[Ohio-Talk] The Blind and the Media

[ali benmerzouga]

Great suggestion Judy!!!
As federationists, we are supposed to keep learning, educating and advocating all the time both sighted and blind individuals. That's a very important pillar of our membership!  
Thanks and take care.
Ali
Live the life you want ...



-----Original Message-----
From: Ohio-Talk <ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Judy via Ohio-Talk
Sent: Friday, September 18, 2020 5:00 PM
To: 'NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List' <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: judysklarek1 at gmail.com
Subject: Re: [Ohio-Talk] The Blind and the Media

Why not invite the reporter to the convention  judy sklarek 

-----Original Message-----
From: Ohio-Talk <ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of President Capital chapter via Ohio-Talk
Sent: Friday, September 18, 2020 12:16 PM
To: NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: President Capital chapter <president.capital.nfboh at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Ohio-Talk] The Blind and the Media

Eric,

Thank you for posting this. I have to admit that when I read the article I felt exactly the same way. I did not say anything, because I did not want Wilbur to fill that we were dampening his achievements. But, you are absolutely correct. The part of the article that talks about the “helpers “was very ill conceived, and downright ignorant.

Again, we are very proud of Wilbur. I was once a blind bowler myself in the Columbus league, we will not discuss any achievements that I may have made, because there wwhere not any.  So I can appreciate somebody who does such a great job! But, we do have to pay attention when articles like this demean blind people and make us look helpless. Just feeds into all the stereotypes.

Annette

Annette Lutz
President
Capital Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio
614-288-4323
President.capital.nfboh at gmail.com

The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. Everyday we raise the expectations of blind people because we know that low expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want, blindness is not what holds you back. 

On Sep 18, 2020, at 9:56 AM, Eric Duffy via Ohio-Talk <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:

I read with interest the article entitled Blind bowlers break barriers, and throw plenty of strikes circulated on this list. As I read I thought about my friend Wilbert and his competitive nature. I like his competitive spirit and his sense of humor. My guess is that he was largely responsible for making the story happen. Those thoughts filled me with pride, but then I cringed over  the mostly dismal picture the reporter painted of the blind.

Consider what was done in one single shot when talking about Helpers: "Helpers" - usually family or friends who help these bowlers find the finger holes, get back to their seats, cheer them on with every spare, strike, or even single pin down.”

I can’t imagine one single blind bowler needing help finding the finger wholes. Where did the reporter get this notion? Of course it came from the age old stereotypes about blindness.
What are the potential employers of the blind to think when they read that blind people need help finding the finger wholes in a bowling ball and need to be led to their seats.

Now hold on folks! This is not a criticism of Wilbert or our blind bowlers in any way. I bring this up because we need to see these comments for what they are. Many on this list are new to blindness, the Federation, or both. I want it understood that although we congratulate Wilbert for his accomplishments, we recognize that the news article has real problems.

This kind of thing can happen to any of us and all of us. It is something we need to be aware of when working with the media.

Eric
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