[nabs-l] Future of the NFB

[RJ Sandefur]

Well said Jo! I'd personally like to see some of the younger members on the 
national board of directors. So insted of griping about it, run for a pision 
on the national board! I personally am not able to do it, because I have 
stuff which takes up my time. RJ
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joe Orozco" <jsorozco at gmail.com>
To: "'National Association of Blind Students mailing list'" 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, March 08, 2011 10:20 AM
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Future of the NFB


> Brice,
>
> You are the future of the NFB.  What do you think the organization should 
> do
> about its operations if you think blindness might not be the only 
> disability
> affecting the membership?  Don't speculate about what may happen. 
> Instead,
> tell us what you think should happen.
>
> I don't know that I agree with this notion that people are made to feel
> inferior because they have secondary disabilities.  There have always been
> similar observations made about guide dog users in the NFB, but the people
> who disliked and looked down on me before I went and got my guide dog were
> going to dislike me and look down on me regardless of my choice of travel
> tools.  I think part of me went and got Gator to show these people where
> they could stick their condescending views.  Anyway, I guess Eleanor
> Roosevelt was more polished when she said "no one can make you feel 
> inferior
> without your consent."
>
> But, seriously, what's this nonsense about the deaf-blind division not 
> being
> as promoted as the student or parent division?  They all get equal access 
> to
> the convention program, and if you hear about it more, it might simply be
> owed to the size comparison between the groups.  If divisions that focus 
> on
> conditions other than blindness feel as though they're being left out, it
> might be owed to the fact that the division is not doing anything worth
> promoting?
>
> Mind you, I think the whole concept of divisions in the NFB is bogus.
> First, a vast majority of them do absolutely nothing between national
> conventions.  Second, they create rifts in the membership when 
> power-hungry
> members view elections in these divisions as a badge of importance. 
> Third,
> they distract us from the more important task of chipping away at the
> fundamental challenges facing the blindness community.  If I were 
> president
> of the NFB for a day, my first order of business would be to eliminate
> divisions in the way they exist today.  There are so many professional
> organizations out there that we shouldn't create mirror groups within our
> ranks to create little havens for blind people.
>
> My point is this:  The NFB cannot exist without members like you.  You are
> the current youth and will be the future leader.  NFB members spend so 
> much
> time accepting and not enough time questioning and even less time acting,
> and that is why several months ago I advanced the controversial idea that 
> if
> the NFB keeps going down its current path, it will virtually cease to 
> exist
> in 50 years.  More on that point in a future post, but to answer your
> question:  The way you accommodate people with secondary disabilities is 
> to
> encourage them to get involved.  Get on the boards and make the 
> organization
> recognize and react to what may be a change in demographics.  A few years
> ago when a group of people proposed the idea of establishing a GLBT
> division, they were told that with enough support, the division would be
> established.  I think we're still waiting on this group to get their act
> together about drumming up support.  It's not enough to complain about 
> what
> you, you in the general sense, think the NFB leadership is or is not doing
> to accommodate certain members.  Just like the NFB as a whole has to make 
> a
> good case to the general public that certain issues need to be addressed,
> blind people with secondary disabilities need to come together and make a
> case for why we as a whole need to be more conscious of their unique 
> needs.
>
> Just my twenty dollar's worth,
>
> Joe
>
> "Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves,
> some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all."--Sam Ewing
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nabs-l mailing list
> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> nabs-l:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/joltingjacksandefur%40gmail.com