[nfb-talk] fw: [blindtlk] why is it important to join an organization of the blind?

[Chris Nusbaum]

Hi everyone,

This is a response I received to my question on the value of an 
organization of the blind written by Gary Wunder and sent to the 
Blind Talk list.  I thought I would share it with all of you, as 
it is a very well-written email and it has a lot of great points! 
Here it is:

 ---- Original Message ------
From: "Gary Wunder" <GWunder at earthlink.net
Subject: [Blindtlk] why is it important to join an organization 
of the blind?
Date sent: Tue, 17 Jan 2012 11:34:50 -0600

Dear Chris:

Please understand that what I am about to write is my opinion and 
not some
official position of the Federation.  I will try to avoid 
offering other
disclaimers such as "In my opinion," or "It is my belief." I want 
to be firm
in stating what I believe but humble enough to acknowledge that 
does not
represent any particular wisdom or any claim to be the one true 
way.

I am a member of the National Federation of the Blind because I 
believe that
collective action is required if blind people are to continue to 
enjoy the
programs and services we now have and to further the goal of 
integration we
all seek where we gain jobs, play active parts in our community, 
and are no
longer limited by artificial barriers that are not imposed by 
blindness but
by the reaction to it by blind and sighted people alike.  As an 
individual I
have a responsibility to think about my options and opportunities 
and to
decide whether or not to pursue or shy away from them; In other 
words, I
have choices to make.  But individually I do not always have the 
creativity,
the expertise, and the power to make those choices real and 
achievable.

Right now blind people are engaged in the battle to determine 
whether we
have a right to demand that computerized technology, with all its 
power and
promise, be harnessed to help us as it helps others, or whether, 
because we
are a small population, this same computer technology will be 
used to
exclude us.  The outcome of this struggle is as important as my 
ability to
compete at a job, my ability to enjoy entertainment at home, my 
ability to
check in at airports and check out at supermarkets, and even my 
ability to
live at home independently.  Take away my independent access to 
home
appliances--my ability to set the temperature on my oven, 
regulate the
temperature in my house, and operate the controls on my washer 
and dryer,
and soon I will require the services of a personal care attendant 
or be in a
nursing home because I will be unable to take care of my most 
basic needs.
Even the option of a home care attendant or a nursing home may 
depend on
whether or not I can afford them.

My job as one human being is to educate myself; my more difficult 
job is to
embrace the education of society to the potential technology 
brings and to
the problems it can create if not properly managed.  Individually 
I must be
an informed voice, but only collectively do I have a voice 
capable of
reaching the nation and the world.  Individually I do not know 
how to bring
about the changes in design and engineering that make things 
talk, produce
braille, or provide a way for me to navigate using touch or 
voice;
collectively I can be a part of giving scholarships to young 
people, some of
whom will dedicate their professional careers to learning about 
such things
and being a part of developing technology that includes me and 
others who
are blind.  Individually I do not know how to craft laws to help 
us, but
collectively I can help to grow and employ the expertise of those 
who do.
Individually I do not know how to execute a successful lawsuit on 
behalf of
myself and others who suffer from technological discrimination; 
collectively
I can be a part of hiring that help and articulating to the legal 
system the
goals and aspirations of blind people who are committed to the 
forward
progress we have enjoyed and to categorically reject the idea of 
once again
being consigned to idleness and inactivity.

It is argued that sighted people do not unite as a group, and 
that, if blind
people truly want equality, we must turn away from the reliance 
on a group
and the expectation other blind people will join with us.  
Because of their
numbers and a society which will quite reasonably be oriented to 
them,
sighted people have no need to unite on the basis of sight.  They 
do,
however, unite for other reasons.  Wealthy people unite with 
others to see
that policies do not encourage and support the taking of their 
wealth.  Those
less wealthy unite for a whole host of reasons when individually 
their
voices are not sufficient to start a national discussion about 
the things
they need.  Doctors, as educated and prestigious as they are, 
unite when it
comes to representing their interests and, for that matter, the 
health
interests of the American people.  Farmers form organizations to 
try to
increase their prices and protect against what they see as overly 
burdensome
regulation.  Many from all walks of life unite to protect the 
environment by
reminding us that some of the things we want for enhancing our 
creature
comforts come at a cost that may jeopardize the well-being of the 
earth for
our children and our children's children.  The concept of 
organizing for
collective action, to amplify the voice, to share the load, and 
to bring
very disparate groups with talent and expertise to serve a cause 
is not
unique to the blind, nor is it unique to America.  It is the 
longing of
people everywhere to better themselves and the realization that 
not every
good that needs doing can be accomplished by one human being, no 
matter her
determination or skill or drive.  It is the understanding that 
true
independence often involves the more complicated concept of 
interdependence
and that learning to work together does not detract one little 
bit from our
individuality, our ability to make choices, and our ability to 
influence the
world.

I want a piece of the American dream.  That means more than 
Supplemental
Security Income because I am deemed too disabled to work.  That 
means more
than food stamps and subsidized housing because I am considered 
so
impoverished that only through a government program can I eat and 
have
shelter from the elements.  I want the right to information and 
that means
more than a book of fiction in which I live my life through the 
words and
stories of others.  I have benefited from and support each of 
these programs
and I do not write to throw stones.  There are forces in the 
world that
conspire to keep me in this place, a place of continual 
dependence.  It is
not a harsh place with physical bars, but a place built by a 
compassionate
America trying to do good for people they perceive as having a 
significant
need.  It is not a jail neither is it a zoo; but it is a cage, 
albeit one
with radios and televisions and devices to produce music on 
demand.  It is a
place where we may play but not a place for we may grow.  
Programs intended
to provide us with a staircase to upward mobility have too often 
become the
means for lifelong support.  The tragedy is that life is so much 
less than it
could be for we who are blind and our country gets so much less 
from good
minds and overflowing hearts who long to find a way to 
meaningfully
contribute.

The alternative path requires more training, perseverance, and 
perhaps even
more good luck.  The process is rehabilitation, and by 
rehabilitation I mean
much more than accepting the help to go from high school to 
training school
or college.  For me rehabilitation means entering into a 
contract, a sacred
pledge to make good on the goodwill and the investment of 
taxpaying
Americans by turning education and equipment into productive 
work.  It is
more than accepting, as a matter of course, this government 
program for the
blind that can sometimes be little more than a transition from 
education to
more education to lifelong dependence.  At its best, 
rehabilitation is the
power of people to help people, the way a society helps some of 
its members
move from needing a meal to earning a meal.  It can, at its best, 
be an
example of government truly serving and at its worst an example 
of raising
expectations only to crush them.  We, the blind people who 
organize and work
in the Federation, determine which it will be.

Several months ago I watched a Republican primary where a 
candidate was
asked what should be done about an uninsured 29-year-old man 
lying in a
hospital following a motorcycle crash.  Should he be allowed to 
die was the
timidly advanced question, and before the candidate could answer, 
a
disturbingly loud minority in that audience began to clap.  The 
America I see
is no longer in a place where she believes she can extend 
benefits to those
who do not pay for them.  If this is true for something as basic 
as medical
care, how long is it before we see America questioning whether 
there is
money to support her disabled citizens who have been offered 
rehabilitation
services but who continue to remain on the public dole? How many 
people must
succeed in the rehabilitation process to convince an ever 
skeptical and
belt-tightening America that this magical contract between blind 
people and
the rest of America's citizens should continue? Partly that 
answer depends
on us and how well we make the case for what we need and the 
wonderful
things that happen when rehabilitation works.  Partly it depends 
on how well
we make the case to other blind people for moving beyond our 
comfort zone
and actively addressing those areas in which we are weak or 
scared or
paralyzed by our inexperience with the world.

I am a member of the National Federation of the Blind because I 
realize it
has been an important part in helping me live a bit of the 
American dream.  I
am a part because I want to pay it forward and to share the 
blessings I've
been given with others.  I know that as important as a positive 
mental
attitude and philosophy are, they are little more than words if 
there isn't
some kind of active effort to transform them into actions.  
Wanting to feed
the starving is more than wanting--it is doing something to 
advance that
cause--donating money, growing food, building roads, and buying 
vehicles.
None of this is accomplished by remaining on the sidelines and 
being an
observer, even if an informed one; it is accomplished by a 
resolution to do
something and then by following through on that resolution.

The Federation, for all the pride I take in her, is not a luxury 
liner
capable of being guided and run by a few and on which many may 
ride in
comfort.  Instead my Federation is a canoe, a ship that can carry 
a few, but
needs every person who can to be at the ores pushing us along, 
steering us
in the direction we want to go, and helping us avoid the 
obstacles that
would break our frail craft if not maneuvered with skill, 
intelligence, and
the support of a God and a public who wants the best for us.  
Blind
Americans, just like sighted Americans, can make the choice as to 
whether or
not to be involved, but the choice they make has consequences for 
all of us.
The more people we have who are active rowers of our canoe, the 
more each of
us who row have time to do other things and the more likely we 
are to
succeed.  Our mission is a noble one that argues for our own 
independence and
for the continued prosperity of our nation.  I believe it is so 
important
that we dare not sit on the sidelines.  I have spent enough of my 
life being
told to observe and weight.  When I have a choice, I will choose
participation, service, and the knowledge that, come what may, I 
have tried.
This is why I am a part of the Federation.  This is why I ask 
others to be a
part.  I don't want to whine and I don't want to preach.  I want 
to be
grateful for what I have, to repay those who have helped to make 
it come
true, and to pay it forward for those who want the same kind of 
future I
want.  I ask for the energy that others can bring in charting 
that course and
then helping us travel it.

Gary


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