and a steadfast
determination to get <br>those children back where they belong.<br>Blind
people
are in factories and farms, law practices and legislatures, <br>sandwich
shops
and start-ups. I am proud of the blind teachers, software <br>developers,
businesspeople, mechanics, transcribers, musicians and even <br>medical
doctors.
There is very little we can’t do and there are few <br>professions where you
can’t find a blind person, often to many people’s <br>surprise. The only
trouble
is, the world doesn’t necessarily know that. <br>And that’s the biggest
reason I
am proud to be blind. Because every day, <br>just by getting on with my
life, I
defy the odds in a disabling society, <br>we defy expectations where there
is
little disability confidence. When <br>people tell us we can’t, we show them
yes, we can. It can be exhausting <br>sometimes. We may get knocked down,
and
sometimes we may feel like we’re <br>out for the count. But eventually, most
of
us get up again. We apply for <br>that one more job. We work around that
inaccessible website. We keep <br>calm and carry on when we’re treated like
a
helpless child in the <br>street, or when walking into a store, or when yet
another ride share <br>driver declines to take our guide dog. That takes
guts,
it takes <br>tenacity. The odds are stacked against us, but we march on, we
make
<br>progress. Go us!<br>Yes, I am proud, proud, a thousand times proud to be
blind.<br>Share and enjoy<br><br><a style="COLOR: rgb(37,37,255)" href="https://mosen.org/BlindPride/" target="_blank">https://mosen.org/BlindPride/</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<div dir="ltr">Tony Santiago
<div>Sent from my iPhone</div></div>
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