[NYABS] Fwd: Love Conquers Hate: An Open Letter from President Riccobono to Members

Sun May 31 18:48:42 UTC 2020

Forwarding the below open letter sent by President Mark A. Riccobono
in case those associated with these lists haven't received this
message!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: National Federation of the Blind <webmaster at nfb.org>
Date: Sun, 31 May 2020 18:30:57 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: Love Conquers Hate: An Open Letter from President Riccobono to  Members
To: "Mr. Justin Young" <jty727 at gmail.com>

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AN OPEN LETTER TO THE MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND

I write this message to you as the elected President of the National
Federation of the Blind. I also write it to you as an American who is
struggling this week. I call upon members of our organization to recognize
the solidarity we share as blind people and that the value we place on love
within our movement is needed more today than at any other time in our
history.

I watched the horrific video shot by a brave seventeen year-old of the
killing of George Floyd, a citizen of our great nation. Before I watched
the video, I wondered what I could do and how I could contribute to healing
the pain. I had no answers. After I watched the video, I realized I still
did not have the answers and I was sad, angry, scared, frustrated, and
without hope. Then I realized that we share tools in the National
Federation of the Blind that can help. We can not look away and we need to
share what we know from our experience in this people's movement.

Our movement has been sustained for the purpose of serving as a vehicle for
collective action by the blind of the nation to promote the vocational,
cultural, and social advancement of the blind; to achieve the integration
of the blind into society on a basis of equality with the sighted; and to
take any other action which will improve the overall condition and standard
of living of the blind. While racial equality in our nation is not within
our mission, we also recognize that blindness affects all races and that
the society we live within has an impact on our membership.

The Federation's Code of Conduct [2] specifically emphasizes our
commitments to diversity. In short "We respect differences of opinion,
beliefs, identities, and other characteristics that demonstrate that blind
people are a diverse cross section of society...In promoting a diverse and
growing organization, we expect integrity and honesty in our relationships
with each other and openness to learning about and experiencing cultural
diversity. We believe that these qualities are crucial to fostering social
and intellectual maturity. Intellectual maturity also requires individual
struggle with unfamiliar ideas." This week, I have been struggling to
comprehend the fear and anger that black members of my Federation family
are experiencing. I do not, and never can, have the authentic lived
experience that you have, but yet I am also completely outraged by the hate
and injustice that fell upon George Floyd on Monday. I recognize there are
many centuries of painful layers wrapped up in that moment. I recognize
that George is neither the first nor the last in a chain of injustices that
need to be addressed. I want you to know I stand with you in facing the
injustice that persists against you because of the color of your skin. I
want you to know that I love you and I struggle with not being able to
fully know your pain and fear. I want you to know I am prepared to be
guided by you as to how I can make a difference. I cannot say that I have
not become desensitized in times past, but I can tell you I will never turn
away again.

While our organization is dedicated to advancing the rights of blind
people, we should not act as though race does not exist. As our chapters
attempt to do business, as we urge our members to take up our priorities,
we should recognize that thousands of our members are impacted by the
painful realizations of this week. As a people's movement, we cannot
pretend that our people only have one characteristic. Now is the time to
let each member know we love them and we recognize their hurt. Now is also
the time for us to recognize, as individuals, that we carry implicit bias
learned from the society around us, and to seek the training that will
enhance our awareness. Now is the time to give love to our black members so
that we might learn how we can do better in building the understanding that
powers the organized blind movement.

Now is not the time for us to use our organizational communication tools to
offer position statements about the activities playing out on the streets
of our nation. it is easy to write messages and posts of solidarity without
having a true understanding of the issues. It is easy to suggest that we
share the concerns of our black members. The harder thing for us to do is
to consciously listen and seek understanding while supporting others in
their pain and frustration. The Federation has never been known for merely
doing what is easy. The priority today is to ensure all of our black
members know they are welcomed and loved in this movement. In fact, we
should extend that same truth to any others who feel the real pain sweeping
our nation. Please do not use organizational assets to enter the dialogue
around race. That is not our purpose as an organization and we may
unintentionally make it worse. We need to continue to coordinate messaging
and to be guided by the wisdom of our diversity and inclusion committee. As
leaders of our movement, we should also be conscious that our public posts
may be misunderstood as representing the Federation. Our personal feelings
and misunderstanding around the death of George Floyd, the protests
sweeping our nation, and the underlying systemic discrimination may hurt
and divide members of the organization. We cannot let that happen and we
must be careful as leaders not to add to the pain our members are
experiencing. As it relates to our public messaging, let us stay focused on
the priorities of the organized blind movement. As it comes to our
cherished friends, let our priority be to reach out personally to listen
and offer our hands in support.

I have had the opportunity to gather virtually with some of our top black
leaders--a group who will continue to guide my actions related to these
issues. I asked them for wisdom and love in finding ways that I could guide
our membership during this trying time in our nation. Their message was
clear. Our movement is built on love and love always conquers hate. The
Federation family needs to shine a light for the rest of the nation by
continuing to demonstrate that the love, and solidarity, that we share with
each other in this movement makes all the difference. They also noted that
our organization has always valued civil disobedience and persistent
pursuit of equality. They urged that we continue to pray for peace,
justice, and equality. I could not agree more with these friends I have
been blessed to learn from in our movement. Furthermore, I am thankful that
we have a movement that provides us a meaningful opportunity to know people
whose lived experience is so different from our own while sharing a common
bond as blind people.

In the National Federation of the Blind we know that blindness is not the
characteristic that defines us or our future. Blindness is the thing that
brings us together but it is not the thing that makes us want to stay
together. That, in a word, is love. We have love in our movement and we
strengthen it by giving it. We have some wisdom and we strengthen it by
continuing to seek greater understanding. We need more of both love and
wisdom at every opportunity. Let's continue to share love, hope, and
determination with each other so that together we transform our dreams into
reality. One of those dreams still left to be transformed is that of a
nation where we can join together regardless of our unique characteristics.
That is a dream I am struggling to help my own children understand so they
may do better than I in making it come true. I speak for all of our
national board members when I say we sincerely believe that the love and
togetherness demonstrated in our movement can go a long way in contributing
to that dream. It can be hard to remember that in this moment when so many
of us are hurting, angry, frustrated, and scared. Let us continue to
support each other in the Federation family. Let us avoid the harmful
language that will only serve to divide us in this time. Let us go forward
together, love one another, and change the world for the better.

Sincerely,

_Mark A. Riccobono, President_

National Federation of the Blind

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