[Txabs] (no subject)

[Jonathan Franks]

Fellow Federationists,
 The "How I see it" campaign has ended. This is a huge victory in our
efforts to dissipate the misconceptions about blindness and our
abilities. I encourage you all to please read President Riccabono's
thoughts on this matter below.

Jonathan Franks BSW
Board Member
National Federation of the Blind of Texas

The members of the National Federation of the Blind work on a daily
basis to demonstrate that blindness is not the characteristic that
defines us or our future. Every day we work to raise expectations for
blind people because we experience daily the harmful impacts of low
expectations on our lives. Today we can celebrate another important
milestone in combating low expectations and educating the public
regarding the truth about living with blindness.

 Yesterday the Foundation Fighting Blindness released an announcement
saying that what it described as phase one of its #HowEyeSeeIt
campaign has ended, and that the end of this phase of the campaign
signifies the end of the #HowEyeSeeIt Blindfold Challenge. The
announcement publicly recognizes the concerns raised during the past
month by members of the National Federation of the Blind about the
harmful effects of perpetuating misconceptions about blindness in
order to raise money for medical research. (For background, read
recent posts on our Voice of the Nation's Blind blog, as well as my
contribution to the Huffington Post.) This long-awaited announcement,
combined with the meeting the foundation leaders have agreed to have
with me later this month, makes me cautiously optimistic that they
have come to understand the valid concerns of the blind of America.

 It is fitting that this hopeful sign of change has been achieved in
October, which is "Meet the Blind Month" in the National Federation of
the Blind. During this month we put extra emphasis and energy into
getting our local chapters out into the community in order to teach
members of the public about blindness by having them get to know blind
people and to better understand our lived experience of blindness
through genuine interactions. For the members of the Federation, this
is often a time to tell our individual stories about breaking through
the misconceptions that we have internalized and coming to the
realization that if we allow ourselves to buy into the fallacy that
blindness is a severe limitation, we will most certainly and
artificially limit our potential. Low expectations are self-fulfilling
and only lead to minimized opportunities and diminished lives.

 I want to express my deep appreciation for the members of the
National Federation of the Blind who have respectfully and
energetically pushed back on the harmful impact of the #HowEyeSeeIt
Blindfold Challenge. The true stories of the experience of blind
people that have been shared during the past month have gone a long
way toward mitigating the negative impact of the campaign and creating
a greater understanding of the interesting, active, adventurous, fun,
and powerful lives we live as blind people. Equally as important,
members of the Federation have demonstrated courage in speaking the
truth about blindness. I read many disappointing comments from
supporters of the #HowEyeSeeIt campaign suggesting that our reaction
to it was unfounded, mean spirited, and ungrateful. It takes courage
to speak the truth even in the face of discouraging comments about the
lives we live every day and the discrimination we face from the low
expectations of others that were perpetuated by the blindfold
challenge. The stories of hope, love, and determination that have been
shared by Federation members are a shining example of the timeless
observation that the truth will set us free.

 Although the FFB says it has ended the Blindfold Challenge, I
encourage members of the Federation to keep telling your stories.
Continue to create videos, write blogs, share photos, and publish
articles about the true lived experience of blind people and how we
use alternative techniques to participate fully in society. Continue
to tell those stories because we must repair the damage that has been
done, and because this will not be the last time that we are
confronted with the negative impact of low expectations. Keep telling
our stories because the more we tell the truth and the more we
demonstrate our integrity, courage, and the independent and dignified
way in which we live our lives, the more we will continue to make
powerful, and ultimately permanent, change throughout our society.
This experience once again demonstrates the power of our collective
action.

 The announcement released yesterday by the Foundation tells us that
the #HowEyeSeeIt Blindfold Challenge was built on the theme of
“experiencing the world through another person’s eyes.” Of course,
this is the primary problem that members of the Federation had with
the challenge. Vision is not a requirement for success. Blind people
experience the world just as fully and joyfully as others do, but
using our other senses instead of our eyes. The joy of living and
gaining knowledge about the world is not found in one sense but
through the combination of them, powered by the decision of each of us
to be happy and fulfilled human beings focused on the many things we
can perceive rather than what we cannot. The blindfold challenge was
focused on vision, while the lived experience of blind people—the
everyday lives we live and the techniques we use to do the normal
everyday tasks and the extraordinary, not-so-everyday ones—are not
dependent on the eyes. The announcement goes on to say that “Phase two
of the campaign will feature profiles of people with no or low vision,
showcasing their adaptability, strength and talent.” I again encourage
the Foundation and all of its supporters to call on members of the
National Federation of the Blind for profiles of blind people living
life successfully, carrying out the normal responsibilities of equal
participation, and breaking down the stereotypes about blindness. The
evidence from the past month demonstrates that the National Federation
of the Blind, the oldest and largest organization of blind people, has
strength and capacity rooted in the authentic experience of blind
people living the lives we want. We invite the Foundation Fighting
Blindness to draw from this deep well of experience to tell its
supporters that there is life with blindness, even as the search for
new medical treatments continues.

 To my brothers and sisters in our movement, I again express my
deepest appreciation for what you do to demonstrate the truth about
blindness every day. It is a tangible expression of the promise that
we make to each other in our organization a promise that has been
clearly witnessed in our work on this campaign and which expresses
#HowWeSeeIt: Together with love, hope, and determination we transform
dreams into reality!







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