[NFBMI-Talk] president's message concerning membership status and Michigan At Large chapter

[mpowell7583 at yahoo.com]

Greetings federation family.  I hope this finds all of you well this spring
as we prepare to move into summer and begin another convention season.  As
we find ourselves preparing to move into active life again as covid shows
signs of decline and many of us have been vaccinated, time is growing short
to register for our national convention and we want all to attend.  It is
once again a virtual event open to all and it is free.  You do not have to
leave home to participate in it and as many of us found last year there are
a wide range of activities and programs you can enjoy and experience.
This year national convention attendees will once again be able to vote on
resolutions and any other items that will be put to a vote by the
membership.  To vote our national office must know that your dues to either
your local chapter or state division have been paid so you can be considered
an active member who is eligible to vote.    

Registration closes May 31, 2021.    So, your dues must be up to date if you
wish to vote at the national convention.  As a few of our chapters in our
affiliate have not met in quite some time their members have not been able
to remain active and paid up as far as their dues are concerned.  We want to
afford anyone who wishes to vote at the convention the opportunity to bring
your dues up to date and become active members of the NFB of Michigan so you
can continue to be a part of us and the work we need to do together.  This
is especially true if you live where there is no chapter of the federation
near you or the chapter you were a part of has not held monthly meetings for
quite some time and therefore has been inactive and nonfunctional.    Since
the Zoom platform has made it possible for meetings to continue at the
national and state level, and since some of our chapters have been using
Zoom to meet regularly through 2020 and 2021, we would like to reestablish
our at large chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of Michigan so
all of us who have been members of the NFB of Michigan can remain active and
stay connected to each other.   Those who live where there is no NFB chapter
near them need to be able to join our affiliate. 

     State board member Robert Parsons has put out the call to organize this
chapter, so we need to get it functioning especially for those who have not
paid dues to any chapter or division since early in 2020 or before.  You
must be an active member to vote on resolutions or any other items put up to
a vote during the national virtual convention.  Once our state convention
can be held as a live event that we can all attend personally, you would
also need to be current in your state dues to vote, run for office, speak,
and be recognized at meetings.  You should know if you have not been to a
chapter meeting for some time or if your local chapter has not been holding
regular meetings.    These are the chapters that have been meeting regularly
who are considered current and active.  They are the Detroit Chapter,
Capital Region Chapter, Wayne County Chapter, Jackson Chapter, Kalamazoo
Chapter, our new Michigan Blind Seniors Division  and our Michigan
Association of Blind Students.

This in no way is meant to single out any of our members who worked as
leaders in the chapters not listed above.  It is a fact of life that we have
not had enough people in certain parts of the state who were able to take on
leadership responsibilities to keep activity going and generate interest
where there has been declining attendance and little participation.  While
we all want to remain committed to the federation there are health,
transportation, and other life issues that have had an impact on some of our
chapters.  Some of our leaders have been running things in their respective
chapters for a long time and they want to remain as active members without
having to hold an office and manage the business of running the
organization.       The shutdown of public activities due to the pandemic
has also exacerbated the situation not only here in Michigan but throughout
the country as well.

Our Nfbmi.org website will soon have a form where you can register to become
a member of the At Large chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of
Michigan.  The dues will be $6.     

In the early part of June our national office will send me a list of all who
registered for the convention by May 31 so I can make any corrections before
they finalize the registration results.    You can do your part, if you want
to vote at our national convention, by signing up for our at large chapter
as soon as you can so your dues will be up to date.     Being unable to vote
will not keep you from participating in the convention but it will limit
your ability to vote on resolutions and elect members of our national board
of directors who will be up for reelection this year.

I believe that putting work into developing this at large chapter will open
the way for our Michigan affiliate to grow in new ways.  Using the Zoom
platform for our at large chapter will make it possible for people who have
always wanted to be part of us to join us without restrictions of distance
and transportation holding them back.  As we find that we are developing
members who live in a particular part of the state these groups will be able
to branch out and form new chapters that will have leaders and members who
have a firm foundation in federation philosophy as a result of their
experience with the at large chapter.  They will also be able to promote
events and new venues and hotels to hold state conventions in the places
where they live that have never hosted our federation before. 

 

All of what I have outlined for you is in keeping with the national
membership policy I read to you at our March 6 state board meeting.  Our
national organization along with our national and state divisions,
affiliates and local chapters are all working together to build the
federation and create new possibilities and greater opportunities for all
blind people to live the lives we want.   Let us do all that we can as proud
active members of our Michigan affiliate to be a part of that process.

Michael Powell, President

National Federation of the Blind of Michigan

(586)754-1325

Mpowell7583 at yahoo.com <mailto:Mpowell7583 at yahoo.com>