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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><h1><b><i><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>***, no I am not a black female who grew up in the South, so I am sending this corrected copy so the author gets the appropriate recognition. My apology for the confusion **<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></h1><h1><b><i><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></i></b></h1><h1><b><i><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Leading Voices of Diversity and Inclusion</span></i></b><span style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></h1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'>by Dr. Sheena Manuel<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Lift Every Voice…</span></i><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'> </span><a href="https://www.nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/fr/fr39/2/fr3902tc.htm"><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Future Reflections</span></a><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>, a magazine for parents and teachers of blind children, published their latest journal focusing on ethnic and cultural diversity. Great timing! The leading voices of this journal revealed the mission and vision of the Professional Development and Research Institute on Blindness at Louisiana Tech University. We take pride in educating and preparing those who are called to be educators, consumers, counselors, and change agents in the blindness field. Several authors in the journal’s Special Issue bear the fruit of our labor.</span><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Leading Voice Rosie Ramirez Carranza introduces the issue as one that explores and examines issues related to blindness along with identity, ethnicity, and culture. She urges us to engage in self-reflective practices in hopes that we transform into people who search for a deeper understanding of the world around us. She reminds us of the importance of "recognizing the continued and intensified segregation by race and class within the United States public education system.” She's leading us toward the goal of equity. Read </span><a href="https://www.nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/fr/fr39/2/fr390202.htm"><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Navigating Toward Equity</span></a><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'> for the full story. </span><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Equity is freedom from bias, favoritism, partiality, and prejudice.</span></b><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Leading Voice Colin Wong is a 2017 Louisiana Tech graduate and an NOMC (National Orientation and Mobility) instructor. He speaks to us about Chinese American culture. He informed us that in his culture blindness is viewed as life-ending. Despite the cultural norms, his father taught him that success involves facing discrimination and prioritizing education.</span><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'> Colin engaged us in dialogue about the myth of the Model Minority and how this theory created an educational resource gap for him. Dealing with expectations, Colin revealed that "his personal high expectations as a Chinese student seemed out of reach due to the lowered expectations his disability created." Through living, learning, and the strength he drew from his family, he knows that he is not a model minority, he is not a broken sighted person, but he is a leading voice for staying true to his cultural foundations and overcoming the systemic barriers of the education system. Read </span><a href="https://www.nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/fr/fr39/2/fr390206.htm"><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>My Education Narrative: Negotiating School and Culture as a Blind Chinese American</span></a><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'> for the full story. </span><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Leading Voice Justin Salisbury is a 2013 Louisiana Tech graduate an NOMC (National Orientation and Mobility) instructor. He leads the conversation about Indian (also known as indigenous) culture. He stated that "it is vital to start [the conversation] by explaining settler colonialism, the act of replacing the original population of a territory along with replacing the customs and culture of the people. </span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Justin believes that attempts to invalidate identity exist within the Indian culture as well as the blindness field. He understands that as Indian and blind the public has many misperceptions and stereotypes about both minority groups. He warns, "my culture is not a costume!" Justin hopes to live in harmony with the privileged majority groups and make his dreams a reality by working together. Read </span><a href="https://www.nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/fr/fr39/2/fr390208.htmm"><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Reflections from Turtle Island: The Intersection of Blindness and Indigenous North American Identity</span></a><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'> for the full story. </span><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Leading Voice Conchita Hernandez Legorreta is a 2012 Louisiana Tech graduate and teacher of blind students (TBS). She speaks to us about Latinx culture and immigrant backgrounds. In her article, </span><a href="https://www.nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/fr/fr39/2/fr390204.htm"><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Educating Blind English Learners: A Conversation with Conchita Hernandez Legorreta</span></a><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>, she allowed us to get a view of her life as an immigrant with a disability. She learned from her family the importance of support, mentoring, and modifications. She understands the difficult decision her parents made when they migrated to the United States for her to receive better resources and services. Conchita stated that she is bearing the fruit of her parents’ labor. </span><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>One fruit in particular is mentioned in her article,</span><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'> </span><a href="https://www.nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/fr/fr39/2/fr390212.htm"><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Cambiando Vidas: How a Small Group of Friends Started a Movement</span></a><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>,<span style='color:black'> where she details how her and a group of friends started a movement. As they planned a trip to visit a school for the blind in Guadalajara, they created and founded METAS (Mentoring, Engaging, and Teaching All Students), a nonprofit organization. Their organization and movement focus on educating and supporting blind Spanish-speaking individuals and their families. Conchita is another fruit of the labor at the Professional Development and Research Institute on Blindness.</span></span><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>As an African American woman from a single-parent home in rural Louisiana, I can attest to the systemic barriers in public education. From personal experience, I know how low expectations from others influence our lives. I am also aware of the desires of those who look to replace my culture. Like our former graduates, I value family and my support system when staying true to myself while fighting for the rights of myself and others. </span><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>We at the Institute on Blindness are committed to providing leadership in creating methods, techniques, and programs that empower blind individuals. </span></b><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Want to become a leading voice…</span><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Visit </span><a href="http://www.pdrib.com"><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>www.pdrib.com</span></a><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'> to find out more about our degree programs and research work.</span><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Edward C. Bell, Ph.D., CRC, NOMC, Director, <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Professional Development and Research Institute on Blindness<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Louisiana Tech University<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>600 Mayfield Ave / 210 Woodard Hall<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>PO Box 3158<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Ruston LA 71272<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Office: 318.257.4554 Fax: 318.257.2259 <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="mailto:ebell@latech.edu"><span style='color:#0563C1'>ebell@latech.edu</span></a> www.pdrib.com<o:p></o:p></p><div style='mso-element:para-border-div;border-top:dotted windowtext 3.0pt;border-left:none;border-bottom:dotted windowtext 3.0pt;border-right:none;padding:1.0pt 0in 1.0pt 0in'><p class=MsoNormal style='border:none;padding:0in'>*************<o:p></o:p></p></div><p class=MsoNormal>"I am somehow less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops."<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> -- Stephen Jay Gould<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>