[nfb-talk] Convention

T. Joseph Carter carter.tjoseph at gmail.com
Fri Aug 5 07:52:37 UTC 2011 

Indeed, I remember a certain Miss Heather working pretty hard before 
convention even began in 2006 to make sure that a certain guy was 
able to attend.  He was unemployed and flat broke, a "high partial" 
with no blindness skills.  About the only inkling of a clue as to the 
real nature of the NFB’s philosophy he had at the time was that he 
could no longer go through life as a "visually impaired" person, 
because he was blind whether he liked it or not, and that he needed 
to learn how to be blind.

Such a one as he may not be using the bouquet cane technique and 
discovering the obvious flaw by falling off ledge and faceplanting 
the marble floor, but he saw those who did.  He may not have been 
able to cut his own food, but saw those who couldn’t.  He may have 
known how to bathe and manage his own hygiene, but saw those who 
didn’t.  He did act a bit as if he was somehow special because he had 
vision, but he saw others doing so as well and how offensive their 
behavior was (one of them who certainly ought to know better, and she 
knows who she is!)

But he also saw those who didn’t need to see to travel effectively 
and efficiently from place to place.  He saw that he was not as bad 
off as some, but there was more that was possible than he ever 
imagined.  He was not the worst of the worst, nor was he the best of 
the best.  Far from it, in both cases.  And he had many examples of 
both to choose from, all around him.

He learned a lot, and many of the lessons took months and another 
convention to sink in.  And he’s tired of speaking in the third 
person.  *grin*


We get everyone we can to convention, at least once, because if you 
are open to the possibilities it CAN change your life.  No matter 
where you are, you can always find someone who has done what you have 
not, and others who would never dare what you would do casually.  We 
can always aspire to be more like those who have done more, and we 
can always see for ourselves what results from doing less.

I dunno if it’s healthy how we blind folks tend to compare ourselves 
to one another in terms of adaptive ability, even though it’s 
probably natural.  It is too easy to become resentful:  We resent 
those who have less ability than we do because they make us look bad 
in the eyes of the sighted.  And we resent those who adapt better 
because they make us feel inferior.

I’m certainly guilty of that in the past, and I pray I will not have 
to admit being guilty of it in the future.  Avoiding it seems to take 
a certain comfort in who you are as a person, and in this case as a 
blind person.  The one with less ability we may help to reach and 
expand their potential, if we would be open to the opportunities to 
do so.  The one with more ability can offer tips, suggestions, and 
inspiration to do the same ourselves.

It is not the best of the best who attend our conventions.  Rather, I 
think it is those who could and would be better than they are today 
through the support of their brothers and sisters in our very 
extended Federation family.

Joseph - kf7qzc


On Thu, Aug 04, 2011 at 05:56:51PM -0500, Heather Field wrote:
>Hi Chuck,
>As the, organisation, is made up of individual members, and these 
>members work through chapters to implement the policies of the 
>organisation, I am very interested to hear more about your assertion 
>that there is a problematic single approach in implementation. I've 
>been involved with numerous chapters and divisions and we've used 
>lots of approaches, depending on the age/demographic of the folks 
>we're working with. I personally know of at least five new programmes 
>that have been recently developed and implemented. The programmes I'm 
>thinking of have been designed to meet the new blindness issues in 
>education, and with rising numbers of seniors,
>diabetics and veterans.  Please share more about your concerns 
>regarding your perceptions of the, one-size fits all aproach.
>
>Incidentally, John Heim's remark about the best of the best attending 
>convention appears to be based on a general lack of experience at 
>convention. I have personally met, and assisted, hundreds of blind 
>attendees who were clearly not those who could be described in this 
>way. If one takes the time to stop and meet and assist people at 
>convention one really does get to experience the real diversity that 
>still exists among the membership. While it is tempting to make 
>statements about the convention being attended only by highly 
>competent, employed, "best of the best, blind people, such statements 
>are shear speculation and the experience of large numbers of 
>convention attendees who take time to help other folks at convention 
>demonstrate that these statements are patently untrue.
>
>Regards,
>Heather
>
>-----Original Message----- From: ckrugman at sbcglobal.net
>Sent: Monday, August 01, 2011 1:34 AM
>To: NFB Talk Mailing List
>Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Convention
>
>Loren, these are very valid points. While I continue to support the
>principles of NFB I have become frustrated by many of the practices of the
>
>organization as they are antiquated and portray an approach that indicates
>a
>"one size fits all" mentality. There needs to be greater flexibility in
>many
>areas. There have been many successes such as the implementation of NFB
>newsline and court victories such as the Target law suit although it would
>
>have been nice had it been a broader one, just to name a couple.
>Chuck
>----- Original Message ----- From: "Loren Wakefield" 
><isaiah5719 at mchsi.com>
>To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
>Sent: Monday, July 11, 2011 8:06 PM
>Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Convention
>
>
>>One sign that an organization of any kind is dying is when it takes 
>>the attitude, "we've never done it that way before".  Times are 
>>changing.
>An
>>organization or business cannot afford to chase people the same way they
>
>>did 20 30 years ago.  This in no way means they must change the 
>>corp beliefs of the organization.  But just because it wasn't done 
>>that way
>in
>>the past, is not a reason to do it now.  If that was the ccase, the
>blind
>>would not have made any advances at all.  We changed the paradigm 
>>out there, and fortunately, it is still changing.  Streaming is not 
>>just for
>
>>those who will not go to convention or can't go, it is a way to get 
>>the message out to the general public.  If we take the attitude 
>>that if you cant beg borrow or steal your way to convention, then 
>>you cant hear or share what happened or was said, then why publish 
>>a summary in the monitor?
>>
>>Like it or not, society is changing.  Who really cares if we change what
>
>>it means to be blind, and the blind are still two centuries behind 
>>the rest of the world?
>>
>>
>>----- Original Message ----- From: "Peter Donahue" 
>><pdonahue2 at satx.rr.com>
>>To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
>>Sent: Monday, July 11, 2011 5:37 PM
>>Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Convention
>>
>>
>>>Hello Lauren and everyone,
>>>
>>>   With that kind of outlook it's true. We've fought the dragons of
>hell
>>>to
>>>make it to convention and succeeded many times. We feel we've set a
>great
>>>example for others to follow.
>>>
>>>Peter Donahue
>>>
>>>
>>>----- Original Message ----- From: "Loren Wakefield" 
>>><isaiah5719 at mchsi.com>
>>>To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
>>>Sent: Monday, July 11, 2011 4:29 PM
>>>Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Convention
>>>
>>>
>>>The thing to do is get the stream working or not do it at all.  It
>sounds
>>>like we are getting it down.  Things will work better next time. 
>>>Streaming
>>>probably will benefit more than those who are already members as 
>>>well. And
>>>as much as we may wish to do so, it is impossible for all who 
>>>want to attend
>>>to do so.
>>>
>>>
>>>----- Original Message ----- From: "Peter Donahue" 
>>><pdonahue2 at satx.rr.com>
>>>To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
>>>Sent: Monday, July 11, 2011 10:35 AM
>>>Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Convention
>>>
>>>
>>>>Hello again everyone,
>>>>
>>>>   The ultimate solution is to quit complaining about the 
>>>>stream and start
>>>>now to plan to be with us in Dallas next year and at future Orlando
>>>>conventions. From what I hear there will be a lot of them.  Get 
>>>>busy now,
>>>>wrestle up the bucks now and we'll see you in Dallas and beyond.
>>>>
>>>>Peter Donahue
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>----- Original Message ----- From: <bookwormahb at earthlink.net>
>>>>To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
>>>>Sent: Sunday, July 10, 2011 2:30 PM
>>>>Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Convention
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Jim,
>>>>What do you mean? Are you saying the banquet wasn't available live due
>
>>>>to
>>>>technical issues?
>>>>I agree the convention is important to stream, but due to work 
>>>>and family
>>>>events, I only got to hear it a few times.
>>>>I heard it more live last year and it was very clear.
>>>>
>>>>Ashley
>>>>
>>>>-----Original Message----- From: James Aldrich
>>>>Sent: Sunday, July 10, 2011 1:48 PM
>>>>To: NFB Talk Mailing List
>>>>Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Convention
>>>>
>>>>Hi Jim,
>>>>
>>>>The banquet wasn't available to me but I probably got in much too
>late!
>>>>I
>>>>think we need to show our leaders how important this streaming is to
>us
>>>>and
>>>>we need to keep it out front!  It is truly important and it does
>indeed
>>>>get
>>>>our message out!  I too enjoyed what I heard from the stream!
>>>>
>>>>Jim
>>>>----- Original Message ----- From: "Jim" <jp100 at earthlink.net>
>>>>To: "Jim" <jp100 at earthlink.net>
>>>>Sent: Saturday, July 09, 2011 2:15 PM
>>>>Subject: [nfb-talk] Convention
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>Hello everyone,
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>It sounds like it was a wonderful convention.  Once the streams got
>to
>>>>>working right, I was able to hear and see what all was going on.
>Very
>>>>>informative.  The banquet was also great last night.  A few times,
>the
>>>>>stream went out, but again, that was temporary.  I was able to get
>most
>>>>>of
>>>>>the speech.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>Anyway, for all who went, I hope you had a great time and I'm glad
>that
>>>>>those of us who couldn't go could at least take part in the listening
>
>>>>>of
>>>>>the
>>>>>sessions.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>Jim
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>_______________________________________________
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>ail.com
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>_______________________________________________
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>>>
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>>
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