[Nfbf-l] 2012-04 Dining in the Dark Resolution Info
Joe and Kitty King
joenkitty at earthlink.net
Sun Sep 23 14:14:32 UTC 2012
Dear Carolyn:
You made a very valid point. I admire the work you do and appreciate you
informing us of details of your Dining in the Dark event. You have gone the
extra mile and are a strong advocate for the blind community by uniting both
the blind and sighted in this outstanding program.
Keep up the good work!
With Sincerity,
Kitty King
----- Original Message -----
From: <lappland at bellsouth.net>
To: "NFB of Florida Internet Mailing List" <nfbf-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, September 22, 2012 2:13 AM
Subject: Re: [Nfbf-l] 2012-04 Dining in the Dark Resolution Info
> Dear All,
>
> I apologize for taking so long to add my thoughts to this thread but
> wanted to assure everyone that the annual Dr. Thomas Hartig Dining in the
> Dark event held by the Florida Outreach Center for the Blind is directly
> aligned with NFB's philosophy and promotes a positive awareness and
> understanding about blindness. Our 6th annual DID event on October 13th
> has been organized by blind and sighted persons who have positive
> attitudes about blindness and portray blind people as equal and vital
> participants of society.
>
> Our event was named after Dr. Thomas Hartig who over the obstacles of
> blindness and was an inspiration to others. He was instrumental in
> bringing NFB/NEWSLINE, newspapers via the telephone, to blind people
> across the country. During the dinner, an award in Dr. Hartig's name is
> presented to a blind person who similarly overcome obstacles and is an
> inspiration to others in the community. We were very honored to have Dr.
> Hartig's wife, Jeanie, speak at the 2011 event.
>
> In addition, the Center always has a guest speaker who is a leader in the
> blind community. This year's key note speaker will be David Bigoney, a
> blind man who competed in the IronMan competition and will be competing in
> the upcoming triathlon challenge. Our live entertainment will be provided
> by a blind singer and song writer.
>
> Since 100% of the Center's staff and 50% of our board of directors are
> required to be blind, there is no way that we would ever conduct an event
> that would present blindness as inferior. The Dining in the Dark event
> gives us an opportunity to educate the public about the capabilities of
> blind people and the importance of good rehabilitation programs. It's an
> enlightening experience for those who attend and they walk away with a
> whole new prospective and better understanding about blindness.
>
> It would be interesting to find out how many of the individuals voting on
> this resolution actually attended a Dining in the Dark event and how many
> of them, because each one is different.
>
> Thanks for listening to my thoughts. God bless and take care.
>
>
>
> Sincerely,
> Carolyn Lapp
> Executive Director
> Florida Outreach Center for the Blind, Inc.
> 2315 S. Congress Avenue
> Palm Springs, FL 33406
> (561) 642-0005
> info_focb at bellsouth.net
>
> Please remember to support the Center by making a tax deductable gift of a
> dollar or more to our worthy programs. Thank You!
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Dan Hicks" <danjhicks at yahoo.com>
> To: "'NFB of Florida Internet Mailing List'" <nfbf-l at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Monday, September 17, 2012 11:21 PM
> Subject: Re: [Nfbf-l] 2012-04 Dining in the Dark Resolution Info
>
>
>> Hello All,
>>
>> I was a member of the Resolutions Committee that approved Resolution
>> 2012-04, the Resolution pertaining to Dining in the Dark, which was later
>> passed by the convention, in which some of us took part.
>>
>> It was controversial in the meeting, in the convention, and it remains
>> so,
>> now.
>>
>> When Peter Cerullo asked me how I felt about the Daytona Beach's
>> chapter's
>> taking part in the CVI's Dining in the Dark, I told him that I don't
>> think
>> that the CVI's event as I know it would violate NFB's national or NFBF
>> state
>> policies - before or after the passage of Resolution 2012-04. This
>> resolution condemns Dining in the Dark "when it is conducted in a way
>> that
>> diminishes the innate normality and equal status of the blind in
>> society." I
>> don't think CVI would conduct the invent in such a negative manner.
>>
>> Some of the Dining in the Dark activities which have been conducted by
>> various organizations - hopefully not our own chapters and affiliates -
>> have
>> not done the blind any good. The example that I gave Peter told of one
>> DiD
>> flyer which emphasized that all of the food was prepared by sighted
>> persons
>> working in well-lighted kitchens. This is not something we would want
>> included in the promotional literature for any of our events.
>>
>> I believe that Dining in the Dark events, if properly planned, promoted,
>> and
>> carried out, can leave a positive impression of the capabilities of blind
>> people in the minds of the sighted and the blind alike. I also believe
>> that
>> a majority of those voting for the resolution in Dallas would also agree
>> with that idea. At least, that was how I interpreted what took place on
>> that
>> day.
>>
>> I would, however, be interested in knowing if anyone has an opposing view
>> on
>> this subject. Discussions like this are what this list is for.
>>
>> Thank you all.
>>
>> Dan Hicks, President
>> NFB of Florida
>>
>>
>> "It's a shallow life that doesn't give a person a few scars."
>>
>> -Garrison Keillor
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nfbf-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbf-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>> Behalf
>> Of Lenora J. Marten
>> Sent: Monday, September 17, 2012 6:40 PM
>> To: nfbf-l at nfbnet.org
>> Subject: Re: [Nfbf-l] 2012-04 Dining in the Dark Resolution Info
>>
>>
>>
>> I think this is a subject that is going to generate some strong opinions
>> and
>> emotions all the way around, but just to give you all a little insight as
>> to
>> how NFB National came to writing and then passing this resolution.
>>
>> As Dr. Mauer read this resolution during general session, there were a
>> lot
>> of mixed opinions. It was very surprising to hear and really seemed like
>> such a dramatic approach, to actually condemn the practice of Dining in
>> the
>> Dark. He did explain that the resolution came about as a result of
>> several
>> NFB members complaints concerning DID. A blind man in California attended
>> one of these events as a diner and was told he couldn't enter the
>> establishment with his cane, as it would give him an unfair advantage
>> over
>> the other 'sighted but blindfolded' diners. Also, in addition to the
>> article
>> in the Times that is mentioned in the resolution, he talked about another
>> article written about DID titled "Dining in the Dark Helps You Appreciate
>> Your Sight" in which a particularly disturbing statement "For those
>> assembled, a half hour in the dark was a humbling, and bumbling, reminder
>> of
>> the magnitude of the gift of sight." And let me tell you, we were very
>> surprised to find that this article came from our own state of Florida
>> right
>> from the Tampa Bay Times. The article was from a DID that happened in
>> 2010
>> hosted by Foundation Fighting Blindness. Below, you will find a link to
>> the
>> article and a copy/paste of the text.
>>
>> http://www.tampabay.com/features/events/dining-in-dark-helps-you-appreciate-
>> your-sight/1078656
>>
>> ST. PETERSBURG
>> You knew your plate had been set before you only by sense of smell. It
>> smelled like beef, something braised and hearty. On your right a voice
>> asked
>> what you do for a living. You turned and lobbed an answer in that
>> direction.
>>
>> Tuesday night was the Foundation Fighting Blindness's first Tampa Bay
>> Dining in the Dark event at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort & Golf Club.
>> More
>> than 200 people, dressed fancy and sipping cocktails, took seats in the
>> main
>> ballroom and eventually donned something called a Mindfold face mask,
>> impervious to light and lined with foam. The lights dimmed and as emcee
>> Dick
>> Crippen of the Tampa Bay Rays goaded the crowd, the group endeavored to
>> enjoy "the first meal you will never see."
>> Other senses were heightened, texture became paramount. But more
>> important, it gave all of the assembled a greater window into the world
>> of
>> the sightless. Many had come because their lives had already been touched
>> by
>> degenerative retinal diseases. Briana Pompilus, 24, was there as a
>> volunteer
>> with her mother Veronica Floyd, 44, who was diagnosed with retinitis
>> pigmentosa at age 22. Still driving now, eventually her vision will close
>> up
>> as if looking through two drinking straws.
>> Mary Lou Johnson Evans was there for a similar reason. Her 14-year-old
>> son, Josh, suffers from the same disease.
>> One of the evening's speakers, April Lufriu, a former Mrs. Florida
>> America
>> pageant winner and president of the Tampa Bay area chapter of the
>> foundation, spoke of her sister's retinal disease and, more haltingly,
>> about
>> her two children's recent diagnosis.
>> Degenerative retinal diseases affect more than 10 million Americans. As
>> keynote speaker James Minow described it, the foundation's aim is to put
>> an
>> end to retinal disease by replacing defective cells in the retina,
>> replacing
>> defective genes and by developing new treatments to protect degenerating
>> retinas. The obstacle? As is so often the case, it's money.
>> According to Kim Marlow, regional director of development for the
>> foundation, the evening in St. Petersburg will raise $100,000 for the
>> cause.
>> The most successful Dining in the Dark event to date, in New York, raised
>> $500,000 in a single evening.
>> The evening's honorees, doctors James Gill and Stephen Klasko, were
>> feverishly optimistic about conceivable cures for blindness. For those
>> assembled, a half hour in the dark was a humbling, and bumbling, reminder
>> of
>> the magnitude of the gift of sight.
>>
>> Laura Reiley can be reached at lreiley at sptimes.com or (727) 892-2293.
>>
>>
>> Lenora J. Marten
>> NFB-Florida Secretary
>> FOPBC President
>> NFB-Jax Chapter Secretary
>> bluegolfshoes at aol.com
>> 904-777-5976 / 904-229-9554
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Patricia A. Lipovsky <plipovsky at cfl.rr.com>
>> To: NFB of Florida Internet Mailing List <nfbf-l at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Mon, Sep 17, 2012 6:16 pm
>> Subject: Re: [Nfbf-l] 2012-04 Dining in the Dark Resolution Info
>>
>>
>> Well said Kathy. Looking forward to this event in October.
>>
>> Give MS Cloey a big hug for me.
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Kathy Davis" <kdavisnfbf at cfl.rr.com>
>> To: "'NFB of Florida Internet Mailing List'" <nfbf-l at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Monday, September 17, 2012 2:40 PM
>> Subject: Re: [Nfbf-l] 2012-04 Dining in the Dark Resolution Info
>>
>>
>>> Hello Everyone,
>>> Let me begin by saying that I am the co-chair of a dining in the
>>> dark fundraiser for the Center for the Visually impaired located here in
>>> Daytona Beach Fl. I am totally blind and a founding member of this
>>> wonderful
>>> organization. We have never put on such an event so this will be our
>>> first
>>> such activity.
>>> I did not even know about the resolution that was passed at the
>>> national convention this summer. I can see where some of the supporters
>>> are
>>> coming from; however I do not agree with the fact that dining in the
>>> dark
>>> fundraisers are demeaning for the blind.
>>> The first Dining in the Dark (DID) fundraiser I attended was
>>> sponsored by Carolyn Lapp's rehabilitation agency, the Florida Outreach
>>> Center, in West Palm Beach. It was most informative and fun too. Having
>>> been asked to be a guest speaker, I was able to address the supporters
>>> by
>>> sharing some of my accomplishments as a blind woman. I will not go in to
>>> detail about all of that here because most of you are acquainted with me
>>> since I served on the NFBF Board of Directors for many years and held
>>> the
>>> position of President of the Florida Affiliate for two terms as well as
>>> founding President of the Greater Daytona Beach Chapter. DID fundraisers
>>> are
>>> a marvelous opportunity just to give patrons a brief sense of what it is
>>> like when someone loses their vision. The really neat thing is that
>>> blind
>>> attendees are able to help out the sighted by serving them more iced tea
>>> or
>>> coffee, pouring salad dressing if they have not a clue how to do this
>>> and
>>> the like. In addition, I will be a guest speaker at our own event
>>> scheduled
>>> for October 17 and there will be many other blind people in attendance.
>>> There is great enthusiasm about our forthcoming DID event and I am
>>> certain
>>> that it will be a huge success. Not only will we raise needed funds for
>>> the
>>> Center for the Visually Impaired but we will also do lots of educating
>>> about
>>> blindness. Naturally I will share with the audience that those of us who
>>> are
>>> blind have undergone specialized training plus simple life experiences
>>> to
>>> become as competent as we are. They will understand that we can cook,
>>> travel
>>> independently most anywhere we wish, hold varying positions of
>>> employment,
>>> and raise a family.
>>> Thank you Patricia, Kathy and Toni for chiming in on this matter.
>>> I'll be the first to let the list know how our Dining in the Dark
>>> fundraiser
>>> goes. Believe me, sighted attendees will leave the dinner having a new
>>> respect for blind people!!
>>>
>>> Sincerely,
>>>
>>> Kathy Davis and new Seeing Eye Dog Chloe
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: nfbf-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbf-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>>> Behalf
>>> Of Mark Tardif
>>> Sent: Monday, September 17, 2012 10:42 AM
>>> To: NFB of Florida Internet Mailing List
>>> Subject: Re: [Nfbf-l] 2012-04 Dining in the Dark Resolution Info
>>>
>>> Hello, Lenora. I was one of the ones not aware of this resolution. I
>>> think, however, that it is a good one. Obviously, promoters of this
>>> kind
>>> of
>>> activity have major stereotypes about blindness and the abilities of
>>> blind
>>> people. For example, the idea that blind people cannot cook for large
>>> numbers of people, and the idea that somehow blind people must have a
>>> hard
>>> time with their table manners, because we cannot see when or if a piece
>>> of
>>> food ends up on the table. I could go on and on. I think maybe the
>>> worst
>>> of these misconceptions is that eating in darkness for the first time
>>> ever,
>>> is somehow like blindness for someone who has lived it for many years.
>>> In
>>> fact, those of us who have been blind for many years no better. But the
>>> worst thing by far, is these promoters, who probably have never talked
>>> with
>>> a real blind person, shamefully use this approach to get people to feel
>>> sorry for blind people and therefore provide funds for their agencies.
>>> That
>>> is unethical and atrocious!!!
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Mark Tardif
>>> Nuclear arms will not hold you.
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Lenora J. Marten
>>> Sent: Monday, September 17, 2012 5:58 AM
>>> To: nfbf-l at nfbnet.org
>>> Subject: [Nfbf-l] 2012-04 Dining in the Dark Resolution Info
>>>
>>>
>>> Hey everyone,
>>>
>>> For those who are not aware, NFB passed a resolution at National
>>> Convention
>>> in Dallas that condemns the
>>> practice of Dining in the Dark.
>>> You will find a copy/paste of the resolution below.
>>>
>>>
>>> Resolution 2012-04
>>> Regarding Dining in the Dark
>>>
>>>
>>> WHEREAS, the real problem of blindness is not the loss of
>>> eyesight but the widespread public misconception that the blind are not
>>> equal to the sighted in society; and
>>>
>>> WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind categorically
>>> rejects the myth that the blind are not equal to the sighted; and
>>>
>>> WHEREAS, programs of the National Federation of the Blind
>>> teach
>>> and promote a positive understanding of blindness, that the blind are
>>> normal
>>>
>>> and equal members of society, and that blindness does not mean
>>> inferiority;
>>> and
>>>
>>> WHEREAS, an activity known as "dining in the dark" is being
>>> promoted and used to raise funds by having sighted people experience
>>> blindness by eating in the dark; and
>>>
>>> WHEREAS, an article published in Time magazine entitled
>>> "Dining
>>> in the Dark" assures would-be diners that the cook "works in a well-lit
>>> kitchen"; and
>>>
>>> WHEREAS, the Dining in the Dark
>>> website--www.dininginthedark.org--states: "you will pick from a
>>> specially
>>> prepared menu (designed by a sighted local 'star' chef)" and "In
>>> darkness
>>> everyone becomes equal. Our opinions can't be molded by dress,
>>> mannerisms,
>>> or makeup as none of it can be seen. You learn that without sight your
>>> other senses become more acute"; and
>>>
>>> WHEREAS, these statements lay bare the underlying philosophy
>>> of
>>> dining in the dark, that sight means superior ability, and that, when
>>> sight
>>> is removed in the dark, the blind and the sighted are equal: Now,
>>> therefore,
>>>
>>> BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
>>> Convention assembled this fourth day of July, 2012, in the city of
>>> Dallas,
>>> Texas, that this organization condemn and deplore the use of dining in
>>> the
>>> dark in a manner that diminishes the innate normality and equal status
>>> of
>>> the blind in society; and
>>>
>>> BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization pursue an
>>> active
>>> policy of opposition to dining in the dark activities and events,
>>> including
>>> use of media and public protests, whenever and wherever such activities
>>> and
>>> events exploit blindness and blind people based on a demeaning
>>> philosophy.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Lenora J. Marten
>>> NFB-Florida Secretary
>>> FOPBC President
>>> NFB-Jax Chapter Secretary
>>> bluegolfshoes at aol.com
>>> 904-777-5976 / 904-229-9554
>>>
>>>
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