From buhrow at lothlorien.nfbcal.org Tue Jan 28 10:04:48 2020 From: buhrow at lothlorien.nfbcal.org (Brian Buhrow) Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2020 10:04:48 -0800 Subject: [Brl-monitor] The Braille monitor, February 2020 Message-ID: <202001281804.00SI4m7F023429@lothlorien.nfbcal.org> BRAILLE MONITOR Vol. 63, No. 2 February 2020 Gary Wunder, Editor Distributed by email, in inkprint, in Braille, and on USB flash drive, by the NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND Mark Riccobono, President telephone: 410-659-9314 email address: nfb at nfb.org website address: http://www.nfb.org NFBnet.org: http://www.nfbnet.org NFB-NEWSLINE? information: 866-504-7300 Like us on Facebook: Facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind Follow us on Twitter: @NFB_Voice Watch and share our videos: YouTube.com/NationsBlind Letters to the President, address changes, subscription requests, and orders for NFB literature should be sent to the national office. Articles for the Monitor and letters to the editor may also be sent to the national office or may be emailed to gwunder at nfb.org. Monitor subscriptions cost the Federation about forty dollars per year. Members are invited, and nonmembers are requested, to cover the subscription cost. Donations should be made payable to National Federation of the Blind and sent to: National Federation of the Blind 200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place Baltimore, Maryland 21230-4998 THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND KNOWS THAT BLINDNESS IS NOT THE CHARACTERISTIC THAT DEFINES YOU OR YOUR FUTURE. EVERY DAY WE RAISE THE EXPECTATIONS OF BLIND PEOPLE, BECAUSE LOW EXPECTATIONS CREATE OBSTACLES BETWEEN BLIND PEOPLE AND OUR DREAMS. YOU CAN LIVE THE LIFE YOU WANT; BLINDNESS IS NOT WHAT HOLDS YOU BACK. THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND IS NOT AN ORGANIZATION SPEAKING FOR THE BLIND-IT IS THE BLIND SPEAKING FOR OURSELVES. ISSN 0006-8829 ? 2020 by the National Federation of the Blind Each issue is recorded on a thumb drive (also called a memory stick or USB flash drive). You can read this audio edition using a computer or a National Library Service digital player. The NLS machine has two slots-the familiar book-cartridge slot just above the retractable carrying handle and a second slot located on the right side near the headphone jack. This smaller slot is used to play thumb drives. Remove the protective rubber pad covering this slot and insert the thumb drive. It will insert only in one position. If you encounter resistance, flip the drive over and try again. (Note: If the cartridge slot is not empty when you insert the thumb drive, the digital player will ignore the thumb drive.) Once the thumb drive is inserted, the player buttons will function as usual for reading digital materials. If you remove the thumb drive to use the player for cartridges, when you insert it again, reading should resume at the point you stopped. You can transfer the recording of each issue from the thumb drive to your computer or preserve it on the thumb drive. However, because thumb drives can be used hundreds of times, we would appreciate their return in order to stretch our funding. Please use the return envelope enclosed with the drive when you return the device. Houston Site of 2020 NFB Convention The 2020 convention of the National Federation of the Blind will take place in Houston, Texas, July 14 to July 19, at the Hilton Americas-Houston hotel, 1600 Lamar Street, Houston, TX 77010. Make your room reservation as soon as possible with the Hilton Americas-Houston staff only. Call 1-800- 236-2905 to reserve your room in the main hotel. If you wish to stay in our overflow hotel, the Marriott Marquis Houston, the number to call is 1-877- 688-4323. The 2020 room rate at our main hotel is $105.00 per night and applies to singles and doubles as well as triples and quads. Hotel and sales taxes are 13.38 percent and 8.25 percent, respectively. The rate for the overflow Marriott Marquis is slightly higher at $119 and includes Hotel and sales taxes of 13.38 percent and 8.25 percent, respectively. As with our main hotel, this rate is good for up to four in a room. Both hotels will take a deposit of the first night's room rate for each room and will require a credit card or a personal check. If you use a credit card, the deposit will be charged against your card immediately. If a reservation is cancelled before Friday, June 1, 2020, half of the deposit will be returned. Otherwise refunds will not be made. Rooms will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Reservations may be made before June 1, 2020, assuming that rooms are still available. After that time the hotels will not hold our room block for the convention. In other words, you should get your reservation in soon. The schedule for the 2020 convention is: Tuesday, July 14 Seminar Day Wednesday, July 15 Registration and Resolutions Day Thursday, July 16 Board Meeting and Division Day Friday, July 17 Opening Session Saturday, July 18 Business Session Sunday, July 19 Banquet Day and Adjournment Vol. 63, No. 2 February 2020 Contents Illustration: Leading with the Heart Having a Voice and More by Cassie McKinney >From Struggle to Success: How Honesty, Skills, Philosophy, and Engagement Helped Me by Rebecca Stevens Houston Proud: The 2020 National Convention is Closer than You Think by Norma Crosby The Secret to Winning a National Federation of the Blind Scholarship by Cayte Mendez Sighted Privilege: Recognition of the Problem is the First Step Toward Resolution by Justin Salisbury Teaching Access Technology Using Structured Discovery Techniques by Chancey Fleet and Matt Hackert Who Are the Blind Who Lead the Blind? Protect Yourself from Phone Scams by the Social Security Administration Kenneth Jernigan Convention Scholarship by Tracy Soforenko Recipes Monitor Miniatures [PHOTO CAPTION: This year's Art of Leadership Group: Back row, left to right: Ethan, Devan, La'Mya, Mya, Jack, and Eli Middle row: Noah (kneeling), Jordan, Kourtney, Keera, Jonathan, Amanda, Abijah, and Quinn Front row: Kayla, Samantha, Zawadi, Allie, Paige, Anning, and Ryder] [PHOTO CAPTION: Karl Belanger and Kennedy Zimnik demonstrate access technology to Kourtney, Keera, Mya, Nadia, and Devan.] [PHOTO CAPTION: Ethan and Ryder were able to practice kitchen techniques while under learning shades by baking cookies.] [PHOTO CAPTION: Taught by Steve Booth, Summer, Noah, Ryder, Abijah, and Amanda practice Braille using Perkins Braillewriters.] [PHOTO CAPTION: Eli, Jack, Jonathan, Zawadi, and Jordan navigate a small set of stairs under learning shades with the help of mentors, Maurice Peret, Lou Ann Blake, Scott White, and Stephanie Flynt.] Leading with the Heart For the past five years the National Federation of the Blind has held a transformational seminar with the Art of Leadership group, as part of the Art with a Heart organization. High school students from across Baltimore came to the Jernigan Institute to participate in this two-and-a-half hour seminar. These students were challenged by Braille instruction, going over the alphabet and using a Braillewriter; learning kitchen techniques under learning shades, including cutting vegetables and fruit and baking cookies; experiencing access technology, including using JAWS to explore a website, using a KNFB Reader, using VoiceOver on iPhone graphics; and learning some basics of cane travel under learning shades. At the end of this seminar the students and the instructors had a meal together, and over good food had good discussion about the students' experiences and what they learned. The breaking of bread also gave them a chance to ask questions that might have come from the experience. Having a Voice and More by Cassie McKinney From the Editor: What we take for granted is often surprising until some person or circumstance brings it to our attention. Feeling good is taken for granted until we suffer for a week with a cold or a day with a bad headache. At least in my case, for the next little while I wake with gratitude, but alas, it doesn't last long. Pretty soon I am taking the good for granted as nothing more than what I am due. It is my normal, and it is to my shame that I discount the blessings in my midst. Cassie McKinney is the president of the National Federation of the Blind of New Hampshire, a wife and mother of two, and a fulltime funeral director. She is more than busy, but she doesn't take for granted her right to vote and the homework that should go into preparing for it. Here is what she says: Much of the buzz in the news today is about 2020 and our upcoming elections. No matter where any of us stand politically, we have views, and those views need to be expressed through our vote. This is why the NFB spends so much time working on blind people being able to cast a ballot privately and independently. Blind people have issues that require the attention of public officials, and each of us has a responsibility to speak to the direction of the country and what we see for her future. As blind people, we are as diverse as others are in what we think about the role of government, the level of taxes, what it means to be a good or bad politician, and the role each citizen should play in policy development. So you can see where I'm going with this article; it's all about voting, but don't turn me off so quickly because my message is more complex. Before we undertake any task, normally we learn what we can about it. We get familiar with the options being discussed, see if we can add one or two of our own ideas, and then work at getting to know the people who can bring about the change we want or preserve the things we want to keep. In terms of our political system, I think this should mean going to forums, caucuses, and other public meetings candidates hold to advertise themselves and their views. One advantage of being a part of the process is having others see us, knowing their issues, talking about ours, and helping emphasize to us and to others that we are generally not single-issue voters. I care about how a candidate feels about my access to blindness technology, but blindness is not the characteristic that defines me, and she will not get my vote if we have major disagreements on other things that are important to me. Living in New Hampshire, I get the opportunity to see a number of presidential candidates up close. I get to see both what the news has to say about them and what I hear directly through my own observation and interaction. All of us know the difference in connecting with other people when our contact is by letter, by telephone, or in person. All have their place, but I get to know people best when I can shake their hand and talk with them. I like to see not only how they interact with me but also how they interact with others and whether there is a significant difference. To me there is no better way than personal engagement to decide whether a candidate is sincere or insincere, whether his engagement with the audience is real or forced, and whether he seeks office to help people like me or simply to help himself. The opportunity to participate in deciding who will govern and make the important decisions for our country is too important to observe second or third hand. The interaction that I have and the consequent decisions I help to influence make a difference in not only my present-day existence but also in the future that will greet me and my children. There is no downside to this participation in which I am currently engaging, and I hope that everyone who reads this will take advantage of their own opportunity to observe, interact, send a message, and in the end cast their vote. I love how being politically involved makes me feel, and I am certain it will do the same for you. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Rebecca Stevens] From Struggle to Success: How Honesty, Skills, Philosophy, and Engagement Helped Me by Rebecca Stevens From the Editor: Rebecca tells a story that needs to be told more often. The story is about a child who sees so little that using her sight does not allow her to productively do what others do. At the same time, she sees well enough that she is not encouraged to learn and use the techniques blind people use, and when she makes moves in that direction, she is questioned, bullied, and suffers a direct attack on her self-esteem. The question is whether to try to fit in and accept that you will not do things well, or determine that you are blind and that you must master the techniques blind people use and then gladly take the additional rewards your limited vision will allow. Rebecca now works as our director of social media at the NFB Jernigan Institute, but this article was written before her recent hiring. I appreciate her sharing her story with readers of the Braille Monitor, and I think many of us will come to appreciate what she does for us in bringing her skills to social media. Here is what she says: I was born on December 27, 1994, with albinism, a condition frequently accompanied by low vision. I am the oldest of three girls, and after our parents divorced, we moved to Gothenburg, Nebraska, as my mom navigated becoming a single parent. Although she always encouraged me to follow my dreams by demonstrating what persistence and hard work could accomplish, she had few resources and no familiarity with blindness. Neither did she know or have help in learning how to raise a child growing up with it. She took me to the best ophthalmologist, involved me with the Lions Club, and encouraged my participation in different activities. These activities included sports (karate, track, baseball, volleyball), Destination Imagination (collaborative problem-solving challenges designed to teach twenty-first century skills and STEM principles), choir, plays, band, and Girl Scouts. All the advice she received from public schools, counselors, doctors, and family and friends encouraged her to push me to use the eyesight I have. In turn, it discouraged me when I couldn't do the things that I wanted to accomplish. It also brought on a number of health problems, ranging from headaches and back pain to depression, anxiety, and eventually low self-esteem. They didn't teach me to embrace my vision loss and learn different, nonvisual techniques to accomplish tasks. And worse, I struggled socially; it became harder to make friends. I attended Gothenburg public schools from 2003 through 2006 and again from 2008 until I graduated in 2013. During my schooling I began using low- vision accommodations in the classroom. I had the choice among large print, magnification, and using skills designed for people with less usable vision. Living in Nebraska, I was very fortunate to be in a state that had one of the best vocational rehabilitation programs for blindness in the country. I was assigned a vision counselor from the Nebraska Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired (NCBVI), who worked with my mother and me to do the best that we could to advocate in IEP meetings and acquire the expensive access technology I needed. I was given the option to learn Braille, which I did. But quickly it became apparent that there weren't many practical ways for me to use it, since it had to be transcribed and materials reformatted for me. Instead I used magnification aids such as ZoomText (a screen magnification program) and a closed-circuit TV (CCTV) to enlarge the white board, even if that meant making it harder in classes. I used to lug this heavy machine through the halls, up and down the stairs, and sit in the front of the class to read PowerPoints and handouts, but I still struggled to keep up. The CCTV encouraged me to depend on the unreliable vision that I had. Oftentimes these visual techniques wouldn't bridge the gap that I needed, and I was placed in a special education class where I was helped by a special education paraprofessional (para) to read my work and explain materials. Sometimes it was given in an over-simplified manner in order to meet deadlines, resulting in my answers being too easy in order to pass classes. I wasn't a slow learner; nor did I have trouble learning the material from an academic perspective. In fact, it was the opposite. Despite the best efforts of my paras, teachers, and my mom, I still struggled to get good grades in my classes and to meet the expectations that I had for myself. I wanted to take harder classes that would look good to colleges, but they were more visually challenging. People were setting lower standards and expectations for my future solely because of my blindness. I began to have difficulty with my peers, my self- esteem, and I started acting out. Still, I never completely gave up on my dreams. I found myself in a strange kind of limbo-too sighted to fit in with blind peers, and too blind to fit in with sighted people. I was told by family and other sighted people that I was "not blind enough" to need a white cane, so for years I never used one. Very often people assumed I was either incapable or faking my lack of vision. Socially, school was even more of a challenge. The bullying because of my albinism was horrendous. It had reached a point where I didn't feel safe coming to class because I was being physically threatened by my peers for how I looked and because of the special aids I had to use in class. It led me to feel like I had to hide my blindness from people. So when I was older and was introduced to my first cane, I was afraid of how much it would make me stand out and emphasize that I was different. I didn't see its value as a tool when I had gotten so good at hiding my struggles with blindness so that only my closest friends, the para, and my close family members could see the things I did to make it look like I was just another kid with vision. When I finally entered the workforce, I used this same tactic to get jobs. But quickly I realized that the only person I was fooling was myself. I struggled with performing up to expectations when reliant on visual techniques. It wasn't new to me to struggle in the sighted world; however, I was very frustrated with how low the expectations were set for me. I felt like I would never be able to do anything greater than take orders and bag fast food, and even then I tried to do my best. I wanted more than this. I wanted a good job, a career with benefits, advancement opportunities, and some day to have a family and raise children. I knew I deserved these things just like everyone else. My mom watched me struggle, and she never stopped encouraging me to be brave. But the truth was that we both felt powerless. We were problem-solvers, but we couldn't see another solution. After struggling for years in the workplace, losing my job, and having to pick up multiple part-time jobs to be able to pay the bills, I began my search again. After many resum?s and applications, but very few interviews, I still couldn't seem to find a job. No matter how professional I was, I couldn't get hired, not even at local restaurants. Despite all of the challenges I had faced in employment and continuing education, I always believed I had more potential, and those obstacles challenged me to be determined, strong, and hard working. It gave me the determination and diligence to make my dreams a reality. But for years I believed in that idea that if something is broken, fix it, and to myself and everyone else, my vision was broken. In 2014 my mother and I decided to start our business, Agape Medical Staffing LLC. My mom knew I could do it. I just needed the chance to prove to myself and to others how capable and able I was. Today, I love working at home with my mom and being my own boss. I help so many elderly people in nursing homes across the state and build relationships with nursing home administrators and other business owners. I finally feel like I am giving back to my state and my community! But as our business grew, so did the paperwork and the demand for more computer skills. I realized I needed better accommodations for my vision, and I began falling behind on deadlines once again. That was when I decided to go to the School for the Blind run by NCBVI. This is where my life began to follow a new path. This is where I learned, under the Structured Discovery method, to use alternative, nonvisual techniques of blindness. I also stopped seeing myself as broken, rather, just different. I attended training where I would wear learning shades (a dark mask over my eyes that didn't let any light come through). From 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., I wore these learning shades to learn skills like Braille literacy, home management, home maintenance, traveling with a long white cane, and computer skills using JAWS (a screen reader which converts print on a computer screen to synthetic speech). It was there that I was first introduced to the National Federation of the Blind and its positive philosophy about my blindness. I came to accept my vision and myself with pride! I no longer fear using other accommodations to create a better quality of life for myself. I wish that I had learned and used these skills years ago! As I learned them and started using them regularly, I realized that I had missed so many things trying to rely on vision alone. I was practically illiterate, and my traveling was very stressful and unsafe. Worst of all, I had acquired such an anxiety of talking to people and being independent that I was now the one holding myself back. I let others tell me what was best for me, many who thought they were helping, but they had never been exposed to the positive philosophy of what blindness was. For so long, I didn't know all the opportunities and experiences that I had missed out on! I had finally found a family within the Federation, a community of support, and I didn't have to pave my own way or try to be someone I wasn't anymore. The skills I have learned from NCBVI and the National Federation of the Blind have given me the opportunity and the confidence to be a successful businesswoman, mom, mentor, and contributing member of my community. They have also given me the courage to share my new identity with my family and friends. My mother has seen me grow in ways she never imagined possible! Today I want to share this philosophy, to be a role model for others with vision loss, and to show them that they can be anything they dream. My story is far from unique in the blindness community, and I wouldn't say it is sad, either. I had good friends and lots of love and support! Those around me did everything they knew to help me succeed, but they lacked the knowledge and resources to show me this different perspective of my blindness. Meet the Blind Month is about bringing a positive perspective on blindness and sharing the techniques and tools we use to interact with the world. It's about making connections and sharing support with others, both sighted and blind, as we navigate the world. When I talk about blindness, I am not referring to total blindness or pointing out the difference between legally blind and low vision. Rather, I am using the NFB's definition, which is anyone whose vision is altered significantly enough that they must use alternative techniques to accomplish tasks of daily living. With this philosophy, the techniques used by people with low vision and those with total blindness are very similar. They can rely on nonvisual alternatives that create less stress on them and at the same time provide an efficient way to accomplish goals. Blindness can look like many things, and there are lots of ways we accommodate. Each person is unique, and therefore the techniques they use vary, but the philosophy should be the same. Live the life you want; these techniques can help you do exactly that. I want to give special thanks to all those who did their best to help me along my journey: Angela Piper, case manager; my mom, Lori Zimmerman; all of my friends in school who stood by me in the tough times; all the counselors and instructors from NCBVI, especially Erin Brandyberry; and finally the Federation family in Nebraska and within the Nebraska's At-Large Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind. ---------- Houston Proud: The 2020 National Convention is Closer than You think by Norma Crosby From the Editor: Norma is the very active president of the National Federation of the Blind of Texas. She is also a member of the national board of directors. What the Texas affiliate will be doing in July is acting as the host of the 2020 convention, and here, in the first of several articles, is her explanation as to why you should start making plans to be in Houston: Houston is a city with lots of personality. Think Dolly Parton with a dash of Freddie Mercury, Beyonc?, and Johnny Cash thrown in for good measure. It boasts not only the world's biggest rodeo, but great sports teams, more than 10,000 restaurants, and spectacular entertainment venues. While we love our cars in Houston, the downtown area is both walkable and beautiful. Our headquarters hotel is right in the heart of downtown, and you'll find food and nightlife nearby. You may be surprised to learn this, but it's hot in Houston in July, ya'll. That's why we developed a tunnel and skywalk system that helps to keep Houstonians cool in the summer by entering buildings that are a part of the system and navigating indoors. Tunnel entries are usually found in office buildings, and, once inside, visitors can just go downstairs and wander around to find shopping and dining opportunities. We'll offer you some suggestions about using the tunnels while you are here. Just grab a restaurant and shopping guide from the Texas Suite or our information table and find out what I'm talking about. Shopping and eating are not the only activities you can engage in when you're downtown. Discovery Green is a twelve-acre park that sits just across the street from our hotel. The park includes two restaurants, a kid's play area, two dog runs, and a multiuse amphitheater. So, if you need some outdoor time, this is the perfect spot. If you want to venture a little further afield, there are other parks in the downtown area, including the Buffalo Bayou Park. This park includes a great nature play and picnic area, a two-acre dog park, boat and bike rentals, and the Waugh Bridge Bat Colony. There are six hundred square miles of Houston to explore, but you'll never be bored even if you just stay downtown. Next month I'll tell you a little bit about the city and share some information about tours that we have planned for people who want to come a little early or stay a little late. So, tune in for the next installment of our Houston Proud series. ---------- Leave a Legacy For more than seventy-five years the National Federation of the Blind has worked to transform the dreams of hundreds of thousands of blind people into reality, and with your support we will continue to do so for decades to come. We sincerely hope you will plan to be a part of our enduring movement by adding the National Federation of the Blind as a partial beneficiary in your will. A gift to the National Federation of the Blind in your will is more than just a charitable, tax-deductible donation. It is a way to join in the work to help blind people live the lives they want that leaves a lasting imprint on the lives of thousands of blind children and adults. With your help, the NFB will continue to: . Give blind children the gift of literacy through Braille; . Promote the independent travel of the blind by providing free, long white canes to blind people in need; . Develop dynamic educational projects and programs that show blind youth that science and math are within their reach; . Deliver hundreds of accessible newspapers and magazines to provide blind people the essential information necessary to be actively involved in their communities; . Offer aids and appliances that help seniors losing vision maintain their independence; and . Fund scholarship programs so that blind people can achieve their dreams. Plan to Leave a Legacy Creating a will gives you the final say in what happens to your possessions and is the only way to be sure that your remaining assets are distributed according to your passions and beliefs. Many people fear creating a will or believe it's not necessary until they are much older. Others think that it's expensive and confusing. However, it is one of the most important things you will do, and with new online legal programs it is easier and cheaper than ever before. If you do decide to create or revise your will, consider the National Federation of the Blind as a partial beneficiary. Visit www.nfb.org/planned-giving or call 410-659-9314, extension 2422, for more information. Together with love, hope, determination, and your support, we will continue to transform dreams into reality. Invest in Opportunity The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back. A donation to the National Federation of the Blind allows you to invest in a movement that removes the fear from blindness. Your investment is your vote of confidence in the value and capacity of blind people and reflects the high expectations we have for all blind Americans, combating the low expectations that create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. In 2018 the NFB: . Distributed over seven thousand canes to blind people across the United States, empowering them to travel safely and independently throughout their communities. . Hosted forty-eight NFB BELL Academy programs, which served more than three hundred and fifty blind students throughout the United States. . Provided over one hundred thousand dollars in scholarships to blind students, making a post-secondary education affordable and attainable. . Delivered audio newspaper and magazine services to 118,900 subscribers, providing free access to over four hundred local, national, and international publications. . In the third year of the program, over three hundred fifty Braille- writing slates and styluses were given free of charge to blind users. Just imagine what we'll do next year, and, with your help, what can be accomplished for years to come. Below are just a few of the many diverse, tax-deductible ways you can lend your support to the National Federation of the Blind. Vehicle Donation Program The NFB now accepts donated vehicles, including cars, trucks, boats, motorcycles, or recreational vehicles. Just call 855-659-9314 toll-free, and a representative can make arrangements to pick up your donation-it doesn't have to be working. We can also answer any questions you have. General Donation General donations help support the ongoing programs of the NFB and the work to help blind people live the lives they want. Donate online with a credit card or through the mail with check or money order. Visit www.nfb.org/make-gift for more information. Bequests Even if you can't afford a gift right now, including the National Federation of the Blind in your will enables you to contribute by expressing your commitment to the organization and promises support for future generations of blind people across the country. Visit www.nfb.org/planned-giving or call 410-659-9314, extension 2422, for more information. Pre-Authorized Contribution Through the Pre-Authorized Contribution (PAC) program, supporters sustain the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind by making recurring monthly donations by direct withdraw of funds from a checking account or a charge to a credit card. To enroll, visit www.nfb.org/make- gift, and complete the Pre-Authorized Contribution form, and return it to the address listed on the form. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Cayte Mendez] The Secret to Winning a National Federation of the Blind Scholarship by Cayte Mendez From the Editor: Cayte Mendez is the chairperson of one of the most important committees of the National Federation of the Blind. She and her committee are charged with advertising our scholarship program and choosing thirty students who demonstrate academic success, leadership, and commitment to helping others. Here is Cayte's announcement about the 2020 scholarship program: Each July at the annual convention of the National Federation of the Blind, our organization awards a broad array of scholarships to recognize achievement by blind scholars. Our thirty scholarships, of which the $12,000 Kenneth Jernigan Scholarship is the largest, are all substantial and prestigious enough to inspire any student to complete a competitive application. The NFB Scholarship Program is our investment in the future of blind people who demonstrate scholastic aptitude, leadership, and service. I encourage every blind college student to apply. What exactly is the secret to winning an NFB scholarship? Over the years, I have heard quite a bit of speculation regarding the answer to this question. To be sure, there are some non-negotiable eligibility requirements. All applicants for these scholarships must: . be legally blind; . reside in one of our fifty states, the District of Columbia, or Puerto Rico; . be pursuing or planning to pursue a full-time postsecondary course of study in a degree program at an accredited United States institution in the fall of the 2020-2021 academic year; and . participate in the entire NFB national convention and in all scheduled scholarship activities if chosen as a finalist. While these are the concrete requirements, what exactly is the secret to becoming an NFB scholarship winner? Many think the key to becoming a scholarship winner is a high grade point average (GPA). While an applicant's GPA certainly has value because it demonstrates his or her ability to learn and be successful academically, this is by no means the only attribute that influences the decisions of the scholarship committee. Likewise, others believe that the secret to winning is abundant participation in extracurricular activities. Recognizing an applicant's willingness to take on commitments outside of school and/or work can help the committee develop a portrait of a well-rounded individual; however, this is also not sufficient in itself to justify a scholarship award. Still others think the magic scholarship-winning ingredient is an applicant's level of commitment to the NFB. It is certainly true that the scholarship program provides our organization with a tremendous opportunity to develop future leaders of the National Federation of the Blind, but scholarship awards are by no means restricted to members of the organization. The National Federation of the Blind is dedicated to creating opportunities for all blind people. Recipients of NFB scholarships need not be members of the National Federation of the Blind. Many of our past winners were not even aware of the NFB before they applied for our scholarships. Finally, there are those who speculate that the committee looks for winners among applicants from specific fields of study or specific demographics. However, over the years, students of all ages and in widely differing fields have become finalists. The class of 2019 included students entering their freshman year, as well as older students who were nearly ready to write their PhD dissertations. Past scholarship winners are working toward credentials for employment in many diverse fields. So what exactly is the secret to becoming an NFB scholarship finalist? It is just this-you must apply! Each November the new, updated scholarship application forms are posted on the web at www.nfb.org/scholarships, along with important information about the contest, links to information on past winners, and a page of frequently asked questions. The application form for 2020 is already online. It will remain available until March 31. The process can be initiated with an online application, which we prefer, or students can ask for a print application by contacting our scholarship office at scholarships at nfb.org or by calling 410-659-9314, ext. 2415. A complete application consists of the official application form and a student essay, plus these supporting documents: student transcripts, one letter of recommendation, and proof of legal blindness. Each applicant must also complete an interview with the NFB affiliate president of his/her state of residence or the state where he or she will be attending school. High school seniors may also include a copy of the results of their ACT, SAT, or other college entrance exams. In order to ensure that their application is eligible for consideration, applicants must ensure that all of the required information and supporting documentation has been received by our scholarship office either online by midnight EST, March 31, or by mail postmarked by March 31. Students should carefully consider who can do the best job of writing their letter of reference. These letters should support the application by being full of facts and observations that will help the members of the committee see the applicant as a bright, active student and citizen. Students can write their essays using word processing software. They should remember to use the spell checker (or a human proofreader) before uploading, printing, or copying and pasting their work into the online application form. In an effective essay, the applicant will talk about his or her life in a way that gives the committee insight into him or her. The essay should cover the ways in which he or she lives successfully as a blind person and describe the applicant's personal goals for the future. Information about positions of leadership is especially helpful. Committee members give the essay a great deal of attention. The NFB scholarship committee is comprised of dedicated, successful blind people who will review all applications and select the top thirty applicants who will become the scholarship class of 2020. Note that students submit just one application to the program; the scholarship committee will choose the thirty finalists from all applications received. These thirty scholarship finalists will be notified of their selection by telephone no later than June 1. During the annual convention of the National Federation of the Blind, held July 14 through July 19, 2020, in Houston, Texas, the scholarship committee will decide which award will be presented to each winner. Attending and participating in the entire national convention is one of the requirements to become an NFB scholarship winner. Of course, attending the convention is also a significant part of the prize. The National Federation of the Blind's national convention is the largest gathering of blind people to occur anywhere in the world each year, with 2,500 or more people registered. Those chosen as scholarship finalists will have the opportunity to network with other blind students, to exchange information and ideas, and to meet and talk with hundreds of blind people who are successfully employed in many occupations and professions. Our past winners often comment that the money was quickly spent, but the contacts they made and the information they gathered at convention have continued to make their lives richer than they ever imagined. Often students apply more than one year before winning a scholarship, so applicants are encouraged to reapply. The NFB may award scholarships to men and women who have already received one Federation scholarship in the past if their scholarship and leadership merit another award. Individuals receiving a second NFB national scholarship are recognized as tenBroek Fellows. So now you know the secret. The key to success for the NFB scholarship program is as straightforward as carefully reading the application on our website and then providing all of the required information and supporting documentation before the deadline of March 31. I look forward to receiving your applications! ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Justin Salisbury] Sighted Privilege: Recognition of the Problem is the First Step Toward Resolution by Justin Salisbury From the Editor: As a long-time reader and now the editor, I sometimes receive material that makes me uncomfortable. I come to my job with a set of values that have been influenced over a number of years by society, my experience, and my opinions about right and wrong. If I really want to understand somebody else, I have to start by suspending judgment while I read or listen. I have to be careful not to start constructing arguments as to how they are wrong before I actually hear what they have said. I have to work hard at not using their time for speaking as my time for preparing an answer that may agree or disagree with their statement. Justin Salisbury sometimes presents me with articles that make me do a double take. Usually I read them, shake my head in wonder, and then go back to his email message to write a reply that usually says something like, "Did you really mean to say that you believe this? Isn't what you really mean a little closer to what is commonly believed, and could you say it in a way that will cause less defensiveness?" Sometimes he agrees, and we work on a rewrite, but often his response is to suggest that I edit his remarks for clarity but trust that he means what he says. Justin sent this article in early July. I read it, but I was preoccupied with convention planning, and I knew that it would certainly not make our August/September convention issue and that it was likely not to make the October one either, which is still predominantly convention- oriented. I don't think I responded to him immediately, feeling that we would again go through our email negotiation. He has now gently reminded me that I have had this article for about six months and that he is still interested in seeing it published. This is an appreciated reminder. Having articles fall through the cracks is not impossible, and though I have a system, it is far from perfect. This time I am not going to try to talk him into changing what he sent. I think that indeed he is articulating a concept that will make many of us uncomfortable but one about which we should be aware. Sometimes I enjoy privilege that I do not want, did not work on a way to get, and can't figure out how to nullify. When I find the end of the line at the airport and an official from TSA or someone working at the check-in counter immediately moves me to the front, what easy and respectable options do I have beyond "no thank you?" How big a scene do I make if the "no thank you" doesn't work? When I heard about the idea that I enjoyed white privilege, I took a visceral dislike to it. Certainly there was discrimination against people of other races, but white privilege got under my skin. I didn't choose to be white. I didn't work at having white privilege. I put a good deal of energy into seeing that everyone had the same privilege, and I felt that the term was more a statement of blame and accusation than it was a comment about the way things are. I wanted to reject white privilege as one of these newly coined words created by sociologists or activists, and the sooner the concept died away, the better I would feel about it. But concepts that have merit don't often fade away, and, at least in my case, negative emotional reactions often do give way to rational consideration when one gets beyond feeling he is being blamed for the way things are. This is a rather long introduction to ask that you work hard at reading this with an open mind. If you believe that something said here is wrong, send it along. Let's talk about it; let's figure it out together. As he makes clear, Justin intends this as a conversation starter and not the definitive word on blind privilege. Here is his article: Throughout the history of our movement, different terms or phrases have evolved to describe phenomena faced by blind people. It appears to me that some of these terms were coined intentionally, while others may have simply been repeated because someone said something that resonated widely. For example, we have the term "hierarchy of sight," which is a formal term that we often use in the Federation. We also have phrases like "don't throw the nickel," which Dr. Jernigan probably never expected us to say as often as we do. When Dr. Alan Dodds was writing the document that we now call "The Nottingham Report," I doubt that he expected that we would have eventually branded our model of adjustment to blindness training with the words "Structured Discovery." After spending over a decade as a student of our movement, I am going to attempt to encapsulate some of the themes which I have heard in our movement in one intentional term. I expect that no single person could produce a final and complete description of it at the time of its introduction, but 50,000 blind people can do a pretty good job of it. Thus, if people think that I have missed something, I beg you to fill in the blanks because I want it and because we all need it. The term that I am proposing is "sighted privilege." The general theme is that being sighted carries a type of privilege in our society. Often, people in a privileged population resist recognizing their own privilege, and it will be important that I construct my writing in a way that does not make sighted people feel attacked or threatened. I am attempting to do this, so please forgive me if anything appears too harsh. It is common in social situations for people to use examples of how marginalized populations are mistreated in order to demonstrate that the privileged group is not treated that way. Since this is the primary way of highlighting privilege that we observe in our society, I will take this approach, too. While there are parts of privilege which can be articulated, it is my belief that privilege is one of those situations where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Either that, or the parts form such a lengthy list that it is too laborious to compile them. It is also common for members of a privileged group to look at a situation of discrimination and write it off as an isolated incident, proceeding to go about their lives as if they never heard about it, while the member of the oppressed minority group may only have enough time to take a half breath before encountering another symptom of their lack of privilege, discrimination. Some people may deem it appropriate to say that discrimination and privilege are like the yin and yang. I want to be sure that readers understand that I am not comparing sighted privilege to male privilege, but I am going to touch on the topic of male privilege in a way that hopefully helps this discussion. When I first heard the concept of male privilege at the beginning of college, my knee-jerk reflex was to reject it. I quickly thought of all the special opportunities that were given to girls and women for which I was not eligible. I remembered when my middle school class became an all-boys school once per month for about six months because the girls were going off to some program that was preparing them to go to college to study STEM fields. I remembered wishing that I was a girl so that I could have that opportunity, plus we had to go to class while they had field trips. I also remembered all of the scholarship applications that I could not submit because I was not a girl. I remembered how the girls would make $40 or $50 per hour babysitting during high school while the boys could not achieve any kind of similar-paying employment and were never hired to babysit. I felt like I could have been fast-tracked through life with all those extra opportunities if only I had been a girl. I have heard some sighted people say this about the special programs designed to empower blind people. As I have grown older, however, I think I have come to understand the concept of male privilege much better than I once did. During college, I did a lot of community education work about sexual assault and domestic violence. At the beginning, I was the only heterosexual male who would show up. As time passed, other male students followed my lead, and we got a lot of attention throughout the Southeast for that: men involved in sexual assault programming. I learned that women did not often receive the same kind of respect and credibility when speaking up about this topic, and many of them would be shamed with accusations about their romantic habits using words that I will not put in the Braille Monitor. If a woman said something about sexual assault, far too many people-particularly men-would dismiss every word of what they had said, but, if I said it, people would listen just a little bit more, even if we said exactly the same thing. It shouldn't be that way, but it all too often is, and it is still that way as I continue that activism today. This discussion only brushes on a small part of male privilege, but I believe that the concept is widespread enough in our society that people can find more information on that topic if they want it. Let me now return to sighted privilege, which also has tons of literature thanks to the National Federation of the Blind, but without that name used for the idea at present. One night when I was in graduate school at Louisiana Tech University preparing for a career as a teacher of the blind, I remember sitting in my counseling ethics class and making a comment about how a certain counseling theme applied to blindness. I do not remember what we were talking about, but I remember what happened next. People in the class, including the professor, started shifting their weight and feeling uncertain about what I had said. I had the honor of going to graduate school with Joanne Gabias, who was raised by two leaders in our movement and who happens to be sighted. She understood what I was talking about and offered her endorsement of what I had said, elaborating with her way of looking at it. Then, everyone relaxed, they accepted the idea as valid, and the professor resumed with the lecture. Afterward, Conrad Austen, who now teaches at the Louisiana Center for the Blind, was talking to Joanne and me. He explained that the feeling in the room was that it wasn't really true until a sighted person (someone with sighted privilege) said it, and, since we had a sighted person to validate what the blind person had said, it became true. I hadn't been able to articulate that, but he did it well. For the record, I think very highly of the faculty involved in the Louisiana Tech University programs preparing teachers of the blind, and I have no anger toward those students who did not understand. If any of them read this article, I would not want them to feel bad about that simple scenario that night, but I would want them to understand that sighted privilege is real. Now, I will attempt to highlight some of the major parts of sighted privilege. For more information, have a look at any other publication of the National Federation of the Blind. The term may not be used, but the ideas are present. Assumption of Competence It is common for sighted people to be given the benefit of the doubt that they are, by default, competent. Thus, they are assumed to be competent unless proven otherwise. Certainly, a sighted person could have other minority identities which disqualify them from the assumption of competence, but it is not their sightedness that is tied to the low expectations. Blind people are often assumed to be incompetent until we prove that we are competent, as if we swim in parallel streams with currents flowing in opposite directions. If I use a cane travel technique that makes me travel a different path from what a sighted person might use, people often assume that I am making a mistake related to my blindness and attempt to help me. For example, if I am walking down a long hallway to go into the last door in a place unfamiliar to me, I might walk to the very end and then come back to the first one. An observer might conclude that I made a mistake and want to tell me that I missed it, but I would still be fully on course as planned. People do not come to this conclusion as a consequence of a traveler's sightedness. When a blind parent has his or her children taken away because of the assumption of incompetence, the alternative treatment for those with sighted privilege is that people do not default to assuming that sightedness implies incompetence. The same assumption of competence applies to many other areas of life, such as education and employment. Curse, Shame, and Bad Luck There are those who believe that blindness is caused by a curse, that blind people carry bad luck, or that blindness is a source of shame. These factors do not take effect for sightedness. People never think "because this person is sighted, there must be bad energy around him or her." I doubt that anyone has ever been kicked out of a place of public accommodation or ostracized from his or her family because of the fact that they were sighted, but it has happened to many blind people because they were blind. This theme varies culturally, but I am going to go out on a very short limb and say that nobody has ever been treated this way because they were sighted. I have never heard of a sighted person feeling ashamed to be sighted, but I have heard of many blind people who were ashamed to be blind. When I get on a bus and sit down in the middle of a group of people and they all scatter like cockroaches to sit as far as possible from me, I cannot be sure that it is my blindness, but I can be sure that it does not happen to sighted people because of their sightedness. Equal Access When things are not accessible to a blind person, this creates a barrier. We generally do not have systems in our society set up in ways that are inaccessible to sighted people. Even if everything currently only in print existed only in Braille, sighted people could reasonably be expected to learn Braille, but blind people cannot reasonably be expected to learn print. When a blind person tries to apply for a job and finds that the online application portal is inaccessible to the blind, that person is forced to find other ways to submit the application. It could be done by asking a sighted person to clear the accessibility hurdle for us, or it could be a matter of contacting a human resources staff member to ask for an alternative arrangement for us to submit our application. Any separate arrangement places us in a segregated pool, and separate but equal has yet to work in human civilization. As blind people we run into access barriers on a daily basis. It may be something critically important, or it may be something minor. Often we cannot tell if it is critically important until we have access to it to know what it is. Even if we have developed ways to problem-solve to get around that hurdle, it is still an adaptation that we need to make that a sighted person would not encounter. These socially constructed barriers limit our participation in education, employment, and other mainstream channels of society. Those who benefit from sighted privilege often fail to recognize the absence of these barriers that they do not face. It is usually not something they requested, but it has been given to them as a part of their favored status. Availability of Educational Opportunities It is not difficult to find a teacher who knows how to teach print, but it is quite a task in some places to find a teacher who knows how to teach Braille. The same is true for other kinds of instruction that a blind person may need versus that which a sighted person may need. If a sighted person wants to become a medical doctor, nobody tells them that this might be off-limits because of their sightedness. For many blind children, unfortunately, the response is all too often that becoming a medical doctor would be off-limits because of their blindness. Even if people involved in their education never tell them that this doubt exists, the doubt erodes the interactions with the blind student and the opportunities which that student might have received. If the student is told, "You cannot study abroad because there are no disability accommodations overseas," that student is missing out on opportunities to grow and develop as a meaningful contributor to the world. A sighted person does not think about how nobody tells them that they cannot do it because of their sightedness, which is part of the first-class status that comes with sighted privilege. Confirmation Bias When people have subscribed to the status quo idea of blindness, they have a tendency to be more open to information that confirms their existing beliefs than they are to information which challenges it. Thus, if we transcend the person's existing ideas of how a blind person should function or act, we are all too often pushed to the back burner of that person's mental clipboard, especially if they are looking for a blind person specifically. For example, if the coordinator of a conference on urban planning wants to invite a blind person to come speak about how urban planners can help blind people, they may already be hoping for a certain kind of blind person. They may want a blind person who will tell them that we need all kinds of special design features in our built environment. If a blind person tells them that for the most part blind people can adapt to the built environment with little need for modifications, that blind person's words may not be fully embraced because they do not confirm the existing stereotypes held by those with sighted privilege. For another example, if a conference for teachers of the blind wants to invite a blind person-sorry, a person with a visual impairment-to come and address their membership, they are most likely to want to invite one who will tell them how good a job they are doing and reinforce their existing beliefs about blindness. A majority group does not have to deal with the expectation of confirming stereotypes and complimenting efforts toward integration which may be ineffective or inappropriate. Even with good intentions, the privileged majority may have its way of catering to the minority, which may not actually work well for the minority. I have also noticed this phenomenon when it comes to government- appointed councils that claim to speak for people with disabilities or oversee disability service programs. With government-appointed councils, those councils are beholden to the political leaders who appoint them; their purpose is often to cement the status quo or whatever rhetoric might be the most politically fashionable at the time. By contrast, the leaders in the National Federation of the Blind are beholden to the members who elect us. When it comes to overseeing disability services, consider a state rehabilitation council in a state with a specialized commission for the blind. This council will be made up of a representative of the client assistance program, a community rehabilitation program, a few more specific classifications, and a number of blind people from that state who have been consumers of vocational rehabilitation at some point in time. If the state rehabilitation council is selected by the governor or some other executive branch leader, they are likely pre-screened by the leadership of the vocational rehabilitation agency. If someone is well-known to hold that agency accountable for its shortcomings, it is unlikely that the VR agency leadership will endorse his or her nomination. The leadership will want people who smile and tell everyone how great the agency is, perhaps just falling in line with whatever they say. This may be influenced by whether the agency is classified as a welfare agency or an education-related agency. Welfare recipients are often told that beggars cannot be choosers and criticized as ungrateful if they ask for anything different from the prescribed service. Sighted people are not expected to confirm existing beliefs about sightedness, but blind people are often expected to confirm existing beliefs about blindness and affirm our service providers no matter what. If we do not, we lose points in whatever processes are relevant at the time. Biased Selection People, such as employers or even someone looking for a romantic partner, have an idea of what kind of person they're seeking. In the general population, it is not normal to expect that the ideal candidate happens to be blind. They just assume that the person is sighted, thus "normal." When a blind person shows up for the interview, they are all of a sudden different and require cognitive flexibility on behalf of the person who was not expecting to hire a blind person. It may not require much actual work, but open-mindedness is difficult for some people. Furthermore, a person might think, "I would like to hire a blind person for job X." While I do not at all want to discourage anyone from hiring a blind person, I also think it may be relevant to note that this particular statement demonstrates that a job has already been pre-selected as a "good job for a blind person." This process of pre-selecting which types of jobs are specifically good for us likely involve some filtering through a set of existing beliefs and stereotypes about blindness. All too often, these jobs that are "good jobs for blind people," are low-paying jobs involving very low levels of intellectual activity and often involve much repetition in a confined space. If a sighted person says, "I would like to date a blind person," without someone particular in mind, that mindset can open a whole can of worms. I will leave it up to the readers' imagination what kinds of expectations and stereotypes the sighted person may have about blind people. Sighted people do not often receive that kind of biased selection filter. The only example that comes to my mind is when a blind person hires a reader or driver; when this happens, it is not done with the assumption that a sighted person is confined to those limited functions to produce value in society because of sightedness. We who are blind have many allies who have sighted privilege and can use it to help pull us forward. At any given time, it may be that one of them can reach for an opportunity first and then use their new position to welcome in the first wave of blind people to participate in that circle. For example, there may be an employer who is only willing to hire a sighted person for a given job, but then, if one of our allies gets that job, he or she can use it to usher blind people into that setting if we want to be there. I will avoid speculating about when this might have happened, but I am certain that it has, even if the sighted ally might not have realized it at the time. I have heard the story of a sighted woman who was operating an adjustment to blindness training program. She was told by one of her sighted instructors that she needed to stop giving the blind so much power because they would eventually be running that program. She said she thought that would be great, and, once she was promoted above the training program, she hired a blind person to fill her old job. Some noteworthy allies in our quest for empowerment most certainly include Merilynn Whittle, Mary Ellen Jernigan, Lea D?as, Joanne Gabias, Dick Davis, Doug Boone, Darick Williamson, Jim Witte, and Floyd Matson to name a few. My objective here is to introduce the concept of sighted privilege and hopefully allow it to be useful in the narrative about blindness. Sighted privilege is only one dimension of privilege that a person may have. Every person has a race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, religious affiliation, etc., all producing varying types of privilege. It is possible for me to have male privilege or heterosexual privilege but not have sighted privilege. I will also argue that sighted privilege is not perfectly binary, just like male privilege is not perfectly binary. Just as a woman may be given greater respect and promotion potential in the workplace if she exhibits more masculine characteristics, such as a deeper voice or a louder footstep, a blind person with more residual vision may also be given the same partial credit. Some sighted people want to know that a blind person has some useful residual vision as if it gives them more potential to contribute. Some blind people with residual vision may be able to overcome certain access barriers, like when I see a low-hanging tree branch and duck out of the way to avoid hitting my head. Sighted people simply avoid that low-hanging tree branch and think nothing of it most of the time. They surely do not think about how a society constructed for their benefit does not prioritize the trimming of those low-hanging tree branches. This is how privilege works. It requires no malice, and those who have it did not ask for it. Society is constructed in a way that caters to the majority groups. In the case of the blind, the majority group is the sighted, and they regularly take their sighted privilege for granted. We who are blind do not want to knock down the sighted and limit their ability to enjoy full access to the mainstream channels of society, but we are working together to try to gain that access for ourselves. Sighted privilege is real, and the more society becomes aware of it, the more effectively we can reach for first-class status and enjoy true participation and integration with our sighted neighbors and colleagues. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Chancey Fleet] [PHOTO CAPTION: Matt Hackert] Teaching Access Technology Using Structured Discovery Techniques by Chancey Fleet and Matt Hackert From the Editor: Matt is an access technology specialist who came to work for the NFB in April of 2019. Prior to joining the staff, he worked for three years in Nebraska making technology more usable for blind people. His training is in music, and a favorite pastime is playing the piano. Chancey works at the New York Public Library on its tech team. She is a well-known Federationist who lives and works in New York. She has a tremendous grasp of technical issues and the much-appreciated ability to bring what she knows to earth people who don't care how it works but do want to know how to work it. She serves as the first vice president of the New York affiliate, is the president of our trainer's division, and her advocacy is second to none. Here is the article she and Matt submitted: Teaching Access Technology Using Structured Discovery Techniques is a three-day, hands-on workshop that features the Structured Discovery philosophy of teaching and learning. Structured Discovery has its roots in teaching cane travel, but it has expanded to include the methodologies of Socratic questioning to promote problem solving in all areas of nonvisual skills and independence for the blind. Dates and Location: Tuesday, April 14, through Thursday, April 16, 2020, National Federation of the Blind, 200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place, Baltimore, MD 21230. Schedule: Tuesday, April 14-Sessions by access technology professionals focusing on the intersection between access technology education and Structured Discovery philosophy. Wednesday, April 15-Hands-on accessible iOS app development with Apple. Thursday, April 16-Hands-on accessible Android app development with Google. Call for Presentations: Share your expertise! Presentation topics on Tuesday, April 14, may include training techniques, self-guided learning, theory of technology education, and additional relevant topics. Presentations can be thirty or sixty minutes in length. Interactive elements are encouraged. How to Submit a Proposal: The deadline to submit proposals is February 14, 2020. Notifications of acceptance will be made February 21, 2020. Please submit your proposal as a Word or Google document to Matt Hackert at mhackert at nfb.org. Please include the title of your presentation, your name, affiliation, and contact details. Provide a brief description of your presentation's goal and what you will cover; bullet points are fine as long as your planned content is substantive and clear. More Information: Although we cannot provide travel support to all presenters, limited assistance is available for those otherwise not able to attend. Please inquire if assistance is needed. The final agenda will be confirmed by February 28, 2020. Registration coming soon. For more information, please contact: Conference Chair Chancey Fleet Assistive Technology Coordinator New York Public Library chanceyfleet at nypl.org Conference Coordinator Matt Hackert Access Technology Specialist National Federation of the Blind mhackert at nfb.org ---------- Who Are the Blind Who Lead the Blind? From the Editor: Though brief profiles of the members of the current board of directors can be found on our website at any time, we periodically revise, expand, and reprint in the Braille Monitor a compilation we have used for years and continue to update as our leaders change and add to their substantial list of accomplishments. It includes profiles of Dr. tenBroek, Dr. Jernigan, and members of the current NFB board of directors. It is high time to provide it again, so here it is: Introduction The National Federation of the Blind has become by far the most significant force in the affairs of the blind today, and its actions have had an impact on many other groups and programs. The Federation's President, Mark Riccobono, radiates confidence and persuasiveness. President Riccobono states: We seek to set the pace, determine our own direction, build our own dreams, and expand the boundaries of independence-we know that together we have the power to turn dreams into reality, and it is our goal to go to the places and do the things that have not yet been done to create equality of opportunity for the blind. We recognize that it is not enough for one blind person to have training and opportunity. If one blind person faces low expectations, misconceptions, and artificial barriers based on his or her blindness, then it inevitably holds all blind people back. Together we raise expectations, build opportunities, explore new horizons, celebrate new achievements, and knock down barriers in order to make sure that each of us has the opportunity to compete on terms of equality and live the lives we want. The National Federation of the Blind is a civil rights movement with all that the term implies. The blind are a minority in American society, and we face the same problems that other minorities must address: misconceptions as to our capabilities, our aspirations, and our ability to assume the responsibilities that go along with the rights we demand. Although many organizations and agencies for the blind exist in the United States today, there is only one National Federation of the Blind. This organization was established in 1940 when the blind of seven states- California, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin-sent delegates to its first convention at Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Since that time, progress has been rapid and steady. The Federation is recognized by blind men and women throughout the entire country as their primary means of joint expression; and today-with active affiliates in every state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico-it is the primary voice of the nation's blind. To explain this spectacular growth, three questions must be asked and answered: (1) What are the conditions in the general environment of the blind which have impelled them to organize? (2) What is the purpose, belief, and philosophy of the National Federation of the Blind? (3) Who are its leaders, and what are their qualifications to understand and solve the problems of blindness? Even a brief answer to these questions is instructive. When the Federation came into being in 1940, the outlook for the blind was anything but bright. The nation's welfare system was so discouraging to individual initiative that those forced to accept public assistance had little hope of ever achieving self-support again, and those who sought competitive employment in regular industry or the professions found most of the doors barred against them. The universal goodwill expressed toward the blind was not the wholesome goodwill of respect felt toward equals; it was the misguided goodwill of pity felt toward inferiors. In effect, the system said to the blind, "Sit on the sidelines of life. This game is not for you. If you have creative talents, we are sorry, but we cannot use them." The Federation came into being to combat these expressions of discrimination and to promote new ways of thought concerning blindness. Although great progress has been made toward the achievement of these goals, much still remains to be done. The Federation believes that blind people are essentially normal and that blindness in itself is not a mental or psychological handicap. It can be reduced to the level of a mere physical nuisance. Legal, economic, and social discrimination based upon the false assumption that the blind are somehow different from the sighted must be abolished, and equal opportunity must be made available to blind people. Because of their personal experience with blindness, the blind themselves are best qualified to lead the way in solving their own problems, but the general public should be invited to participate in finding solutions. Upon these fundamentals, the National Federation of the Blind predicates its philosophy. As for the leadership of the organization, all of the officers and members of the board of directors are blind, all giving generously of their time and resources in promoting the work of the Federation. The board consists of seventeen elected members, five of whom are the constitutional officers of the organization. These members of the board of directors represent a wide cross section of the blind population of the United States. Their backgrounds are different, and their experiences vary widely; but they are drawn together by the common bond of having met blindness individually and successfully in their own lives and by their united desire to see other blind people have the opportunity to do likewise. A profile of the leadership of the organization shows why it is so effective and demonstrates the progress made by blind people during the past half-century and more-for in the story of the lives of these leaders can be found the greatest testimonial to the soundness of the Federation's philosophy. The cumulative record of their individual achievements is an overwhelming proof, leading to an inescapable conclusion. [PHOTO CAPTION: Jacobus tenBroek] Jacobus tenBroek Founder of the National Federation of the Blind and First President Author, Jurist, Professor, and Father The moving force in the founding of the National Federation of the Blind, and its spiritual and intellectual father, was Jacobus tenBroek. Born in 1911, young tenBroek (the son of prairie homesteaders in Canada) lost the sight of one eye as the result of a bow-and-arrow accident at the age of seven. His remaining eyesight deteriorated until at the age of fourteen he was totally blind. Shortly afterward, he and his family traveled to Berkeley so that he could attend the California School for the Blind. Within three years, he was an active part of the local organization of the blind. By 1934 he had joined Dr. Newel Perry and others to form the California Council of the Blind, which later became the National Federation of the Blind of California. This organization was a prototype for the nationwide federation that tenBroek would form six years later. The same year the Federation was founded (1940), Jacobus tenBroek received his doctorate in jurisprudence from the University of California, completed a year as Brandeis Research Fellow at Harvard Law School, and was appointed to the faculty of the University of Chicago Law School. Two years later he began teaching at the University of California at Berkeley, becoming a full professor in 1953, chairman of the department of speech in 1955, and professor of political science in 1963. During this period Professor tenBroek published several books and more than fifty articles and monographs in the fields of welfare, government, and law- establishing a reputation as one of the nation's foremost scholars on matters of constitutional law. One of his books, Prejudice, War, and the Constitution, won the Woodrow Wilson Award of the American Political Science Association in 1955 as the best book of the year on government and democracy. Other books are California's Dual System of Family Law (1964), Hope Deferred: Public Welfare and the Blind (1959), The Antislavery Origins of the Fourteenth Amendment (1951)-revised and republished in 1965 as Equal Under Law, and The Law of the Poor (edited in 1966). In the course of his academic career, Professor tenBroek was a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Palo Alto and was twice the recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation. In 1947 he earned the degree of SJD [Doctor of Juridical Science] from Harvard Law School. In addition he was awarded honorary degrees by two institutions of higher learning. Dr. tenBroek's lifelong companion was his devoted wife Hazel. Together they raised three children and worked inseparably on research, writing, academic, and Federation projects. Until her declining health prevented travel, Mrs. tenBroek continued as an active member of the organized blind movement. She died October 7, 2005. In 1950 Dr. tenBroek was made a member of the California State Board of Social Welfare by Governor Earl Warren. Later reappointed to the board three times, he was elected its chairman in 1960 and served in that capacity until 1963. The brilliance of Jacobus tenBroek's career led some skeptics to suggest that his achievements were beyond the reach of what they called the "ordinary blind person." What tenBroek recognized in himself was not that he was exceptional, but that he was normal-that his blindness had nothing to do with whether he could be a successful husband and father, do scholarly research, write a book, make a speech, guide students engaged in social action, or otherwise lead a productive life. Jacobus tenBroek died of cancer at the age of fifty-six in 1968. His successor, Kenneth Jernigan, in a memorial address, said truly of him: "The relationship of this man to the organized blind movement, which he brought into being in the United States and around the world, was such that it would be equally accurate to say that the man was the embodiment of the movement or that the movement was the expression of the man. "For tens of thousands of blind Americans over more than a quarter of a century, he was leader, mentor, spokesman, and philosopher. He gave to the organized blind movement the force of his intellect and the shape of his dreams. He made it the symbol of a cause barely imagined before his coming: the cause of self-expression, self-direction, and self-sufficiency on the part of blind people. Step by step, year by year, action by action, he made that cause succeed." [PHOTO CAPTION: Kenneth Jernigan] Kenneth Jernigan President Emeritus Teacher, Writer, Administrator, and Father Kenneth Jernigan was a leader in the National Federation of the Blind for more than forty-six years. He was president (with one brief interruption) from 1968 until July of 1986. Even after Jernigan ceased to be president of the Federation, he continued as one of its principal leaders until his death on October 12, 1998. He was loved and respected by tens of thousands-members and nonmembers of the Federation, both blind and sighted. Born in 1926, Kenneth Jernigan grew up on a farm in central Tennessee. He received his elementary and secondary education at the school for the blind in Nashville. After high school Jernigan managed a furniture shop in Beech Grove, Tennessee, making all the furniture and operating the business. In the fall of 1945 Jernigan matriculated at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville. Active in campus affairs from the outset, he was soon elected to office in his class and to important positions in other student organizations. Jernigan graduated with honors in 1948 with a BS degree in social science. In 1949 he received a master's degree in English from Peabody College in Nashville, where he subsequently completed additional graduate study. While at Peabody he was a staff writer for the school newspaper, co-founder of an independent literary magazine, and member of the Writers' Club. In 1949 he received the Captain Charles W. Browne Award, at that time presented annually by the American Foundation for the Blind to the nation's outstanding blind student. Jernigan then spent four years as a teacher of English at the Tennessee School for the Blind. During this period he became active in the Tennessee Association of the Blind (now the National Federation of the Blind of Tennessee). He was elected to the vice presidency of the organization in 1950 and to the presidency in 1951. In that position he planned the 1952 annual convention of the National Federation of the Blind, which was held in Nashville, and he then planned every NFB National Convention through 1998. In 1952 Jernigan was first elected to the NFB board of directors, and in 1953 he was appointed to the faculty of the California Orientation Center for the Blind in Oakland, where he played a major role in developing the best program of its kind then in existence. From 1958 until 1978 he served as director of the Iowa State Commission for the Blind. In this capacity he was responsible for administering state rehabilitation programs, home teaching, home industries, an orientation and adjustment center, and library services for the blind and physically handicapped. The improvements made in services to the blind of Iowa under the Jernigan administration have never before or since been equaled anywhere else in the country. In 1960 the Federation presented Jernigan with its Newel Perry Award for outstanding accomplishment in services for the blind. In 1968 he was given a special citation by the president of the United States; Harold Russell, the chairman of the President's Committee on Employment of the Handicapped, came to Des Moines to present the award. He said: "If a person must be blind, it is better to be blind in Iowa than anywhere else in the nation or in the world. This statement," the citation went on to say, "sums up the story of the Iowa Commission for the Blind during the Jernigan years and more pertinently of its director, Kenneth Jernigan. That narrative is much more than a success story. It is the story of high aspiration magnificently accomplished-of an impossible dream become reality." Jernigan received too many honors and awards to enumerate individually, including honorary doctorates from four institutions of higher education. He was also asked to serve as a special consultant to or member of numerous boards and advisory bodies. The most notable among these are: member of the National Advisory Committee on Services for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (appointed in 1972 by the secretary of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare); special consultant on services for the blind (appointed in 1975 by the federal commissioner of rehabilitation); advisor on museum programs for blind visitors to the Smithsonian Institution (appointed in 1975); special advisor to the White House Conference on Library and Information Services (appointed in 1977 by President Gerald Ford). In July of 1990 Jernigan received an award for distinguished service from the president of the United States. To date he has been the only person ever to be invited to deliver keynote addresses to the primary gatherings of the two worldwide blindness organizations in a single year. He spoke at the fourth quadrennial meeting of the World Blind Union in August 1996 and the annual meeting of the International Council for the Education of the Visually Impaired in spring 1997. In 1998 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Council of State Agencies for the Blind, the first ever International Leadership Award from the American Foundation for the Blind, and the Canadian National Institute for the Blind's Winston Gordon Award for his leadership in establishing NEWSLINE for the Blind?. Kenneth Jernigan's writings and speeches on blindness are better known and have touched the lives of more blind people than those of any other person writing today. From 1991 until his death, he edited the NFB's immensely popular series of paperbacks known as the Kernel Books. On July 23, 1975, he spoke before the National Press Club in Washington, DC, and his address was broadcast live throughout the nation on National Public Radio. Through the years he appeared repeatedly on network radio and television interview programs. In 1978 Jernigan moved to Baltimore to become executive director of the American Brotherhood for the Blind (now the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults) and director of the National Center for the Blind. As president of the National Federation of the Blind at that time, he led the organization through the most impressive period of growth in its history to date. The creation and development of the National Center for the Blind (now known as the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute) and the NFB's expansion into its position today as the most influential voice and force in the affairs of the blind, stand as the culmination of Kenneth Jernigan's lifework and a tribute to his brilliance and commitment to the blind of this nation. From 1987 to 1997 he played an active role internationally as president of the North America/Caribbean Region of the World Blind Union. He traveled widely and spoke frequently before international groups about blindness and the NFB's positive philosophy that changes lives and society. Jernigan's dynamic wife, Mary Ellen, remains an active member of the Federation. She works with dedication in the movement and is known and loved by thousands of Federationists throughout the country. Speaking at a convention of the National Federation of the Blind, Jernigan said of the organization and its philosophy (and also of his own philosophy): As we look ahead, the world holds more hope than gloom for us- and, best of all, the future is in our own hands. For the first time in history we can be our own masters and do with our lives what we will; and the sighted (as they learn who we are and what we are) can and will work with us as equals and partners. In other words, we are capable of full membership in society, and the sighted are capable of accepting us as such-and, for the most part, they want to. We want no Uncle Toms-no sellouts, no apologists, no rationalizers; but we also want no militant hell-raisers or unbudging radicals. One will hurt our cause as much as the other. We must win true equality in society, but we must not dehumanize ourselves in the process; and we must not forget the graces and amenities, the compassions and courtesies which comprise civilization itself and distinguish people from animals and life from existence. Let people call us what they will and say what they please about our motives and our movement. There is only one way for the blind to achieve first-class citizenship and true equality. It must be done through collective action and concerted effort; and that means the National Federation of the Blind. There is no other way, and those who say otherwise are either uninformed or unwilling to face the facts. We are the strongest force in the affairs of the blind today, and we must also recognize the responsibilities of power and the fact that we must build a world that is worth living in when the war is over-and, for that matter, while we are fighting it. In short, we must use both love and a club, and we must have sense enough to know when to do which-long on compassion, short on hatred; and, above all, not using our philosophy as a cop-out for cowardice or inaction or rationalization. We know who we are and what we must do-and we will never go back. The public is not against us. Our determination proclaims it; our gains confirm it; our humanity demands it. [PHOTO CAPTION: Marc Maurer] Marc Maurer Immediate Past President Attorney, Executive, and Father Dr. Marc Maurer is the Immediate Past President of the National Federation of the Blind. He was elected in 1986 and held the position until 2014, making him the longest serving president in the history of the organization. He currently holds the position of Director of Legal Policy for the National Federation of the Blind. Born in 1951, Marc Maurer was the second in a family of six children. His blindness was caused by overexposure to oxygen after his premature birth, but he and his parents were determined that this should not prevent him from living a full and normal life. He began his education at the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School, where he became an avid Braille reader. In the fifth grade he returned home to Boone, Iowa, where he attended parochial schools. During high school (having taken all the courses in the curriculum), he simultaneously took classes at the junior college. Maurer ran three different businesses before finishing high school: a paper route, a lawn care business, and an enterprise producing and marketing maternity garter belts designed by his mother. This last venture was so successful that his younger brother took over the business when Maurer left home. In the summer of 1969, after graduating from high school, Maurer enrolled as a student at the Orientation and Adjustment Center of the Iowa Commission for the Blind and attended his first convention of the NFB. He was delighted to discover in both places that blind people and what they thought mattered. This was a new phenomenon in his experience, and it changed his life. Kenneth Jernigan was director of the Iowa Commission for the Blind at the time, and Maurer soon grew to admire and respect him. When Maurer expressed an interest in overhauling a car engine, the Commission for the Blind purchased the necessary equipment. Maurer completed that project and actually worked for a time as an automobile mechanic. He believes today that mastering engine repair played an important part in changing his attitudes about blindness. Maurer graduated cum laude from the University of Notre Dame in 1974. As an undergraduate he took an active part in campus life, including election to the Honor Society. Then he enrolled at the University of Indiana School of Law, where he received his Doctor of Jurisprudence in 1977. Maurer was elected president of the Student Division of the National Federation of the Blind in 1971 and reelected in 1973 and 1975. Also in 1971, at the age of twenty, he was elected vice president of the National Federation of the Blind of Indiana. He was elected president in 1973 and reelected in 1975. During law school, Maurer worked summers for the Office of the Secretary of State of Indiana. After graduation he moved to Toledo, Ohio, to accept a position as the director of the Senior Legal Assistance Project operated by ABLE (Advocates for Basic Legal Equality). In 1978 Maurer moved to Washington, DC, to become an attorney with the Rates and Routes Division in the Office of the General Counsel of the Civil Aeronautics Board. Initially he worked on rates cases but soon advanced to dealing with international matters and then to doing research and writing opinions on constitutional issues and board action. He wrote opinions for the chairman and made appearances before the full board to discuss those opinions. In 1981 he went into private practice in Baltimore, Maryland, where he specialized in civil litigation and property matters. Increasingly he concentrated on representing blind individuals and groups in the courts. Today he is one of the most experienced and knowledgeable attorneys in the country regarding the laws, precedents, and administrative rulings concerning civil rights and discrimination against the blind. He is a member of the Bar in Indiana, Ohio, Iowa, and Maryland and a member of the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States. Maurer was a founding member of the Disability Rights Bar Association, a group committed to advance and enforce the rights of individuals with disabilities. Maurer has served since 2017 on the American Bar Association Commission on Disability Rights. Maurer has always been active in civic and political affairs, having run for the state legislature from Baltimore. Through the years he has also served on the board of directors of his apartment complex's tenant association, the board of his community association, and the school board of his children's school. In 1981 Maurer was elected president of the National Association of Blind Lawyers and served in that office until 1985. >From 1984 until 1986 he served as president of the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland. An important companion in Maurer's activities and a leader in her own right is his wife, Patricia. The Maurers were married in 1973, and they have two children-David, born in 1984, and Dianna, in 1987. At the 1985 convention in Louisville, Kentucky, Kenneth Jernigan announced that he would not stand for re-election as president of the National Federation of the Blind the following year, and he recommended Marc Maurer as his successor. In Kansas City in 1986 the Convention elected Maurer by resounding acclamation, and he served for twenty-eight years until July of 2014. From 1997 to 2000 he also served as president of the North America/Caribbean Region of the World Blind Union, and he chaired the WBU Committee on the Restoration of the Louis Braille Birthplace in Coupvray, France. In 2004 he became vice president of the World Blind Union North America/Caribbean Region, and in 2006 reassumed the presidency. Maurer received numerous awards and spoke in a multitude of influential forums throughout the world. He was honored with the Maryland Black Caucus's Leadership Award in 1985, the United States Presidential Medal for Leadership and the Heritage Award from the Canadian National Institute for the Blind in 1990, the Baltimore Business Journal's 1999 Innovation Award for Excellence in Workplace Technology, and the VME Robert Dole Award and the Daily Record's Innovator of the Year award in 2002. He joined President George W. Bush in the Oval Office in July of 2001 to celebrate the success of the NFB Everest Expedition and once again when President Bush signed into law the Help America Vote Act of 2002. Maurer received the Mayor's Business Recognition Award in Baltimore in 2007, the Rev. John J. Cavanaugh Award from the University of Notre Dame Alumni Association in 2009, and the Paul G. Hearne Award for Disability Rights from the American Bar Association in 2011. He received honorary degrees from California's Menlo College in 1998, the University of Louisville in 1999, and from both the University of South Carolina Upstate and the University of Notre Dame in 2010. Maurer delivered an address at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 1987, he addressed the annual convention of Blind Citizens Australia at the University of Queensland in 2009, and in 2000 he was invited to deliver addresses on civil rights at Oxford University and Birmingham University in the United Kingdom. In 2013 he gave the keynote speech at the First International Conference on Technology for Helping People with Special Needs at the Al-Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In his tenure as president of the National Federation of the Blind, Maurer boldly led the organization into a new test of its resolve, beginning with the visionary expansion of the National Center for the Blind- the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute, which was completed in the spring of 2004. The facility, located on the grounds of the National Center, has added more than 170,000 square feet to the NFB's headquarters. The Institute, which is the first of its kind, conceived and built by the blind for the blind, is developing innovative education, technologies, products, and services that support independence for the world's blind. One of the early products of the Institute was the Kurzweil- National Federation of the Blind handheld reading machine, produced in conjunction with the noted futurist and inventor, Raymond Kurzweil. Maurer's unswerving determination to succeed and his absolute conviction that the organized blind are the best-equipped people to solve the problems facing them set the tone and guided the organization into this exciting period of growth and accomplishment. [PHOTO CAPTION: Mark Riccobono] Mark Riccobono President Educator, Leader, Visionary, and Father Born in 1976, Mark Riccobono is the only child of two hard-working parents of modest means. Both were high school graduates, and, although they encouraged their son and gave him an example of what persistence and hard work could do, they had no experience with higher education and no familiarity with blindness. Riccobono was diagnosed as legally blind at the age of five, glaucoma being the disease that took his sight. Although he knew he had a vision problem, as a child he never felt limited in what he could do. Being an only child just meant he relied more on friends, and his elementary years have left him with good memories. He benefited from going to his neighborhood school because his contact with children was not just at school but in play, birthday celebrations, and school holidays. His low vision meant he sometimes had to work harder, but the print was large, he got a seat in the front of the room, his teachers did what they could to help, and his friends were comfortable with their buddy who didn't see quite as well as they did. "I was comfortable in my own skin, and that made others around me comfortable as well." The obstacles he faced and the fact that he had some limitations simply emphasized that he should do what his parents did when things got tough: they just worked hard and powered through, and powering through became an indispensable part of his personality. Riccobono got a very good elementary education but found himself in a rough middle school. It was probably what would be called a failing school today. Many of his elementary school friends went to other middle schools, so his social network began to evaporate. Now there were new friends to make and already established groups who had reservations about adding new members to their circles, and this further added to what was already a difficult transition. The year before he entered the school there had been a stabbing, and little emphasis was placed on academic success. This was the place where he learned to stay under the radar, to isolate himself from others, and to decide his place was in the back of the classroom, where he was less likely to be noticed or called on. There were no services to deal with vision loss, and the only accommodation he can recall receiving was a special lock for his locker that he could operate. Without a good way to read and to see the blackboard, he learned to rely on memory, but even a good memory could not consistently deliver good test scores, and he believes that sometimes he was simply passed. Riccobono remembers that he was sometimes challenged to do better and that often it was the math teachers who would ask more of him. But he was all too frequently allowed just to exist there in the back of the room with the students least likely to raise their hands, shout out answers, or be called upon by the classroom teacher. Riccobono describes this as learning to "be a passenger in my own life." To add to the difficulty of middle school, surgeries for glaucoma in eighth grade not only caused him to miss school but eventually cost him a significant amount of the little vision he had. An uncle who observed these futile attempts asked his nephew, "What are you going to do if it doesn't work? What will you do if you don't get vision back?" "I began to ask myself with each surgery whether we might not be chasing the unreachable dream," Riccobono said. A surgery performed to burn off some of the scar tissue proved to be too effective, destroying the vision in his left eye and eventually causing it to shrink. So Riccobono went into high school totally blind in one eye and with little vision in the other. In Milwaukee one could choose a high school based on its specialty, and Riccobono chose the one that emphasized business and becoming an entrepreneur. Unbeknownst to him when he made his choice, this school had a resource room for blind students. This was the first time he had considered that there might be others facing the challenges that made school difficult. Riccobono is glad he chose to attend the high school emphasizing business. The teachers saw potential in him, and, for the first time in a long time, he found himself surrounded by people who believed he had capacity. "High school was better than middle school had been; it had some very good teachers who believed in my capacity, and it had people who worked to mentor me. They didn't understand where blindness fit into my career possibilities, but they knew how to teach, saw potential in me, and were determined to cultivate it." He joined DECA, an association founded in 1946 to prepare emerging leaders and entrepreneurs. In this organization, he engaged in competitions in public speaking, marketing, and creating a business plan. As a high school senior he was involved in a statewide competition, where he won first place in public speaking and earned himself the opportunity to compete in national competitions representing the state of Wisconsin. During that same year, he started a school-based business selling sports cards based on a business plan he developed the previous year. After high school, Riccobono arrived at the University of Wisconsin with a folding cane, a laptop computer with no screen-reading or screen- enlargement software, and a closed-circuit television to enlarge paper documents. "I had to study a lot because I read slowly, and memorization was the key to any success I might enjoy." But even with the extreme focus he placed on academics, Riccobono hit the wall in his sophomore year and almost failed a computer class because he had no access to the machines. Eventually his rehabilitation counselor sent him for a technology evaluation, and the use of speech and other technology was recommended. At this point Riccobono started reaching out to other blind people, knowing that, if some of them were successful, they had to be doing something he was not. He knew that the barriers he was facing were real and that he was making a significant effort to overcome them, but he was learning that effort alone was not enough: he needed techniques, strategies, and building on the experiences of others. So it was that he came to find the National Federation of the Blind, won a state scholarship, and attended the national convention in 1996. "A lot of what I heard at the convention resonated with me-gave me real hope-but I wasn't sure it was real because I hadn't had the chance to test it myself. But whatever skepticism I had, the truth is that my predominant emotions were excitement and hope that what these people were saying was true. For the first time in my life it was clear to me that in this group it didn't matter how much or how little I could see. In this group no one ever asked or tried to limit where I could go. For the first time I didn't feel as though I had to decide what I would or would not do based on my vision." In the summer after he found the Federation, Riccobono learned Braille, started using the white cane, and came to understand that blind people used other techniques that might help him. He immediately began testing what the Federation said about blindness and encouraged other students to do the same. In the fall of 1996, he founded and became the first president of the Wisconsin Association of Blind Students (a division of the NFB of Wisconsin). He also began rebuilding his dreams. He secured employment with the disability resource center on campus and coordinated the delivery of accessible materials to other students. Riccobono also began expanding his participation in the campus community, knowing that blindness was not the thing that held him back but rather his own low expectations learned over many years. Among his new activities, Riccobono became the first blind person at the university to be certified to independently sail one-person sailboats in the Hoofers Sailing Program on Lake Mendota. Riccobono finished college in May of 1999 with a degree in business administration, majoring both in marketing and economics. He interviewed with Sears in his senior year of college and already had a job offer in hand when he graduated. While attending the Washington Seminar, people asked what he intended to do between his graduation in May and the start of his new job in August. They suggested he use this time for training. Finding the advice sound, he attended the Colorado Center for the Blind. There he worked on attitudes and skills and had a chance to test some of the Federation ideas he had thought about with such hope. He found they had verity in his life. After training with Sears, Riccobono moved to Oak Creek, Wisconsin, where he rented an apartment about three blocks from where he had grown up. At this point he was feeling good about himself: a college graduate with a job, living on his own, and the recently elected president of the National Federation of the Blind of Wisconsin, having won that post in 1998. Before his election a proposal had been advanced to close the state's school for the blind. Riccobono was appointed to serve on an advisory committee charged with transforming the institution from a school to a center where ten programs serving the blind would be housed, one of them being the school for the blind. Riccobono learned from the Federation that his true passion was not necessarily business (although he exhibits the thinking of an entrepreneur in everything he does) but rather education and building innovative educational programs. When the Wisconsin Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired was established, Riccobono was hired as its director shortly before his twenty-fourth birthday. He headed an agency with a budget of six million dollars and began to implement programs that required more of staff and students, consistent with the expectations of blind people he found in the Federation. He worked at the Wisconsin Center for three and a half years, and an audit ordered by the implementing legislation gave the new center good marks and was the best the school had received in over a decade. But Riccobono found making changes at the center painfully slow and thought that his focus on improving education would be better served by working on a national level. Having concluded that Riccobono possessed some skills that would be valuable at the Jernigan Institute, President Maurer hired him. Mark and his wife Melissa (a strong leader, advocate, and educator in her own right) moved to Baltimore. Given his interest in education, he took a master's degree in educational studies from Johns Hopkins University. After working for some time in education, he became the executive director of the Jernigan Institute, a position he held until his election as President of the National Federation of the Blind in July of 2014. In his Federation work, he has led a number of critical initiatives including establishment of the National Center for Blind Youth in Science, building a national mentoring program, expanding Braille literacy programs (including the NFB Braille Enrichment for Literacy and Learning program), development of cutting-edge technologies (including a car that a blind person can drive-the NFB Blind Driver Challenge?), many advocacy priorities, affiliate-building projects, and serving as a point person for key relationships with NFB partners. Mark and Melissa have three children: Austin born in December 2006, Oriana born in May 2010, and Elizabeth born in June 2012, all of whom are growing up in the Federation. Their daughters both carry the same eye condition that Mark has, but they will have greater opportunities than their dad because of their connection to the National Federation of the Blind. With the emphasis on social media, YouTube, and communication that goes beyond the written word, his family and their activities have been more visible than those of earlier leaders. "While as a family we draw some lines, we are generally pretty comfortable with letting people know what we are doing, the message being that we lead normal lives and do the same things others with children do. We try to show people what we have learned- that blindness does not prevent us from being the kind of parents we want to be and from living the lives we want." Riccobono is always building-his social media presence frequently shows him engineering new creations out of LEGOs with his children. When asked about his responsibilities as the elected President of the National Federation of the Blind, Riccobono says: I take the challenge of this position seriously every day. I stay grounded by talking to blind people from all over the country on a daily basis-I gain so much from the diversity of perspectives, the real struggles people have, and the common belief in changing things for the better for all of us. It is a tremendous responsibility to figure out how to go farther, to strengthen the movement, to lead in such a way that we go forward and build on what we have been given. My challenge is to meet the expectations of folks who have given a lot and have been around a long time, to meet their expectations and let them know they are still wanted, valued, and needed. At the same time, I must recognize that the world is changing, that the organization must continue to evolve, and assuring people that these requirements are not in conflict but a part of continuing to exist and thrive. I worry less about the shoes I must fill or the comparisons that will be made than I do about figuring out how to lead us in the miles we must go, preserving the resources we have, while spending enough of them to make the world what we want it to be. The nature of this office demonstrates daily just how far we have to go, and, although we have a tremendous organization and significant resources, we have just a fraction of what we need to do the work that remains. I have a great optimism for the future, and the Federation continues to fuel that outlook. It is a blessing to have the Federation family in my life, and I most enjoy seeking new ways to bring more people into our movement because of what it will mean to them and to us. In accepting the Presidency of this organization, I pledged to give all of my energy, my creativity, and my love to our movement. This is how I intend to pay it back, pay it forward, and make a future full of opportunity for blind people. I have no illusions that this will be easy, but I have every expectation that it will happen when all of us pull together to create the kind of future in which we truly live the lives we want. [PHOTO CAPTION: Pam Allen] Pam Allen First Vice President and Board Chair NFB of Louisiana President Nonprofit Agency Administrator, Advocate, Community Leader Pam Dubel was born in 1970 and grew up in Lancaster, New York. She became blind when she was approximately two years old as a result of retinal blastoma, a type of cancer. Although her parents were shocked by her loss of sight, they fortunately realized that she was still the same child except that she could no longer see. Through love and high expectations, they instilled in Pam a sense of pride and confidence in her ability to succeed. They constantly taught her that her blindness was not a limitation to achieving her goals and dreams. Growing up as the youngest of six children also helped her learn to be independent. Since she was the youngest, nobody, especially the brother a year older than she, let her get away with anything. Pam attended a private Catholic school, where she was the only blind student. Her itinerant teacher provided a sound foundation in Braille, which helped her excel in academics. Her parents expected her to do her best and to engage in activities that would make her a confident and well-rounded person. She participated in horseback riding, skiing, and cheerleading during elementary school. During high school, her interests shifted to performing in chorus, doing community service, and having fun with her friends. While growing up, Pam had limited contact with other blind people her age. In general she had no desire to associate with other blind people. She understood that every high school senior experiences some trepidation about the transition to adulthood and independence. However, as high school graduation approached, she began to grapple with questions that her sighted peers couldn't answer. She planned to attend college, and she hoped that she would eventually find a job, but she secretly wondered if she would truly be able to obtain employment. After all, she had had difficulty finding part-time work during high school. Her loving family and friends encouraged her, but she had questions that went unanswered. Although she entered college with some apprehension, she was determined to achieve her best. Her small liberal arts college provided an exciting environment in which to learn and grow. But those unanswered questions continued to nag at her. If people were amazed that she could accomplish the most insignificant tasks, would they ever treat her as an equal? She realized that she had to meet other blind people with more experience than she who could serve as role models. Her search exposed her to a wide variety of groups and organizations of and for the blind. However, not until she attended a student seminar hosted by the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio did she begin to find the answers for which she had been searching. Although she didn't realize it at the time, that seminar marked the beginning of a new chapter of her life. She met Barbara Pierce, president of the NFB of Ohio, who told Pam about the Louisiana Center for the Blind. More than that, she spoke with Joanne Wilson, its director, who arranged for Pam to complete an internship at the center the following May. As soon as that was completed, Joanne invited her to work as a counselor in the children's summer program that year. Pam was a 1991 National Federation of the Blind scholarship winner when she was a senior at Denison University, where she majored in psychology and minored in women's studies. She served as vice president of the Ohio Association of Blind Students and as secretary of the National Association of Blind Students, and throughout college she worked summers for Joanne Wilson at the Louisiana Center for the Blind with the children's program. After graduation from college, Pam decided to become a student at the Louisiana Center for the Blind. She recognized that she still needed to gain some confidence in her skills and in her ability to be a successful blind person. Since 2001 Pam Allen has served as the director of the Louisiana Center for the Blind, one of three NFB adult rehabilitation centers. Prior to becoming the director, she served as the director of youth services, working with blind infants and toddlers and their parents, supervising the training of classroom aides to teach Braille throughout Louisiana, coordinating summer camps, and developing innovative programs for blind children and teenagers. People often ask her what makes the Louisiana Center for the Blind such a special place. Pam responds: What sets our alumni apart from those of other kinds of rehabilitation facilities? The answer is that, by attending our center and the other centers conducted by Federationists, students are exposed to the National Federation of the Blind and its philosophy. The NFB is more than an organization; it is a loving family. Regardless of where you are, you can find members of the NFB who can give you support and encouragement when you need it. The NFB also provides a constant supply of mentors and role models who challenge you to set goals for yourself. Lives are positively changed every day at the Center because of the philosophy of the NFB. Allen recalls that she used to believe that she did not need other blind people. She thought that being independent meant succeeding without the help of others. Her involvement with the National Federation of the Blind has taught her that this is not true. She has learned that she needs reinforcement from her blind colleagues and friends. Pam lives in Ruston, Louisiana, with her husband Roland Allen, a dedicated Federation leader and a gifted orientation and mobility instructor at the center. She is currently the president of the NFB of Louisiana and vice president of the National Association of Blind Rehabilitation Professionals. In July of 2002 she was elected to the National Federation of the Blind board of directors. Four years later, in 2006, she was elected to serve as treasurer of the National Federation of the Blind. In 2012, Pam and Roland received the prestigious Jacobus tenBroek Award in recognition of their distinguished service in the Federation. In 2015 Pam was elected as first vice president of the National Federation of the Blind. Allen is also involved in a variety of community and professional organizations, including the Chamber of Commerce and as a gubernatorial appointee to the Louisiana Rehabilitation Council. She says, "Being elected to the national board has allowed me to give back and to spread the message of our movement. It is an incredible honor and privilege to serve!" [PHOTO CAPTION: Ron Brown] Ron Brown Second Vice President NFB of Indiana President Businessman, Advocate, and Father Ron Brown was born in Gary, Indiana, the first of eight children, to Marzette and Myra Brown on May 15, 1956. When he was a senior in high school, he became blind after he was shot on his way home from a basketball game. At the time he knew nothing about blindness and was overwhelmed by the feeling that his entire life had been radically changed in an instant. One of the first painful lessons he learned was that many of his friends could not deal with his blindness and stayed away from him. Luckily, he began to make new friends, members of the National Federation of the Blind. They became inspiring role models for Ron, teaching him that it was respectable to be blind and that he could continue to strive for the goals he had set for himself. Armed with this newfound freedom, Ron graduated from Ball State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in health science. He then went to work at Tradewinds Rehabilitation Center in Indiana, where he met his wife Jean, who was on the staff. Eventually he was offered a job in the Business Enterprise Program. He had always wanted to own his own business, and this gave him the opportunity to do so. He has now been in business for himself for thirty years. Recently Ron returned to school and earned a master's degree in educational psychology with a certification in orientation and mobility from Louisiana Tech University. He owns a second business, Cane and Able Orientation and Mobility, teaching cane travel to blind people in the state of Indiana and throughout the country. This business has been successful for two decades, and Ron loves the challenge. Ron Brown not only works hard, but he plays hard as well! He was introduced to the game of blind baseball in 1983 and has been involved in the game ever since. He was inducted into the Blind Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011 and has won five world championships with the Indy Thunder Blind Baseball team. Ron stays involved in the sport because he loves the competitiveness, the team philosophy, and making a difference in the lives of young blind people. Family is crucial in Ron's life. As he says, "I have been married to my lovely wife Jean for more than thirty years. She is my best friend, my confidant, and my lover. She is also an accomplished author, and I am so proud she has chosen to be with me. We have raised two girls, have six grandkids, and two great grandchildren. If this isn't fulfillment and living the life I want, I can't tell you what is." As Ron Brown has developed and matured in his personal life, his commitment to and service in the National Federation of the Blind have deepened as well. In the early years he was a chapter president and was then elected to the NFB of Indiana's board of directors. He was first elected president of the affiliate in 1996 and has been reelected every two years since. In 2001 he was elected to serve on the NFB board of directors, and in 2008 he was elevated to the office of second vice president. He was the recipient of the prestigious Jacobus tenBroek Award in 2015. Looking back, Ron Brown says, "Becoming a member of the national board is the fulfillment of a life dream. I have been an advocate for blind people for more than thirty-five years, and with every passing year my commitment to serving the blind of this nation increases. My life indeed changed the night I became blind, but with the perspective I now have, I must say that it was for the better." [PHOTO CAPTION: James Gashel] James R. Gashel Secretary Advocate, Ambassador, Executive, and Father Jim Gashel was born in 1946 and grew up in Iowa. After his early introduction to the National Federation of the Blind as Kenneth Jernigan's student at the Iowa Commission for the Blind during the 1960s, he has been devoted to serving the blind community in various capacities. A 1969 graduate of the University of Northern Iowa with work toward a master's degree in public administration at the University of Iowa, Jim started his career teaching speech and English for one year in Pipestone, Minnesota. He then accepted a position as assistant director at the Iowa Commission for the Blind in Des Moines. With that move, he found his calling is working with the blind and finding ways of solving the problems that face them as individuals and as a minority. On January 1, 1974, Jim joined the staff of the National Federation of the Blind as chief of the Washington office, where he became one of the best known advocates for the blind in the United States; combining his commitment to blind people with his interest in the political process. As the Federation's scope and influence evolved, so did his roles and responsibilities. In his professional career of almost thirty-four years with the Federation, he held the positions of chief of the Washington office, director of government affairs, and executive director for strategic initiatives. Jim's Federation work has led to significant changes in virtually every law directly affecting blind Americans: the Social Security Act, the Rehabilitation Act, the Randolph-Sheppard Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Copyright Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and the Help America Vote Act. In addition to championing these causes, Jim has won the love and respect of the thousands of blind men and women across America who have directly benefited from his informed and effective personal advocacy. No matter what his position, through his drive and devotion to Federationism, Jim has earned the informal title of the organization's non-lawyer lawyer. With his first wife Arlene, Jim is the father of three adult children and the grandfather of nine. His daughter Andrea and her husband Jeremiah Beasley have four children, daughter Valerie and husband Sam Costanza have three, and his son Eric and wife Miranda have two. During Jim's service at the NFB, he received the Commissioner's Award for Outstanding Leadership in Rehabilitation Services to the Disabled, the highest honor presented by the commissioner of the United States Rehabilitation Services Administration. He is also a recipient of the secretary of labor's Outstanding American Award. In 2001 Jim and his second wife, Dr. Betsy Zaborowski, jointly received the NFB's highest honor, the Jacobus tenBroek Award, honoring them for their achievements through decades of leadership in work with the blind. In November 2007, Jim and Betsy moved from Baltimore to Denver, Colorado, but Betsy soon died after a recurrence of the condition retinal blastoma, which had caused her blindness from childhood. In September 2012, Jim married Susan Kern, now Susan Gashel. Their marriage occurred a few months after Susan had returned to Colorado after retiring as an assistant attorney general in the state of Hawaii. Beyond continuing Jim's active work on behalf of the blind through involvement in the Federation, and Susan's work to uphold rights and opportunities for blind Randolph-Sheppard vendors, Jim and Susan are passionate about downhill skiing and all the Rocky Mountains have to offer near where they lived for a time in the Vail Valley of Colorado. They now live in Hawaii. Beyond his volunteer activities, Jim serves as vice president of business development and product evangelist for KNFB Reader, LLC, where he works to develop and promote the NFB's KNFB Reader technology. While serving as the Federation's executive director for strategic initiatives, he led the public introduction and launch of the Kurzweil-National Federation of the Blind Reader, the world's first truly portable text-to- speech reading device for the blind. As part of this effort he raised and administered the funds necessary to support pre-release beta testing, product announcement, and public promotional efforts to bring the product to market in 2006. Jim's work with KNFB brings him full circle in his career since, after first meeting Ray Kurzweil in April 1975, he also organized and raised the funds necessary to test and launch the original Kurzweil Reading Machine, released in 1977 as the world's first text-to- speech reading system for the blind. Jim was elected to the NFB's national board of directors in 2008 to fill an unexpired term and was reelected in 2009. He was then subsequently elected to the position of national secretary, a position he has held since 2010. Serving in each of these capacities, he brings to the board both expertise and contacts in the blindness field and an abiding commitment to the work of the NFB. In accepting his 2001 Jacobus tenBroek Award, Jim offered comments that remain relevant today and reflect his approach to our mission. "All I would ask is that all of you remember that it's all of our responsibilities to go out and work for the movement. We can't all go out and climb a mountain like Erik [Weihenmayer] did, and we can't all do the wonderful things that every one of you do all the time, or raise five or six million dollars like Betsy did, but we can all work for this movement. We all have a place in it." Jim's place is absolutely unique. [PHOTO CAPTION: Jeannie Massay] Jeannie Massay Treasurer NFB of Oklahoma President Counselor, Advocate, and Leader Jeannie Massay was born in 1968 in Oklahoma City, the youngest of three children and the only girl. She said she was blessed to be a daddy's girl, with brothers who did whatever she told them to do. "They always had my back and were loving and supportive," she said. Jeannie had good vision for the first thirty-seven years of her life, though she did suffer from severe astigmatism and wore strong glasses to compensate for it. She attended Windsor Hills Elementary School because her mother was a teacher there. "I have been an avid reader all of my life, and because my mom was a reading specialist who worked with sixth-graders, after school I went to her classroom to learn about Pompeii, the pyramids, and all kinds of things younger children didn't normally get to read about." In junior high she attended Leo C. Mayfield. As a student she was involved in competing in intermural basketball and softball. She was also involved in the Pep Club and Student Council. In ninth grade Jeannie had unexplained weight loss and severe abdominal cramping, but soon the symptoms went away. They would return every couple of months, and initially she was diagnosed with hypoglycemia. When she was sixteen the cramping, weight loss, and lethargy caused the doctor to do a blood glucose tolerance test, revealing a blood sugar level as high as nine hundred. A normal blood sugar is considered to be around one hundred, and an individual is considered to be diabetic if blood sugar levels exceed one hundred and forty. She was hospitalized for a week to learn to manage her diabetes. Jeannie attended Putnam City West High School, where she played competitive softball and performed in the band for three years. She was on the debate team and managed to get A's and B's, which kept her on the honor roll. "Although I didn't do badly, I wish I had done better. I was pretty social and liked to talk to people. I was a pretty well-rounded kid, but it was tough being a diabetic and wanting to eat like a teenager. Since I wanted to fit in and do what I thought was normal, at times I went to the pizza parlor and the hamburger joints." After high school Jeannie attended the University of Central Oklahoma, living at home until her senior year. She thought she wanted to be a lawyer until her first political science class and then decided this was not what she was meant to do. Instead, she began studying psychology, and in 1990, during a two-week period, she graduated, got married, and watched her husband leave for active military service. Jeannie got a job selling cosmetics in a department store. When her husband Mark was transferred from Fort Knox to San Antonio to go through medical training to be a dietitian, she moved to be near him. After his training was completed, Mark was stationed at Landstuhl General Hospital in Germany, the largest military hospital in the European Theatre. When Jeannie was eventually able to go to Germany, she loved it: the people, the food, and the opportunity for travel. She taught at a department of defense dependent school, providing instruction in reading, math, and language arts. She also worked with a behavioral management specialist, which led her to think at the time that she did not want to work with children-all the funnier because she eventually came to realize this was her calling and now part of her practice is counseling children and teenagers. Jeannie and her husband were in Germany just over three years during the first Gulf War. When the military began downsizing, Mark was offered early contract closure and both returned to the States. Jeannie went back to selling cosmetics, working at Est?e Lauder. She started by working behind the counter, then became counter manager, and then assumed the job of account coordinator, managing seven counters around Oklahoma. When Mark received a promotion, both moved to Alexandria, Virginia, where he managed Marriott contracts for Georgetown University. Jeannie was able to continue her work with Est?e Lauder, but now she was back to working on the counter. Soon that counter was bringing in one million dollars a year. Yet another promotion for Mark found the couple moving to Jackson, Mississippi. Est?e Lauder helped Jeannie find another job, this time managing multiple counters. The couple was in Jackson for two years, but a merger sent Mark to St. Louis, where he ran the food and conference center for Boeing. Jeannie went to work for a subsidiary of Est?e Lauder, Origins, where she worked as the coordinator for eight stores in Missouri and Indiana. While in St. Louis the couple lived in an old Jewish Temple which had been renovated into an apartment. This she loved. Soon she was given the opportunity to interview as an account executive for Origins, flew to New York for the interview, talked with Mark, and was gratified to learn that his reaction to making a move that would further her career was unequivocal: "You have followed me around for ten years, so now I will gladly follow you." The couple moved to Memphis, and Jeannie was responsible for the states of Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. In this position she managed eighteen counters for Dillard's stores and for other retail establishments. She supervised eighty people and loved the job. Even the jobs we love the most come with significant drawbacks though. Jeannie was traveling more than three weeks each month, and this was tough on her marriage and tough on her physically. "Sometimes I would work so hard that I would forget to eat. I got really skinny and sickly. So, after close to four years of this kind of life, Mark and I agreed that something had to change." She chose to resign her position with Est?e Lauder because she could not keep up with the demands of the job without continuing to damage her body. They decided to move back to Oklahoma to be closer to family and friends, drastically improving their quality of life. Her next job was with the Oklahoma Blood Institute doing public relations and helping to run blood drives. She realized she liked working in this nonprofit organization because she believed in its mission, liked helping people, and felt she was doing something good for society. She worked there for two years before she had a hemorrhage in her eye. When she woke on a Friday morning and found that everything she saw was pink, she thought she was having a problem with allergies, because it had happened before. When the problem had not improved on Monday, she went to the doctor and on that day received one thousand laser shots in both eyes. Problems with her vision would consume the next year of her life. Every two weeks she was having eye surgeries, procedures, and experimental injections. The frequent laser treatments on both of her eyes meant that she missed a lot of work, and the director of public relations called her in to ask why. No doubt feeling the need to expose her repressed inner doctor, the supervisor suggested Jeannie "get an eye transplant." In the quest to save her vision, she could not assure her supervisor that her attendance would improve, so she resigned. Four times during that year of struggle to save her sight, she lost all of her vision. Each time it would return, there would be less of it. Emotionally she tells the story of traveling to a 7 a.m. Rotary Club meeting and finding that, on that day, she had so little vision that her usual ten-minute trip took forty-five minutes. "I freely gave up driving because I was terrified that I was going to hurt someone else. "I went through the next six months of surgeries and injections and finally came to the realization that I was mostly blind, and it was going to stay that way. I couldn't see to read or to sew, and at that point I had difficulty figuring out anything I could really do. Part of my self-concept is that I am a strong-willed person, but I couldn't see how that strong will was going to save me." Mark was initially terrified by the onset of her blindness and for a time was very overprotective. Neither of the Massays knew a blind person, and the only thing Jeannie knew was that blind people carried long white canes. The rehabilitation agency had not offered her one, she had no idea where a cane for the blind could be found, so she began using a three-foot carved walking stick her father had used. "Mark and I moved in with my mom because I was familiar with the layout of her house. I started receiving library services for the blind but was on so much medication that I really couldn't read or enjoy the books they sent. I signed up for rehabilitation services and tried to learn something about assistive technology, but only once did a rehabilitation teacher come to my house for fifteen minutes. Not knowing what else to do, I went to the Library for the Blind in Oklahoma City and spent hours there. They offered no formal training, but I observed other people, listened to what they were doing, and came to understand a bit about the assistive technology used by blind people. "The one thing I got from the rehabilitation agency that did seem to help was orientation and mobility services. I appreciated my instructor because she showed up for appointments and was the first person I could clearly see who wanted to give me back my independence." When Jeannie decided that she would need more training than she could get from an occasional home visit by the Oklahoma agency, she looked at residential rehabilitation centers. She considered attending the Colorado Center for the Blind (CCB) and was given a long white cane, but the information she had heard about the National Federation of the Blind and the rigor of CCB training, along with biased information and the opinions of her counselor, convinced her that she should attend the Carroll Center for the Blind. She was at the center about six months, and in addition to personal adjustment to blindness training, she also went through an office skills program so that she could learn enough assistive technology to go back to school and get her master's degree. As she gained confidence and a working set of blindness skills, Mark once again saw in Jeannie the fiercely independent woman he had married. After her time at the Carroll Center, Jeannie went back to school to become a therapist. Working in the cosmetics industry had always been lucrative, but it had never been her passion. Mark also made the decision to go back to school, and both graduated with their master's degrees at the same time. After graduating in May of 2011, Jeannie set out to begin the supervision process, part of the requirements for licensure as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in Oklahoma. The requirement consists of working for a minimum of three thousand hours under a counselor who is already licensed. Jeannie encountered discrimination when seeking a job to complete the supervision required for her to pursue licensure. "Although I was equally qualified and had a high GPA, many people saw my cane and assumed that I wouldn't be able to do the job," she said. After going on many interviews, Jeannie finally found a job in October of 2011. She began counseling children, adolescents, and their families who deal with ADHD, depression, and anxiety disorders. Jeannie completed the state and national exams in November of 2013. After having had issues gaining appropriate and desired accommodations, she passed both examinations and was fully licensed as a Licensed Professional Counselor on January 31, 2014. Jeannie has been in private practice since that time and has most recently been certified to work as a clinical supervisor for LPC candidates working toward their licensure. Jeannie's first association with an organization of the blind came when she joined the Oklahoma Council of the Blind, the state affiliate of the American Council of the Blind. Although she liked some of the people in the organization, she became concerned with how much time they spent complaining about this radical and militant organization known as the National Federation of the Blind. She did just enough research to realize that the NFB gave state and national scholarships, decided that she was as competent and capable as anyone else, and even decided that crazy, militant money was still spendable. She did not win a national scholarship but was invited to attend the 2008 state convention in Oklahoma. There were fourteen people at that convention, and, to her surprise, Steve Shelton nominated her for a board position. During the luncheon speech presented by the national representative from the Federation, Jeannie was touched by the idea of finding something larger than oneself and reaching out to help others. Although the Oklahoma affiliate did not award her a scholarship in 2008, it did provide resources she could use to attend the national convention. "I was a bit overwhelmed by the three thousand blind people in the Hilton Anatole," she said, "but once I heard the gavel drop, I knew we had to bring this kind of enthusiasm and the philosophy of the National Federation of the Blind home to Oklahoma. I felt a duty and an obligation to organize a chapter in Edmund, so Steve Shelton, Dick Morris, Selena Crawford, and Dan Frye worked to make the first meeting possible. We had four people attend, and I thought this was great! I told myself we would have an awesome chapter, but at our first regular meeting only the officers showed up. I was disappointed but resolved. The chapter kept growing, and pretty soon it came to have twenty and then thirty people on average. We kept at it, and at the same time we worked on developing the affiliate." Jeannie won a national scholarship in 2009, was invited by President Maurer to attend a leadership seminar, and at that time she told him that, when she graduated with her master's degree, she would run to be the state president in Oklahoma. Jeannie says she has never had problems believing in the teachings of the National Federation of the Blind regarding the need to learn blindness skills. She says that, after her initial loss of vision, what she can see has varied so much that she has never been tempted to put down her cane. "My vision isn't what I use to live-it is helpful and icing on the cake, but it cannot meet my daily needs for travel and other activities." Jeannie Massey was elected to the national board of directors in July 2013 and advanced to the position of treasurer in 2015. "When I was growing up, and to this day, my mother used to ask me 'What are you?' She taught me to respond in the following way, 'I am intelligent, capable, beautiful, and lots of fun to be with.' This was our way of affirming who I wanted to be and who I could become, and blindness hasn't changed any of it. This is the message I want to share with blind people: that our hopes, dreams, goals, and aspirations are no less real simply because we do not see." [PHOTO CAPTION: Denise Avant] Denise Avant, Board Member NFB of Illinois President Activist, Advocate, and Retired Appellate Attorney Denise Avant was born in Chicago in 1958 and was raised by a single mother in an impoverished neighborhood. She had vision problems from birth and was ultimately diagnosed with Liber's congenital blindness. She attended a public elementary school with programs for blind students and was initially included in its "sight saving" classes, where she used large print. But in eighth grade her teacher of the blind advised that she should learn Braille in order to prepare for college. She was also given cane travel lessons starting in the spring of seventh grade so that she could travel to school using the bus. At the time, she was given a specific route to follow in order to avoid street crossings. Later, she would learn how to use Chicago's public transportation system from blind friends to go shopping, attend movies, and engage in other adventures throughout her home city. Although Denise started to learn Braille in high school, she initially was not proficient and still relied primarily on large print or on her teachers of the blind to read assignments to her. But as she continued to lose vision, especially in low light, she decided that more Braille training would relieve the worry over not being able to read print. In order to become a more proficient reader, Denise received six weeks of intensive Braille training provided by the Illinois Department of Rehabilitation Services in downtown Chicago in the summer between her freshman and sophomore high school years. Denise attended college at the University of Missouri at Columbia, originally intending to pursue a journalism major but choosing a political science degree instead. She would ultimately receive a master's in journalism from Roosevelt University in 2003. Denise took an undergraduate course in constitutional law and enjoyed it so much that she decided to go on to law school. She stayed at the University of Missouri because she had established residence, and rehabilitation funds for her education were therefore available. But she decided to return to Chicago to pursue her legal career since she already knew that public transportation was more than adequate there. Her first job was with Will County Legal Aid in Joliet, a two-hour commute from home, but she applied at a job fair for a position with the Cook County Public Defender and got the job. Assigned to the appellate division, where she handled appeals and post-conviction proceedings for people accused of a wide range of misdemeanor and felony offenses, Denise worked for the public defender for thirty years, retiring on August 31, 2017. She had further developed her Braille skills in college and law school by learning to take notes with a slate and stylus. While working in Joliet, she acquired a VersaBraille, and then ultimately graduated to the full-time use of a computer. Her Braille skills proved indispensable for conducting oral arguments in court. Her computer skills allowed her to prepare her own briefs and conduct legal research as she dealt with more responsibility and a heavier caseload due to steady advancement in her career. Denise knew of the National Federation of the Blind long before she joined in 2005. She had even attended a few conventions and taken advantage of contacts and resources provided by the National Association of Blind Lawyers. However, she didn't think of herself as a joiner and had little interest in being a part of an organization that, she had been told, was made up of mean-spirited, radical extremists. But the people she met and the organization she came to know were nothing like what she had heard. "I attended my first Chicago Chapter meeting in 2005, and I've missed very few since then," she says. In fact, she served on the chapter's public relations committee and then became its second vice president. She says, "I appreciated the Federation because it was a place in which blind people were respected and our opinions were truly heard and really mattered." But the real turning point in her involvement came when she was invited to a leadership seminar in August of 2010. At that gathering she realized for the first time that the success she had achieved in her life and career had been made possible by the work of the National Federation of the Blind. "The rehabilitation services and financial aid that I had access to, the technology I was able to acquire and use, and the barriers that had been overcome by other blind people before I started my career: all of those things happened because of the National Federation of the Blind, although I didn't realize it at the time." Denise had been asked before by Illinois affiliate president Patti Chang, whether she would consider succeeding Patti in that position, but Denise had always declined. After the leadership seminar, however, she told Patti that she was interested in serving as president. Denise was elected to her first term as president of the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois in 2014. She was re-elected in 2016 and was elected unanimously to the national board of directors in 2017. Denise has worked hard for most of her life; she had summer jobs from the age of fifteen until she began her full-time career. She now looks forward to having more time to enjoy cross-country skiing, running, and reading. She and a group of friends have formed a small club called the Visionnairies, which helps local institutions and charities related to blindness. And, of course, she remains committed to the work of the National Federation of the Blind. "Ultimately, we must all work to continue to change the low expectations and negative attitudes that society has about the abilities of blind people," she says. "Laws are important, but our real goal has to be changing hearts and minds." [PHOTO CAPTION: Everette Bacon] Everette Bacon, Board Member NFB of Utah President Rehabilitation Professional, Husband, and Sports Enthusiast Everette Bacon was born in Huntington Beach, California, in July of 1970. He was born to Arvil and Patricia in a naval hospital since his father was in the navy. At the age of five Everette's uncle noticed that there was something wrong with his eyes, a condition his father had not noticed and one which his mother and other female relatives didn't observe because blindness ran in their family. Everette was diagnosed with cone-rod dystrophy, a condition inherited from his mother's side which went back for thirteen generations, causing rapid-onset blindness. Despite the diagnosis, his family took the advice of teachers and medical experts, believing-or, more accurately, hoping-that since Everette was male and his vision was not deteriorating rapidly like that of other family members, he was unlikely to go blind. As a result, he did not learn Braille or other alternative techniques during his school years. Instead, he learned to avoid reading as much as he reasonably could. He became an excellent listener and simply took his lumps when it came to grades that suffered because he could not read long enough to make it seem reasonable to him. "I liked what I read with my eyes, but the pain and the eye fatigue always won out. It caused me to be a fairly average student, and that's unfortunate because I had more aptitude than the average student." Everette got along well with his schoolmates, most people not knowing he had a severe vision problem and was in fact legally blind. "I think I learned how to fake it before I knew what faking it meant," he says. When Everette was around eighteen his family moved to Texas. He pursued a degree in church music at Dallas Baptist University. He jokes that he was pushed toward music because "you know, blind people sing." His first job was teaching a seventh-grade choir, but he found it not to his liking. Searching for other employment, Everette ultimately accepted a management position with Blockbuster Video in 1997. He was very successful in this position, winning several awards and steady promotions. By 2004 he was managing ten stores in the Houston area. Everette's eye condition began to worsen, and instead of giving up, he adapted by using alternative techniques. "I started carrying a cane, mainly for identity, but I was using it when I felt I needed it. I was never embarrassed or ashamed about becoming blind, because I grew up around blind people; adapting was something you just became accustomed to doing." However, when he asked for reasonable accommodations from his employer, instead of granting these, Blockbuster terminated his employment despite his outstanding record. The company even went so far as to describe Everette's conduct as "fraudulent," implying that he had deceived the company about his capabilities, even though he had previously been praised and awarded for his work. This experience traumatized Everette and his family. His wife, mother, and other family members sent angry emails to everyone they could, urging readers to avoid shopping at Blockbuster based on discrimination against the blind. One of these emails found its way to Scott LaBarre, the president of the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado and a successful disability rights attorney. Scott took Everette's case, and ultimately Everette received a settlement from Blockbuster. More importantly, though, he learned about the National Federation of the Blind and the many battles the organization has fought in the effort to advance and protect the civil rights of blind people. "I had heard of the Federation and been told that they were militant," Everette says, "but my experience taught me the importance of our advocacy. There are so many reasons to be proud of who we are as blind people, and the Federation has paved the way for our climb to the top of the mountain of civil rights!" In 2004 Everette and his wife, Dr. Angela Peters, moved to Salt Lake City, Utah. Everette became involved in the Utah affiliate and developed what he describes as life-changing relationships with dedicated Federationists like Nick Schmittroth, Karl Smith, and Deja Powell. These friends helped Everette improve his blindness skills and grow in the movement. Everette was also looking for new employment opportunities in Utah and heard about a job opening as a blindness skills teacher at the Utah Division of Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Everette remembers speaking with Ray Martin about the fact that he knew nothing about teaching blind people. Martin told him that being blind was the most important qualification. The agency supported Everette in his pursuit of a master's degree in rehabilitation. He went from teaching technology to supervising the technology staff, and now serves as the agency's field services coordinator, overseeing all of the agency's technology and employment services, supervising a staff of nine. Everette began advocating for Utah's blind residents with an effort to encourage a prominent local cinema chain to incorporate audio description technology into its theaters so that blind people who wanted to experience movies with audio description could do so. An avid movie fan with an extensive collection dating from his Blockbuster days, he believes that audio description can enable blind people to connect more easily with their sighted peers when discussing entertainment. "One of the most valuable lessons I have learned from the NFB is the understanding that blending into society is an important skill. Being able to relate to our sighted colleagues about movies, television, politics, and sports are excellent paths to opportunities that help change common misconceptions about blindness." So how did he convince the cinema chain to spend the money? His pitch was simple: if you do this, you will attract more blind people, and we'll make it worth your while in terms of the publicity we get you for your efforts. The project was phenomenally successful-blind people got audio description, the publicity was significant, and the Federation had found a man with capability who could ask for, take on, and complete an assignment with flying colors. In addition to serving on the National Federation of the Blind Board of Directors since 2015 and as the president of the National Federation of the Blind of Utah since 2012, he also serves as the organization's representative on the Federal Communications Commission Disability Advisory Committee. Of course Everette does much more in his life than work for a living and work as an advocate. He is married to Dr. Angela Peters, a medical doctor whom Everette is proud to have helped support through medical school. Everette and Angela have a love for music, and a funny story around music brought them together. "In my junior year of college I had to practice piano, and I loved to play-badly-on the huge grand piano. One evening I was practicing, and I heard someone else doing the same in one of the small practice rooms with the lights off. I wanted to know who it was, so I went over to the window of the door and tried to peer in even though it was dark. My future wife suddenly opened the door, and I practically fell into her arms! After my initial embarrassment, we started talking, and the rest is history." Everette's "Angel" is his best friend and is very supportive of his work in the NFB. She has attended eight national conventions with Everette and hopes that they will be attending together for many more years to come. Everette loves to work on his deck, and although he is not good at yard work, his wife Angela is very good at yard projects and is equally good at helping him know what needs to be done. He loves baseball, fantasy sports, and his two dogs that he fondly refers to as his children. In his future he hopes to skydive, visit Europe, and see a musical on Broadway. Thanks to the NFB and an opportunity to test some new descriptive audio software, he attended the musical Chicago right before this article was sent to the Braille Monitor. So what has the Federation done to change Everette's life and his perceptions of his place in the world? "I always thought blind people were capable of doing things, of being a part, but I never thought that we could lead things, control things, be in charge of extremely important projects with large budgets. I always thought blind people were great soldiers or fantastic worker bees doing whatever they were told, but I never thought blind people could lead in the way the NFB brought to me. Until I met the organization, I never knew how significantly blind people were changing policy, changing the law, changing the way businesses behaved, and changing the overall accessibility of the world. I've never lacked for inner- confidence, but I never understood how ambitious I could be as a blind person. I used to think that my difference meant there was a limit to what I could strive to be, but no more." [PHOTO CAPTION: Amy Buresh] Amy Buresh, Board Member NFB of Nebraska President Rehabilitation Counselor, Advocate, and Mother Today Amy Rut Buresh says, "My blindness is simply another of my characteristics like my auburn hair." She didn't always feel that way. Amy Rut was born prematurely June 4, 1974, in Fairbury, Nebraska, and has been blind since then from retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). When she was five, her family moved from their farm to Nebraska City so that she could attend the Nebraska School for the Visually Handicapped (NSVH). Her parents made the difficult decision to relocate to a new community far away from family, friends, and all they knew so that Amy could continue to live at home during her school years rather than in a dormitory. Young Amy received a solid education and had a normal family life, complete with two pesky little brothers, family campouts, picnics, dress-up, and backyard sports. Amy has said her family's sacrifice was crucial to her peace of mind in her formative years, and she has always been grateful her parents made the choice they did. While a student at NSVH, Amy received training in many blindness skills, the most critical of which was Braille, which helped her to excel academically. She participated in countless musicals, the track team, cheerleading, and speech competition. In her freshman year Amy began taking classes at the public school in Nebraska City. Although she was active in extracurricular activities, including "swing choir" and president of her school's chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Amy found it hard to make friends. She recalls that throughout her public school years she sat through many lonely lunches. With an outgoing personality, Amy easily made acquaintances, but no one invited her to parties or asked her to go to the movies. Amy took piano lessons from kindergarten through her sophomore year and voice lessons from her freshman to her senior year. She still sings at churches, banquets, and karaoke as often as she can. She taught summer enrichment courses on the basics of Braille to school children in her hometown. Through the Nebraska Human Resources Department at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, Amy also participated in a Big-Sister-style program, in which she was paired with a blind elementary school student whom she continued to mentor well after the program's conclusion. Growing up, Amy had few positive blind role models and limited contact with her blind peers. During her teenage years she first participated in youth programs sponsored by the Nebraska Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired (NCBVI), where she gained many valuable skills and met her future husband. For several summers Amy worked as a volunteer counselor at the Summer Kids Independence Program (SKIP) Camp, a program for children ages five to twelve, sponsored by NCBVI. She wanted to share with other blind youth the things she had learned during her high school journey: which plans had worked for her, and which hadn't. She believed then and believes more absolutely today that mentoring is important in improving one's attitude toward blindness and a great way to learn how to handle being different in our society. Whether at home or at school, participating in music, academics, or athletics, Amy was successfully working and competing with her sighted peers. She was even named second runner-up in the 1990 Nebraska City Miss Applejack Pageant. Yet in addition she had to face another, deeply personal aspect of life. As a senior in high school she began wrestling with life questions that neither her family and teachers nor her sighted peers could answer. Could she really be successful as an independent blind adult? Would she ever marry and have a family? What about employment? Could she get a job and do it well? Following graduation, Amy began conquering her fears and seeking answers to these nagging questions by attending the Orientation Training Center of the Nebraska Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Lincoln. There she was first introduced to the underpinning philosophy of the National Federation of the Blind and, equally important, to kind and inspirational Federationists. Armed with newfound confidence and skills, Amy enrolled in Peru State College, graduating with a BS in psychology, sociology, and criminal justice. Throughout her time on campus she was active as a peer mentor, in student senate, and in residence hall government. She also soloed and toured with the concert choir. She helped found and held several offices in the Association for Challenged and Enabled Students (ACES), a group dedicated to breaking down stereotypes and eliminating discrimination against those with disabilities. ACES sought to educate the non-disabled public about the challenges people with disabilities face. During the years at Peru State College Amy began working with women and children who experience domestic violence, a field to which she still devotes time when she can. She served as a volunteer counselor for a nonprofit in Southeast Nebraska and other agencies. She has worked tirelessly as an advocate, role model, and leader for both women and the blind. She attributes her success with blind people to her discovery of and involvement in the National Federation of the Blind. In 1993 the NFB of Nebraska established a scholarship program, and Amy won the first scholarship. With this award she faced a turning point in the evolution of her personal philosophy and in her affiliation with the National Federation of the Blind. Growing up, she had been warned that the NFB was an organization of militants whom she should avoid. Thanks to the scholarship program, Amy attended her first state convention in the fall of 1993, discovered the warmth of the members of the NFB and the important work we are doing, and hasn't looked back since. In fact, the very next year, in October of 1994, Amy and a handful of other concerned blind Nebraska students were granted the charter for the Nebraska Association of Blind Students within the Nebraska affiliate. She was elected president of the student division, an office she held for two years. Since those early days in the Federation, Amy has held a number of chapter and affiliate positions in Nebraska. In 2003 she was elected to serve as affiliate president, and in the summer of 2006 she was elected by the national convention to the board of directors of the National Federation of the Blind. Amy and her husband Shane (a leader and dedicated Federationist in his own right) live in Lincoln with their son Noah (born May 2, 2006) and daughter Sarah, (born February 14, 2014). She is employed as a rehabilitation counselor with the Nebraska Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired. "My ordinary life, juggling family, Federation, and work commitments, struggling to keep all the balls in the air-this is the life I've chosen- the life I've created. My life as a blind woman is ordinary, not extraordinary. Therein lies its beauty." [PHOTO CAPTION: Shawn Callaway] Shawn Callaway, Board Member NFB of the District of Columbia President Social Worker, Community Activist, and Father Shawn Callaway was born in Washington, DC, and grew up in Prince George's County, Maryland. When he was a sophomore at South Carolina State University, a classmate was playing with a gun and accidentally shot Shawn in the temple. The accident resulted in the detachment of his optic nerves, which caused total blindness. Shawn returned to the DC area and received blindness training at the Workforce Technology Center in Baltimore. He credits a blind man named Lou Smith with providing his training and being an early mentor. He also credits his parents for encouraging him throughout his transition to life as a successful blind person. After his rehabilitation training, Shawn earned his associate's degree in psychology from Essex Community College in 1995, his bachelor's degree from the University of Maryland in 1997, and then his master's in social work from Catholic University of America in 2000. He began his professional career working with the homeless at Catholic Charities and then went on to counsel children in the Washington, DC, public school system for the city's Department of Behavioral Health. He now works as a program specialist for the United States Department of Health and Human Services, specifically in programs of the Administration on Community Living and the Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. In 2005 he married Latonya Rollins of Cleveland, Ohio. Shawn had heard of the National Federation of the Blind in the mid- 1990s but was initially convinced by a friend that the organization was too radical for him. In retrospect, he believes he was given bad information and wishes that he had become a Federationist earlier. After being invited to a chapter meeting by Linda Black-White, Shawn finally joined in the spring of 2009. He found himself leading the Washington, DC, affiliate when longtime leader Don Galloway died in 2011. Shawn already had confidence in most of his blindness skills when he joined the National Federation of the Blind, but he says that he was still apprehensive about becoming a parent. The opportunity to observe and talk to blind parents like Mark and Melissa Riccobono and Tracy Soforenko, as well as a DC Federationist named Vicky Smith, gave him confidence that he could be a successful blind parent. He is now the proud father of his daughter Camille who was born in 2014. Shawn also credits participation in the NFB with opening up other leadership and community involvement opportunities for him. He has served on the boards of the DC Center for Independent Living and the Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind and has chaired the DC rehabilitation council. He currently co-hosts a community radio program called "Open Our Eyes" on a local station. In addition, Shawn serves as the president of the DC Friends of the Talking Book and Braille Library and is a member of the DC Blind Bowlers Association. Shawn says, "I am grateful for the opportunity to serve on the NFB board of directors, both to give back to the organization as a whole and because so many past and present board members like Dr. Fred Schroeder, Anil Lewis, Dr. Joanne Wilson, Sam Gleese, Pam Allen, and Ever Lee Hairston have inspired and mentored me. I will strive to fill the same role for other leaders and members of our great movement and devote every ounce of my energy to building the Federation and advocating for all blind citizens." [PHOTO CAPTION: Norma Crosby] Norma Crosby, Board Member NFB of Texas President Mother and Businesswoman Norma Beathard was born on January 25, 1956, in Conroe, Texas. She was the first of five children born to Robbie and Joseph Beathard. Norma was born legally blind because her mother contracted rubella during her pregnancy; however, Norma's blindness remained undetected until she began walking. At that time, her parents began to notice that she seemed to bump into things that a sighted child should see, and they had her vision tested. A determination was made that she was blind when she was two years old. Years of surgery followed with no improvement. Norma was an active child. She joined her siblings in most of the games they played, and her blindness was not a real obstacle when she was small. But she couldn't read the blackboard when she started school, and she experienced a number of problems related to her vision as she grew older. Norma always attended school in rural communities, a circumstance which she describes as "both a blessing and a curse." Because no one in her life knew anything about blindness skills, she wasn't able to learn Braille or cane travel. She used large print books, which were bulky and heavy for a tiny girl. Since her vision was extremely limited, she had to read with her nose practically touching the pages of her books, even though the print was enlarged. Despite the lack of training in blindness skills, Norma feels that she received a quality education because she had caring teachers who always found ways of making it easier for her to learn. She was fortunate to have the same teacher from her first-grade year through her third-grade year, and that teacher was determined that Norma would be included in everything the class did. Her name was Jean Todd, and she spent countless hours offering Norma one-on-one instruction. Other teachers with similar attitudes were a part of Norma's life throughout her K-12 experience. Professionals in the field of work with the blind were not as helpful. When Norma asked for Braille training, she was told by a rehabilitation professional that she was wasting his time, and she was made to feel guilty because, according to him, she was depriving a "real" blind person of the opportunity to learn by making this frivolous request. Eventually she was able to convince him that he should provide her with training, and he traveled to her small town and spent two hours with her. This was woefully inadequate, but it did allow her to learn the alphabet, Braille numbers, and some punctuation symbols. Her experience with inadequate Braille training has made Norma a strong advocate for providing Braille education to children with low vision. After completing her education, Norma found herself living in a small community with no opportunities for a blind person. She knew she had to leave her rural home if she was to become successful. Her father was opposed to her leaving, but her mother understood that a different environment would provide Norma with a better chance of living the life she wanted to live. So she took the unusual step of going against the wishes of Norma's father; drove Norma to the bus station in Lufkin, Texas, and purchased a ticket to a better life for her daughter. Norma traveled to Austin that day, and although she had no idea what she would do to become successful, she was confident that she would be able to make a life for herself. Norma began her working life as an employee at the Travis Association for the Blind. That employment did not last long because Norma found that she couldn't live on the $1.05 an hour that the sheltered workshop was paying its trainees, and her questions about how to make a higher wage went unanswered. In fact, it became clear that she was unlikely to be paid the federal minimum wage anytime soon, so Norma began to look for other work. She also married during this time and began a family. Her first son was born on March 10, 1976, and her second son was born on March 10, 1978. Once her children were out of diapers, Norma started work at the Texas School for the Blind. She worked as a dorm parent at the school from 1979 to 1982. After a divorce, Norma found the National Federation of the Blind and became an active member in 1983. By 1985 she was living in Houston, and she was an important part of the National Federation of the Blind of Texas leadership. She didn't hold elective office in the Federation, but she worked hard to help the affiliate president and other leaders to carry out the organization's mission. She became president of the Houston Chapter in 1989, and she continued in that role for eight years. When Norma joined the Federation, she met Glenn Crosby. Glenn was serving as president of the National Federation of the Blind of Texas, and as the two worked closely together, a personal relationship developed. They were married on April 15, 1989. Each of them had two children, and the two families have blended into a harmonious group. Glenn and Norma are now the proud grandparents of seven grandchildren, ranging in age from four to twenty-one. Four years before they married, Glenn asked Norma to begin managing the office for his food service business, and they became professional partners. The Crosbys owned five food service locations during the late 1980s and early 1990s, but they sold all but two of the locations and were operating those two locations when they retired in 2013. Though both Norma and Glenn grew up in Texas, they decided they wanted a change in 2001, and they spent about a year in South Dakota. They then spent several months in Ajijic, Mexico. Ajijic is near Guadalajara, and, while they enjoyed their time there, they needed to be closer to home for business reasons so in 2005 they moved to Ruston, Louisiana. Shortly after arriving in Ruston, Norma was elected to serve as president of the North Central Chapter of the NFB of Louisiana. She remained in that position until January of 2009, when she and Glenn made the decision to move back to their native Texas. They now live in Alvin, near Houston, on four acres of land and have a few cows. In 2012, Norma was chosen to serve as the first president of the Lone Star Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of Texas. At the affiliate's 2014 convention, she was elected to serve as the state president. While Norma believes strongly that it is not necessary to hold an office in order to be an effective leader, she is honored to serve as both the president of the NFB of Texas and, since her election at the 2015 National Convention, as a member of the organization's national board of directors. [PHOTO CAPTION: John Fritz] John Fritz, Board Member NFB of Wisconsin President Business Owner, Advocate, and Father John Fritz was born in September of 1966. He was raised on a family dairy farm in southwest Wisconsin, the oldest of five children. He was lucky enough to have parents who made him learn the value of hard work early on. "We were a farm family, and I was the oldest son. I was expected to help with the chores and work outside with my dad." He was born legally blind but had some sight. This diminished to light perception by the age of three. He believed at an early age that sight was not a requirement to be successful. John attended the Wisconsin School for the Blind from kindergarten through the seventh grade, primarily because the public school didn't believe a blind child could be served in his hometown. In seventh grade he was able to persuade the school counselor to allow him to transfer back to his local public school. He remembers this being a very difficult adjustment. Having lived at the school for the blind for seven years and being away from his siblings, he found it hard to return and take his place again. Everyone had to get to know each other again. "I realized how much I was missing out on at home," he said. John graduated from Fennimore High School with honors in 1985. Before and after school he was responsible for milking cows and helping with general farm work. He earned his letter in wrestling and played trumpet in pep band, marching band, and concert band. His most significant accomplishments came in Future Farmers of America (FFA). John was involved in an extemporaneous-speaking competition, the Creed Speaking Contest; dairy judging; and parliamentary procedure. He placed fourth in the nation in computers in agriculture and achieved the American Farmer Degree. He also served as president of his FFA chapter for two years. John attended the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, where he graduated with honors in 1989 with a major in animal science, emphasizing dairy management, nutrition, and reproduction. He also earned a minor in computer science. While in college he participated in the academic decathlon in agriculture and in seven academic clubs and organizations. In these years John got his first dose of the low expectations many professionals have for blind students. When he told his Department for Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) counselor that he wanted to be a veterinarian, his counselor informed him that, if he pursued that career, DVR wouldn't fund him. The counselor said that a blind person wouldn't be able to be a veterinarian. So John told the DVR counselor to leave. That day he learned quickly that, if he wanted to pursue his goals, he needed to find a way to pay for college himself. He found part-time jobs, work-study assignments, and scholarships to pay his way. "The most significant event of my life occurred the summer of my sophomore year at a national convention when I won a National Federation of the Blind scholarship in Phoenix, Arizona," John said. This was his first exposure to the NFB. He was relieved to find peers doing similar things and blind people with the same philosophy. He realized during that convention that he had finally found the biggest and most reliable source of information any blind college student could ever have-other blind people. While attending college, he continued to work on the farm on weekends. College provided him the opportunity to advocate for himself and become a self-sufficient person. John started working on the family dairy farm right after graduating from college. By this time he had decided that the dairy farm was the immediate need, and veterinary school would have to wait. He was responsible for the day-to-day operations and management of the farm, where he milked sixty-five registered Brown Swiss cows. In 1991 he started working part-time for a local computer store as a computer technician. His main responsibility was repairing computers. The next year he became store manager, where his responsibilities included the day-to-day operation of the store, sales, and service. He left the farm and moved to town. He continued at this job for six years. In 1995 he married Heather Ross. They met during the 1992 NFB convention in Charlotte and started dating after running into each other again during the Dallas convention in 1993. In 1997 he accepted a job with the Louisiana Center for the Blind as the computer instructor. He describes it as a very rewarding experience because it provided the opportunity for him to fully absorb and live the philosophy of the National Federation of the Blind each day. While in Louisiana, John and Heather Fritz started their family. Lindsey was born in 1998, Christina was born in 1999, Mark was sponsored from Korea in 2001, and Andrew was born in 2002. In 2003 John made the difficult decision to leave his job and friends at the center and return home to be near Heather's parents. They had just retired to Wisconsin from California. John decided to begin his own vending business with the Business Enterprise Program. This is what he continues to do today. In 2005 the Fritzes adopted their daughter Katie from China at the age of six. In 2006 John and Heather built their dream home for their growing family on fifteen acres in Kendall, Wisconsin. He also built a warehouse for his business, J&H Vending, Inc. John says that he was honored to be elected president of the NFB of Wisconsin in 2006. He has enjoyed working with the affiliate, divisions, and the blind of Wisconsin. In 2008 he was elected to the National Federation of the Blind Board of Directors. He remains very busy with the state affiliate, along with being a member of Lions Club, the local ham radio club, and various other clubs and organizations. He also likes to do woodworking, grilling, fishing, and hunting large game with his kids. As busy as he is, and as many activities as he pursues, nothing is more important to John than spending time watching his children grow-all seven of them! Child number six, a four-year-old boy from India they named Jacob, was adopted in May of 2009. The Fritz family has also been joined by a seventeen-year-old daughter named Anna, who was originally adopted from China by another family when she was nine years old but became part of the Fritz clan in the summer of 2009. Reflecting on his life and work, John says, "The National Federation of the Blind doesn't prescribe what a blind person should do or even what he or she can do. It merely invites every blind person to dream and work to achieve those dreams. Its members blaze trails for one another and cheer each other along the way." [PHOTO CAPTION: Ever Lee Hairston] Ever Lee Hairston, Board Member Former NFB of California President Mentor, Advocate, Motivational Speaker, and Mother Ever Lee Hairston was unanimously elected to the board of directors at the 2010 National Federation of the Blind convention on July 6, 2010, in Dallas, Texas. She brings considerable experience to this position, having served in various capacities with the NFB over the years-including twenty- two consecutive years of service on the NFB Scholarship Committee and a fourteen-year stint as first vice president of the NFB of New Jersey. Ever Lee founded and served as the president of the Garden State Chapter of the NFB of New Jersey from 1991 until 2005, and for many years she was the coordinator of the LEAD Program, a mentoring program for blind and visually impaired teenagers. She currently serves on the board of directors of the Louisiana Center for the Blind and as president of the NFB of California. Born to Arizona and Clarence Hairston on the Coolemee plantation in Mocksville, North Carolina, Ever Lee is the third of seven children. She grew up and attended schools in the segregated South. "I felt like a second- class citizen, using hand-me-down books in school; and, due to unexplained vision problems, I had to struggle to read from the bulletin board," Ever Lee noted. In spite of the challenges of growing up in the segregated South and continuing visual problems, Ever Lee had a strong desire to become a nurse. Ever Lee's parents simply could not afford to send her to college; so after high school, Ever Lee went to New York City to earn money for college by working as a live-in maid. She returned to North Carolina at the end of the summer anxious to pursue a nursing career. However, she failed the required eye examination and was told that she would not be suitable for admission to Duke University Nursing School. "I was heartbroken but refused to be defeated," she said. She was accepted at North Carolina Central University, where she earned a teaching degree. After graduating from North Carolina Central, Ever Lee taught high school business courses in New Jersey. While working as a high school teacher in New Jersey, Ever Lee's eyesight continued to deteriorate. She finally sought answers and medical care. Ever Lee, along with three siblings, were diagnosed with a genetic eye disease, retinitis pigmentosa (RP). And, four years after starting a challenging teaching career, Ever Lee was forced to resign from her position because of her impending blindness. At the age of twenty-nine, facing total blindness, with a failed marriage, a child to raise alone, and uncertainty about future employment, Ever Lee admitted to being devastated and feeling sorry for herself. However, she held on to the hope that a better way of life was in store for her. She admits to believing in the old adage that "When God closes a door, He opens a window." She began looking for the window. After inventorying her strengths, she stepped through a window of opportunity at New Jersey's Rutgers University, where she took graduate courses in counseling. In 1983 she landed a counselor trainee position with the Camden County Department of Health and Human Services. But, as Ever Lee explains it, "With no blindness skills, I was faking my way through." She notes that she relied heavily on sighted people to read to her and to act as guides. In 1987 Ever Lee received a call from Jackie Billie inviting her to an NFB convention in Phoenix, Arizona. At first she made excuses because she was afraid of requesting the time off from her job. Jackie was persistent, and Ever Lee finally agreed to attend the convention. Ever Lee describes arriving at the hotel in Phoenix to the unfamiliar sound of canes tapping and the unsettling feeling of dogs licking her legs. The most profound experience, as Ever Lee explains it, came when she started through the registration line. She remembers being asked, "Would you like a Braille or print agenda?" She could no longer read print and did not know Braille. It was then, according to Ever Lee, that a light bulb went off. "I am illiterate," she thought. She talked to as many people as she could at that convention in Phoenix and learned about the NFB centers. From then until 1990 she continued to function without blindness skills but worked on a plan with Joanne Wilson to get to Louisiana where she could be trained. Ever Lee attended the Louisiana Center for the Blind from October 1990 until April 1991. She learned to read Braille, mastered cane travel and independent living skills, and learned to use adaptive technology. She returned to New Jersey, after the Freedom Bell rang for her at the Louisiana Center, with a confidence she never had before, integrating blindness skills into her everyday life. Ever Lee credits her training at the Louisiana Center for the Blind with enabling her to succeed at her chosen career. After twenty-six years holding many successive positions with the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Program in New Jersey, Ever Lee retired from the position of program director in 2006. In July of that year she moved to California. She continues to devote tireless hours mentoring and advocating for the blind, as well as delivering inspiring speeches to blind and visually impaired audiences and educating the sighted public about blindness. Ever Lee is blessed with one son, a wonderful daughter-in-law, and three energetic grandchildren. She enjoys traveling, reading a good novel, and spending time with family and friends. She was elected as the president of the National Federation of the Blind of California in 2016 and served one term characterized by building membership and strengthening unity. In July of 2015 Ever Lee became an author with the publication of Blind Ambition: One Woman's Journey to Greatness Despite Her Blindness. Ever Lee was most recently recognized in 2019 with the highest award the National Federation of the Blind can bestow on one of its members. She was given the Jacobus tenBroek Award at the Federation's convention in Las Vegas. "Never have I felt such humility and felt so honored. It is privilege enough to serve, but what an honor to be recognized. I will never forget that night and what it represents to me." [PHOTO CAPTION: Carla McQuillan] Carla McQuillan, Board Member NFB of Oregon President Mother, and Executive Director of Main Street Montessori Association Carla was born and raised in Southern California in the early 60s, the youngest of four children. In the summer before fifth grade, Carla lost a great deal of vision but did not notice it until she started school in the fall and was unable to read the chalkboard from the front row. A few years earlier, her older brother had been diagnosed with a rare genetic eye condition called Stargardt's disease, which resulted in the loss of central vision. It was soon confirmed that Carla had the same condition. She was diagnosed legally blind in 1971. Because of her remaining peripheral vision, Carla did not "look blind," so she was not taught Braille or any other alternative techniques of blindness. She had very little experience with blind people. The only blind person she knew was her brother, and he was forever using his blindness as an excuse for standing on the sidelines. Carla knew that this was not the life she wanted and was determined to do everything in her power to convince the world that she was not blind. After high school Carla went to Humboldt State University in Northern California. There she met her husband Lucas. They were married in the summer of 1981 and moved to San Diego for Lucas's graduate program. Though Carla had not completed her bachelor's degree, she was more than happy to put her college career on hold and work to support the couple. Her one year of college had not been very successful. Without the ability to read Braille and eyesight too poor to read print, Carla, who had been an A student in high school, saw her grades drop. She got a job as a Montessori preschool teacher in San Diego while Lucas completed his master's degree. Their daughter Alison was born in 1983. In 1985 the family moved to Illinois. Lucas enrolled in a doctoral program at the University of Illinois, and Carla decided to complete her bachelor's degree. With Lucas' encouragement, Carla asked for accessible textbooks and decided to learn Braille. The staff at the university's disabled student's services office told her how difficult Braille would be to learn and how inefficient it would be. Discouraged and defeated, Carla wondered if there was any hope for her future. Fortunately, she learned of a scholarship program through the National Federation of the Blind. She won a scholarship from the organization's Illinois affiliate in 1988. The state convention changed her life. Her negative attitudes about blindness and about her own potential to be a successful professional were replaced by confidence and self-assurance that remain a hallmark of her character today. After both graduating with high distinction from the University of Illinois in 1988, the McQuillans completed their family with the birth of their son Duncan. They moved to Oregon to be near Carla's family. Carla started her own Montessori preschool, which later expanded to include three schools and a Montessori Teacher Certification Program. Carla served as president of the National Federation of the Blind of Oregon from 1992 until 2006, when her business responsibilities became too demanding. She also served on the NFB's national board of directors from 1998 until resigning from that position as well in 2006. She was re-elected president of the Oregon affiliate in 2012 and still serves in that capacity. She is the director of NFB Camp, the program that offers childcare during the annual convention of the National Federation of the Blind. Carla was again elected to the national board of directors in 2016. "I had such horrible misconceptions about blindness for most of my childhood and early adult life," Carla says. "I thought I knew what blindness meant, and I didn't want any part of it. The National Federation of the Blind taught me that blindness was only as limiting as I allowed it to be. My friends and colleagues in the movement have been more than ideal role models; they have saved me from a life of regret and underachievement." [PHOTO CAPTION: Amy Ruell] Amy Ruell, Board Member NFB of Massachusetts President Therapist, Supervisor, Clinical Care Manager, Wife, and Mother Amy Ruell was born in 1954 to Kenneth and Gloria Ruell. She is the only blind child in her family. To her family, blindness was unexpected, but much was expected of Amy. While growing up in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, she had little contact with blind people, the exception being through a camp for the blind she attended as a child. She was educated in public school, but as too frequently happens today, she received minimal instruction in cane travel and no formal professional instruction in Braille. She learned these skills with the help of her mother and a volunteer, both staying a lesson ahead of her as the instruction proceeded. Luckily for her the study was intense and thorough. Amy has a mastery of Braille that helps make her a top performer in her field. She feels that, in some ways, the lack of professional instruction forced her to learn invaluable problem-solving skills as she worked with her teachers to adapt her curriculum while ensuring that the same level of competence was expected of her as of her peers. She obtained bachelor of arts and master of science degrees from Smith College and Simmons College School of Social Work respectively and has been successfully employed as a therapist, supervisor, and, most recently, as a clinical care manager authorizing psychiatric emergency admissions. "I have a time-consuming and sometimes stressful job, but busy is a part of who I am, and making positive contributions to the lives of others is one of my core values." As part of her normal life experience, Amy is both a wife and mother. She is married to Jim, and they are the proud parents of two children, Steven and Sheila. Amy discovered the Federation when her job as the literacy program manager for an initiative at National Braille Press required that she attend the conventions of several national organizations of the blind. At the NFB's gathering she found people doing things for themselves and at the same time helping others get around the hotel, read menus, and do so many other things in a wonderful spirit of mentorship and cooperation. She says: I told my husband that I was going to join but that I was not going to become a leader. I already held enough leadership positions. But when I attended my first affiliate convention, I didn't like it. I was bored, I was frustrated, and I felt like I had wasted my money. Now I am the kind of person who, if I don't like something, I feel as though I have to change it. I either need to leave it behind or do something about it. So I decided that I would take on the job of planning the next convention and making it better. I asked for and got the job. At the convention that I organized, attendance increased by 20 percent, and I got a lot of accolades for the job I did. So as I looked at the organization, I realized I had two choices: to lead or to shut up, and I concluded that leading was a task more suited to my character and temperament. The decision did not come easily. I was already involved with a number of organizations, and I take my involvement very seriously. When I say I will do something, I know it will take precious time that I do not have in abundance, but I do it. This means I do not easily say yes, but when I do, you can count on me to follow through. For Amy there was first an investment of the head: the broad advocacy, the systemic change, but later there was the investment of the heart and seeing how much her personal involvement could change one life and then two. That first personal involvement came when a young man needed rehabilitation that had been denied by the agency. After gathering a lot of information about him, determining the options he should have, and capitalizing on her working relationship with the head of the state agency, she got the young man training. "He went to BLIND, Incorporated and was transformed from somebody who really couldn't find his way anywhere to somebody who is now working part-time, going to school, living on his own in his own apartment, and going everywhere on busses totally independently. I have had a couple of situations that are similar in scope and outcome, and for me that is the reward. Despite all of the advances, I think there are a lot of young people who are struggling and who could learn from some of us older folks who have had to learn to do things more independently and who have had to use our own creativity rather than having a prescribed program. This ability to work with some students and see real growth is the kind of reward that keeps me going when I have no energy and I'm really wanting to go watch the Boston Red Sox, go to a concert, or finish reading the book I'm in the middle of." Amy says she struggles with where to put our focus and recognition. Like most groups we focus on those of high achievement: our scholarship winners, the innovators, those with excellent attitudes, and the skills that spring from them. But sometimes she thinks that this helps to reinforce the stereotype that we are amazing. How can we instead emphasize that if you are blind and doing normal things, it is because blindness doesn't make you abnormal. She observes that being the pitiable blind person and the amazing blind person are just opposite sides of the same coin. "I think we do ourselves a disservice in two ways: there are a lot of people who feel distanced from us and who feel like the NFB is very elitist, and to some extent, when we just feature folks in certain categories, we unwittingly contribute to that stereotype. I also think that for some people who are in the group that is featured, they begin to believe that somehow they are amazing as blind people, and they feed into that stereotype that society gives them. This too does blind people a disservice." Amy relates that at one of her jobs she was the spokesman for Braille literacy: traveling throughout the country making speeches, staying in fine hotels, and enjoying good meals. At the same time that she was doing this, she knew that the people producing the Braille she was promoting had jobs that were much harder than hers-people who trudged in during a snowstorm and were there by 7 a.m., stood on their feet all day, got paid far less than she did, seldom got a word of praise, and certainly never got the pay or recognition she did for promoting literacy and the essential role of Braille. Amy says, "So one of the things I've tried to do in the NFB is make sure that other people who don't have the same abilities I do and that many people find most impressive still have a way to know that they are important and to feel what those of us who so easily are considered important feel. I look for people who may not be able to do the jobs I do, but who still do jobs that are essential to our organization. I work to help figure out what they can do and see that they are acknowledged for it, and I think this does as much or more than showing them examples of people they will never be like and expecting them to do what those people do." Amy believes that one of the biggest challenges we face as an organization is the way to include and meet the needs of the increasing number of people with multiple disabilities in the United States. Amy was elected as the vice president of the Massachusetts affiliate shortly after joining the NFB and also has served as the vice president of the Cambridge chapter. She was unanimously elected to the National Federation of the Blind Board of Directors in 2017. "My biggest challenge is that I take seriously everything I commit to do. I don't say yes easily, but when I do, I want people to know that I will follow through. My challenge is how to do all the work of an affiliate president, a board member, and a very busy professional, and still have some time for me. I would rather work for change than complain about it, and all of my jobs in the Federation give me the opportunity to be a part of that change." [PHOTO CAPTION: Joseph Ruffalo, Jr.] Joseph Ruffalo, Jr., Board Member NFB of New Jersey President Mentor, Community Leader, Activist, and Family Man Born July 6, 1949, in Montclair and raised in Bloomfield, New Jersey, Joseph Ruffalo, Jr. had already graduated from Bloomfield High School, attended Montclair State College, and served America in Vietnam, where he earned a Bronze Star, before he learned in 1976 that retinitis pigmentosa would slowly claim his vision. For six years he continued his work as a manager in a Thom McAn shoe store, but by 1983 he began looking for guidance about how to achieve greater proficiency and control over his life as a blind adult. The staff at the Joseph Kohn Rehabilitation Center (JKRC), then located in Newark, told him he should not learn to use a cane, read Braille, or master any adaptive devices because he still had enough vision to do without them. Though eager to obtain the necessary skills, at the time Joe believed he had no recourse but to adhere to the advice of the only professionals he knew. Not until 1986 did he learn to use a cane, and he accomplished that by teaching himself. While at JKRC, Joe discovered a talent for baking, which led to a successful nine-year career as the owner of a pastry business. In 1988 Joe rather reluctantly attended his first NFB chapter meeting in Newark. But he reports that after ten minutes he knew that his life was about to change dramatically. Realizing that the NFB was a place of fraternity and empowerment, empathy and accomplishment, Joe says, "I saw blind people doing things I wanted to do. They were holding jobs, volunteering, and achieving in every pursuit." This was the beginning of Joe's own growth and achievement. In 1990 he became second vice president of the New Jersey affiliate; two years later he was first vice president; and by 1993 he was president of the NFB of New Jersey, a position he maintains to this day. The members of the NFB of New Jersey honored Joe at the fortieth state convention on November 12, 2016, with the Raising Expectations Award. "It is a tremendous honor and responsibility to promote positive attitudes about blindness and the abilities of blind people," Joe comments. But Joe's community involvement has not been limited to the National Federation of the Blind. He has been a leader in the Lions Club for over twenty-nine years, serving as president for three. He has also held positions as zone/regent chair and serves on the district cabinet. In over twenty-eight years with the Knights of Columbus, Joe has held the positions of guard, warden, and deputy grand knight. He also was an active member of the Boy Scouts of America for over fourteen years, serving as cub master for four years. As past president of the Special Education Parent and Professional Organization for thirteen years and past chairman of the board of trustees of the New Jersey Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired, he has further worked to assure the full integration of people with disabilities into society. Joe attended the Therapeutic Massage Center to obtain certification in massage therapy and from 1998 to 2001 provided massage for staff, patients, and visitors at Clara Maass Medical Center in Belleville before moving his practice to a private office. He has served as a consultant to the Somerset School of Massage, making recommendations to staff and students and answering questions about training methods for blind students. Joe also worked to smooth others' transitions from dependence to independence as a leader in two programs sponsored by the New Jersey Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired. He was previously employed by the First Occupational Center of New Jersey and the Puerto Rican Association for Human Development as a program manager in the Senior Community Independent Living Services (SCILS) program, which identifies people over age fifty-five in Essex and Ocean counties who have experienced vision loss, with the goal of teaching independence skills so that these seniors can remain active in the community and independent in their homes. As state program director and northern region coordinator of the Leadership, Education, Advocacy, and Determination (LEAD) program, administered in partnership with Heightened Independence and Progress, Joe provided mentoring activities for blind teenagers and their families. Unfortunately, the LEAD program was terminated as of October 1, 2013. However, the New Jersey Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired established the Employment Development Guidance and Engagement (EDGE) Program, where Joe provides his experience as a mentor to raise expectations of blind and visually impaired teenagers and their parents. His goal is to help them transform their dreams into reality and to live the lives they want. Joe's many contributions to the community were recognized in November 2000 when he was honored with the Partnership for Progress Award at the New Jersey Commission's Believe and Achieve ninetieth anniversary celebration. In July 2001 his leadership in the blindness community was again acknowledged when he was elected to the board of directors of the National Federation of the Blind. In October of 2002 the State of New Jersey honored Joe by presenting him with the New Jersey Vietnam Service Medal. Joe has always been encouraged and supported by his wife of forty-two years, Judy, and his two sons, Joseph and James and his two daughters-in- law Bettina and Kelly. In his spare time Joe likes sports of all kinds, especially baseball and basketball, and he recently experienced surfing at Asbury Park in New Jersey. For nearly ten years he enjoyed hosting Thru Our Eyes, an Internet radio program that highlighted blindness issues, discussed technology, and promoted positive attitudes about blindness. Joe's life and work express his commitment to the blind and their struggle for equality in society. His achievements stand as an example for others, like those of the Federationists who deeply impressed him at his first chapter meeting. He achieves and grows, facing every challenge with energy, enthusiasm, and common sense. In so doing, he exemplifies his belief that "One of the most important things for members of the blind community to do is to teach the public that blindness is only a characteristic. With the proper training, skills, attitude, and techniques, blindness can be reduced to a physical nuisance." [PHOTO CAPTION: Terri Rupp] Terri Rupp, Board Member NFB of Nevada President Mother, Teacher, Writer, and Athlete Terri Rupp was born in a refugee camp in Thailand and came to the United States with her parents, who were fleeing the communist Pol Pot regime in Cambodia, when she was not yet two years old. The family eventually settled in Fairfield, California, where Terri's parents established a successful doughnut shop. Terri and her family came to realize there was something wrong with her vision. She says: My first memory of realizing I couldn't see like the other kids around me was on this little carpet square. As usual, my nose was literally in the book as I lost myself in the pictures. This was when a little boy put his face into his book and asked, "Why do you read like this?" That was the beginning of knowing I had a vision problem and the beginning of the "Faking It Years." Because I grew up in a traditional Cambodian home, we did not talk about my blindness. But not talking about it didn't mean we ignored it. My parents, not knowing the language, found themselves searching for answers about what could be wrong with my eyes. They used teenage family members as translators during the many doctor visits up and down the state of California. Some said my eyesight would come back, and others said I would eventually lose it all. The only thing my parents understood was that their little girl had a rare eye condition that couldn't be fixed. During my "Faking It Years," I perfected the art of fitting in. I pretended to do my schoolwork in class, then spent hours in the evenings at home actually doing it with my face pressed into the pages with the help of my handy magnifier. That magnifier got stronger and stronger, until eventually it was replaced with a huge CCTV taking up half of the desk in my bedroom. When it was my turn to read aloud in class, the teachers just skipped over me because I couldn't read fast enough even with the help of a magnification device blowing up the print of an already large print book. I remember many years that brought many tears: never feeling good enough, smart enough, pretty enough, fast enough, because I couldn't see well enough. By the time she began studying sociology at Sacramento State University, Terri found it virtually impossible to rely on reading large print and the other "tricks" she had been using to cope with her progressive vision loss due to optic nerve atrophy, which had been diagnosed when she was around five. Struggling with her studies and seeking employment, she took a job with the Society for the Blind in Sacramento, where she first encountered positive blind role models. She also attended her first NFB chapter meeting and state convention. Meeting Rosy Carranza and Joanne Wilson at the convention solidified Terri's decision to attend the blindness skills training program at the Louisiana Center for the Blind. Within a couple of years of beginning training at LCB in 2006, Terri attended her first Washington Seminar and a national leadership seminar; won an NFB national scholarship; married her college boyfriend Aaron and moved to Las Vegas, where he worked as a paramedic; interned at the NFB Jernigan Institute; and was elected first vice president of the National Association of Blind Students. In 2008 she was elected to the presidency of both NABS and the NFB of Nevada. "Unfortunately, I ended up doing too much too soon and was very overwhelmed with both leadership roles, finishing up my degree, and becoming a new mom in 2009," Terri says. So, between 2009 and 2014, she stepped away from the Federation to focus on her family. During that time, she also organized local neighborhood mommy groups and brought together hundreds of moms and children. Then her daughter Marley was diagnosed with Terri's eye condition, and Terri knew just what to do: she once again reached out to her extended family in the National Federation of the Blind. "Changing what it means to be blind had a deeper meaning for me now that I was not just a blind mom but a mom to a blind child," she observes. Since becoming active in the NFB again, Terri has easily stepped into leadership roles. She served on the national board of the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children from 2015 to 2016. She was then elected to serve as president of the National Federation of the Blind of Nevada for the second time, this occurring in 2016. Finally, at the national convention in 2019, she was elected to serve on the NFB board of directors, which was especially meaningful given that the convention was in her hometown of Las Vegas. "In addition to all of the things I do with the National Federation of the Blind, I'm grateful to be able to be a stay-at-home mom to my two children, Jackson and Marley, ages eight and ten, and happily married to my supportive husband of twelve years," Terri says of her life now. "Our family loves adventuring together, especially on our multi-state, multi- week summer road trips. I am a marathon runner and have run the Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll Marathon and the St. George Marathon. It is my goal to run one marathon a year as long as I am healthy enough to do so." On Valentine's Day, Terri intends to unite her love of running and her love of the hope the National Federation of the Blind offers. Her goal is to run a 50K and raise fifty thousand dollars for the organization. "I totally quit faking it when I fell down three steps because I didn't want to use a cane. My run is a way of saying thank you for the techniques I now use thanks to the NFB. It is also my way of seeing that we keep sending the message that faking sight doesn't work and that embracing all of who we are is what really allows us to thrive." Terri is more than a committed athlete. She says, "In 2019 I joined the teaching staff at BlindConnect Angela's House, a recipient of a 2019 Dr. Jacob Bolotin award. I teach Braille and one-touch self-defense to newly blind adults there twice a week. On top of everything else that I do, I enjoy writing and have been the author of the blog Blind Mom in the Burbs since 2012. I openly share about my trials, travels, tears, and triumphs as a stay-at-home mom in the suburbs of Sin City. Blind Mom in the Burbs has gotten national recognition. I was profiled in Good Housekeeping in October of 2018 and invited to speak at the Kellogg's headquarters in February 2019. I've even been published in a social media piece for my favorite running shoe. I truly live the philosophy every single day that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you. It is my life goal to be a positive role model, kicking obstacles out of the way so that those who come behind me have a smoother road to run on." [PHOTO CAPTION: Adelmo Vigil] Adelmo Vigil, Board Member NFB of New Mexico President Educator, Rehabilitation Professional, and Father Adelmo Vigil was born in the small community of Amalia, New Mexico, in 1951. He was adopted as a baby by his aunt and uncle and raised as an only child on their small ranch. Although it was clear very early that he did not have normal vision, his parents expected him to handle his share of the chores, which included caring for the horses, cows, sheep, and goats. At the age of five Adelmo received the official diagnosis of retinitis pigmentosa. He began his education in the local public school, but no one there had any expertise in the needs of blind students. Adelmo was not taught Braille, could not read the print that he was expected to use, and therefore did not read or write well. In 1964 when he was thirteen, his parents decided to enroll him in the New Mexico School for the Blind. Although the family did not wish to be separated, it was their hope that Adelmo would receive a better education at the residential school. Adelmo's first two years at the school for the blind were no different from his public school education-he was still encouraged to use his limited vision. He remembers that each weekend he had to write an essay for his English class to be submitted and read aloud on Monday. Adelmo would write the piece and memorize it because he could not read his own writing. But, after two years of struggling, he went to an eye examination and was told by the school nurse who had accompanied him to the appointment, "I have some bad news for you. You're going to have to learn Braille." The relieved Adelmo responded, "That is the best news I've ever heard. Maybe I'll learn to read now." Passionate about mentoring and teaching young people, Adelmo pursued a degree in elementary education at Western New Mexico University. There he met his wife Soledad, who was also pursuing a teaching career; they were married in 1975. When he began to seek employment in the Silver City area, where he had been a successful student teacher, Adelmo encountered discrimination for the first time. None of the local schools could hire him, because his name was not on the list of teachers available for hiring provided by the district administration, even though he had completed his student teaching at one of the district schools. Fortunately, his student teaching supervisor, Travis Columbus, believed in Adelmo's capabilities and helped him file a complaint against the district with the New Mexico Human Rights Commission. Ultimately, in 1977 Adelmo applied for a position in Shiprock, New Mexico, and began his teaching career. The principal at Adelmo's first school in Shiprock would not assign him to some of the routine responsibilities expected of other teachers, such as supervising students during recess. But when Adelmo transferred to a different school, the principal there was eager to have him not only assume all the duties of other teachers, but also to serve on the curriculum committee and in various other roles. Adelmo gained a reputation of being gifted with difficult students, and parents were asking for their children to be in his classes. He also coached junior high and high school wrestling. Adelmo's experiences teaching sighted students and combating discrimination earned him an invitation from Joe Cordova and Fred Schroeder to speak at the 1982 convention of the National Federation of the Blind of New Mexico in Albuquerque. That convention and his first national convention a year later were revelations to Adelmo. "I realized that I was not alone in facing challenges and discrimination and that I had the Federation family behind me. I also learned that the progress I had been able to make and that other blind people were making was due to the work that the National Federation of the Blind had been doing since its inception," he says. Adelmo immediately became involved in the affiliate and has served in various roles since that time, culminating in his election as affiliate president in 2012. Adelmo's passion for helping his blind brothers and sisters also led to his second career. In 1989 he was appointed to the Board of Regents of the New Mexico School for the Blind, a position from which he helped engineer the school's dropping of its NAC accreditation. In 1993 he moved to Alamogordo to take a position as director of the New Mexico Commission for the Blind's orientation and adjustment to blindness center. In 1997 he became deputy director of the Commission and continued to serve in various roles there for the next ten years. He was particularly passionate about working with young adults in the commission's summer programs. He retired in 2007 but jokes that he has retired three additional times since then. In 2009 he received training as an orientation and mobility instructor through Louisiana Tech and has received the National Orientation and Mobility Certification (NOMC) from the National Blindness Professional Certification Board. He went on to supervise and mentor other blind travel instructors. Adelmo was elected to the NFB Board of Directors in 2016. He says, "I am honored and humbled to serve on the board and to give back the encouragement, support, and love that I have received from my Federation family. I remain passionate about helping the blind live the lives they want, particularly young people, and will do my utmost to build the National Federation of the Blind and to advance our goals." Adelmo and Soledad live in Alamogordo. They have two sons, Adrian and Gabriel, and six grandchildren so far. ---------- Protect Yourself from Phone Scams Be on the Lookout for Fake Social Security Calls by the Social Security Administration There are many telephone scams going on. Scammers are trying to trick you into giving them your personal information and money. Don't be fooled! Scammers pretend they're from Social Security. The number you see on caller ID may even look like an official government number, but it is not. The caller may say there is a problem with your Social Security number or account. They may ask you to give them personal information like your Social Security number or bank account. They may tell you to fix the problem or to avoid arrest you must pay a fine or fee using retail gift cards, pre-paid debit cards, wire transfers, or cash. These calls are not from the Social Security Administration. Social Security will not: . Threaten you. . Tell you that your Social Security number has been or might be suspended. . Call you to demand an immediate payment. . Ask you for credit or debit card numbers over the phone. . Require a specific means of debt repayment, like a pre-paid debit card, a retail gift card, or cash. . Demand that you pay a Social Security debt without the ability to appeal the amount you owe. . Promise a Social Security benefit approval, or increase, in exchange for information or money. . Request personal or financial information through email, text messages, or social media. Social Security will: . Sometimes call you to confirm you filed for a claim or to discuss other ongoing business you have with them. . Mail you a letter if there is a problem. . Mail you a letter if you need to submit payments that will have detailed information about options to make payments and the ability to appeal the decision. . Use emails, text messages, and social media to provide general information (not personal or financial information) on its programs and services if you have signed up to receive these messages. If you receive a suspicious call from someone alleging to be from Social Security, please: . Hang up right away. . Never give your personal information, money, or retail gift cards. . Report the scam at oig.ssa.gov to Social Security's law enforcement team at the Office of the Inspector General (OIG). Please share this information with your family and friends. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Tracy Soforenko] Kenneth Jernigan Convention Scholarship by Tracy Soforenko From the Editor: Tracy Soforenko is the newly appointed chairman of the Kenneth Jernigan Fund Committee and is the president of the National Federation of the Blind of Virginia. The Kenneth Jernigan Fund Committee plays a big role in helping first-timers attend the national convention, and here is what he has to say: Have you always wanted to attend an NFB annual convention but have not done so because of the lack of funds? The Kenneth Jernigan Convention Scholarship Fund invites you to make an application for a scholarship grant. Perhaps this July you too can be in the Hilton Americas Hotel in Houston, Texas, enjoying the many pleasures and learning opportunities at the largest and most important yearly convention of blind people in the world. The three biggest ticket items you need to cover when attending an NFB national convention are the roundtrip transportation, the hotel room for a week, and the food (which tends to be higher priced than at home). We attempt to award additional funds to families, but, whether a family or an individual is granted a scholarship, this fund can only help; it won't pay all the costs. Most years the grants were in the range of $400 to $500 per individual. In 2019, ninety grants were offered. We recommend that you find an NFB member as your personal convention mentor, someone who has been to many national conventions and is able to share money-saving tips with you and tips on navigating the extensive agenda in the big hotel. Your mentor will help you get the most out of the amazing experience that is convention week. Who is eligible? Active NFB members, blind or sighted, who have not yet attended an NFB national convention because of lack of funding are eligible to apply. How do I apply for funding assistance? This year, we will be accepting applications online. Since applications must be completed in a single session online, we strongly recommend you prepare your responses in a document then cut and paste your responses into the application form. The application form does not support complex formatting, so we recommend avoiding formatting such as bullet points and fonts/styles. Effective, January 1, 2020, the application form can be found at the following link: https://www.nfb.org/get-involved/national-convention/kenneth-jernigan- convention-scholarship. The deadline for submissions is April 15, 2020. The application will ask for the following information: Contact information: Include your full name and both your primary phone where you can be contacted by your state President and your mobile phone you might use at convention, if available. Please include your mailing address and, if you have one, your email address. If you don't have an email address, please consider if there is a friend or chapter member who might be able to assist with email correspondence. State affiliate/chapter information: Include your state affiliate, your state president, chapter, and chapter president, if you attend a chapter. Mentor information: Include your personal convention mentor and provide that person's phone number. Funding request: Include your specific request and explain how much money you need from this fund to make this trip possible for you. We suggest you consult with other members to make a rough budget for yourself. Essay questions to explain why this is a good investment for the NFB: How do you currently participate in the Federation? Why do you want to attend a national convention? What would you receive? What can you share or give? Any special circumstances you hope the committee will take into consideration. If you cannot apply online, you can still apply by writing a letter to your state affiliate president answering the above questions. This letter should be emailed to your state affiliate President. Once you have decided you will apply, please contact your state president in person or by phone to request his or her help in obtaining funding. Be sure to tell the state affiliate president when to expect that your application will be submitted and mention the deadline. Once your application has been submitted, your application will be provided to your state president via email. It is still your responsibility to contact your affiliate president. He or she must email a president's recommendation directly to the Kenneth Jernigan Convention Scholarship Fund Committee at kjscholarships at nfb.org. Your president must email the recommendation no later than the deadline of April 15, 2020. If you have applied outside of the online form, the state affiliate president must email both the recommendation and the application letter. Notification of Award If you are chosen to receive this scholarship, you will receive a letter with convention details that should answer most of your questions. The committee makes every effort to notify winners by May 15, but you must do several things before that to be prepared to attend if you are chosen: Make your own hotel reservation. If something prevents you from attending, you can cancel the reservation. (Yes, you may arrange for roommates of your own to reduce the cost.) Register online for the entire convention, including the banquet, by May 31. Find someone in your chapter or affiliate who has been to many conventions and can answer your questions as a friend and mentor. If you do not hear from the committee by May 15, then you did not win a scholarship this year. Receiving the Award At the convention you will be given a debit card or credit card loaded with the amount of your award. The times and locations to pick up your card will be listed in the letter we send you. The committee is not able to provide funds before the convention, so work with your chapter and state affiliate to assist you by obtaining an agreement to advance funds if you win a scholarship, and to pay your treasury back after you receive your debit or credit card. More Information For additional information, please contact the chairman of the Kenneth Jernigan Convention Scholarship Fund Committee, Tracy Soforenko, at kjscholarships at nfb.org or 410-659-9314, extension 2415. Above all, please use this opportunity to attend your first convention on the national level and join several thousand active Federationists in the most important meeting of the blind in the world. We hope to see you in Houston. ---------- Recipes New Year's tradition is to make resolutions about things you will do in the next twelve months like exercise more, reduce stress, or eat healthier. Of course, keeping that resolution is another thing altogether. It's easy to stay motivated that first month, but February and the aisles of Valentine's Day candy can test the strongest of willpower. So this month the Monitor searched out some healthy recipes to help you keep your resolutions for better health to go beyond January. Whether you're trying to lower your sodium intake, cut carbs, or change your diet to lose a little weight, we've got a few recipes that taste good and are calculated to improve your health. Let us acknowledge that the science of nutrition is divided on what is healthy, and all of us have observed the changing lists about what we should and should not eat. We who edit do not wish to engage in the debate with those who understand the science of nutrition and health, but we do want to bring some real taste treats. Enjoy! Avocado Deviled Eggs This recipe is low sodium, for those concerned about heart health. The avocado is a good source of monounsaturated fat. Ingredients: 6 eggs, hard boiled 1 ripe avocado, peeled and pitted 1-1/2 teaspoons lime juice 3 tablespoons light mayonnaise 1 teaspoon chopped parsley 2 teaspoons ground cayenne pepper 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced Method: Cut eggs lengthwise and remove yolks. Set aside half the yolks in bowl and discard the others. In a medium bowl combine egg yolks, avocado, lime juice, mayonnaise, half of the parsley, cayenne pepper, and garlic. Spoon mixture into egg whites and garnish with other half of chopped parsley ---------- Keto-Friendly Mac and Cheese Ingredients: For the Mac and Cheese: Butter, for baking dish 2 medium heads cauliflower, cut into florets 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil Kosher salt 1 cup heavy cream 6 ounces cream cheese, cut into cubes 4 cups shredded cheddar 2 cups shredded mozzarella 1 tablespoon hot sauce (optional) Freshly ground black pepper For the Topping: 4 ounces pork rinds, crushed 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley, for garnish Method: Preheat oven to 375 degrees and butter a nine-inch-by- thirteen-inch baking dish. In a large bowl, toss cauliflower with two tablespoons oil and season with salt. Spread cauliflower onto two large baking sheets and roast until tender and lightly golden, about forty minutes. Meanwhile, in a large pot over medium heat, heat cream. Bring up to a simmer, then decrease heat to low and stir in cheeses until melted. Remove from heat, add hot sauce, if using, and season with salt and pepper, then fold in roasted cauliflower. Taste and season more if needed. Transfer mixture to prepared baking dish. In a medium bowl stir to combine pork rinds, parmesan, and oil. Sprinkle mixture in an even layer over cauliflower and cheese. Bake until golden, about fifteen minutes. If desired, turn oven to broil to toast topping further, about two minutes. Garnish with parsley before serving. ---------- Stuffed Baked Potato (Weight Watchers) Ingredients: 2 large baking potatoes 2 teaspoons olive oil 2 onions, chopped 1 cup broccoli, chopped 1 cup carrots, chopped 4 garlic cloves, minced 1/2 cup non-fat cottage cheese 1/4 cup parsley, chopped 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 1/4 teaspoon salt Method: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Poke potatoes with a fork. Bake for one hour. While potatoes are baking, heat oil in a medium skillet. Saut? onions for about five minutes. Add broccoli, carrot, and garlic and stir until softened, about five minutes. Reduce heat, cover, and cook for four minutes longer. When potatoes are done, remove from the oven and reduce temperature to 350 degrees. Cut potatoes in half and scoop out pulp into a large bowl. Set skins aside. Add saut?ed vegetables, cottage cheese, parsley, Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper to potato pulp. Mash up well. Spoon mixture into potato skins. Place stuffed potatoes on a baking sheet and bake until heated through for fifteen minutes. ---------- Balsamic Roast Chicken The balsamic vinegar offers flavor and good color and, with the addition of the brown sugar, makes for a healthier sauce than a more traditional gravy. Ingredients: 1 whole chicken, about 4 pounds 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary 1 garlic clove 1 tablespoon olive oil 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 8 sprigs fresh rosemary 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar 1 teaspoon brown sugar Method: Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Mince together the rosemary and garlic. Loosen the chicken skin from the flesh and rub the flesh with olive oil and then the herb mixture. Sprinkle with black pepper. Put two rosemary sprigs into the cavity of the chicken. Truss the chicken. Place the chicken into a roasting pan and roast for twenty to twenty-five minutes per pound, about one hour and twenty minutes. Whole chicken should cook to a minimum internal temperature of 165 degrees. Baste frequently with pan juices. When the chicken is browned and the juices run clear, transfer the chicken to a serving platter. In a small saucepan, combine the balsamic vinegar and brown sugar. Heat until the mixture is warmed and brown sugar dissolves, but don't boil. Carve the chicken and remove the skin. Top the pieces with the vinegar mixture. Garnish with the remaining rosemary and serve immediately. ---------- Banana Bread If your New Year's resolution was to reduce the amount of processed sugar, that doesn't mean you can't enjoy dessert. This recipe replaces refined sugar with honey, and oil with sugar-free applesauce, making it a guilt-free indulgence. Ingredients: 2 cups whole wheat flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup sugar-free applesauce 3/4 cup honey 2 eggs, beaten 3 mashed overripe bananas Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a nine-inch-by- five-inch loaf pan. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together applesauce and honey. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake in preheated oven for sixty to sixty-five minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for ten minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack. ---------- Keto Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake Just because you've gone Keto doesn't mean you have to give up dessert. This tender coffee cake is not only low-carb, but also gluten- free. Ingredients: Cinnamon Filling: 3 tablespoons Swerve Sweetener 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon Cake: 3 cups almond flour 3/4 cup powdered Swerve Sweetener 1/4 cup unflavored whey protein powder 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 3 large eggs 1/2 cup melted butter 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 cup almond milk 1 tablespoon melted butter Cream Cheese Frosting: 3 tablespoons cream cheese, softened 2 tablespoons powdered Swerve Sweetener 1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract Method: Preheat oven to 325 degrees and grease an eight-inch-by-eight- inch baking pan. For the filling, combine the Swerve and cinnamon in a small bowl and mix well. Set aside. For the cake, whisk together almond flour, sweetener, protein powder, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir in the eggs, melted butter, and vanilla extract. Add the almond milk and continue to stir until well combined. Spread half of the batter in the prepared pan, then sprinkle with about two-thirds of the cinnamon filling mixture. Spread the remaining batter over the top and smooth with a knife or an offset spatula. Bake thirty-five minutes, or until top is golden brown and a tester inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs attached. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon filling mixture. Let cool in pan. For the frosting, beat cream cheese, powdered Swerve, cream, and vanilla extract together in a small bowl until smooth. Pipe or drizzle over cooled cake. ---------- Monitor Miniatures News from the Federation Family The Blind History Lady can be Your Guest: The Blind History Lady has been quite busy the past several months, and requests for well into 2020 are already coming in. Below is my price structure for 2020 presentations. Local or Conference Presentations . 30-50 minutes $ 60 . 1 hour-90 minutes $100 . Long Distance: Expenses plus speaking fees . Any specialized handout requests are an additional charge depending on the request. I look forward to sharing with you the history of our blind ancestors. Contact Peggy Chong at chongpeggy10 at gmail.com or 303-745-0473. In Brief Notices and information in this section may be of interest to Monitor readers. We are not responsible for the accuracy of the information; we have edited only for space and clarity. Perkins Discussion List Available: If you are a user of a Perkins Brailler or someone who maintains them and want to join a Facebook support group for that, you can look it up by searching for "Perkins Braillers support." This is a tremendous resource, especially for those of us in countries where a broken Brailler often means a discarded machine. ---------- NFB Pledge I pledge to participate actively in the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind to achieve equality, opportunity, and security for the blind; to support the policies and programs of the Federation; and to abide by its constitution. From buhrow at lothlorien.nfbcal.org Fri Feb 28 13:18:48 2020 From: buhrow at lothlorien.nfbcal.org (Brian Buhrow) Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2020 13:18:48 -0800 Subject: [Brl-monitor] The Braile Monitor, March 2020 Message-ID: <202002282118.01SLImUj019921@lothlorien.nfbcal.org> BRAILLE MONITOR Vol. 63, No. 3 March 2020 Gary Wunder, Editor Distributed by email, in inkprint, in Braille, and on USB flash drive, by the NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND Mark Riccobono, President telephone: 410-659-9314 email address: nfb at nfb.org website address: http://www.nfb.org NFBnet.org: http://www.nfbnet.org NFB-NEWSLINE? information: 866-504-7300 Like us on Facebook: Facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind Follow us on Twitter: @NFB_Voice Watch and share our videos: YouTube.com/NationsBlind Letters to the President, address changes, subscription requests, and orders for NFB literature should be sent to the national office. Articles for the Monitor and letters to the editor may also be sent to the national office or may be emailed to gwunder at nfb.org. Monitor subscriptions cost the Federation about forty dollars per year. Members are invited, and nonmembers are requested, to cover the subscription cost. Donations should be made payable to National Federation of the Blind and sent to: National Federation of the Blind 200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place Baltimore, Maryland 21230-4998 THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND KNOWS THAT BLINDNESS IS NOT THE CHARACTERISTIC THAT DEFINES YOU OR YOUR FUTURE. EVERY DAY WE RAISE THE EXPECTATIONS OF BLIND PEOPLE, BECAUSE LOW EXPECTATIONS CREATE OBSTACLES BETWEEN BLIND PEOPLE AND OUR DREAMS. YOU CAN LIVE THE LIFE YOU WANT; BLINDNESS IS NOT WHAT HOLDS YOU BACK. THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND IS NOT AN ORGANIZATION SPEAKING FOR THE BLIND-IT IS THE BLIND SPEAKING FOR OURSELVES. ISSN 0006-8829 ? 2020 by the National Federation of the Blind Each issue is recorded on a thumb drive (also called a memory stick or USB flash drive). You can read this audio edition using a computer or a National Library Service digital player. The NLS machine has two slots-the familiar book-cartridge slot just above the retractable carrying handle and a second slot located on the right side near the headphone jack. This smaller slot is used to play thumb drives. Remove the protective rubber pad covering this slot and insert the thumb drive. It will insert only in one position. If you encounter resistance, flip the drive over and try again. (Note: If the cartridge slot is not empty when you insert the thumb drive, the digital player will ignore the thumb drive.) Once the thumb drive is inserted, the player buttons will function as usual for reading digital materials. If you remove the thumb drive to use the player for cartridges, when you insert it again, reading should resume at the point you stopped. You can transfer the recording of each issue from the thumb drive to your computer or preserve it on the thumb drive. However, because thumb drives can be used hundreds of times, we would appreciate their return in order to stretch our funding. Please use the return envelope enclosed with the drive when you return the device. Vol. 63, No. 3 March 2020 Contents Houston Site of 2020 NFB Convention Participate in Braille Monitor Survey Blind and Respectable in Ancient Rome: Unearthing the Forgotten Genius of Appius Claudius Caecus by Kane Brolin The Journey Worth Sharing: Marching Together Toward the Lives We Want by Mark A. Riccobono My Thoughts on Living the Life You Want by Scott LaBarre Live the Life You Want: A Choice or a Prescription for Being an Elite Blind Person by Gary Wunder What Living the Life You Want Means to a Computer Professional, Athlete, Cook, and Leader by Randi Strunk Living the Life I Want: A Dream I Thought Might Never be Possible by Amy Wilson The Supreme Court of Massachusetts Affirms Blind People are the Peers of Sighted People by Marc Maurer Commonwealth vs. Lawrence L. Heywood More Interesting Thoughts about Sighted Privilege Keeping My Balance by Annie Schlesinger The Trouble with Inclusion by Peter Slatin The BlindShell: An Accessible Cell Phone with Real Buttons by Curtis Chong John Langston Gwaltney by Peggy Chong The Extra Effort to Be a Blind Person: What Part Myth, What Part Reality? by Gary Wunder My Shot by Brooke Tousley An Apology to a Fine Humorist and One of Our Own by Gary Wunder Living the Life I Want is a Work in Progress by Carolyn Corrigan Dream Makers Circle by Patti Chang Kenneth Jernigan Convention Scholarship by Tracy Soforenko Recipes Monitor Miniatures Houston Site of 2020 NFB Convention The 2020 convention of the National Federation of the Blind will take place in Houston, Texas, July 14 to July 19, at the Hilton Americas-Houston hotel, 1600 Lamar Street, Houston, TX 77010. Make your room reservation as soon as possible with the Hilton Americas-Houston staff only. Call 1-800- 236-2905 to reserve your room in the main hotel. If you wish to stay in our overflow hotel, the Marriott Marquis Houston, the number to call is 1-877- 688-4323. The 2020 room rate at our main hotel is $105.00 per night and applies to singles and doubles as well as triples and quads. Hotel and sales taxes are 13.38 percent and 8.25 percent, respectively. The rate for the overflow Marriott Marquis is slightly higher at $119 and includes Hotel and sales taxes of 13.38 percent and 8.25 percent, respectively. As with our main hotel, this rate is good for up to four in a room. Both hotels will take a deposit of the first night's room rate for each room and will require a credit card or a personal check. If you use a credit card, the deposit will be charged against your card immediately. If a reservation is cancelled before Friday, June 1, 2020, half of the deposit will be returned. Otherwise refunds will not be made. Rooms will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Reservations may be made before June 1, 2020, assuming that rooms are still available. After that time the hotels will not hold our room block for the convention. In other words, you should get your reservation in soon. The schedule for the 2020 convention is: Tuesday, July 14 Seminar Day Wednesday, July 15 Registration and Resolutions Day Thursday, July 16 Board Meeting and Division Day Friday, July 17 Opening Session Saturday, July 18 Business Session Sunday, July 19 Banquet Day and Adjournment ---------- Participate in Braille Monitor Survey The Braille Monitor is a magazine that the Federation has published since 1957. We call it our flagship publication. In terms not so tied to the Navy, this means that it should be the lead publication of our organization, the one which all of us follow and contribute to in order to share what is going on in our Federation Family, the latest news about blindness-related activities, and the place we record the major milestones of the National Federation of the Blind's progress. For some time now, we have been seeing Federationists-new Federationists in particular, we believe-who don't seem to know about the Braille Monitor and who have not subscribed because of it. We have assembled a survey that will ask participants a number of things about the Monitor, including whether someone has offered to sign them up for it; whether they read it and why not if the answer is no; and what should change to make the Monitor more the kind of magazine they want to see as the flagship publication of our organization. The Braille Monitor reflects many of our traditions, but it also must evolve enough to clearly be relevant in this decade and those to come. Please help us by telling us what you want, what you need, and what you will read. Together we will keep making history, and the Braille Monitor will continue to tell our story about defining a problem, talking it through, and doing what it takes to see that it gets solved. Thank you for helping the publication that states boldly "We are the Blind Speaking for Ourselves." How to Complete the Survey . Online: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BrailleMonitor . Phone: 667-888-2454 . Mail: Remove the survey from Monitor, mark your answers with an "X," and mail FREE MATTER FOR THE BLIND to Braille Monitor Survey, National Federation of the Blind, 200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230. Braille Monitor Survey Please complete the following survey questions. 1. How long have you been reading the Braille Monitor? . I've never read the Braille Monitor. . 0-5 years. . 6-10 years . 11-15 years . More than 15 years . I've read it, but then I decided not to continue reading it. 2. If you've never read the Braille Monitor or you decided not to continue reading it, please tell us why. If you read it regularly, skip to question three. . I didn't know about it. . I am not much of a reader. . From the name I thought it was only available in Braille. . The articles do not seem relevant to me. . I would read it if the articles were (please specify) 3. How did you hear about the Braille Monitor? . Chapter meeting or chapter president . Affiliate convention . National convention . NFB email, NFB website, or other NFB promotion . I've never heard about it. . Other (please specify) 4. What is your preferred reading method for magazines? . Braille (hard copy) . Print (hard copy) . Online/Web . Email . Podcasts . USB . NFB-NEWSLINE 5. What information are you looking for in the Braille Monitor? You may select more than one. . Organization philosophy . Personal stories about blind people . Legal and advocacy updates . Articles about technology . Updates from affiliates, divisions, and chapters . National event roundups . Tips and advice . Recipes . Other (please specify) 6. Please provide any additional feedback regarding the Braille Monitor. _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ Your responses will be anonymous. Thank you for your participation in our Braille Monitor Survey. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Kane Brolin] Blind and Respectable in Ancient Rome: Unearthing the Forgotten Genius of Appius Claudius Caecus by Kane Brolin From the Editor: Kane Brolin is the president of the National Federation of the Blind Michiana Chapter which, as you can guess from its name, borders Indiana and Michigan. Kane honors the Braille Monitor with an occasional piece that goes beyond the surface and shows the intellect and talent he possesses. What I find most heartwarming is that he chooses to share some of his gifts with us, and here is one of the finest I have seen: No matter how long you or your ancestors have lived in the United States of America, you play a role in something that still is fairly new here on planet Earth. Maybe the newness of the American experiment, coupled with the fact that everything changes so rapidly these days, is why for us Americans learning history tends not to be a high priority. The movers and shakers of our nation are known for conquering frontiers, inventing technologies, fighting battles, and solving problems with the goal of carving out a legacy. We teach our children to be ambitious and to point their gaze mostly forward, seldom backward. This is evident even in the everyday language we use. In my peer group, ancient history was what we said to describe some episode in a friend's life that we believe should be discarded for irrelevancy (I vaguely recall using this phrase to dismiss some of the things my parents used to say, too). Sometimes our choice to discount the value of history isn't just cultural; it's personal. It can get painful when we find ourselves to be members of a class that has been ignored or marginalized as long as anyone can remember. If I am blind and spend a lot of my time meditating on treatment of the blind in bygone eras, this would seem to produce a result much more depressing than edifying. The Encyclopedia Britannica has a brief online entry that discusses the blind and their place in antiquity: It has long been assumed that in the ancient world the blind enjoyed few opportunities and lived out their days in penury as beggars or as wards of their families in the absence of any systematic state or government assistance. Historical knowledge of the lives of blind people in the premodern Western world is extremely limited, and it is strongly influenced by literary or religious texts. Traditional interpretations of classical literary representations hold that blindness is a punishment for social or religious transgressions or, alternatively, is the price one pays to gain spiritual vision and insight. ... The negative historical assumption is of the blind as objects of charity rather than active agents in history. Occasionally, the blind could be found clustered in certain state- or church- sanctioned professions or guilds, but in large part blindness was assumed to be a ticket to misery, a curse, or a sentence to second- class status.[1] Of course, noteworthy exceptions exist. Memorable blind individuals do figure prominently as characters even in classical literature.[2] Even Homer, possibly the most widely known epic poet of ancient Greece, is said to have been blind. But even with those exceptions, some try to erode their credibility by downplaying or stripping away the characteristic of blindness. The main page devoted to Homer and Homeric scholarship on Wikipedia puts it this way: "Some claims were established early and repeated often. They include that Homer was blind (taking as self- referential a passage describing the blind bard...) Many traditions circulated in the ancient world concerning Homer, most of which are lost. Modern scholarly consensus is that they have no value as history."[3] But in other cases, there is no disputing it. Triumph rises above what could have been tragedy. Enter the person of Appius Claudius Caecus. Judging from his name alone, we learn of Appius Claudius' most noticeable characteristic; caecus means "totally blind" in Latin. It is universally recognized that he was blind, and that he lived some two centuries before Julius Caesar sprang onto the scene. Yet, blind or not, he stands as one of the most accomplished and memorable figures of the Roman Republic. So who was Appius Claudius Caecus? He was a statesman, urban planner, and civil engineer within the Roman Republic, who attained political prominence after being appointed to serve in the role of censor in the year 312 BCE. "According to [the ancient Roman historian] Livy, he had gone blind because of a curse... "Appius is best known for two undertakings he began as censor: the Appian Way (Latin: Via Appia), the first major Roman road, running between Rome and Beneventum to the south; and the first aqueduct in Rome, the Aqua Appia."[4] An aqueduct is "an artificial channel conveying water, typically across a bridge or other gap."[5] The Aqua Appia was built largely underground to protect the water supply from enemies and prevent water pollution. A consistent supply of clean water was essential to a thriving population center such as Rome to provide for public baths, private homes, fountains, and crop irrigation. The Roman establishment had so much trust in Appius Claudius that, first in 292 BCE and again in 285 BCE, they appointed him dictator.[6] Although it is said that he became blind later in life, Appius Claudius never quit his service to the state. Since his second term as dictator would have corresponded to his 55th birthday, it is reasonable to think that a lot of what Appius Claudius accomplished for his country was concluded while he was completely without eyesight. Appius Claudius' moment on the Roman stage was anything but fleeting, his accomplishments much more than a mere flash in the pan. His career in Roman governance was lengthy: something that would have been hard for anyone, sighted or blind, to achieve in the scandal-ridden, often treacherous, and sometimes deadly vocation of statecraft in the ancient Mediterranean world. "After his time as censor, he came to serve as consul twice, in 307 BCE and 296 BCE."[7] "Appius wrote a book called Sententiae, based upon a verse of Greek model. It was "the first Roman book of literary character. He was also concerned with literature and rhetoric, and instituted reforms in Latin orthography, allegedly ending the use of the letter Z."[8] You might ask, "So what?" That was then, this is now. Appius Claudius Caecus' remains have returned to dust. His accomplishments, while magnificent, are yesterday's news. And, by the way, he was an aristocrat, one from a noble and wealthy family who should have had all possible worldly advantage: plenty of tutors, plenty of servants. If he needed someone to read to him, prepare food or apparel for him, or transport him wherever he needed to go, help presumably was no farther away than the snap of a finger. Few of us who read the Braille Monitor ever could count on social or financial advantages like those Appius Claudius must have had. Is there anything about this blind dignitary's life that is worth our celebrating? I argue very strongly that there is. To me, Appius Claudius' accomplishments are not what makes his story stand out. Even more amazing is that even though this man lost all of his eyesight, he seems to have lost no respect from the citizens of the Roman Republic because of it. Those who came afterward to preserve his legacy were deliberate in recording for posterity who he was and that he lived with the characteristic of blindness; but they did not cast that characteristic in a negative light. Appius Claudius easily could have responded to his condition by hiding himself in the protective folds of a wealthy and large clan, losing himself to momentary pleasure from every available source and receiving unquestioning service from slaves and clients even if he had not lifted a finger to help himself or to serve others. Little would have been expected of him after he was made to bear the "curse" of blindness. But again, so what? For those of us who find ourselves imprisoned by the here and now, it might seem hard to come up with a useful takeaway for our own lives. However, he achieved things. We know Appius Claudius had to get by without the tools our tech-laden age demands: the smartphone, the notetaker, and Bookshare. Not even the white cane or Braille was available to him. But a closer look reveals that he did share two things in common with members of the National Federation of the Blind: a lifelong commitment to public service and a lifelong desire to raise expectations of himself continually. Born in 340 BCE, Appius Claudius had assumed the role of censor over the whole republic by age twenty-eight. At an age when many in Western society today are still struggling just to get a handle on who they are, this gifted and goal-driven 28-year-old was serving as "a magistrate whose original functions of registering citizens and their property were greatly expanded to include supervision of senatorial rolls and moral conduct."[9] Not content to serve only himself or his own patrician class, Appius Claudius "sought support from the lower classes, allowing sons of freedmen to serve in the Senate, and extending voting privileges to men in the rural tribes who did not own land."[10] He reformed land laws and left a permanent mark on Roman grammar, poetry, and rhetoric.[11] Perhaps his greatest contribution to the common people of Rome was that in 305 BCE he authorized the publication of a calendar of court days and a formulary of legal procedures for the use of the public. Until then, that essential information had been kept for the private viewing of mostly an elite priestly class.[12] It would, of course, be a mistake to superimpose our 21st century cultural values of equality and diversity onto the subject of this article. All men and women certainly never were thought to have been created equal in ancient Rome, and it seems pretty certain that Appius Claudius would not have looked for opportunities to emancipate, educate, and empower slaves or to carve out an activist organization of the blind formed from a cross section of all Roman society. But the point is not to hold our standards over the head of Appius Claudius Caecus, nor is it helpful to compare the lifestyle of a Roman aristocrat who lived three centuries before Christ to a "woke," 21st century citizen who stands to benefit from the Fourth Industrial Revolution. But we can without a doubt draw inspiration from Appius Claudius Caecus, a man who beat the odds by focusing on his strengths and refusing to be held back by his limitations. Around the year 280 BCE, Appius Claudius gave a resoundingly patriotic speech which is recognized as the earliest known political speech in Latin. In that oration, Roman historian Livy records that Appius Claudius used the phrase "every man is the architect of his own fortune" (Latin: quisque faber suae fortunae).[13] I feel that this phrase and this speech stood out not so much because of what words were spoken, but because of the deep respect Rome held for the individual who spoke them. By this time, he was not only blind, but apparently unable to move under his own power. Livy records that he had to be carried into the forum so he could speak to the senate. This was in essence a deathbed speech. His oration had so much impact that it decided the fate of an ongoing war and influenced Roman military doctrine for centuries to come. As someone who is blind myself, I have gained over the years a deep interest in the skills, training, and tools of blindness-many of which we ourselves have helped to develop and promote through the National Federation of the Blind. As I try to imagine what Appius Claudius' life must have been like, I am hugely curious about what alternative techniques this brilliant and strong man must have learned or developed after the onset of blindness to manage his affairs and to live out his career journey while navigating the daily grind in ancient Rome-whatever that felt like then. I am sad that I cannot ask Appius Claudius Caecus how he did it. Yet, even knowing as little as I do, I am thankful to history for at least preserving the truth that he did it. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Mark Riccobono] The Journey Worth Sharing: Marching Together Toward the Lives We Want by Mark A. Riccobono From the Editor: Probably no one is asked more to recite, explain, and live out the values found in our brand than our President. Here are his thoughts about our messages and in part our tagline. What he says here is a wonderful blend of what the things we say mean both for his individual growth and for our continuing to prosper as an organization: "When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too." -Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist I was recently asked about our tagline, "Live the Life You Want" and why it has meaning for the National Federation of the Blind. I know something about this topic as I helped to coordinate the evaluation of the Federation's brand that the board of directors undertook a couple of years before our seventy-fifth anniversary. More than that, I have been thinking about and participating in the understanding and development of the Federation for more than twenty years. Maybe by reflecting on my journey within the Federation and my journey to understand myself, I may help to illuminate why our brand has meaning and power. I found the National Federation of the Blind in 1996. In short, I was living a life of faking that I could see things that I could not. I had no idea what techniques blind people used, and I had no idea what kind of life a blind person could pursue. Why would I? I was not blind; I was visually challenged. In reality I was a mess, standing on a fragile cliff where at any moment I would fall into a lonely and empty space in which I had no prospects. When I came to the national convention of the Federation in 1996, I met blind person after blind person who said, "I've got you; I will show you how we do it; I will go with you." They started sharing what they did and challenged me to think about how I could be better. I met blind people doing things I had never imagined I could or should do in my life. I was inspired. I recognize that the notion of inspiration porn is real-the image of disability as something amazing and awe-inspiring for the benefit of making nondisabled people feel better about their place in the world-but this was genuine inspiration. I needed to witness that blind people were doing incredible things. The difference was, and still is today, that the inspiration was always accompanied by the message, "and this can be you, and we want to help you live out your dreams." Now I was inspired by a lot of blind people that were doing things that I simply had no interest in doing. I did not have an interest in going into law or engineering, but if I am honest, I did not know what I wanted to do because I was still building my understanding of who I wanted to be-the life I wanted to live. Up until that point I had been pursuing the life I understood others believed I could achieve (one that was fairly limited). I was welcomed into the Federation. I was invited to freely take advantage of every technique, resource, and idea I could find from interacting with other members. I heard people say how much they got out of being a member and from participating actively, but it was hard to understand what it was they got. Did they get free stuff, new technology, scholarships, tax breaks, or something else? I could not understand, so I started asking the friends I had made. They said the biggest thing they receive is building relationships with blind people in the Federation family and having a network of people across the country that can be called on regarding any question that might come up about blindness or life for that matter. They said it is about having authentic, honest, and sometimes challenging conversations-the kind of interactions best friends have in order to make each other better. They said, "just watch, and if you feel compelled, help out, and you will experience what we mean." That is exactly what happened. Then I went to the general session, where I experienced the powerful strength of the collective movement. From the friends I had made in just a few days, I already knew I was not alone. The convention fully assembled demonstrated to me that a force that was very powerful had my back. This was not inspiration but real power, the power to change everything that was wrong in the way that society socialized and institutionalized the stereotypes about blindness. This was the power to change what I had internalized for twenty years and now had to try to get out of my system. I wanted to be part of this powerful force for change, not just take from it. The message I got was that it would be stronger if I helped with it. Throughout the rest of the convention I got another message: that the National Federation of the Blind is innovative, smart, solution-oriented, and creative. This definitely appealed to my business and marketing chops. The Federation was not simply willing to live within society as it existed today but was actively working on designing and building the future. At that convention, the beginnings of NFB-NEWSLINE? were being discussed as well as other projects that have now made a big difference in the lives of blind people, and all of these projects were sparked by blind people themselves. Inspirational, inviting, powerful, and innovative were all qualities I experienced at my first convention, and they remain the core traits of the Federation's brand today. I could tell you all about my journey in understanding myself and the Federation since 1996. However, I think the editor would be forced to dedicate a special issue just to that writing. You should know that these qualities have helped me define what I want for my life. They also have helped me to discover that by contributing actively to the movement that is the National Federation of the Blind, I continue to refuel my understanding and make the world better for all blind people. This journey of self-development and community-building continues today and will until I have nothing left to give or improve. Due to the mentoring and perspective I have gained as a member of this organization, I am certain that I will always be working on doing better in my life or, as we say, living the life I want. Let us return to the evaluation of the Federation's brand, which started in 2013. The National Federation of the Blind Board of Directors decided that in advance of our seventy-fifth anniversary we should review and update our brand. Our President at the time, Marc Maurer, asked me to manage the project, and he appointed a number of Federationists to participate in the branding work. This ad hoc committee was comprised of newer as well as long-time Federation members with a demonstrated commitment to building the organization. At the beginning, many of the committee members were uneasy about the process. Questions such as "What's wrong with our current brand," "Why do we need this, we are not selling a product; we're a civil rights movement," and "We do not need a consultant to tell us how to run our organization," were on the minds of committee members and sometimes expressed openly at the first meeting. I remember that our President reminded us at the beginning that the Federation is always willing to carefully examine what we do and that we should not be afraid to say we can do things better. The message was that change is necessary for growth. Yet change is hard for most people to deal with, and it is difficult for people to understand that change does not mean what has been done before is wrong. Our movement continues to evolve as society changes, a necessary component if we are to have continued and perhaps even greater success in fulfilling our mission. Our committee engaged in a number of conversations about where we have been as an organization and where we are going. The first step in that focus was gathering data from our membership, which happened in focus groups at our 2013 National Convention as well as through a series of telephone interviews with members. Obviously, it was impossible to capture data from every member of the Federation (at least to do this in a timely fashion), but we worked hard to capture a strong diversity of viewpoints. Our philosophy about blindness-the distilled understanding we have from the shared authentic experience of blind people-was at the center of our evaluation. As we identified elements of our brand, we spent considerable time and energy ensuring that we got the words right. Our consultants did a skillful job of facilitating our discussions and giving us a framework for success. They praised us for being much more heavily engaged in the process than any other organization with which they had worked. What they did not realize is how seriously we take ownership for our organization, and we wanted a product that reflected our growing understanding and not that of an outside consultant. One of the last steps in the branding evaluation was examining our tagline. "Changing What It Means to be Blind" had served us well, but it was not consistent with the brand framework we have developed over the evaluation process. A brand is the reputation that you want to have. Our former tagline looked back to a time when blind people were fighting to get in the door and working to have enough influence that we could make significant change once inside. It also had the disadvantage of making it sound like we did not need new members. If we were already "changing things," maybe we did not need help. Many of us struggled with the realization that there is still lots of change required in the public understanding of blindness. How was it that this one little phrase, the tagline, could be the most complicated part of the process? I think it was because the tagline was personal for us. The tagline for our movement represented for many of us how we think of our role as individuals. I participate actively because I am changing what it means to be blind. The personal aspect makes sense because the tagline is intended to capture the attention of the primary audience for the organization. For us, blind people are our primary audience. As America's membership and civil rights organization of the blind, the tagline has to speak to all blind people. In an organization that is built so strongly on individual contributions collectively focused, where we expect blind people to run it, and elect the representative leaders to coordinate the work, the tagline becomes personal as much as organizational. Although I have a bachelor's of business administration with a major in marketing from the University of Wisconsin, I had not thought of a tagline in the context of a membership organization and what it is intended to accomplish until getting into this project. The committee grappled with many options for a tagline. A number of interesting suggestions were made. Each suggestion had to be tested against the new brand framework we had worked hard to craft-a framework everyone felt articulated where we want to go as a movement. An additional complication was that we made it a nonnegotiable priority that we would create a tagline that distinguishes our unique role in the nation compared to the hundreds of public and private agencies for the blind. We are a membership and civil rights organization of the blind, not just another agency or professional organization. The committee presented a recommendation to the Federation's board of directors early in 2014. The recommendation was to use "National Federation of the Blind Live the Life You Want." The tagline is always intended to be presented with our name, so putting the word blind in was not necessary. The board considered the recommendation and rejected it. A subcommittee of the board was tasked with further examining the question of a tagline. After another two months, the subcommittee recommended to the full board that the tagline be, "National Federation of the Blind Live the Life You Want." Let me save you going word by word to try to detect the difference. The tagline remained as it was submitted because it spells out as clearly as we can what we intend to do and who we intend to be for blind people. Clearly this tagline has been deeply studied and thoughtfully evaluated by some of the most dynamic blind people in the nation-a group of individuals who engage with thousands of other blind people every year. For me there were two important realizations that happened in this process. When I was considering taglines, I thought of two things: about the blind people who have not found us and about the pictures on the walls at the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute. In our building we have pictures of a diverse range of blind people doing any number of activities-blind people doing things that many would not expect and at other times doing the everyday things that people do. I imagined each tagline as a caption for each of those photos. If a prospective member came to our building and they came across one of these photos with a tagline, would they connect with it. Furthermore, if an existing member came across that same photo and tagline, would they connect. Many taglines dropped off the list quickly under that evaluation. The only one that stuck every time was "Live the Life You Want." Our branding consultants were clear that choosing a tagline would not be enough. This is where the second realization connected for me. A tagline gains its power from being activated along with the brand. The tagline grows based on our continuing to move the organization toward that tagline. I began to understand that if a brand is the reputation that we want to have, then it only partially represents where we are today. The goal is to build the organization to the next level and keep it growing beyond what it is now or tomorrow or next year. So, the tagline should pull us forward and not merely reflect on the progress we have made. Using this measure, "Live the Life You Want" was the pull we needed to the future we seek as blind people. I was pleased that the board of directors chose this direction, and months later I was elected President of the organization and, thus, responsible for leading our progress toward fulfilling our brand. I have heard all of the concerns about our brand and our tagline. I also continue to measure that against the tremendous benefits and success I have observed in our progress over the almost six years our brand has been in place. From our membership projects to our program development to our evolving organizational culture, our brand and our tagline have pulled us toward the future we seek. It is helping us grow to be even stronger and more dynamic as a movement. It is encouraging our investment in diversity and fueling discussions about questions we have not yet answered. It is part of our journey to living the lives we want. It encourages us to be better, and it makes everything around us better. Two of the primary criticisms of the tagline are that it says there is a particular way that blind people should live. Others contradict this and suggest that it allows blind people to settle for low expectations-if I want to live unemployed and second-class, I can do that. Neither of these is reflected in our brand values or in the extensive process used to get us to this point. In fact, "Live the Life You Want" was very intentionally chosen because it represents our continuous work to raise expectations for all blind people and to welcome all blind people into our organization. Our movement encouraged me to do better than I was doing, and in fact, it still continues to do that. I fully expect that in twenty-five years or so when I consider retirement, it will continue to urge me to raise my expectations, and I anticipate with joy what that will mean in my life. I am thankful that I am surrounded by thousands of blind people striving to live the lives they want because it inspires me, gives me the power to activate the meaning of that in my own life and for the betterment of others, allows me to share in and contribute to the innovative ideas, and invites me to be part of a family of support. If you get past the words themselves and examine what the words represent in terms of where we want to go, I believe completely that you will find the same realization. This journey is worth sharing, and we need you to be part of it. If you find areas of our organization where we are not meeting our brand values and where we are not honoring the spirit of "Live the Life You Want," then we need you to help adjust our practices so we are headed toward that future. This is why we went through the branding process. I am extremely proud of the work our members have done in the past six years to activate on our brand and drive toward that future we want. It works because we debate it, we talk about it, and we share in the journey and what it means to us. I want you to be part of that. Share what "Live the Life You Want" means to you. Share the value that you find in this organization and your ability to help share it as America's membership organization of blind people. Also share in where we are not fulfilling our brand, and do your part to make it better for us. When I come across examples of our being off brand, I talk to people about it. Often I learn something from the conversation, and often others learn from me. Most importantly, our work together is better, and our journey together is more successful. I am not sure when I will fully realize living the life I want. I have realized a lot of it because of the National Federation of the Blind. Yet, I still face barriers in society that prevent me from fully and easily living the life I want. I recognize the power of the Federation is the best chance to eliminate those obstacles. However, I also face barriers within myself that my Federation family helps me to overcome. Just when I think there is something that I might not do as a blind person, I find a blind person who is tackling that thing I thought was not possible. Some of those things I decide I do not want to do-I have no interest in climbing Mt. Everest-but others get on my personal development list. Whether it's cooking something I had not considered, trying a new hobby, or just generally continuing to understand that blindness is not the characteristic that holds me back, it is the Federation family and our quest to live the lives we want that supports me in the journey. Join me, and together, with love, hope, and determination, we will transform dreams into reality. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Scott LaBarre] My Thoughts on Living the Life You Want by Scott LaBarre From the Editor: This piece was taken from Colorado Talk, the listserv of the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado. Scott is the president of the affiliate, and I think he has helpful thoughts in explaining an important part of our tagline. Here is what he says: First, I want to wish everyone here a very happy new year! My hope is that 2020 will be outstanding for all of us. Next, I want to thank Jenny for raising the topic of what our tagline "Live the Life You Want!" really means. I appreciate everyone's thoughtful comments about how it should be interpreted and implemented. Before I delve into the substance of my comments, I want to give you a little background, which helps to form my perspective. I first joined the NFB in 1986, and I have had the honor and privilege of being a very active member and leader on many different levels. As part of that experience I served on a committee which formed in 2013, maybe even late 2012, whose purpose was to develop our plan for celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Federation. After some discussion, we decided that it was time to rebrand our messaging so that we could more effectively communicate who we are. One part of that rebranding was changing our tagline from "We are changing what it means to be blind" to the current "Live the Life You Want!" Beyond just the tagline, we developed a comprehensive brand architecture which has many elements that would serve as an excellent focal point for future discussions. In any event, I mention all this because I think I have some idea of what we intended regarding the message we were attempting to communicate. Ever since I have been involved in the NFB, there has been a conception that the NFB only supports and celebrates the "super blind" and that if you do not go about blindness in a very specific manner, you are not really living the life the NFB endorses. I emphatically and whole- heartedly believe that this misconception is not true! There is no such thing as a model Federationist, and there certainly is not one singular script from which we must all lead our lives. The idea of "Live the Life You Want!" is that your blindness should not hold you back from pursuing your dreams and ambitions. Undeniably, all of our dreams and ambitions are limited and somewhat governed by the realities we face, whether those are financial, educational, health-based, or otherwise. There is no one way to live the life you want. It does not matter if you are pursuing a high stakes profession, working from home, volunteering in the community, or not working at all. Our main message is that whatever you are doing with your life, your blindness should not be the chief reason holding you back from whatever brings you fulfillment and purpose. Our one-minute message, another creation of our rebranding, brings this point out. "The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back." A key part of this message is that we are raising expectations. That has both external and internal aspects to it. On the external side, we are working to convince the general population that they can and should expect more from us. All of us often run into very low expectations held by the public. Pretty much every time I travel to and through an airport, somebody tells me how amazing I am for simply putting one foot in front of the other. On the internal side, we should encourage one another to become the best versions of ourselves that we can. Doing so must always be done with love and understanding. Every year that I am in the Federation, I learn so much from our members on how I can lead my life in a better way-a new technology trick or something that enhances my independent travel or whatever it might be. I certainly haven't figured it all out, and I know that sometimes I do in fact let my blindness limit me in a way that isn't truly necessary. Regardless, we must accept people where they are in their lives and be ready to encourage them to achieve more when that is appropriate. This is what we aim to do at our centers. We work with people from all walks of life and who have a wide variety of challenges. No student's program is or should be the same. We have some general policies and expectations, but these are always adjusted to the individual student. Living the life you want is all about independence and freedom. As our founder Dr. tenBroek so eloquently put it, we have a right to live in the world. That means we have the right to be free and independent and to determine our own destiny. The exact mechanism we use to achieve that freedom and independence is not the key issue, but rather that we know and believe that we have the right to achieve it. I think the Federation's best speech regarding independence is "The Nature of Independence" by Dr. Jernigan from the 1993 National Convention. If you have not read it, I encourage you to do so. It is available through our national website. Before closing this out, I want to address another point Jenny raised in her original message-the idea that perhaps we sometimes emphasize success stories based on traditional notions of success and that we don't celebrate other forms of achievement. I think this is a great point, and we should endeavor to paint a more comprehensive picture. Convincing an animal shelter to let you volunteer despite your blindness is just as important as someone winning a national scholarship based on academic achievement at the highest level. Both are part of living the life we want. In closing, I want to share two other elements from our brand architecture: the Brand Promise and Value Proposition. I do this because, for me, it so eloquently sums up why I am involved in our Federation. "Together with love, hope, and determination, we transform dreams into reality. I am filled with hope, energy, and love by participating in the National Federation of the Blind because my expectations are raised, my contributions make a difference to me and to others, and I can celebrate the realization of my dreams with my Federation family." ------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Gary Wunder] Live the Life You Want: A Choice or a Prescription for Being an Elite Blind Person by Gary Wunder When I was asked to be a part of coming up with branding messages and we selected "Live the Life You Want," I was keenly aware that anything we chose would perpetuate the questions folks on the outside have always had about us: Is the Federation's goal to help blind people travel their own path, or is it the Federation telling blind folks how to live? I knew that the way people perceived a message was everything and feared that if it took much explaining, it wouldn't be the right tagline. My concern didn't spring from some innate ability to predict the future but from living through some of our past. I clearly remember other messages that tried to briefly speak to our mission and work-nowadays called an elevator speech. If you only get the time it takes to go from floor three to four, can you briefly explain what this organization that means so much to you does and why others might want to help further its goals? "We are Changing What It Means to be Blind" was a phrase I liked very much. It was on the lips of many of my generation in the movement. But the problem with it was that too many people thought we were pledging to change visual acuity, and it took too much time to explain that it was social change that filled our agenda. Then there was "It is Respectable to be Blind," the reaction to the fact that some didn't believe that people perceived as broken could ever garner true acceptance and respect. But some folks objected to this one because they thought we were saying that the mere presence of blindness in one's life conveyed respectability. They agreed that being blind didn't preclude being respectable but neither did it convey respectability The criticism of our tagline isn't the five words "Live the Life You Want." It is the suspicion that what we really mean is that blind people are to live their lives in such a way that they become the elite blind, the people who go further than anyone expects, the people who are admired by all because of their undeniable intellect, motivation, and accomplishment. To some extent I understand the concern and the way that some have elevated it to a criticism. Every civil rights organization pushes its people to go beyond where they are. All of us believe that many of the things that keep us from being all we can be are socially constructed barriers. But beyond this, most people involved in civil rights also believe that part of the problem we face comes from buying the societal expectations that do so much to limit us. So yes, there is upward pressure to do more and be more, but no organization encouraging the advancement of a class is free from this expectation. For me our tagline asks each of us to exercise some faith: faith that we will help when one of us encounters problems in living the life they want, and faith that each of us can dare to dream and dare to act on those dreams. Not every dream will come true, and not every dream is meant to. As a youngster I dreamed of being an astronaut, and that hasn't happened. But many of my generation shared that dream, and only a small number achieved it. Blindness certainly precluded me from flying in space, but so too did a number of things: the few positions there were to be had, the training that was required, and even the height and weight requirements that were and probably still are a part of the program. Nobody in the Federation has ever questioned what I have wanted or done in my life except a dear friend who once told me that before writing a book about myself, I'd first need to do something worth writing about. My Federation colleagues, friends, and family have asked me to be honest in distinguishing between real accomplishments and the faint praise I can easily get by being blind. They have asked that I look at the things I have in my life and try to see that others have it at least as good, and they have allowed me to participate in something I believe makes that possible. At least from my perspective as the editor of this publication, I welcome articles from people whose aspirations and achievements vary widely. If you volunteer for an organization that values your work and gives you satisfaction, write us. If you work a job that pays at or slightly above minimum wage and you have a story to tell about how you do it as a blind person, write us. If there is something you do in lieu of paid employment and there are good reasons why you don't pursue something that pays, tell us about it. If you have tried and failed and there may be a way we can help or benefit from your experience, together let's put that out for public discussion and concerted action. Please don't assume that because you don't see articles about people like you, it is because we actively discourage them or outright turn them down. I believe we mean what we say in our tagline and that we find value in anyone brave enough to dream, brave enough to try, and brave enough to share their story with blind people who share in common this pledge of helping each blind person live the life they want. ---------- What Living the Life You Want Means to a Computer Professional, Athlete, Cook, and Leader by Randi Strunk From the Editor: Randi is an incredible person. She is a lead accessibility consultant for Target, meaning that much of what you find convenient and usable on the Target site is because of her influence and competence. She has been at her job for more than eight years and has been married to Ryan Strunk, the president of the National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota, for thirteen years. Both her work and home life indicate she is able to handle blessings and challenges at the same time. She is also an acknowledged athlete; she has done more than ten triathlons, including one full Ironman in 2018. She also likes to cook, and with all of this activity, she still has time for reflection and gratitude. She and Ryan are two very fortunate people. Here is what Randi says about her interpretation of our tagline: Live the Life You Want: The tagline of the National Federation of the Blind is such a powerful statement to me because it's simple, yet challenges me to not let blindness dictate the type of life I lead. It reminds me to push for what I want both personally and professionally, and it motivates me to pursue my dreams. As an uncertain blind kid, I worried about what I would be able to do as a blind person and struggled with these questions: What types of jobs could blind people do? What types of relationships could I have? Where would I be able to live? I didn't understand yet that all of that was up to me to decide. However, once I found my friends in the National Federation of the Blind, I shifted my perspective from one of "What can I do based on the limitations of blindness," to "What do I want to do based on my interests and dreams?" My younger self would not have pictured herself as a lead accessibility consultant for a Fortune 500 company. She would not have considered living in a large city beyond the borders of her home state, and she never in her wildest dreams would have thought of becoming an Ironman Triathlon finisher. The support, guidance, and philosophy I gained from my involvement in the NFB however, has resulted in all these things being a part of the life I live today. I have a job that challenges me, I live in a place I enjoy, and I am pursuing a hobby I love because I was shown I can live the life I want. ---------- Living the Life I Want: A Dream I Thought Might Never be Possible by Amy Wilson From the Editor: Amy Wilson is the director of our social media efforts in the NFB of Missouri. She is married, has one child, and is very active on Facebook and ever more so on Twitter. If there is an impression to be had on behalf of the National Federation of the Blind's Missouri Affiliate, she wants to take advantage of it. Here are some brief remarks she has written about a line that means so much to her: I still feel like I am new to the NFB, however, our tag line moves me deeply. When I think of the statement, "Live the Life You Want," it opens my mind to life's possibilities. Knowing I am not the only one who struggles and overcomes those struggles is powerful. I spent too many years not knowing others who are blind, and now I have a great affirmation for life and a Federation family. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Marc Maurer] The Supreme Court of Massachusetts Affirms Blind People are the Peers of Sighted People by Marc Maurer From the Editor: Dr. Marc Maurer knows the law. He also knows about being blind and the way preconceptions and the law often interact to the disadvantage of blind people. When he sees this negative interaction, he tries to do something about it, and he asks those of us who rally around making lives better for blind people to help financially, spiritually, and economically. Since serving as the President of our national organization longer than anyone, he has focused most of his attention on finding problems blind people have with the law and setting them right. Here is what he says about a most important case in which we prevailed: On January 30, 2020, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts handed down an opinion in the criminal law case of Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Lawrence L. Heywood affirming the conviction of the defendant of assault with "serious bodily injury." In August of 2019 the National Federation of the Blind filed a brief in the case. Ordinarily the Federation does not participate in matters involving accusation of crime. However, in the Heywood case the jury that convicted the defendant included a blind person. Mr. Heywood appealed his conviction because he said he had not had the fair trial guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. The blind juror could not effectively evaluate the evidence against him, he said. A conviction of crime can be secured only if the accused person is judged by an impartial jury of his peers who possess the capacity to make the judgments required for a fair trial. The blind person could not independently assess photographic evidence in the case, said the defendant, and the conviction must be overturned. Equality for the blind in participating in civic activities, such as serving on juries, must not be permitted to deprive a defendant of the right to a fair and impartial hearing. This line of reasoning is a central tenet in the argument of Mr. Heywood for reversal. The complaining witness in the case, who said that he had been injured by Mr. Heywood, was attending a basketball game in the fall of 2015. Mr. Heywood approached him, and without warning, punched him in the face with sufficient force to fracture his cheekbone, fracture the orbital bone around the eye, and to cause retinal bleeding. Mr. Heywood was charged with assault and battery with serious bodily injury. The judge in the trial court proceeded with jury selection and seated a jury which included juror number six, who is blind. After the jury found the defendant guilty as charged, the appeal was filed. The Supreme Judicial Court learned of the appeal and moved the case to the highest tribunal in Massachusetts. The court also asked interested parties who had specialized knowledge of the subject of blindness to present amicus curiae briefs, and the National Federation of the Blind, the National Federation of the Blind of Massachusetts, and the Disability Law Center in Massachusetts accepted the offer. At one time in many parts of the United States, blind people were prohibited from serving on juries. The National Federation of the Blind sought to change this by drafting state legislation that could be used to remove the prohibition. Especially in the 1960s and '70s, a campaign to change state laws occurred. Jury service for the blind was sufficiently unusual that articles about participation on juries appeared in the Braille Monitor when our members found themselves in the jury box. Although the laws have been changed, blind people still find themselves routinely removed from jury pools. Sometimes the courthouse officials who manage the jury pool indicate to blind individuals that they need not proceed to a courtroom because to do so would be difficult or dangerous. If the proposed jury members must move from one building to another, must cross a street, must proceed up and down stairs, or must navigate a complicated hallway system, the blind participants in the jury pool are directed to wait without being assigned to participate. When the potential jury members are in the courtroom, judges sometimes dismiss blind persons from consideration as a matter of course. In the National Federation of the Blind, we attempt to instruct court personnel on the suitability of blind people to serve on juries, but the prejudicial attitudes that are carried into the courtroom remain. Whether blind people are permitted to serve or not is hit or miss. However, it is most unusual for a person accused of crime to seek to have a conviction overturned on the grounds that blindness in itself is evidence of unsuitability for service on a jury, therefore the National Federation of the Blind sought to provide information. The court in Massachusetts might make the right decision, but we thought it would be good to offer perspective. The brief we filed notes that the prohibition against jury service for the blind has been removed from state law throughout the United States. The last state to change its law was Arkansas, which removed its prohibition in 1994. Furthermore, not only have the prohibitions against jury service been removed from the law but positive provisions of statute prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability have been added. Perhaps of most significance in our argument to the court is that we reject the false dichotomy proposed by the language of the appellant. Mr. Heywood argues that having a blind person on his jury was a detriment to fairness. However, the experience brought to the deliberation process of a jury by a blind person adds a measure of depth to the decision-making that would not be available without the participation of that blind person. Consequently, having a blind person on the jury adds a measure of fairness that would be absent without it. Take a fanciful example. The argument is sometimes made that beautiful people in the court are treated better than ugly ones. If Mr. Heywood had been ugly, (the deliberations of the court do not say), the jury might have been prejudiced against him because of his visual appearance. However, the blind juror would not be affected by this characteristic. A different set of information would be uppermost in the blind juror's mind because of the altered mechanism of gathering information from that of other jurors. This offers a broader set of experience to the decision-making process in the jury room than would be available without it. The brief we filed rejects the false characterization of the blind person as a positive burden against fair decision-making that Mr. Heywood attempts to portray. The Supreme Judicial Court held that blind people may not be prohibited from jury service, that justice is served by having the blind participate in jury service, and that in the process of deliberation the blind are competent decision makers. ---------- COMMONWEALTH vs. LAWRENCE L. HEYWOOD. Suffolk. September 9, 2019. - January 30, 2020. Present: Gants, J., Lenk, Gaziano, Lowy, Budd, Cypher, & Kafker, JJ. Complaint received and sworn to in the Roxbury Division of the Boston Municipal Court Department on October 21, 2015. The case was tried before Debra A. DelVecchio, J. The Supreme Judicial Court on its own initiative transferred the case from the Appeals Court. Joseph Maggiacomo, III, for the defendant. Cailin M. Campbell, Assistant District Attorney, for the Commonwealth. The following submitted briefs for amici curiae: Emily L. Levenson, of Maryland, & Richard M. Glassman for National Federation of the Blind & others. Jonathan M. Albano for Boston Bar Association. The defendant, Lawrence L. Heywood, was convicted of assault and battery causing serious bodily injury in violation of G. L. c. 265, ? 13A (b), in connection with an incident in which the defendant, without warning, punched the victim in the face. He now appeals, claiming that it was error for a blind individual to serve on the jury. The defendant further argues that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support a finding of serious bodily injury. We transferred the defendant's appeal to this court on our own motion. We discern no error with respect to the seating of the blind juror. Additionally, we conclude that the Commonwealth presented sufficient evidence for a jury to find that the defendant's action resulted in the victim suffering serious bodily injury. We therefore affirm the defendant's conviction. We acknowledge the amicus brief submitted by the National Federation of the Blind, National Federation of the Blind of Massachusetts, and Disability Law Center; as well as the amicus letter submitted by the Boston Bar Association. Background. We summarize the facts the jury could have found, reserving some details for later discussion. The defendant and the victim knew each other through an adult basketball team. At a league event in May 2015, while the victim was talking to another individual, the defendant, without warning, punched the victim in the right cheek, just below his eye. As a result, the victim suffered a fractured orbital bone and cheekbone, and retinal bleeding. He required surgery to repair the structure of his face, which involved inserting two titanium plates into his face to hold the bones in place. To avoid "significant discomfort" in cold temperatures due to the titanium plates, the victim must apply warm compresses to his face. As a result of either the assault or the subsequent surgery, the victim also suffered nerve damage to his cheek; consequently, he can "barely feel" the right side of his face. Discussion. 1. Juror competency. "A criminal defendant is entitled to a trial by an impartial jury pursuant to the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution and article twelve of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights." Commonwealth v. Williams, 481 Mass. 443, 447 (2019). "Fundamental to the right of an 'impartial' jury is the requirement that jurors be competent and qualified" (citation omitted). Commonwealth v. Susi, 394 Mass. 784, 786 (1985). "The failure to grant a defendant a fair hearing before an impartial jury violates even minimal standards of due process." Here, during the jury voir dire, juror no. six indicated to the judge that, although he was blind, his disability would not be an impediment to serving as a juror, and that he could access the evidence if a fellow juror described photographic evidence to him. After determining that jury service would not otherwise be a hardship, the judge empaneled juror no. six without objection. The defendant argues that his right to a fair and impartial jury was violated because the blind juror was unable to see the physical evidence and had to have the documentary evidence read to him. The defendant faults the judge for failing to strike the juror for cause and faults his trial counsel for failing to object to the empanelment of the juror. As an initial matter, we note that the defendant failed to object contemporaneously to the seating of the juror who the defendant now claims was unqualified to serve. Where a defendant has been denied an impartial jury, and the issue is properly preserved, the error is structural and requires reversal without a showing of actual prejudice. See Williams, 481 Mass. at 454; Commonwealth v. Hampton, 457 Mass. 152, 163 (2010). However, "[w]here a defendant fails to challenge a juror for cause, the questions of the impartiality of that juror and the adequacy of voir dire are waived." Commonwealth v. McCoy, 456 Mass. 838, 842 (2010). See Commonwealth v. Zakas, 358 Mass. 265, 268 (1970). Therefore, any error is reviewed for a substantial risk of a miscarriage of justice. See Commonwealth v. Marinho, 464 Mass. 115, 118 (2013). Here, there was no such risk, as the defendant's claim lacks merit. "We afford a trial judge a large degree of discretion in the jury selection process." Commonwealth v. Vann Long, 419 Mass. 798, 803 (1995), and cases cited. See Commonwealth v. Lopes, 440 Mass. 731, 736 (2004) ("The scope of voir dire rests in the sound discretion of the trial judge . . ."). This discretion extends to a judge's determination whether a juror is competent to serve. See Susi, 394 Mass. at 787. An abuse of discretion is a "clear error of judgment in weighing the factors relevant to the decision, . . . such that the decision falls outside the range of reasonable alternatives" (quotations and citations omitted). L.L. v. Commonwealth, 470 Mass. 169, 185 n.27 (2014). The judge did not abuse her discretion in finding juror no. six competent to serve despite the juror's blindness. During jury empanelment, the judge conducted an individual voir dire of juror no. six to evaluate the juror's ability to serve. The juror responded affirmatively when the judge asked him if he would "feel comfortable" with having another juror describe the photographic evidence and, with regard to testimony from witnesses, whether he would be able to "follow along" without assistance. The judge satisfied herself that the juror was competent and qualified to serve. This decision was entirely appropriate. Because the identification of the perpetrator was not in question, the jury had to determine only whether the victim suffered serious bodily injury. As the injuries suffered by the victim were not visible at the time of trial, the ability to see the victim's face during his testimony was not essential to reaching a verdict. Similarly, because of the internal nature of the injuries and subsequent surgery, photographs of the victim's face taken close in time to the assault would not have assisted the jury in determining whether the victim suffered serious bodily injury as defined by G. L. c. 265, ? 13A (c). On the other hand, the juror had appropriate access to the testimony of the victim and the medical records, which were directly relevant to the question whether the victim suffered serious bodily injury. The defendant contends that the fact that jurors described photographic evidence and read documentary evidence to the juror who was impaired visually resulted in a verdict based on extraneous information. We disagree. "An extraneous matter is one that involves information not part of the evidence at trial . . . ." Commonwealth v. Guisti, 434 Mass. 245, 251 (2001). Here, the photographs and medical documents were admitted in evidence, and the victim described the photographs during his testimony. A fellow juror's descriptions of the admitted evidence did not constitute extraneous evidence. See Id. Although perhaps not ideal the solution crafted with input from juror no. six, and implemented without objection by the parties, provided satisfactory access to the evidence allowing the juror to participate effectively in deliberations. Here, the medical records, rather than the photographs, provided the critical evidence upon which the jury could find serious bodily injury. Because in this instance the photographic evidence would not have materially assisted the jury in determining serious bodily injury, seating juror no. six was well within the judge's discretion. Contrast Susi, 394 Mass. at 786 (empanelment of blind juror constituted reversible error where identification of perpetrator was contested, and ability to compare visually physical evidence was required). Further, the judge's voir dire inquiry to determine juror no. six's competency to serve was mandated by G. L. c. 234A, ? 3, which ensures that the right to participate in jury service is extended to all eligible citizens, including those with physical disabilities. The statute provides in pertinent part: "All persons shall have equal opportunity to be considered for jury service. All persons shall serve as jurors when selected and summoned for that purpose except as hereinafter provided. No person shall be exempted or excluded from serving as a grand or trial juror because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, economic status, or occupation. Physically handicapped persons shall serve except where the court finds such service is not feasible. The court shall strictly enforce the provisions in this section." (Emphases added.) This statutory protection against discrimination in jury selection dovetails well with a defendant's right to a fair jury of his or her peers, an essential component of which is being able to select jurors from a fair and representative cross section of the community. See Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 86 (1986); Taylor v. Louisiana, 419 U.S. 522, 528 (1975); Commonwealth v. Soares, 377 Mass. 461, 478, cert. denied, 444 8 U.S. 881 (1979). Because a cross section of the community necessarily includes, among others, citizens with disabilities, the defendant's right to a fair jury trial and the protection against discrimination in jury selection work in tandem. In 2016, approximately 11.7 percent of individuals living in the Commonwealth had a physical disability. Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission, Massachusetts & U.S. Disability Facts & Statistics: 2017, https://www.mass.gov/files/documents/2018/08/30/MRC-Disability-Fact-Sheet- 2017.pdf [https://perma.cc/H988-6FZK]. General Laws c. 234A, ? 3, creates a presumption of competency for all jurors, including those with disabilities, who then must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis to determine whether service is "feasible." See Susi, 394 Mass. at 788. Here, the judge's individual voir dire and subsequent seating of juror no. six followed the case-by-case determination specifically required by G. L. c. 234A, ? 3. See generally Adjartey v. Central Div. of the Hous. Court Dep't, 481 Mass. 830, 848-849 (2019) (if litigant requests accommodation for disability and court determines litigant has disability, court shall provide reasonable accommodations determined on case-by-case basis). We note that such case-by-case determinations may also be required by Title II of the Federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), which provides: "[N]o qualified individual with a disability shall, by reason of such disability, be excluded from participation in or be denied the benefits of the services, programs, or activities of a public entity, or be subjected to discrimination by any such entity." 42 U.S.C. ? 12132. A "public entity" includes "any State or local government" and any department or agency thereof. See 42 U.S.C. ? 12131. Under Title II of the ADA and the regulations implementing it, public entities may be required to implement a variety of measures to prevent exclusion or discrimination on the basis of disability. Such measures may include, among others, making reasonable modifications to policies and practices, removing architectural and communication barriers, and providing auxiliary aids and services. A public entity need not make a modification if it can demonstrate that the modification "would fundamentally alter the nature of the service, program, or activity." Although at least one court has held that a court's "policy of categorical exclusion of all blind persons" from jury service violates the ADA, see Galloway v. Superior Court of D.C., 816 F. Supp. 12, 19 (D.D.C. 1993), we are not aware of any cases clarifying how Title II of the ADA and its implementing regulations apply to individualized determinations of juror competency. Without attempting to determine what specific procedures Title II of the ADA and its associated regulations require to determine the competency of a juror who is blind, we note that the judge here clearly complied with the ADA. The judge conducted an individualized voir dire of juror no. six and determined that he was competent to serve. Furthermore, the judge furnished, with the input and approval of juror no. six, auxiliary services allowing him to serve while another juror described the visual evidence. ("In determining what types of auxiliary aids and services are necessary, a public entity shall give primary consideration to the requests of individuals with disabilities"). There was no error." In Tennessee v. Lane, 541 U.S. 509, 531 (2004), the United States Supreme Court held that Title II of the ADA applies to State courts with regard to ensuring that litigants with disabilities have equal access to judicial services. In Lane, the Court held that the ADA requires State courts to take "reasonable measures to remove architectural and other barriers to accessibility," but that courts need not "employ any and all means to make judicial services accessible to persons with disabilities." Id. at 531-532. Unlike Lane, which involved a litigant who was "denied the benefits of the services" of a court, Id. at 513, this case involves "participation in . . . [the] activities of a public entity," namely, the ability to participate as a juror in the adjudication of cases. Although the accommodation provided to juror no. six satisfied the ADA, other accommodations for jurors who are blind or have a visual impairment may be preferable to having another juror describe visual evidence. For instance, the ADA's implementing regulations list a variety of potential visual auxiliary aids and services, including qualified readers, Brailled materials and displays, and screen reader software. There was no error. Furthermore, because there was no error, trial counsel was not ineffective for failing to object to the seating of juror no. six. See Commonwealth v. Lessieur, 472 Mass. 317, 327 (2015) (no ineffective assistance where counsel failed to object to properly admitted evidence). See also Commonwealth v. Carroll, 439 Mass. 547, 557 (2003) (failure to pursue futile tactic does not constitute ineffective assistance of counsel); Commonwealth v. Vieux, 41 Mass. App. Ct. 526, 527 (1996), cert. denied, 520 U.S. 1245 (1997) (same). 2. Sufficiency of the evidence. General Laws c. 265, ? 13A (b) (i), provides for an enhanced penalty for conviction of an assault and battery that causes "serious bodily injury." Although the defendant disputes neither that he struck the victim nor that the victim was injured, he argues on appeal, as he did at trial, that there was insufficient evidence from which the jury could conclude that he caused serious bodily injury to the victim. An unsigned motion for a required finding of not guilty based on an unspecified insufficiency of the evidence appears in the record but apparently was not argued. At any rate, "[c]onvictions based on insufficient evidence are inherently serious enough to create a substantial risk of a miscarriage of justice.'" Commonwealth v. Melton, 436 Mass. 291, 294 n.2 (2002), quoting Commonwealth v. McGovern, 397 Mass. 863, 867-868 (1986). The question, then, is whether, in viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, the jury could have found that the victim suffered serious bodily injury as a result of the assault and battery beyond a reasonable doubt. See Commonwealth v. Bin, 480 Mass. 665, 674 (2018), quoting Commonwealth v. Latimore, 378 Mass. 671, 677 (1979). "Serious bodily injury" is defined under G. L. c. 265, ? 13A, as "bodily injury that results in [1] a permanent disfigurement, [2] loss or impairment of a bodily function, limb or organ, or [3] a substantial risk of death." G. L. c. 265, ? 13A (c). See Commonwealth v. Scott, 464 Mass. 355, 357 (2013) (statute sets forth "three distinct routes for establishing serious bodily injury"). Here, we conclude that the evidence was sufficient to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the victim suffered a permanent disfigurement as well as the impairment of a bodily function. a. Permanent disfigurement. The statute does not define the phrase "permanent disfigurement." "When a statute does not define its words we give them their usual and accepted meanings, as long as these meanings are consistent with the statutory purpose. . . . We derive the words' usual and accepted meanings from sources presumably known to the statute's enactors, such as their use in other legal contexts and dictionary definitions." Commonwealth v. Bell, 442 Mass. 118, 124 (2004), quoting Commonwealth v. Zone Book, Inc., 372 Mass. 366, 369 (1977). "Permanent" is defined as "continuing or enduring (as in the same state, status, or place) without fundamental or marked change," synonymous with the words "lasting" or "stable." Webster's Third New International Dictionary 1683 (1993). "Disfigurement" is "the state of being disfigured," that is, to be "made less complete, perfect, or beautiful in appearance or character." Id. at 649. Hence, a permanent disfigurement is a significant and enduring injury that affects the appearance or the character of a person's bodily integrity. See generally Commonwealth v. Jean-Pierre, 65 Mass. App. Ct. 162, 163 (2005) (word "permanent" modifies only "disfigurement" in G. L. c. 265, ? 13A [c]). The defendant argues that a permanent disfigurement occurs only when there is a visible, significant, and permanent change in a person's outward appearance or, in the alternative, scarring. We disagree. Although the trier of fact certainly may consider visible evidence, the fact an injury can be or was concealed or repaired does not preclude a finding of permanent disfigurement. See State v. Alvarez, 240 Or. App. 167, 171 (2010) ("we decline to hold that an injury is not disfiguring merely because, by limiting his or her fashion or style options, the victim can conceal it"). See also Fisher v. Blankenship, 286 Mich. App. 54, 66-67 (2009) (injury need not be visible to be disfigurement). Here, we conclude that the evidence presented at trial was sufficient for the jury to have found permanent disfigurement. The medical records and the victim's testimony detailed the number and extent of the fractures which compromised the integrity of the victim's face. The computed tomography scan of the victim's face and jaw showed a "blowout" fracture of his right orbital socket, as well as fractures to his cheekbone and other facial bones. The victim testified that there was a visible indentation in his face after the defendant's punch. The medical records indicate that surgery was required to correct and repair the anatomical structure of the victim's face. The operative report noted that the fracture was mobile and required the surgeons to affix titanium plates to the bones in the victim's face to hold the bone structure together and to ensure that the bones remained stable. Although the titanium plates conceal the visible evidence of the disfigurement, they are attached permanently to the bones in the victim's face. Therefore, the evidence was sufficient for a reasonable and rational jury to have found a permanent disfigurement. b. Impairment of a bodily function. "Impairment of a bodily function" similarly is not defined in the statute; however, we previously interpreted the phrase to mean "a part or system of the body [that] is significantly impeded in its ability to fulfil its role." Scott, 464 Mass. at 359. Unlike disfigurement, an impairment of a bodily function need not be permanent to constitute serious bodily injury. Marinho, 464 Mass. at 118. Here, according to the medical records and the victim's testimony at trial, the nerve damage in the victim's right cheek resulted in chronic numbness in that area of his face. He described the lack of sensation as feeling like he had been given Novocain. The inability of the affected nerves to communicate properly with the brain indicates an impairment of a bodily function, namely, the victim's peripheral nervous system. We note that, based on the evidence presented, it was unclear whether the numbness that the victim experienced was a result of the physical assault (delayed onset), surgery, or a combination of the two. However, "the Commonwealth may establish causation in an assault and battery case by proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant either directly caused or directly and substantially set in motion a chain of events that produced the serious injury in a natural and continuous sequence" (quotations and citation omitted). We conclude, therefore, that in addition to permanent disfigurement, there was sufficient evidence for a rational jury to find that the defendant caused impairment of a bodily function. Judgment affirmed. ---------- More Interesting Thoughts about Sighted Privilege From the Editor: Justin Salisbury's article last month about sighted privilege has sparked some discussion, and given that this is what he wanted to come from his article and what I want in our publication, I am excited. I hope more will come. Part of our job in publishing the Braille Monitor is to get people talking not just to one another but with one another. I thank all of you who've contributed. I have intentionally left the names of those who wrote out. I want the ideas they express to stand on their own merit, and later we can attribute them if we wish. All are nuanced, but some are in favor and some have significant reservations. I find them stimulating, and I hope you do as well. Before we jump in, allow me to say this: One of the concerns sometimes expressed is that the National Federation of the Blind has a liberal bias and that the very fact we would discuss something such as sighted privilege proves this because people on the left tend to be more comfortable with the term than people on the right. I do not believe it is our intention for the National Federation of the Blind or its flagship publication to have either a conservative or a liberal bias. Unless we judge an article to be un- interesting, unrelated to blindness, or destructive, we are likely to publish it. If there are other points of view that need to be heard, send them. Remember that some things that appear in our publication are a reflection of our philosophy, and others represent discussions in which we are participating or in which we should be. Remember that if you don't see your point of view here, it may be because you haven't yet written it. Here are the reactions: Respondent 1. I don't know exactly what we are to do about sighted privilege except to keep doing what we are doing and always improving on it. The concept nor term shouldn't be a surprise to anybody. That said, this is an overarching term that doesn't at all capture the nuance that must be applied to everything if we are to make further inroads to equality. And, anyway, all equality means in my mind is an equal opportunity to become as unequal as possible, to use a network marketing definition. Some blind people, including me, would bristle if told that they couldn't ever have access to the same privileges as sighted people because of sighted privilege. Yet, the concept of sighted privilege suggests that until the sighted are prepared to relinquish their privilege, they will keep it. Since when do we wait for the sighted to run our lives the way they see fit? There is only one game of life. I know that as a blind person I intend to live that game to the best of my capacities. If I am perceived as being more successful than most sighted or blind people at this game, by whatever criterion of success one might choose to use, then so be it. After all, it's my life, and I am, of course, the best judge of its success or failure as it flows along. All of this becomes rather academic anyway once we are six feet under or cremated. Respondent 2. As you know, the current issue of the Braille Monitor has an article titled "Sighted Privilege" written by Justin Salisbury, who is a frequent contributor to our national magazine and one of my favorite writers. I have to say that this article came at a very opportune time. If it had been published earlier, I might have had a visceral reaction at the title given how the fact that, in our negative political discourse, some people carelessly throw around the phrase "white privilege." In the past few days, however, I have come to some of the same conclusions expressed in the article. What else would explain the fact that the state of Missouri owes Amtrak $6.5 million if not sighted privilege? What else would explain the poor attitudes of some state legislators with regard to the concept of passenger rail service if not sighted privilege? The January 26 issue of the Kansas City Star editorial page had an opinion piece written by Robbie Makinen, CEO of the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority, in which he says that when he lost his sight seven years ago, he began to understand the value of public transit. Dr. Jernigan told us that the public is not against us. Though the world is built mostly for the benefit of sighted people, sighted people mean us no harm, and some people may not realize that their attitudes are harmful to the blind. I think that once again Justin Salisbury has hit another home run out of the park! Whether people agree or not with the views expressed in this article, I think it will generate much thinking that will help refine our philosophy of blindness. Respondent 3. I liked the article and hope to read similar material in the future. Privilege is not about blame. It is about what you naturally have because of the institutional power of your group and recognizing that. Because I am white, I am not as likely to get stopped by the police, followed around the store, accused of shoplifting, and sent to prison from the school to prison pipeline. As a blind white person, I am more likely to get better services and probably am thought of as a more worthwhile investment than a black blind person. It's uncomfortable, but it is part of our society. Trying to correct the imbalance is definitely good, but it doesn't erase the fact that such an imbalance exists, and because of the institutional power or lack thereof in your group, you are a part of it. It isn't something you steal or something you do. It is just the privilege you naturally have for being a part of a group. The article discussed how the girls got to go on the field trips, and this made at least one boy mad. But compared to men, girls and women are destined to be rejected and marginalized in STEM fields as well as underpaid. The sighted people around me don't steal anything from me, but even though they wish that sighted privilege didn't exist or get talked about, they still have it. This is about groups, not individual people. That is why you can't just say that you will be an honorable person, and then you will not have privilege. You have to except that the group you are a part of could have privilege, and that fact is separate from your honorability or your individual beliefs or actions. Also when you read about white privilege, don't read about other white people talking about it because they do not talk about it correctly. Read about ethnic minority groups who talk about it instead. That is how I learned about it, and it makes sense to me. Privilege can also vary based on different areas of your life. I can lack privilege because I am a blind woman. But then I can have privilege because I am straight and cisgender and because I am white. Respondent 4. Dear Gary, Thanks for having the courage to begin a nuanced discussion with implications that extend beyond even your thoughtful and carefully worded introduction. Following your good advice and working to understand the other person's perspective can ultimately lead to deeper understanding. My question is whether the "privilege" concept is necessary to teach about blindness. I contend that we already have language and concepts within our literature that accomplish the same result without the necessity of working through "loaded" language. I'm also quite concerned that we be meticulous about maintaining our political evenhandedness. We have always had strong support from liberals and conservatives. When our clarion cries for justice are not compelling, our insistence on self-reliance is. "Privilege" language is so closely associated with one side of the political and cultural divide in the United States and so reviled by the other side that the simple act of using the terms could easily cause the doors of some minds to slam closed. If we can accomplish the education we desire without paying that price, I believe we should. Pragmatic considerations aside, applying this framework has philosophical dangers. Thinking of our difficulties based on the lack of sight itself, rather than ascribing them to structural circumstances in the built environment and/or ignorant attitudes, could lead to a sense of powerlessness or inevitability. Attitudes and structures can be changed; the presence or absence of eyesight is largely unchangeable. Helplessness or hopelessness was not said or implied in Justin's article. Someone failing to thoroughly think through his carefully constructed arguments could feel victimized by attributing privilege to sight rather than to more nuanced concepts. Sight is different from race and gender. There are all the emotional issues involved in attitude and coming to believe in one's equal human worth that have parallels for other traditionally disadvantaged minority groups. But nobody needs several months of training to learn the skills of blackness. We must develop confidence in our ability to use blindness skills and a firm belief in their efficacy. I do not in any way intend to diminish all the emotional complexities of sight and blindness, but I think of eyesight in a fundamentally different way than sighted people do. Sight is a commodity. It isn't a commodity for those who have it, because sight is so ubiquitous. The built environment assumes eyesight. Typical patterns of behavior incorporate the use of eyesight. It follows that people with eyesight are automatically in a privileged position. We have basic tools, such as training or accessibility, for diminishing our need for the commodity of sight. The second way of diminishing the practical sight privilege is by working with those who are willing to loan or rent us the use of their eyes. Learning how to work with others who are willing to "see" for us in specific situations is part of a good blindness skill set. I'm thinking of interactions as simple as reading a street sign and as complex as driving across town. We have always said that the "handicap" of blindness is situational. Living in an urban area with good public transit is less handicapping than living on an isolated farm with no family or friends in the area. Clearly having money diminishes the handicaps we face. It's mighty useful to have cash to hire a driver or call a taxi when no bus goes where we want to go when we want to go there. "Privilege" language can be misconstrued as implying malevolent intent or taking unfair advantage of others. Sighted people should not feel guilty that they're "privileged" with eyesight. White people have no reason to feel guilty about the color of their skin or the circumstances of their birth. Human beings are born with inherent dignity and equality but not identical circumstances. Humanity requires each of us to behave in opportunity-affirming ways. Sadly, we don't always know the ways in which we unintentionally fail to do so. I understand Justin's use of the word "ally" to categorize sighted Federationists. I prefer the word "colleague" because Federationism is a way of thinking, not an optical condition. I feel a sense of family with sighted Federation colleagues and no real sense of being allied with some blind people who don't share our understanding of blindness. The public education provided by the Federation tends to assume a high level of goodwill and a low level of knowledge. Unless someone has proven him or herself to be a bad actor, we gain nothing by encouraging guilt. It's a bad motivator. (Our legal program is there for those times when affirmative goodwill is lacking.) Getting an accurate read and understanding the underlying meaning of interpersonal encounters can be hard. Did that tone of voice signify condescension, or does the person use that voice with everyone? Each of us filters our experiences through our history and our point of view. Because of my previous experiences with the airlines, I walk into the airport on high emotional alert. I'm apt to hear authoritarianism and condescension from every employee. I find myself asking people who offer assistance whether they work for the airline. If they say "no," I can feel my muscles relaxing and my manner loosening. Because I'm aware that my reactions are potentially unjust, I struggle to mute my initial prickly reaction to people I meet. Yet there is no question that I feel differently about encounters with staff in an airport than those at the shopping mall, even if shopping mall employees respond to me with ignorance every bit as awful as the ignorance of airline employees. No question that I have very good reasons, but also no doubt that my default of assuming the worst makes air travel even more unpleasant than it is for those without my history and emotional reaction. Inasmuch as is possible, having an open and affirmative impression of those we meet until direct experience requires us to change that perception makes life better. When something jarring happens, it's easy to overreact, underreact, or muddle through without knowing how to react. Invariably I think of precisely the right thing to say or do about thirty minutes after the event. I overthink a lot! Did my friend reword my explanation to the store clerk and get a better reaction because I'm blind, or did my friend do a better job of explaining? It's easy to rationalize situations that are related to blindness and dismiss them as unimportant. It can also be easy to attribute to blindness things that are really due to something else. Then there are those highly confusing times where blindness plays a part but is not the entire explanation. After the fact I ask myself if blindness is the most plausible explanation. Several years ago, my husband and I were at a church fundraiser dinner. Our member of the legislature and his wife sat across from us. The legislator is a former college teacher, his wife is a French-speaker from Quebec, and our children are about the same ages. These similarities make for convivial conversation. Unfortunately, this legislator has never been receptive to any of our suggestions for improving the government's interaction with blind people. During the course of the meal, my blind husband ordered a bottle of spring water. It came, but he continued eating and did not open it immediately. Suddenly the wife of the legislator interrupted the conversation to say "Sir, don't think there is something wrong with your water bottle; Norm opened it." They finished their meal before we did and left. My husband and I turned to one another and said simultaneously, "That explains why he never takes our legislative initiatives seriously." Neither of us could think of a reason, other than limited belief in the basic competence of blind people, for the man to open a blind man's water bottle. Jim Omvig wrote that one of the goals of good rehabilitation is for the student to come to understand public misconceptions and learn to deal with them effectively without becoming emotionally upset. I've always found that to be a worthy goal and a very tall order. Justin's article articulates many of our traditional philosophical beliefs using different language. Reworking our ideas in different ways may make them fresh for a new generation. Whatever terms we choose, we intend to help one another to understand what blindness means and what it doesn't mean. We strive to develop the skill and courage to deal effectively with misconceptions without becoming overwhelmed. Above all, we must remain committed to thinking of ourselves as capable of making progress, both individually and as a movement. Circumstances may be victimizing, but we can never think of ourselves as victims, because striving for opportunity, even when we lose, is more powerful than victimhood. ---------- Keeping My Balance by Annie Schlesinger From the Editor: Annie joined the NFB shortly after moving to Tucson in 1998. She has been chapter secretary, on the chapter board, and for years sent out email notifications. She is a member of the Tucson Society of the Blind, a self-help group and co-leader of the Low Vision Support Group at her senior complex. She enjoys reading and playing games. Since falls are the leading cause of death for people over fifty, this article is very important to everyone, the assumption being that either we are over fifty or hope to be some day. Here is what Annie says about dealing with aging, blindness, and balance: Problems with balance happen more often as we age. At age eighty- three, I want to reduce my risk of falling and continue to get around independently using my long white cane. "Having good balance means being able to control and maintain your body's position, whether you are moving or remaining still. Good balance helps you walk without staggering, get up from a chair without falling, climb stairs without tripping, and bend over without falling. Good balance is important to help you get around, stay independent, and carry out daily activities" (NIH). Before our mid-sixties most of us do not think about balance. But many deaths are related to hip fractures and traumatic brain injuries. As we live longer and have chronic conditions, we also take medications that affect balance. Vision and balance are highly integrated in the brain; thus, poor vision can equal poor balance. The inner ear part that is responsible for balance is the vestibular system; a number of physical problems can affect this system. The vestibular system works with other systems in the body such as visual and muscle and joint receptors which maintain the body's position at rest and in motion. Last year I had sessions with a physical therapist for the Epley Maneuver which is the treatment for my recurring vertigo. I then had some sessions with her about my balance. Fortunately, I have been active and have exercised for years. So far my balance is okay, but as I look around Fellowship Square, my retirement complex, I see many folks using rollators/walkers for balance. The walkers are also great to carry things: grocery bags, laundry, trash, etc. After some research and discussions with orientation and mobility instructors, I found these three options for someone with poor balance and using a long white cane: 1. The way to use a walker with my long white cane is to probe ahead with the cane, take one step with the walker, and repeat cane-walker, one step at a time. It is very slow! 2. I have trained using a support cane in step with the long white cane, and it is faster than one stepping with the walker, but I do not feel as secure. 3. It is possible for a blind person to sit in a wheelchair, propel it with their feet, and use the long white cane to check ahead. I tried it and it works; safe, but also slow and unappealing. Faced with these choices, maintaining my balance becomes very important. I do my prescribed exercises for balance and other exercises to maintain my strength and cardiovascular health. I do stretches for my shoulder tendinitis. Some exercises help make up for a balance disorder by moving the head and body in certain ways. The body learns muscle memory, and in theory, gets used to being off balance and recovering. Exercises can be developed for an individual by a physical therapist or trainer who understands the balance system. It is never too late to start! Pima Council on Aging, SAAVI, and some health plans offer exercise and balance classes. There are some aspects of aging that can't be avoided, but by practice, maintaining balance is one I can proactively fight. References: Mayo Clinic, Vision Aware, Selectheath.org, National Institute on Aging. Futurity.org ---------- The Trouble with Inclusion by Peter Slatin From the Editor: Peter Slatin is the founder and president of Slatin Group LLC, which provides education and training to the hospitality and tourism industry on service to consumers with disabilities. Peter is a director and graduate of the Colorado Center for the Blind. Peter also writes about undoing norms that inhibit success for disabled people. His articles have appeared in Forbes, The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Barron's, and many other publications. Here is what he says: Groucho Marx got it right when he said he did not want to belong to any club that would have him as a member. I feel much the same way about the inclusion mantra that is being parroted from corporate offices to nonprofit stalwarts and piggybacking on the diversity whale like a pilot fish. Diversity itself has come pretty late in the game. After all, it is finally getting through to "includers" that different people bring different perspectives and skills and simply add essential strengths and immeasurable qualities to organizations from which they have been excluded for most of American history. The use of exclusion, whether through explicit laws and covenants or by means of more covert restrictions or simply by tacit understanding among a class, has waxed and waned. Exclusion has been a key tool in establishing and maintaining economic, cultural, and political power throughout the development of American life. Inclusion is a nice enough word, connoting magnanimity and beneficence as well as welcoming and tolerance. But, that is the problem. The generosity of spirit that inclusion carries also informs us of who is leading the way: the same forces that maintained exclusionary policies until the realization dawned that fashions have changed. So now that this longstanding behavior is being actively reversed under the aegis of inclusivity, anyone formerly excluded should be grateful, no? No, or at least not so much. Wariness is certainly called for. Because the excluded never made a choice concerning their status. Their exclusion was convenient for those who had seen inclusion as a birthright, and now it is less so. Either way, the change of status conferred is arbitrary. Exclusion and inclusion are passive states assigned to those designated to be either kept out or brought in. The active agent is not the newly welcomed but instead the welcoming committee, which sets the terms of inclusion and will assign and enable a bouncer should one be deemed necessary. Even when those terms are beneficial, the person newly included will retain that sense of being an outsider who has been invited to a party and only allowed to join by the grace of the host. Is it nice to finally be allowed in? Of course-but we have been here all along. That is true for people of color, LGBTQ people, people with disabilities, and more. Ever so slowly, the ways of thinking about homogeneity and exclusion have shifted as awareness grows that these groups are actual market segments worth mining. Their members are as skilled, dedicated, and eager to progress as all those who never encountered the particular barrier to entry that defines the existence of an excluded class. As Groucho knew, the only way to be excluded is to allow someone to choose your exclusion. His response was to decline to be included as well, to self-exclude. If I, a person who happens to be blind, accepts exclusion- from work or play or education or whatever endeavor I desire to participate in-then I cede control of my life and agency to whoever is challenging my right to participate. On what grounds would they make the case for my exclusion? It is not inclusion that I want-it's access. And access is something I can actively seek to create or acquire. I may need assistance doing so. I may need to change laws and minds, not necessarily in that order. I may need to fight. In the end though, I will be part of designing what access looks like and how it works. Accessibility today has been designed by those who have historically been excluded. Inclusion was designed by those who decided that it was time to get inclusive, and it does not involve much design or even thinking. It just means standing down from privilege-or including yourself among those who have stood up to privilege for so long. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Curtis Chong] The BlindShell: An Accessible Cell Phone with Real Buttons by Curtis Chong From the Editor: Many of us have had an electronic partner that stays with us almost all the time. It is a smart phone. But many blind people have felt left out in this world of accessible phones, because they lack the interest or the dexterity to use a touchscreen. They want buttons, and they want menus they can hear and use to accomplish some of the tasks that their smart phone buddies using touch screens have. Curtis Chong offers what may be a good solution. His credentials to evaluate and explain technology are well known to readers of the Braille Monitor, so let us go directly into his article: When we think about accessible smart phones, the Apple iPhone is usually the first thing that comes to mind (apologies to those blind people who have had success with Android-based phones). I do believe that for a lot of us, the iPhone has turned out to be the most nonvisually accessible and usable smart phone that we have ever used. However, I am equally certain that there are blind people out there who would still prefer to have an accessible cell phone with real buttons or (for whatever reason) have not been able to learn to use the iPhone and its touch screen. Enter BlindShell. BlindShell is manufactured by a company called Matapo s.r.o. in the Czech Republic and sold in the United States by a number of organizations. Based on the audio and YouTube presentations I have been able to find, the BlindShell seems to harken back to those early accessible cell phones that had real buttons, simple menus, and built-in speech. Samuel Seavey (sam at blindshell.com) serves as the BlindShell product representative in the United States. According to Mr. Seavey, "The [BlindShell] phone is unlocked on GSM networks and fully supports 2G, 3G, and 4G." BlindShell is an intuitive and simple cell phone with big, tactile buttons and many features. In addition to making phone calls and sending text messages, you can get the current weather forecast, listen to internet radio, or find out your current location. BlindShell works with AT&T and T- Mobile as well as other GSM networks. It is available in black or red. I have gleaned the following information from a variety of web-based sources. VOICE CONTROL With voice control, you can give the phone voice commands without having to use the keypad. For example, you can: . Call and send a message to a contact . Open any application in the phone . Get information about the weather . Get your approximate location VOICE DICTATION You can use Voice Dictation to: . Write a text message . Dictate the text of an email . Take notes . Dictate an agenda PHYSICAL KEYBOARD The BlindShell has a physical keyboard with tactile buttons. The spacing between the keys makes it easier to distinguish one key from another. USEFUL APPLICATIONS The BlindShell includes a number of useful applications. With the Email client, you can write and receive emails from your friends and colleagues. With internet radio you can listen to thousands of radio stations from around the world. The weather app will tell you the current weather and forecast for the next three days. The location app can tell you your current GPS location or the nearest address. SOS EMERGENCY BUTTON If you get into a situation where emergency help is required, you can use the SOS emergency button to reach your designated emergency contact. Pressing the button for at least three seconds will call your emergency contact, which can be set whenever and however you want. Do not worry about triggering this function accidentally; you must confirm the emergency call before it is actually made. SIMPLE VERSUS COMPLEX OPERATION The BlindShell can be configured to hide its more complex features, making it appear to be a simpler cell phone. In this simplified mode, you can only make calls and handle text messages. At any time, the hidden complex features can be made visible through a simple menu change. ADVANCED FEATURES . SOS emergency button . Email . Object tagging . FM radio . Internet radio . Audio player . Voice recorder . Book reader . Service menu . Weather forecast . GPS location . Color recognition I myself have not yet had a chance to use the BlindShell as a working telephone. But I must admit some interest in having, once again, a cell phone which enables me to send text messages and answer calls without having to use both hands. Honestly, I doubt that I will abandon my iPhone, but I am, nevertheless, glad that the BlindShell is available as an alternative to the iPhone. I have worked with quite a few people who I think will be glad to have something like the BlindShell, and I hope that this product stays around for a lot longer than models tend to do in the fast-changing cell phone industry. Samuel Seavey has put together a comprehensive series of YouTube tutorials about the BlindShell. They can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Mona4Y73hI&list=PLD_a5HsW9Ry5IAjXc1CQAAPY2P uZiAVJg. If you just want to hear how the BlindShell performs, I believe the best audio demonstration is the one produced by A T Guys. The presentation is thirteen minutes long. Here is the link: https://www.atguys.com/files/audio/BlindShell.mp3. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Peggy Chong] John Langston Gwaltney by Peggy Chong, The Blind History Lady From the Editor: Peggy Chong lives in Colorado, and for a long time now she has been compiling biographies of blind men and women who have routinely gone unnoticed. She has earned the nickname The Blind History Lady, and she is available for presentations in person or by phone. If you want to speak with her, she can be reached at theblindhistorylady at gmail.com. You can read more of her books at https://www.smashwords.com/books/byseries/24325. Here is her latest offering to the Braille Monitor: Hello Blind History Lady Fans: February as you know is Black History Month. In our blind family tree we have too many ancestors of color whose trail has been swept away by time. But that does not mean that we do not have black and blind ancestors to celebrate. This month's profile is of a man who enriched the lives of many as much as they enriched his life. He was fortunate to be mentored by his hero and became a hero to those whom he mentored. Meet John Langston Gwaltney, born September 25, 1928, in Orange, New Jersey, the son of a merchant seaman, Stanley Gwaltney, and his mother, Mabel Gwaltney. Blind from birth, John's mother Mabel tried everything that she could to see if there was a cure for her son's blindness. She took him to many doctors, chiropractors, and faith healers who told her there was nothing they could do. She turned to herbal medicine, and still there was no improvement in her son's vision. His mother and oldest sister Lucy had the most influence over his life. Mabel relied on the community and family to help her raise her five children. Their black community was close-knit, supportive of each other through businesses and church. She led by example in teaching her son to observe, question, and seek out knowledge. Lucy read to John from a variety of books. She taught him what a campfire was by lighting a fire in the great iron pot in the middle of their living room. She taught him how to make cheese biscuits and even perfume. Being black was one handicap, but to be blind as well left few doors open to him. The only blind occupations that his mother thought a black man would be accepted in were music and ministry. To that end, she taught him at home from a young age. She cut out print letters and objects from cardboard to teach him to read. There was always a piano in the house, and she encouraged him to play every day. When he was eight, she introduced him to woodcarving. Mabel handed him a knife and a stick of wood. John's uncle was an excellent wood sculptor and took John under his wing. Family and friends introduced him to everything tactile for him to study and transform into art. This became a life-long passion for John. When he was school age, Mabel wanted him to stay near her but at the same time to get a good education. She wrote to Eleanor Roosevelt and pleaded her son's case. Mrs. Roosevelt, who was a proponent of the education of the disabled in their local public schools, helped John enter classes near his home. He was hooked on geography. Two elementary teachers in particular encouraged his studies of the world. His father told him vivid stories of the many people and places he'd seen as a seaman. At night, John would go to bed dreaming of the adventures he would have when he explored for himself these far-away lands. Each week John would listen to CBS's School of the Air. One episode had Margaret Mead, a woman who was a famous anthropologist, as the guest. Her presentation took root in his mind, and he began to dream of becoming an anthropologist. After graduating from high school, he enrolled at Upsala College in East Orange during the fall of 1947. He graduated with a degree in history in 1952. With scholarships in hand and some assistance through the New Jersey Commission for the Blind, John moved to New York to study for a master's degree in political science at the New School of Social Research. He completed his master's in 1957. His siblings acted as readers for him when working on his vast research. His brother Robert was helpful in finding funding for some of the equipment John would need for his expeditions. In 1956 John married Judith Jacobson. She too became a reader and supporter in his career. That first year of their marriage was John's first field research project in Mexico. Judith went along with her husband as a research assistant. Although he wanted to continue with school, he needed to earn a living. He secured a teaching job at the Henry George School of Social Sciences. This high school attracted students wishing to pursue careers in the social sciences. It was here that he first learned to sharpen his teaching skills. In 1959 he enrolled at Columbia University in New York to begin his doctoral degree. Although he had excellent professors at Columbia, he learned the most from Dr. Margaret Mead, his instructor that had the greatest impact on him. Mead was the woman who had caused his thirst for anthropology. Now here she was in person, working with him and most supportive as well! She helped him plan his major research project. She did not stand in his way because of his blindness. The project was the study of blindness in the Indians who lived in the village of San Padro Yolox in southwestern Mexico. The village was not accessible by vehicle and the inhabitants spoke the ancient tongues of their Chinantec ancestors, not Spanish. The village was set in an area with rough terrain, steep hills, valleys, and drastic climate changes. Having done his research on the area early on, he knew he needed a few more skills under his belt. He needed to walk or ride a horse to the village and other places he wanted to go. He took horseback riding lessons and had some extra strong metal canes made to take along. His yearlong study focused on how the village maintained its social order when so many of its members were blind. With a grant from the National Institutes of Health, he had almost all of his expenses covered. In 1966 John returned to New York and received his doctorate from Columbia in 1967. His thesis was entitled "Role of Expectations in Blindness in an Oaxaca Village." The thesis won him the Ansley Dissertation Award in the fall of 1967. He took a position as an instructor at the State University in Cortland, New York, where he was promoted to associate professor in 1969. In 1970, his book The Thrice Shy: Cultural Accommodations to Blindness and Other Disasters in a Mexican Community was published. In 1971 John accepted a professorship at Syracuse University where he focused his attention on the lives of black men and women in the United States. Through interviews and research, he set out to demonstrate that there is a black culture. The culmination of his research was his book Drylongso: A Self-Portrait of Black America, published in 1981. In the book were many stories of the average black man or woman. Through his book, he hoped that the white public would start to see the average black person as just like them and not the negative images portrayed on the nightly news and media. In 1986 he published another book entitled The Dissenters: Voices from Contemporary America. This book was a collection of interviews with revolutionaries from all walks of life. The premise was that the dissenters helped the general public stay in touch with reality. The book was nominated for a Robert F. Kennedy Book Award in 1967. John retired from teaching in 1989. During his career, he also found time to work on projects for the Smithsonian, the New York State Creative Artist Public Services, the New York Council for the Humanities, and several national science organizations. Much more can be learned about John in a book entitled The Second Generation of African-American Pioneers in Anthropology edited by Ira E. Harrison, Deborah Johnson-Simon, and Erica Lorraine Williams. ---------- The Extra Effort to Be a Blind Person: What Part Myth, What Part Reality? by Gary Wunder In many items that pass my desk are two assertions that I let go unchallenged as though they must be taken as articles of faith. The assertions are usually found in these statements: As blind people we have to work harder than and perhaps even twice as hard as our sighted colleagues to get things done. Parallel with this is the assertion that in order to get the same grade or do the same job as our sighted colleagues, we have to be twice as good. I hear these arguments from blind people in almost every walk of life, from the student trying to earn a grade to the employee or businessperson trying to earn a check. I've never felt comfortable letting these pass unchallenged, but neither have I felt up to questioning the assertions directly, especially since I've taken comfort in espousing them myself from time to time. So let me start with the person I know best or at least the person I try to present to the world. Until late in high school I'm not sure I worked harder than anyone to get the grades I got, and they weren't anything to brag about. It took a long time for me to realize that school had something to do with whether I was going to be able to earn a living. Until that realization, I took seriously only those parts of the curriculum I found fun or thought to be relevant. I did not take seriously many of the things I was asked to work on if I found them hard or if I judged them, in my ever so worldly mind, to be irrelevant. Even wising up in my last year or so of high school could not salvage my class rank, which was twenty- second in the class of forty-three. Was my difficulty caused by blindness? Perhaps a little. It would've been nice to have my textbook for algebra in Braille. The same would've been helpful in Spanish. Perhaps the assistance with readers extended to me in college would have been helpful in high school. But most certainly I would've done better had I been mature enough to realize that the people who came before me probably knew more about life and what it took to be successful than I did. Most certainly I would've done better had I not been so arrogant as to think that the words relevant and irrelevant were the most important in the English language and that I was capable of deciding what would and would not be important in my future. Sometimes I was called lazy, but I think it was more a case of not being able to connect the dots and to see how my work at the time would result in future opportunities. Is it acceptable for a good Braille reader to claim he has sometimes had trouble connecting the dots? In addition to studying electronics technology, I took advanced work in computer science and got an entry-level job that soon turned into promotions until I became a senior programmer analyst and a project manager. At the end of that career, I was making more than five times my starting salary, and let me say that I will always remember my first contract saying I would be paid the princely sum of $12,134 a year. I posted that contract on the refrigerator and probably should've laminated it, but soon I was making more, and I became accustomed to promotions and merit raises and not just cost-of-living increases. But let me return to the assertion that to do my job required that I be twice as good and work twice as hard as everyone else. I'm proud of the work I did, the work ethic I brought, and the way I was able to contribute to our team. But, I was not the best programmer on the staff. Some were better at looking at older programs and instantly seeing what they were intended to do and why they weren't doing it. Some were better at coming up with completely different ideas about how to tackle a problem and in so doing either making the code easier to understand or making it more efficient when run by the computer. In my work career, sometimes I was on top. There were times when suggestions I made changed the whole design of the system for the better. One innovation I brought to an existing process ended up saving us two thousand dollars a week in computer processing time. But I did not work twice as hard, nor was I the best programmer on our staff. Was blindness sometimes a problem? You bet it was. Did I sometimes work extra hours to make my screen reader read things that were obvious to other people just by looking? You bet. Did I have to look for buried keystrokes and sometimes write my own scripts so that I could do what others easily did with the mouse? You bet. But there were people with whom I worked who got more done than I did, people who stayed later into the night than I did, people who were more dedicated to being number one at their jobs than I was. I desperately wanted to do right by my employer, to know that I earned my money, but I wanted other things as well. I wanted time for my family. I wanted time for our Federation. I wanted time for recreation, exercise, and the sense that there was balance in my life and not all just serious work. Today as the editor of the Braille Monitor, I know I am not the most qualified editor this publication has ever had. Jacobus tenBroek preceded me in this job, and my educational accomplishments are nothing compared with his. Perry Sundquist put out a wonderful magazine. Hazel tenBroek, Kenneth Jernigan, and Barbara Pierce all had strengths I don't have. How would this magazine be today if Daniel Frye had remained its editor? We can't know, but it is clear to me that mine is not the best mind ever to be put to the task of generating this publication. I'm not trying to be modest- I like the mind I have and the work I do, but my mind tells me that perspective is important and that each of us should know our strengths and our weaknesses. So how hard is my job compared with what it would be were I sighted? Who can really say? Would I have problems with screen-reading software? I may never have heard of it. Would I have a cheaper way to read and write while on the road? Probably so. But would my job be easier or my work product superior? Do I spend twice as long as a sighted person would on our magazine? I don't think so. Would it be twice as good if a person with sight did the editing? Again, I don't believe so. Why, you may ask, does the answer to the question of extra effort and clearly being superior to the other person matter? If it is true, we should say it. But if it is not, there are good reasons to avoid saying it. Interestingly, what is spawned from the belief that everything we do takes more energy, creativity, effort, and psychological toughness is precisely the thing that makes some people in society believe as they do about us. We get angry when we are patronized, when people tell us we are inspiring, or when they say that if they had to live our lives, they just couldn't do it. But perhaps our proclamations that our lives are harder is likely a contributor to these perceptions. Did we generate the belief among sighted people that we work twice as hard and that life is harder for us, or did we buy this notion from the very public we are trying to inform about the authentic experience of blindness? I often wonder how we can assert that we work harder or twice as hard than other people when we have not walked in their shoes. I know a woman with food allergies that are so severe that she spends at least five minutes whenever we go to a restaurant figuring out whether there is anything she can eat and how she can communicate her order. I know a man who is a deep thinker, appreciates the subtlety and complexity of many things, but finds it difficult to communicate these in a way that is direct, easily understandable, and in a timeframe that will keep the focus of those who are impatient or perhaps have a short attention span. How well do I really understand the burdens that people carry when they live in poverty and get an education that doesn't begin to compare with what they will need to succeed? Is my life really harder than the person who lives with chronic depression or frequent migraine headaches? Is my life or our lives more difficult than the lives of single mothers caught between the demand that they raise their children with solid values and the demand that they be absent from the home in order to earn a living and not be a burden to the state? As if it wasn't obvious, this is a tickler for those of you with opinions that should find their way into the Braille Monitor, whether they affirm what I am suggesting or whether they soundly refute it. One of the things we suggest to the world is that we have something worth listening to: the truth about blindness, or, perhaps more modestly, some truths about blindness that work for us. We should use these pages to help establish some of those truths, to understand their subtleties, the way they play out differently for others, and the way we all come to work together to benefit one another. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Brooke Tousley] My Shot by Brooke Tousley From the Editor: Brooke is a member of the National Federation of the Blind of Nevada and accepted the opportunity to speak at a state convention. President Terri Rupp thought so much of these comments that she sent them to the Braille Monitor. I thank Brooke for writing this and Terri for sending it. Here is what Brooke says: I was asked to give a speech about my experiences with being blind and being an actor. As an actor and as a person who is blind, I am happy to share my experiences on how I self-advocate in a completive field that doesn't always seem visible. As a point of reference, I have been legally blind since I was born. My normal is being blind. I have staged my life around having a disability. My family and friends have always taught me to be my true authentic self. I was taught not to see the word "disabled" as "un-able" but as "differently abled." I have different abilities that contribute to my authenticity. Growing up, I never saw authenticity in television, film, or onstage. I saw abled-bodied actors un-authentically portraying me. I did not understand why authenticity was presumably unattainable or uneventful. I did not understand why people who are blind or low vision are not included in the inclusion of authenticity. Letting us play is important. It is important because inclusion allows us to be seen and to be present and authentic. As performers, we are storytellers. I started storytelling when I was a senior in high school. Theatre was an after-school activity that I participated in alongside my friends who wanted to tell their story. From high school to now, I have performed with many local theatre companies, including Merry War Theatre Group, Br?ka Theatre of the Sierra, Mercury Momentum, and Reno Little Theatre. I fell in love with the Reno community theatres because they became a creative space for me to play without limitations. I am passionate about the arts because art is another extension of my self-expression. I am able, in every sense of the word. Performing onstage is a place where I can let go and feel safe. There is something truly profound about a space where you can speak and move and let go of the world's limitations placed on you as well as others grueling interoperations of you and blindness. A Ted Talks [a popular series of short videos] I listened to the other day, "Disability: Casting a Revolution" from Jenny Sealey, the Artistic Director and CEO of Graeae, spoke about the artistic process of disability. Sealey stated, "Art informs the creative process of access, and access informs the creative process." What she meant by this was that art is always evolving and changing to stay relevant. Accessibility should stay relevant. Disability and accessibility should not be an afterthought. The notion of integrating accessibility should take center stage. Being authentic is accessible. I humbly admit that I have blind privileges. I am not a cane user, a Braille user, nor do I have a guide dog. I am the world's acceptable version of being blind and having a disability. I have been told "You do not look blind or act blind," whatever that means. When do you tell your director you are blind? Or, do you even tell them at all? Am I not authentic if I don't share that in my resum?, or am I saving myself the rejection of "You don't look like the role." Blindness doesn't fit the role. I memorize lines just like everyone else, but I also memorize the stage and where people are standing and where I stand. I memorize my blocking and cues like everyone else, but I also memorize other people's blocking so I know I am safe. I have had the opportunity to portray Shakespearian characters, possessed characters, a widow, and a cat among many others, despite my different abilities. I am grateful to have peers who have helped guide me through my craft and authenticity without hesitation. People seem to act as if blindness is a debilitating and life-ending diagnosis. There is a stigma toward us that we are incapable of being able. Sometimes I do feel the pressure to assimilate into society's definition and expectations of blindness. I felt the need to make sure that the people around me felt comfortable around my blindness, when in fact they were the ones who made me feel uncomfortable. Theatre always provides a stage for creating and sharing stories for all who welcome it. William Shakespeare said it best when he informed us that "We are not ourselves, when nature, being oppressed, commands the mind to suffer with the body" (King Lear, Act 2 Scene 4). Theatre has allowed me to create and sustain my authenticity. I am in an environment in which I can be what I want to be and express what I want to feel. Theatre has been a teacher for me about the world around me as I explore and self-discover about people and love, life, and the human condition. Theatre has given me my shot to be me and truly abled me. ---------- An Apology to a Fine Humorist and One of Our Own by Gary Wunder In the November 2019 issue we ran an article entitled "Meet the Sighted Month" and said it had been seen floating around Facebook. Well we should have been smart enough to know that nothing floats around Facebook without an author, and how wonderful it is to find that the author is none other than Angela Fowler, a wonderful mother, humorist, and Federationist. We apologize for running her article without attribution and take the opportunity to share it once again, this time giving credit where it is deserved. Meet the Sighted Month by Angela Fowler October is Meet the Sighted Month. Throughout the month, sighted people will hold events where we can mix and mingle and learn about the special equipment and techniques they use to cope with the presence of eyesight. Also, many sighted people will post invitations on Facebook encouraging us to ask them questions, any questions we want, about their sightedness. To kick off Meet the Sighted Month, I have put together this list of things to keep in mind when interacting with the sighted. 1. Sighted people are often incapable of traveling, cooking, or doing much of anything without the aid of light. While we use our other senses to enable us to function perfectly well in the dark, sighted people have great difficulty developing these skills. When you welcome the sighted into your home, don't forget to turn on the lights. 2. Sighted people often cannot understand synthesized speech, and the text on a Braille display is almost always unreadable to them. They must depend on special equipment such as computer monitors and phone and tablet screens to use their electronic devices. If you let a sighted person use your phone or computer and forget to turn the screen on, they will be very confused. 3. Sighted people have difficulty learning from textual and verbal explanations or tactile models. They often must be presented with pictures. A good rule of thumb, when writing instructions for the sighted, is to include a picture with each step. 4. Sighted people have great difficulty distinguishing auditory cues in their environment. While we can tell when to cross a street by the sound of traffic or where an entrance is by the sounds of people entering and exiting, sighted people often must rely on visual information alone. 5. Sighted people rely heavily on an inaudible code called color. They use color to safely navigate by car and perform countless other tasks we can perform using auditory and tactile cues. Also, they are often quick to judge us based on what colors we present to the world. It is important to gain at least a working knowledge of color, so they don't think we're weird. 6. Sighted people often communicate displeasure using a secret signal called a dirty look. I'll admit, I'm not exactly sure what this entails, except that it sometimes causes sighted people to behave in ways which seem inappropriate to the situation, i.e. telling someone off for no apparent reason. As blind people immune to the effects of the dirty look, we can only try to teach the sighted to use their words when communicating displeasure with us. So, there you have it. Keep these points in mind, and your next encounter with a sighted person should be as smooth as a brand new NFB cane tip. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Carolyn Corrigan] Living the Life I Want is a Work in Progress by Carolyn Corrigan From the Editor: Carolyn Corrigan lives in New Hampshire and is a state officer, the secretary of her affiliate. She is not afraid of work. Her state president says she can always be counted on and gives her the highest recommendation I have heard her give anyone. Carolyn's story is one of significant challenge and adaptation. Sometimes she changes the way she wants to accomplish something, and at other times she decides that what she wants to accomplish must be different given her life situation and the satisfaction she wants from it. Here is her story: I am grateful beyond words that I had tremendous parents. I know that watching me struggle with this disability must have been hard for them, but they always gave me so much support as I adapted to my blindness. They provided daily reminders to be true to myself, and they had so much hope for me to get out there and live a productive life like everyone else. I often traveled to Boston Children's Medical Center as they tried to determine how affected my vision was. I got sick of the regular evaluations. I knew they were trying to help me, but the sheer number of things they would ask me to do wore me out. After all the tests and evaluations, we finally had more answers about my visual limitations-I am blind. With glasses, I am nearsighted; without them, I see a fuzzy picture. After half an hour of the fuzzy pictures, I become dizzy and disoriented. I first realized this when kids took my glasses as a joke. It's definitely not fun being disoriented, especially when people are laughing at you. They did not know the situation they created wasn't humorous at all. Despite my setbacks with some of the children, I was still excited about heading off to school. I was excited to be with other students and nervous at the same time about fitting in with others my age. Unfortunately, I am what they call a visual learner, kind of complicated when one is blind. I also have to deal with my eyes twitching while trying to focus on an object or reading a book. The twitching activity makes me more exhausted because of the amount of energy it takes. In class, I did take notes but was always trying to catch up. During both elementary and high school I was using the resource room on a frequent basis. It was great to be around the diversity of students in this space. The students that the resource room assisted also had similar issues to the ones I was experiencing. However, the impression held by other students was that if you were in the resource room, you must be dumb or retarded. I disliked my disability more and more when I heard that, but I fought that perception. I fought because I disliked being unable to participate in certain activities because teachers thought they were too hard for me. Therefore, I did my work the best I could. When in lectures, I found it difficult to remember all the material covered. I listened, but again, getting information audibly isn't my strength. I took notes, but half of it I would miss. All I wanted during this time was to have a chance like everyone else. Besides resource room assistance in the classroom, I had my documents enlarged so I could read them, I had tutors in the classroom to assist me with taking notes or to review material for future quizzes or tests, and I had a tape recorder for books on tape. However, because I am a visual learner, just listening to information did not help it stick in my memory. I also had a scope for use in the classroom. I was placed in the front row to be closer to the chalkboard, and I used my scope to read information the teacher wrote there. When I took tests, I was taken out of the classroom and did them separately to minimize distraction. I was pleased to have had some extracurricular activities in school. I was part of a youth softball team that was coached by a friend of my parents. I really appreciated that I had an opportunity playing softball because of that connection. I know that for reasons of safety I was assigned to play deep right field most of the time because hits often do not land in that area. Out of boredom waiting for the ball to come my way, I obviously cheered for my team, but I was also frequently singing out in right field. Toward middle school, I tried to get involved with groups such as band. I played flute from middle school into high school. In high school the band teacher I had was amazing. He knew I had limitations, but he treated me like a part of the group and assisted me when I needed extra help. There were times I didn't hit every note because of slow response, but I made the effort to play regardless. My other instrument is my voice. Anyone who knew me at the time could tell you my favorite class was chorus. The key thing about both band and chorus is that my ears were my eyes, and I believe my lack of vision heightened my other senses. I also participated in an afterschool acting group called Acting Out, which was open to younger students as well as teenagers. This group made a real difference in my life because of how diverse it was. It also gave me the sense that there is more to me than my visual limitations. The group leader welcomed me with open arms. I had that feeling like I belonged somewhere, which helped tremendously. There were also other important outreach activities for me on the weekends throughout the year. In these programs I interacted with other young teenagers with disabilities. We learned about working together, independent living, and other things that helped us build the confidence that we could do things for ourselves. Anxiety over tests began to heighten in my sophomore year of high school due to a negative experience with a professional, causing me to feel degraded in front of peers. I hope the screening process today is more advanced-no student should have to deal with a disrespectful professional degrading him or her, especially in front of other people. That was the worst experience I have been through. It took me a while to speak up, but when I did, the tutor did not last much longer. This is why tests were not my favorite part of school. Even when people would try to help me, the words I had been called such as dumb and stupid would haunt me and make me defensive. There is a time to be pushed, but there is also a time to be rewarded for what you know and how hard you are trying. I graduated from high school, and I thought the nerve-racking educational experiences in my life had ended, but then there was college. Many questions went through my mind before beginning my fall semester. In high school, the SAT was supposed to help you find your place in college. My score was not very high because of my learning challenges, so I started college slow. I took continuing education courses to get my GPA up before matriculating as a full-time student. At first my goal was to study education and work as a teacher because I love children. Unfortunately, I did not have that option financially. In high school the tests posed challenges, but at the college level there were more questions, and they were more complicated to answer. The more questions I got and the harder they were, the more I panicked. I discovered that with my learning challenges, I retained a certain amount of information, but when my mind gets overwhelmed, I forget the rest of it. When I started failing my college exams, I felt like a failure. I questioned whether I would ever graduate from college. I started looking for jobs to make money to help with college expenses. Job searching proved to be frustrating and taxing despite having assistance from vocational rehabilitation. Many people were still very ignorant about the value of diversity in the workplace, and some would not hire me because they judged that it would be too hard for me and that I could not do the job. When blind, it is commonly accepted that you should take any job you can get, but I was not even getting interviews, so I had to change tactics. I focused on volunteering instead to gain experience, working at various childcare programs. Next, I began working a paying job at the college dining commons. I continued on to being a front-end clerk bagging groceries for a supermarket. With each of these jobs, at first I would be a bit slow learning the tasks that needed to be done, but once it became a routine for me, people commented that I did things quickly and efficiently. I always try to get better, but I also know my limitations and to not try to exceed what I can do. I graduated from college with an associate's degree in general education. I may not have landed in the education field as a teacher, but it was a valuable accomplishment for me. However, the year after I graduated, I did get to experience being a paraprofessional at the middle school I attended. It was a valuable tutoring opportunity; I felt like I was a voice for some of these students. I could feel how they felt and was able to help them academically. I was pleased when I came up with a game for a student to remember her social studies material, even if the teacher I worked for didn't appreciate it much. I do not think that the teachers are always as resourceful as they should be. I don't think they get enough training to see the individual possibilities that exist in those of us who learn differently. At the very least training must make it possible for inclusion to be a possibility rather than just a word. After a year I decided to move on. I was not bad at being a tutor and paraprofessional, but I realized there was something more for me. I loved children, but professionally working with them just didn't click for me. Witnessing some of the treatment and attitudes toward the students made me realize that advocacy was in my blood when opportunities arose later. Continuing with job searching, I came across an opportunity that led to my next challenge. I heard through the Red Cross that they were holding LNA (Licensed Nurse Assistant) classes. I had never thought of this career before, but it interested me because I like to help take care of people. I thought, "Why not go for it? Life is too short to not try different opportunities." I knew that the materials and the tests would be obstacles for me, but support from the teacher and other participants helped a lot. I also had the benefit of some of our vocational rehabilitation counselors who were willing to help outside of class to go over some of the rather challenging clinical aspects. It was difficult, but with determination, I kept going. My family and friends knew I was getting the material and that I knew my stuff, despite exams not being a high point for me. No test can define what I know. It was getting close to the time we were preparing to get into a clinical setting, and I was feeling hopeful until one day in class. I could tell the teacher was heartbroken to tell me the bad news. She knew I had worked hard, but she had a job to do and could not pass me. The state board in charge of these programs told her that I could not go any further in the clinical because of my limited vision and slow learning in medical situations. Their reasoning was because of liability and safety. Safety I can understand; you have to be safe in medical settings. Liability I felt was more about their fear of something they don't know, and we can always see the worst when we think about bad things that may happen. At first, I was crushed; my hopes were dashed. It didn't help when someone told me they wouldn't want someone like me taking care of them. I have struggled with depression after going through numerous experiences like this and having the plug pulled too soon on each of them. Vocational rehabilitation helped me learn massage therapy, but again my test scores were not adequate. The state tests said I was close to passing, but in my mind I passed with flying colors. In the end though I was a winner for facing myself, finding my own confidence, and being here today. I still offer massages to family friends and make frequent visits to the elderly home I work for to provide hand massages to Alzheimer's residents. I also decided to revisit the Keene State College's Aspire Program. It had done a lot for me, and I wanted to show my appreciation. I reconnected with staff members I knew, and I was also introduced to the disabilities coordinator. I started out mentoring students by taking them to a coffee place I had gotten familiar with, and from there I was introduced to a group called the National Federation of the Blind. Until then I had no idea that this organization existed. I had heard of other associations of the blind and like organizations, but this one was different. I officially joined the NFB in 2007. I believe my first trip was the Washington Seminar. This was when having advocacy in my blood really crystalized. What struck me immediately about this group was how much this national organization works together and provides support for others while also defining our rights and what we deserve. I am still involved today, and many things have come from it. Not only is it my second family, but due to my continued interest, I have several roles in the organization that I never in my wildest dreams would have thought I'd be undertaking at this point in my life. Besides advocacy, my Federation family helped me build the confidence to educate people and stand up for myself when I feel that I or other members are being discriminated against. I have realized that as a woman with visual limitations I am not limited in opportunities. I have discovered I have other talents that I am pursuing further to see where they lead me. Photography has been a huge interest of mine for a long time. Family members have nicknamed me "Flash" Corrigan. Photography is stress relief for me and gives me an opportunity to focus on beauty. I love having the ability to create an image from an instant shot when I take the photo and the ability to use photo editing to create exactly what I have in my mind. I've had a lot of positive feedback on my photography from those around me, and this is something I continue to pursue because life is too short to feel like you have nothing that you can do. That kind of attitude will not take us far in life. My final message to anyone reading this is that we are all different. It's perfectly okay to be different and unique. You have abilities just like everyone else; how you use them is up to you. If you encounter any kind of discrimination, remember the problem is with the person who discriminates, not with you. There is a purpose for all of us in our lives. We just have to trust the higher power to remind us of that on a daily basis. Never give up on something just because other people say it's too hard and discourage you. It's not up to them whether or not you can do it, it's up to you. I would like to thank you for letting me share my story, and I hope it inspires all of you to find your own dreams. My life is not finished yet; there is more to come in my story. Appreciate and embrace yours, and steer it so that you are moving toward the life you want. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Patti Chang] Dream Makers Circle by Patti Chang From the Editor: Patti Chang is our energetic director of outreach who works tirelessly to see that we have the tools to do the work that is required of us. Here is what she says about how we can keep on giving long after we think we can: Join our Dream Makers Circle For more than seventy-eight years, the National Federation of the Blind has worked to transform the dreams of hundreds of thousands of blind people into reality, and with your support, we will continue to do so for decades to come. We sincerely hope you will plan to be a part of our enduring movement by joining our legacy society, the Dream Makers Circle. It is much easier than you think. Please join so we can make a difference by: . Giving blind children the gift of literacy through Braille . Promoting independent travel of the blind by providing free, long white canes to blind people in need . Developing dynamic educational projects and programs that prove to blind youth that science and math are within their reach . Delivering hundreds of accessible newspapers and magazines to provide blind people the essential information necessary to be actively involved in their communities . Offering aids and appliances that help seniors losing vision maintain their independence . Funding scholarship programs so that blind people can achieve their dreams . And so much more How do you join our Dream Makers Circle? You can decide to join in one or more simple ways. You can plan to give all or part of a bank account, insurance proceeds, investment assets, real estate, or a retirement account. You can even give a required minimum distribution from your IRA directly to charity and avoid taxes on that money. The National Federation of the Blind Legacy Society, our Dream Makers Circle, honors and recognizes the generosity and the vision of members and special friends of the National Federation of the Blind who have chosen to leave a legacy through a will or other planned giving option. If you wish to give part or all of an account, simply fill out a P.O.D. (payable on death) or T.O.D. (transfer on death) form. For pensions and insurance assets, simply designate a charity as a beneficiary. If you would like to leave a legacy to the National Federation of the Blind in your will, simply include the following language: "I give, devise, and bequeath unto the National Federation of the Blind, 200 East Wells at Jernigan Place Baltimore, Maryland 21230, a Maryland nonprofit corporation, the sum of $______________ (or) _________ percent of my net estate" or "the following stocks and bonds: ____________________, to be used for its worthy purposes on behalf of blind persons." Once you have completed your paperwork, please reach out to let us know you are joining our Dream Makers Circle. In 2019 with generous support, the National Federation of the Blind: . Distributed 6,644 canes to blind people across the United States, empowering them to travel safely and independently throughout their communities . Hosted forty-eight NFB BELL Academy programs, which served more than 350 blind students throughout the United States . Provided over one hundred thousand dollars in scholarships to blind students, making a post-secondary education affordable and attainable . Delivered audio newspaper and magazine services to 122,802 subscribers, providing free access to over five hundred local, national, and international publications . In 2019 over 500 (592 total) Braille-writing slates and styluses were given free of charge to blind children and adults. Please consider joining our legacy society so we can continue to make a real difference in the lives of the next generation of blind children and adults. Together with love, hope, determination, and your support, we will continue to transform dreams into reality. To learn more visit: www.nfb.org/planned-giving or call 410-659-9314, extension 2422. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Tracy Soforenko] Kenneth Jernigan Convention Scholarship by Tracy Soforenko From the Editor: Tracy Soforenko is the newly appointed chairperson of the Kenneth Jernigan Fund and is the president of the National Federation of the Blind of Virginia. The Kenneth Jernigan Fund plays a big role in helping first-timers attend the national convention, and here is what he has to say: Have you always wanted to attend an NFB annual convention but have not done so because of the lack of funds? The Kenneth Jernigan Convention Scholarship Fund invites you to make an application for a scholarship grant. Perhaps this July you too can be in the Hilton Americas Hotel in Houston, Texas, enjoying the many pleasures and learning opportunities at the largest and most important yearly convention of blind people in the world. The three biggest ticket items you need to cover when attending an NFB national convention are the roundtrip transportation, the hotel room for a week, and the food (which tends to be higher priced than at home). We attempt to award additional funds to families, but, whether a family or an individual is granted a scholarship, this fund can only help; it won't pay all the costs. Most years the grants were in the range of $400 to $500 per individual. In 2019, ninety grants were offered. We recommend that you find an NFB member as your personal convention mentor, someone who has been to many national conventions and is able to share money-saving tips with you and tips on navigating the extensive agenda in the big hotel. Your mentor will help you get the most out of the amazing experience that is convention week. Who is eligible? Active NFB members, blind or sighted, who have not yet attended an NFB national convention because of lack of funding are eligible to apply. How do I apply for funding assistance? This year, we will be accepting applications online. Since applications must be completed in a single session online, we strongly recommend you prepare your responses in a document then cut and paste your responses into the application form. The application form does not support complex formatting, so we recommend avoiding formatting such as bullet points and fonts/styles. Effective, January 1, 2020, the application form can be found at the following link: https://www.nfb.org/get-involved/national-convention/kenneth-jernigan- convention-scholarship. The application will ask for the following information: Contact information: Include your full name and both your primary phone where you can be contacted by your state President and your mobile phone you might use at convention, if available. Please include your mailing address and, if you have one, your email address. If you don't have an email address, please consider if there is a friend or chapter member who might be able to assist with email correspondence. State affiliate/chapter information: Include your state affiliate, your state president, chapter, and chapter president, if you attend a chapter. Mentor information: Include your personal convention mentor and provide that person's phone number. Funding request: Include your specific request and explain how much money you need from this fund to make this trip possible for you. We suggest you consult with other members to make a rough budget for yourself. Essay questions to explain why this is a good investment for the NFB: How do you currently participate in the Federation? Why do you want to attend a national convention? What would you receive? What can you share or give? Any special circumstances you hope the committee will take into consideration. If you cannot apply online, you can still apply by writing a letter to your state affiliate president answering the above questions. This letter should be emailed to your state affiliate President. Once you have decided you will apply, please contact your state president in person or by phone to request his or her help in obtaining funding. Be sure to tell the state affiliate president when to expect that your application will be submitted and mention the deadline is April 15. Once your application has been submitted, a copy of your application will be provided to your state president via email. It is still your responsibility to contact your affiliate President. He or she must email a president's recommendation directly to the Kenneth Jernigan Convention Scholarship Fund Committee at kjscholarships at nfb.org. Your president must email the recommendation no later than the deadline of April 15, 2020. If you have applied outside of the online form, the state affiliate president must email both the recommendation and the application letter. Notification of Award If you are chosen to receive this scholarship, you will receive a letter with convention details that should answer most of your questions. The committee makes every effort to notify winners by May 15, but you must do several things before that to be prepared to attend if you are chosen: Make your own hotel reservation. If something prevents you from attending, you can cancel the reservation. (Yes, you may arrange for roommates of your own to reduce the cost.) Register online for the entire convention, including the banquet, by May 31. Find someone in your chapter or affiliate who has been to many conventions and can answer your questions as a friend and mentor. If you do not hear from the committee by May 15, then you did not win a scholarship this year. Receiving the Award At the convention you will be given a debit card or credit card loaded with the amount of your award. The times and locations to pick up your card will be listed in the letter we send you. The committee is not able to provide funds before the convention, so work with your chapter and state affiliate to assist you by obtaining an agreement to advance funds if you win a scholarship, and to pay your treasury back after you receive your debit or credit card. More Information For additional information, please contact the chairperson of the Kenneth Jernigan Convention Scholarship Fund Committee, Tracy Soforenko, at kjscholarships at nfb.org or 410-659-9314, extension 2415. Above all, please use this opportunity to attend your first convention on the national level and join several thousand active Federationists in the most important meeting of the blind in the world. We hope to see you in Houston. ---------- Recipes Recipes this month were contributed by members of the National Federation of the Blind of New York. Chicken Mac Salad with a Twist by Bernice Bird I am always trying to think up different things to feed my friend who comes once a week to help with mail and other sighted tasks. I had chicken already cooked and came up with this combination. I served it with cool ranch tortilla chips and fruit for dessert. Ingredients: 8 ounces of cooked chicken, diced 1 small onion, diced 2 stalks of celery, chopped ? each sweet bell pepper, green, yellow, red, and/or orange, seeded and diced 8 ounces rotini pasta 8 ounces monterey jack or pepper jack cheese, grated 2/3 cups mayonnaise 1? cups salsa of your choice Salt and pepper to taste Method: Boil the pasta with a pinch of salt and a dash of olive oil until al dente or fully cooked according to your preference, drain, and cool. Cooking hint: if you are in a hurry and don't have time for the pasta to cool, just put a couple of handfuls of ice cubes into the colander with the hot pasta, then stir it around gently so as not to break up the pieces of rotini too much. Combine all ingredients in a large serving or mixing bowl and toss gently. Cooking tip: select a bigger bowl than you think you will need as pasta and other salad types tend to grow larger than you would expect as you add ingredients into the mix. Serve and enjoy, with corn or flour tortilla chips of your choice on the side or crumbled over the top. Extra salsa or mayonnaise can be added if you find that you want or need more moisture, especially after the salad has had time to rest. Mild salsa and monterey jack cheese make for a kid-friendly dish, or hot salsa and pepper jack cheese can kick it up a notch. Sour cream can be substituted for the mayonnaise for those with soy allergies, or ranch dressing can be substituted for even more flavor. Let your creativity guide you to customize this versatile and delicious dish. ---------- Pizza Pasta Salad by Bernice Bird I provided this very large bowl of pasta salad at our state convention. When the bowl was empty, we were asked if we had more. I guess that is how it should be: leave people wanting more. My daughter and I developed this particular salad together over a number of years. We each added or subtracted items from this recipe according to our likes or dislikes and/or dietary needs. Pasta Salad Ingredients: 1 pound rotini or fusilli pasta, or another shape of your choosing 8 to 12 ounces pepperoni, sliced 12 to 16 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded 8 to 12 ounces aged Italian cheeses: parmesan, romano, asiago, grana padano, or a combination of these, grated 1 each red, yellow, orange, and green sweet bell peppers, seeded and diced (Tip: many grocery stores sell 3-packs of the red, orange, and yellow bell peppers for convenience, and all four colors have slightly different flavors and nutritional profiles.) ? large seedless cucumber, peeled and diced 2 stalks celery, diced 8 to 12 ounces packaged grape tomatoes, sliced lengthwise 1 cup black or green olives, sliced in half, if desired 1 small head fresh broccoli, cut into florets 2 large carrots, peeled 1 cup Vidalia, red, Spanish, or another onion of your choice, diced 1 cup each frozen corn and peas Dressing Ingredients: 1 cup olive oil 2 cups balsamic vinegar or another vinegar of your choice such as apple cider vinegar or red wine ? cup to 4 tablespoons dried basil 1/8 cup to 2 tablespoons dried oregano 1 tablespoon dried rosemary ? cup to 4 tablespoons dried parsley flakes ? cup to 4 tablespoons dried chives 1 tablespoon onion powder 1 teaspoon garlic powder (Flavor tip: three cloves of fresh garlic, or two of black garlic, or one of elephant garlic can be put through a garlic presser or finely chopped, and each has a unique flavor and nutritional benefit.) 1 teaspoon dried paprika 2 teaspoons dried marjoram 3 teaspoons dried savory Sea salt and black pepper to taste Pasta Salad Method: Boil pasta with a pinch of salt and a pat of butter until al dente or fully cooked, according to preference, then drain and cool. Cooking hint: gently toss the hot pasta in a colander with a couple handfuls of ice cubes to cool it quickly if you are in a hurry. Rinse all vegetables and drain on paper towels or in colander before cutting to avoid a bland or watery salad. Dice the peppers, onion, celery, and cucumber. Slice tomatoes, and olives if you choose to include them, in half. Peel the carrots and discard peels and one slice off of each end, then use your peeler to produce thin carrot strips to include in the salad, or grate on a box grater. Cut broccoli florets into smaller pieces. Place pepperoni slices into small stacks, then cut each stack into quarters, producing small quarter circle wedge shapes. Thaw corn and peas in the microwave, defrost setting can be helpful, and drain. Combine all ingredients, including the cheese, meat, all vegetables, and pasta in a very large mixing bowl. Cooking tip: This salad is most cohesive and flavorful when prepared a day ahead. If you will be doing so or if there will likely be leftovers, then double the dressing recipe and add additional dressing prior to serving as the pasta will absorb the initial dressing application, making it more flavorful, but also drier. This was the method I followed when transporting the salad to our state convention. Dressing Method: Use a mortar and pestle to finely crush all herbs; if you do not own one, then you will want to run the dressing through a blender. Combine herbs, spices, oil, and vinegar in a blender bottle and shake well to combine. Refrigerate any additional dressing, but allow it to come to room temperature by removing it from the refrigerator several hours before adding it to and serving the salad. Shake the dressing well before each use if using this dressing for other salads or recipes. If you intend to use this dressing in a cooked dish such as a marinade for meat, substitute avocado oil for the olive oil as EVOO is damaged at high heat and avocado oil has a much higher smoke point. This bulk recipe is great for events but can be reduced in size for other occasions. Variations: The homemade dressing is the rock star of this salad. You can substitute a bottled dressing, but making your own gives it the standout quality at any party or gathering. Let your creativity and tastes shape this recipe by adding or substituting a variety of cooked or raw vegetables or even fruits, such as: mushrooms, zucchini, summer squash, artichokes, etc. We conceived this as a "pizza pasta salad," but substitutions or additions could change the character to suit other tastes, such as adding sweet pickle relish, salsa, soy sauce, or substituting chicken, shrimp or tuna for the pepperoni, or selecting other cheeses or spices from a different culture and cuisine. This recipe is a road map for a journey where you are encouraged to take side trips, not an absolute road map. ---------- [PHOTO/CAPTION: Linda Kaminski] Peanut Butter Cookies by Linda Kaminski Linda has been active in the Buffalo Chapter for more than 25 years. She has headed the communication the entire time. Linda also runs a support group for blind persons in the Buffalo area, is active on many committees, and attends every meeting associated with the Buffalo Chapter. Ingredients: 1 large box yellow cake mix 1 cup crunchy peanut butter 2 eggs 1/3 cup water Method: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Add half of cake mix to bowl. Add peanut butter, water, and eggs; mix well. Add remaining cake mix and mix well. Roll into balls the size of walnuts. Press with fork. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes. ---------- [PHOTO/CAPTION: Angie Robinson] Carrot Cake by Angie Robinson Angie has been an active member of the Buffalo Chapter for thirty years. She has served in many positions within the chapter and is the extremely supportive spouse of the New York affiliate president, Mike Robinson. The recipe below has been prepared for the New York State Convention and has helped create funds for the affiliate. Cake Ingredients: 1-1/2 cups oil 2 cups sugar 4 eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla 2 cups flour 2 teaspoons baking soda 2 teaspoons cinnamon 1 teaspoon salt 3 cups shredded carrots 1 cup chopped walnuts Frosting Ingredients: 1 box confectioner sugar 1 8-ounce package cream cheese 1/2 stick butter Method: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine and mix oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. When mixed, add grated carrots and nuts. Bake 50-60 minutes. Cool and frost. ---------- Tator Tot Casserole by Angie Robinson Ingredients: 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts 16 ounces Tator Tots 1 can Durkee Onions 1 bunch broccoli florets or a frozen package 1 can cream of celery (or chicken or mushroom) soup 1 teaspoon garlic salt ? cup milk 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese Method: Cook chicken and cut into cubes. Cook broccoli (if fresh) until tender. Line a large greased casserole dish with Tator Tots (sides and bottom). Bake lined dish at 450 for approximately twenty minutes until crispy. Mix cooked broccoli, half can Durkee onions, and cooked chicken; pour into Tator Tot shell. Mix soup, a half-cup milk, garlic salt, and half- cup cheese. Pour over top. Cover and bake at 450 for twenty minutes until cooked through. Uncover, add remaining cheese and onions. Bake eight minutes more until golden brown. Recipe note: This can be made and frozen ahead. Kids love this recipe! ---------- [PHOTO/CAPTION: Caleb Jonas] Cheesy Artichoke Pasta by Caleb Jonas This was one of my son Caleb's favorite dishes when he was a toddler and preschooler; he still really likes it, and it's healthy. I wrote the recipe in his voice, because blind people cooking is a great thing, but blind kids cooking is a fantastic thing. Caleb really enjoys helping me make this and now needs very little help to do so safely; he just turned six years old. And whenever kids get excited about a fruit or vegetable, artichokes in this case, then do a happy dance and get excited right along with them. When he heard me typing up the recipe to submit, he wanted to contribute. When I asked him what to do for the one he picked, his instructions were filled with the little teachable moments, nonvisual techniques, and fun kid comments that I just had to write it his way. "Maybe sighted moms will read this to their blind kids, then they'll have to cook with them, but the blind kids will keep bugging them until they let them cook stuff." Caleb Jonas, age six. Ingredients: 1 cup dry acini de peppe pasta, 100 percent whole wheat, orzo is an acceptable substitution A sprinkling of sea salt 2 ounces organic ricotta cheese 2 ounces Boursin cheese, garlic and fine herbs flavor is best 1 fresh lemon 1 tablespoon capers 1 can of artichoke hearts 2 ounces Italian cheese blend or salad cheese blend; usually contains three or four of: parmesan, romano, asiago, provolone, fontina, grana padano, etc. Caleb's Method: Mom says that blind people get to touch all the food, but we have to wash our hands before we cook and every time we touch anything but the food or the utensils, like our face, the fridge door, or raw meat or eggs. Shake a sprinkle of sea salt into your pan then put in water so the pan is at least half-full. Put the pan on the stove, and make sure it is in the middle of the burner, then ask your mom or dad to turn it on to medium hot if you are a kid. You can hear it go "fwump" when it lights. When the water is boiling, that means bubbling, and steam can make your hand wet when you hold it about a foot above the top of the pot, then you are ready to put in your pasta. Fill up your measuring cup with pasta, and pour it in over the middle of the pan slowly so it doesn't splash. Let it cook until the pasta is half softened, my mom calls it al dente, which means "to the tooth, in Italian." Stir it to keep it from sticking to the bottom. Turn off the heat and put a colander into the sink, then have your mom or dad take it over and pour it into the colander to drain, or you can do it yourself. Just practice with a pan of cold water first, and see if you can do it without touching anything but the handle or getting any of the water on you, because it will be hot when you do it for real. Do not rinse the pasta because the sticky stuff called starch on it helps the sauce stick to it better. Pour the hot pasta into a medium big mixing bowl, then put in the ricotta and Boursen cheese and stir it up until it makes a sauce out of the cheeses. The hot pasta will melt them together. Juice the lemon, hold it carefully and cut it with a really sharp serrated-that means jaggidy-knife in half, and put each half into a juice press, then squeeze it hard over a small bowl. You can pick out any seeds with your hands and throw them away. Or you can throw them at your big brother. Mom says put the peels down the garbage disposal to clean it and make it smell nice. Put the lemon juice into the pasta, and then add the capers. They are little salty things, and they are actually berries, weird, and cool! Open the can of artichokes and turn it upside down over the sink with your hand over the top and let all the water drain out. Put the artichokes in a bowl, use the one from the lemon juice, and take the artichokes apart, just peel off the petals and throw them into the pasta, like pulling a flower apart, then toss the tops in too, they're good. Stir in the lemon juice, capers and artichokes, then put the cheese blend on top, and serve. Don't tell your friends there are vegetables in it. Be careful with the sharp things and the hot things, and have fun freaking out the sighted people who watch you cook-that's the best part. ---------- Monitor Miniatures News from the Federation Family New Drupal Theme Honors Rachel Olivero Rachel Olivero (1982-2019) was a dedicated member and leader of the nation's blind, a well-known accessibility expert, and a friend to many. She tirelessly devoted herself to her role as head of the organizational technology group at the National Federation of the Blind, a position from which she leveraged her passion to change the understanding of accessibility everywhere she could by raising the competency of her peers, and challenging companies and organizations to stop making excuses and start building accessibly from the beginning. As we reflect on the one-year anniversary of her passing, we are reminded of her many contributions both to our organization and to the accessibility community at large. Because of her leadership, knowledge, and collaborative spirit, her impact on modern accessibility best practices cannot be overstated. In October 2019, the Drupal Association, which maintains the open- sourced platform the NFB uses for its websites, honored her lasting legacy by naming its new default front-end theme "Olivero." "She was committed to making technology accessible to all people," a Drupal expert said in the announcement, which was made at DrupalCon 2019. "We chose the name Olivero not just because we have made accessibility a top priority, but also because we aspire to develop this new theme in our community in a manner that is consistent with the qualities that Rachel embodied, including patience, generosity, and inclusivity." "In the National Federation of the Blind, individual blind people come together to focus their efforts into collective action that raises expectations in society and transforms dreams into reality. In a lifetime that was far too short, Rachel Olivero used her own lived experiences as a blind person as the basis for advancing the position of the blind in society. As her friends in the organized blind movement, we remember her daily," said Mark Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind. "As her colleagues carrying the march for equality of the blind forward, we celebrate the Drupal community for recognizing Rachel's commitment to equality and skillful advancement of accessibility. The naming of the Olivero theme is more than simply a nice memory; it represents a commitment by the Drupal community that accessibility will be baked into the websites of the future so that all may have access to the knowledge of the worldwide web. That is a legacy worthy of our friend Rachel Olivero, the mission of the National Federation of the Blind, and the core values of the Drupal community. As we cross the one-year anniversary of losing Rachel's leadership on our behalf, our hearts are filled with joy that accessibility in her name continues to spread around the world." Read more about Rachel Olivero in President Riccobono's tribute to her life and work, "From Member to Memorable: Rachel Olivero's Legacy of Love," in the April 2019 Braille Monitor. This news brief is also available at: https://www.nfb.org/about- us/press-room/new-drupal-theme-honors-rachel-olivero. National Federation of the Blind and Others Settle Lawsuit against United States Department of Education DOE to Reopen Investigations, Allow Appeals Washington, DC (February 6, 2020): The National Federation of the Blind, the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA), and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) have resolved the lawsuit they brought against the United States Department of Education (DOE). The suit was filed when DOE's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) changed the way it handles discrimination complaints, by revising its case processing manual, in March of 2018. The changes required OCR to dismiss discrimination complaints without investigating if an individual or organization had filed complaints before, or when complaints were filed against multiple schools or colleges. The right to appeal was also eliminated. DOE revised the manual again to roll back some of the changes in November of 2018, but the status of complaints that had already been dismissed under the March 2018 procedures was not resolved. Under the agreement, OCR has reopened all the nearly seven hundred disability rights complaints it dismissed and will investigate them following the complaint investigation processes as of November 2018. In addition, complainants who were denied the right to appeal the dismissal of their complaints between March and November of 2018 will be able to do so. "As America's civil rights organization of the blind, the National Federation of the Blind routinely combats discrimination by K-12 schools, colleges, and universities, often manifest as the use of inaccessible technology and materials," said Mark Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind. "Department of Education OCR investigations are an important avenue for protecting the rights of blind students. We are therefore proud of the work we have done with our partners to ensure the civil rights of the blind and of others who experience discrimination in education." In Brief Notices and information in this section may be of interest to Monitor readers. We are not responsible for the accuracy of the information; we have edited only for space and clarity. Summer Experience Camp - Making Teens Unstoppable! We are holding a free program at Leader Dogs for the Blind. The application deadline is April 1, 2020. Summer Experience Camp is a week of fun, friendship, and skill building. The program combines activities like zip lining, tandem biking with independence building exercises, and things exclusively Leader Dog-GPS training and spending time with future Leader Dogs. The combination helps increase independent travel skills, interpersonal skills, and leadership skills. The free program is for boys and girls ages sixteen and seventeen who are legally blind. Leader Dog covers all costs including airfare to Michigan-and everyone receives a free HumanWare Victor Reader Trek GPS device. The 2020 camp dates are June 24-July 1. Applications are due by April 1, 2020. You can view a Fox Sports clip about camp, read camper stories, and download an application at LeaderDog.org. ---------- NFB Pledge I pledge to participate actively in the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind to achieve equality, opportunity, and security for the blind; to support the policies and programs of the Federation; and to abide by its constitution. ----------------------- [1] Taken from "History of the Blind" [2] For a more detailed survey of this topic that emphasizes Western literary traditions, read "Blindness: Is Literature Against Us?", a banquet speech delivered by Dr. Kenneth Jernigan at the National Convention of the National Federation of the Blind, Chicago, Illinois, on July 3, 1974. [3]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homer [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appius_Claudius_Caecus [5] https://www.dictionary.com/browse/aqueduct [6] In the early Republic, a dictator held nearly absolute power, but one was appointed only when the need came to address a military or civil emergency posing an existential threat to the state. The term of the dictator's rule was usually limited to nine months or fewer, and following the emergency the dictator would step down as rule by the people was once again affirmed. [7] See the Wikipedia entry on Appius Claudius Caecus, as cited just above. [8] Ibid. [9] https://www.britannica.com/topic/censor-ancient-Roman-official [10] See the Wikipedia entry on Appius Claudius Caecus, as cited just above. [11] Caesar and Christ: The Story of Civilization, Volume III by Will Durant, ? 1944, p. 29. [12]Ibid., p. 32. [13] Ibid., p. 36. From buhrow at nfbcal.org Wed Mar 25 17:38:33 2020 From: buhrow at nfbcal.org (Brian Buhrow) Date: Wed, 25 Mar 2020 17:38:33 -0700 Subject: [Brl-monitor] The Braille Monitor, April 2020 Message-ID: <202003260038.02Q0cXYx016520@nfbcal.org> BRAILLE MONITOR Vol. 63, No.4 April 2020 Gary Wunder, Editor Distributed by email, in inkprint, in Braille, and on USB flash drive, by the NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND Mark Riccobono, President telephone: 410-659-9314 email address: nfb at nfb.org website address: http://www.nfb.org NFBnet.org: http://www.nfbnet.org NFB-NEWSLINE? information: 866-504-7300 Like us on Facebook: Facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind Follow us on Twitter: @NFB_Voice Watch and share our videos: YouTube.com/NationsBlind Letters to the President, address changes, subscription requests, and orders for NFB literature should be sent to the national office. Articles for the Monitor and letters to the editor may also be sent to the national office or may be emailed to gwunder at nfb.org. Monitor subscriptions cost the Federation about forty dollars per year. Members are invited, and nonmembers are requested, to cover the subscription cost. Donations should be made payable to National Federation of the Blind and sent to: National Federation of the Blind 200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place Baltimore, Maryland 21230-4998 THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND KNOWS THAT BLINDNESS IS NOT THE CHARACTERISTIC THAT DEFINES YOU OR YOUR FUTURE. EVERY DAY WE RAISE THE EXPECTATIONS OF BLIND PEOPLE, BECAUSE LOW EXPECTATIONS CREATE OBSTACLES BETWEEN BLIND PEOPLE AND OUR DREAMS. YOU CAN LIVE THE LIFE YOU WANT; BLINDNESS IS NOT WHAT HOLDS YOU BACK. THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND IS NOT AN ORGANIZATION SPEAKING FOR THE BLIND-IT IS THE BLIND SPEAKING FOR OURSELVES. ISSN 0006-8829 ? 2020 by the National Federation of the Blind Each issue is recorded on a thumb drive (also called a memory stick or USB flash drive). You can read this audio edition using a computer or a National Library Service digital player. The NLS machine has two slots-the familiar book-cartridge slot just above the retractable carrying handle and a second slot located on the right side near the headphone jack. This smaller slot is used to play thumb drives. Remove the protective rubber pad covering this slot and insert the thumb drive. It will insert only in one position. If you encounter resistance, flip the drive over and try again. (Note: If the cartridge slot is not empty when you insert the thumb drive, the digital player will ignore the thumb drive.) Once the thumb drive is inserted, the player buttons will function as usual for reading digital materials. If you remove the thumb drive to use the player for cartridges, when you insert it again, reading should resume at the point you stopped. You can transfer the recording of each issue from the thumb drive to your computer or preserve it on the thumb drive. However, because thumb drives can be used hundreds of times, we would appreciate their return in order to stretch our funding. Please use the return envelope enclosed with the drive when you return the device. Houston Site of 2020 NFB Convention As this goes to press, the 2020 NFB National Convention is taking place July 14-19 in Houston, Texas, as planned. We will continue to evaluate the COVID-19 situation and the needs of attendees. We will update the national convention webpage (nfb.org/convention) regarding the status of the event and any related precautions to be taken. More information about our response to COVID-19 can be found at https://www.nfb.org/about- us/press-room. The 2020 convention of the National Federation of the Blind will take place in Houston, Texas, July 14 to July 19, at the Hilton Americas-Houston hotel, 1600 Lamar Street, Houston, TX 77010. Make your room reservation as soon as possible with the Hilton Americas-Houston staff only. Call 1-800- 236-2905 to reserve your room in the main hotel. If you wish to stay in our overflow hotel, the Marriott Marquis Houston, the number to call is 1-877- 688-4323. The 2020 room rate at our main hotel is $105.00 per night and applies to singles and doubles as well as triples and quads. Hotel and sales taxes are 13.38 percent and 8.25 percent, respectively. The rate for the overflow Marriott Marquis is slightly higher at $119 and includes Hotel and sales taxes of 13.38 percent and 8.25 percent, respectively. As with our main hotel, this rate is good for up to four in a room. Both hotels will take a deposit of the first night's room rate for each room and will require a credit card or a personal check. If you use a credit card, the deposit will be charged against your card immediately. If a reservation is cancelled before Friday, June 1, 2020, half of the deposit will be returned. Otherwise refunds will not be made. Rooms will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Reservations may be made before June 1, 2020, assuming that rooms are still available. After that time the hotels will not hold our room block for the convention. In other words, you should get your reservation in soon. The schedule for the 2020 convention is: Tuesday, July 14 Seminar Day Wednesday, July 15 Registration and Resolutions Day Thursday, July 16 Board Meeting and Division Day Friday, July 17 Opening Session Saturday, July 18 Business Session Sunday, July 19 Banquet Day and Adjournment Vol. 63, No. 4 April 2020 Contents The 2020 Washington Seminar by Gary Wunder Legislative Agenda of Blind Americans: Priorities for the 116th Congress, Second Session Access Technology Affordability Act Greater Access and Independence through Nonvisual Access Technology (GAIN) Act Accessible Instructional Materials in Higher Education (AIM HIGH) Act Remarks of Congressman Bobby Scott Hearing on Autonomous Vehicles: Promises and Challenges of Evolving Automotive Technologies by Mark Riccobono Being Honest with Oneself Should Require No Debate by Ryan Strunk On Privilege by Geerat J. Vermeij The Tours in Texas by Norma Crosby I am a Federationist by Jessica Reed The Unknown by Marc Maurer Why Attend the 2020 NFB Career Fair? by Dick Davis The Blind Doctor of Rocanville by Eva-Lis Wuorio Blindness: Is the Public Against Us? by Kenneth Jernigan Continuing the Recipe Column by Gary Wunder Recipes Monitor Miniatures Participate in Braille Monitor Survey The Braille Monitor is a magazine that the Federation has published since 1957. We call it our flagship publication. In terms not so tied to the Navy, this means that it should be the lead publication of our organization, the one which all of us follow and contribute to in order to share what is going on in our Federation family, the latest news about blindness-related activities, and the place we record the major milestones of the National Federation of the Blind's progress. For some time now we have been seeing Federationists-new Federationists in particular, we believe-who don't seem to know about the Braille Monitor and who have not subscribed because of it. We have assembled a survey that will ask participants a number of things about the Monitor, including whether someone has offered to sign them up for it; whether they read it and why not if the answer is no; and what should change to make the Monitor more the kind of magazine they want to see as the flagship publication of our organization. The Braille Monitor reflects many of our traditions, but it also must evolve enough to clearly be relevant in this decade and those to come. Please help us by telling us what you want, what you need, and what you will read. Together we will keep making history, and the Braille Monitor will continue to tell our story about defining a problem, talking it through, and doing what it takes to see that it gets solved. Thank you for helping the publication that states boldly "We are the Blind Speaking for Ourselves." How to Complete the Survey . Online: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BrailleMonitor . Phone: 667-888-2454 . Mail: Remove the survey from Monitor, mark your answers with an "X," and mail FREE MATTER FOR THE BLIND to Braille Monitor Survey, National Federation of the Blind, 200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230. Braille Monitor Survey Please complete the following survey questions. 1. How long have you been reading the Braille Monitor? . I've never read the Braille Monitor. . 0-5 years. . 6-10 years . 11-15 years . More than 15 years . I've read it, but then I decided not to continue reading it. 2. If you've never read the Braille Monitor or you decided not to continue reading it, please tell us why. If you read it regularly, skip to question three. . I didn't know about it. . I am not much of a reader. . From the name I thought it was only available in Braille. . The articles do not seem relevant to me. . I would read it if the articles were (please specify) 3. How did you hear about the Braille Monitor? . Chapter meeting or chapter president . Affiliate convention . National convention . NFB email, NFB website, or other NFB promotion . I've never heard about it. . Other (please specify) 4. What is your preferred reading method for magazines? . Braille (hard copy) . Print (hard copy) . Online/Web . Email . Podcasts . USB . NFB-NEWSLINE 5. What information are you looking for in the Braille Monitor? You may select more than one. . Organization philosophy . Personal stories about blind people . Legal and advocacy updates . Articles about technology . Updates from affiliates, divisions, and chapters . National event roundups . Tips and advice . Recipes . Other (please specify) 6. Please provide any additional feedback regarding the Braille Monitor. _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ Your responses will be anonymous. Thank you for your participation in our Braille Monitor Survey. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Gary Wunder] [PHOTO CAPTION: President Riccobono speaks to the National Association of Blind Students session during Washington Seminar.] [PHOTO CAPTION: President Riccobono welcomes members during a Jernigan Institute Tour.] [PHOTO CAPTION: The crowd at the Great Gathering-In] [PHOTO CAPTION: Richard Payne talks to Ohio Representative Bob Latta] [PHOTO CAPTION: Georgia Representative Sanford Bishop speaks at the Congressional Reception.] [PHOTO CAPTION: Erin Daring, NFB of Maryland president Ronza Othman, and Sharon Maneki with Maryland Representative Jamie Raskin.] The 2020 Washington Seminar by Gary Wunder When I was a young lad, there were some things I knew to be solid and certain. My mother was the sweetest, kindest, gentlest woman in the world. My father was the smartest, hardest working, most motivated man in the world. He could walk into a room, and the room was his. People wanted to talk with him, to know what he thought, and if by chance they didn't ask, he let them know anyway. But the one thing that surprised me was that when it came to government action and policy, Dad would sometimes refer to himself as the little guy or the little man. In no other area of his life did he think or talk about himself as little or helpless or inferior to anyone. When he would listen to the news and they talked about presidents, senators, or congressmen, he would occasionally comment about what they did, but he also made it clear that he had little to no influence over any of it except to complain, and, once in a while, cast his vote for or against them. What a shock it was to me when I came to this blind group who said they routinely dealt with the House and the Senate at the state and national level. They said these men and women with titles came to their meetings and that the blind also went to visit them. They said that when the blind talked, these officials often listened, and the Federation had this impressive list of accomplishments that had come from their interaction. To say the least I was impressed and then almost overwhelmed when they asked me to come along and speak with these powerful people. When I did it, they listened, and when some of them knew my name in repeat visits, I was on cloud nine. Almost as good was that my father was impressed and told family and friends about how I went to Washington to talk with people about what blind folks needed, and they actually acted. For decades, the NFB has been coming to Washington, never deterred by the weather and not even when one house declared it was going on retreat after we had made plans to attend. One year we made it to Capitol Hill when many congressmen and staffers had a hard time getting in because of the snowy weather, and this helped immensely in convincing them of our commitment and how seriously we took our issues. They mentioned our presence for years after, and this was a big plus for a group considered so limited in dealing with their environment. The Washington Seminar focuses on our trip to the hill, but over the years it has grown to be much more. This year witnessed a job fair sponsored by our committee to encourage employment, and more about it will appear elsewhere in this issue. The National Association of Blind Students has long held what it calls its mid-winter meeting, and recently the trip to Washington has been used for a meeting of state presidents. This, along with a meeting of state legislative directors, has people really pumped when it comes time for the Great Gathering-In meeting. This year it occurred on Monday, February 10. It began promptly at 5 p.m., and this is what President Riccobono said to open the meeting: Why have we gathered here this evening? President Barack Obama said, "Change will not come if we wait for some other person or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek." President John F. Kennedy said, "Change is the law of life, and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future." We, the blind of this nation, have come from near and far to take a stand for our future. We have come to stand for equality, opportunity, and security. We have come seeking not to be cared for by our government but to share in the responsibilities of building our nation. The blind have come because for too long we have suffered the injustice of low expectations. We stand together because we are not satisfied with the second-class education we have been offered compared to our sighted peers. We stand together because our independence is threatened by the failure of manufacturers and technology developers to include nonvisual access in their products. We stand together because we represent blind individuals from every state in the nation who seek to be the change needed. In standing together we raise expectations and eliminate the obstacles that hold us back. We stand together in rejecting the institutionalized systems of discrimination that have existed in the past and often continue to define the present. We stand together with hope for the future. We stand together in solidarity, supporting the conviction that blindness is not the characteristic that defines us or our future. We stand together even in the year when vision is being celebrated by every agency and organization that believes that the future is exclusively defined by eyesight. We stand together for the 2020 view on blindness, one that is defined by our authentic experience, and where we are the change we seek. We stand together knowing that united we can change the world. To those who say we are unrealistic and should compromise our values, take note: we stand together, and we will not back down! In 2018 the Office for Civil Rights of the United States Department of Education arbitrarily changed its case processing manual to strip away the protections that we had to make sure that we could file complaints if we faced discrimination in education. The National Federation of the Blind took a stand against the government deciding on its own and without notice to take away our rights, and we invited the NAACP and the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates to stand with us. The government does not get to decide when we have rights and when we do not simply because it is not prepared to deal with the barriers that stand between blind people and our dreams. As a result of our lawsuit, the Department of Education voluntarily returned to some of its previous policies; however, they did so with no guarantee that they would not make changes again in the future. Just a few days ago we announced a settlement agreement with the United States Department of Education Office for Civil Rights. As a part of that settlement agreement, anyone who filed an OCR complaint that was dismissed between March 5, 2018, and November 19, 2018, may appeal the dismissal, thanks to the work of the National Federation of the Blind. The United States Department of Education now knows that we stand together, and we will not back down. Michelle Clark is an information technology specialist with the United States Department of Agriculture. Ironically, part of her duties include Section 508 coverage for the agency. Michelle faced significant discrimination due to inaccessible workplace technologies. The National Federation of the Blind assisted her in resolving her employment discrimination complaint and in filing a Section 508 complaint against the Department of Agriculture. The evidence that we provided was overwhelming. The department was forced to investigate its adherence to Section 508 and ultimately found against itself. Specifically it found that, in procuring and implementing inaccessible technology, it had violated federal law. We have also stood with Amy Ruell and Joe Orozco in filing lawsuits against their employers, Beacon Health Options and the FBI respectively, because those institutions have implemented inaccessible workplace technologies that prevent blind people from being fully independent in their jobs. Similarly, we have supported NFB member Maryann Murad in filing a suit against Amazon for implementing inaccessible workplace technology that prevented her from being hired as a virtual customer assistant using Amazon's platform. We offered to help Amazon fix its platform, but instead they said that maybe Miss Murad should "apply for a more appropriate position." We support these blind individuals and others to let all employers know that the future we seek is one in which the technologies do not bar us from full participation. We stand together, and we will not back down. Similarly, in such an important election year, we face discrimination in voting. Let any elected official who supports unequal access to the American democracy that bars blind people from having a secret, independently verifiable ballot know that we will find a way to organize, and our votes will count against you. On the issue of equal access to voting, we stand together, and we will not back down. We have come with solutions. We stand with a clear commitment to demonstrate to others the future we believe is possible. Long ago we recognized that the education system was failing our blind children. The limiting effects of low expectations have held generation after generation of blind youth back. We built training centers in Colorado, Louisiana, and Minnesota to cultivate the capacity that America's education system fails to recognize. But this has not been enough. So, we committed that if they will not teach them, we will teach them ourselves. We started programs in science, technology, engineering, art, and math nearly two decades ago. Now hundreds of blind youth have successfully pursued advanced degrees and careers in the most innovative and cutting edge areas of our American society. Many of those blind people have now come back to teach the next generation in the Federation education program. This commitment was made by blind people standing together for blind people. It was made with love, hope, and determination for the future that we seek to build. For the next generation we stand together, and we will not back down. We will not back down because our future is on the line. We have come because we want the future to be built on our terms, not on outdated notions of blindness that have held us back. We have come because we have real solutions to offer, and we are prepared to stand together as long as it takes to get those solutions enacted into law and implemented across the nation. We have come because the National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines us or our future. Every day we raise the expectations for the blind because low expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want, and blindness is not what holds you back. We stand together with love, hope, and determination. We will not back down because we come to our Washington Seminar to transform dreams into reality. This is the significance of the Washington Seminar. Let's go build the National Federation of the Blind! President Riccobono's theme would be echoed again and again during the Great Gathering-In, and the speaker who followed him used it several times. Bobby Scott is the chairperson of the committee on education and labor, and the remarks he made will appear elsewhere in this issue. After Congressman Scott's moving remarks, President Riccobono noted that in the audience were Immediate Past President Dr. Maurer, his wife Patricia, and Mrs. Mary Ellen Jernigan. Their presence was greeted with a warm round of applause. For a very long time Diane McGeorge was the coordinator of the Washington Seminar, but she announced last year that she was passing the responsibility to Buna Dahal. After welcoming us to the 2020 Washington Seminar, Buna asked us to give a shout-out to Diane, who was no doubt listening on the seminar stream. This we did, and it almost brought the house down. Buna thanked all of the people involved in the logistics that make the Washington Seminar possible. She also said that she had had a talk with the hotel staff and that they would be ready for the onslaught of people who would visit after the Great Gathering-In meeting concluded. Our director of communications, Stephanie Cascone, made her first appearance at the Washington Seminar in her new capacity, and she took a minute to talk about the importance of chronicling our activities on Twitter and Facebook. She urged us to share with the world those congressman and staffers we had met with but to refrain from announcing endorsements until they are officially confirmed by our advocacy and policy group when they review the list of those who have cosponsored. Anil Lewis is our executive director of blindness initiatives at the Jernigan Institute. He gave a brief overview of many programs that we sponsor including the Braille Enrichment for Literacy and Learning Academy, our Spatial Abilities in Blindness Engineering Research (SABER) program that is funded by the National Science Foundation to help us in our work to teach mechanical engineering skills to blind students, Youth Slam in which we bring over two hundred blind students each year for a series of weeklong activities, and the expansion of that program that we will bring to fifteen of our affiliates. We continue to teach people how to create nonvisual access in the programs and websites they design, and as an extension to this, we are going to teach both novices and experts how to design mobile applications that are similarly accessible. Much more detail can be found on the NFB website about the programs, and we are hopeful that an article with more in-depth coverage will be coming for the Braille Monitor. The National Federation of the Blind wants to recognize innovative programs and the people who create them. For this reason we created the Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award, and President Riccobono reminded everyone that we should get in applications before April 15. This is a marvelous opportunity to give significant recognition to those who have made real advancements in work on behalf of the blind. Rideshare services represent a wonderful opportunity for blind people, but we continue to see discriminatory behavior when it comes to transporting people and their guide dogs. We have a monitoring program in place. This is the last year of the program, but since discrimination still persists, it is urgent that we use the service to report both the good and the bad. Let us take this opportunity to make our voices heard so that we as Federationists can decide what we should do next. Jeannie Massay is the chairperson of the National Federation of the Blind Membership Committee. She took the microphone to discuss our initiatives to get new members and reminded all of us that if we know blind people who were not members, we should make a special effort to let them know about the programs and activities of the Federation. She also said that we have initiated a quarterly call in which people who are not members can talk with the leadership of the Federation and ask questions that they may have about the organization. More information can be had by writing to membership at nfb.org. John Par? is the Federation's executive director of advocacy and policy, and it was his turn to address the group. He said that we would be highlighting three issues as we went to Capitol Hill but that we are involved in at least six active issues. They include the Transformation to Competitive Employment Act; legislation on autonomous vehicles; and Sami's Law, a bill to enhance security when using rideshare services. The three major issues we took to Capitol Hill were outlined by members of the advocacy and policy team. Since the fact sheets will immediately follow this article, we will not attempt to summarize them here. Dr. Sachin Pavithran is the chairperson of the United States Access Board, and he addressed the gathering. Dr. Pavithran said that many universities tell us that they do not know how to comply with accessibility requirements, but it is clear to him that the technology and techniques definitely exist for them to comply. It is up to us to see that they do, and from his fourteen years attending the Washington Seminar, he believes we will. The executive director of the Access Board has announced his retirement, and President Riccobono suggested that Sachin Pavithran would make a wonderful replacement. The Access Board has never been headed by a blind person, and he opined that, should Dr. Pavithran decide to apply for the position, he thought that the Federation might support him. The room evidenced its agreement with its cheers and applause. The Dream Makers Circle is a program through which members and non- members alike can make a contribution to the Federation on their death. This support can make a tremendous difference in the lives of blind people in the future, and President Riccobono encouraged those who are interested to contact Patti Chang by writing to pchang at nfb.org or by calling her at 410-659-9314, extension 2422. Scott LaBarre came forward to talk about the Preauthorized Contribution Program. He observed that the changes we want to make in the lives of blind people cannot be done on fumes. Progress will require real fuel in the form of commitment and money. The Preauthorized Contribution Program is an excellent way to see that the organization has the funds it needs to be effective in pushing forward our agenda by allowing members to make reliable and affordable monthly contributions to our organization. Scott asked that we sing the PAC song twice since it is likely that we will be changing the name of the program to avoid the frequent confusion with organizations that make political contributions through what they call PACS. Terri Rupp of Nevada is the newest member of the Board of Directors of the National Federation of the Blind. She announced that she would be doing a 50-K run to raise $50,000 for the National Federation of the Blind. She urged members to support her run using social media and suggested that there is something beautiful in being able to unite three things she loves: shoes, running, and the Federation. The crowd enthusiastically wished her well in this endeavor and expressed gratitude for her enthusiasm and commitment. The next to last announcement of the evening was that the National Association of Blind Students would be holding its Capitol Karaoke event immediately following the Great Gathering-In, and all were encouraged to attend either as performers or spectators. Whether the last event at the Great Gathering-In qualifies as an announcement or not I will leave to the reader. President Riccobono said that the 2021 National Convention will be held from July 6 to July 11. He started to announce the location, but since it was getting close to 7 p.m. he said that announcement would have to wait. After the Great Gathering-In meeting, some went to caucus and role- play, some went to find dinner, and some went to karaoke. On Tuesday morning the DC affiliate offered us delicious doughnuts to ensure we would have the energy to take on the rigors of Capitol Hill. Uber, Lyft, and the DC taxis were delighted by the morning rush. The halls of the House and Senate were crowded, but not so crowded that one could not hear the click of dog nails and the tapping of white canes. We had to balance our desire to say hello, brag about our latest meeting, and hear the same from our compatriots against the need to make our next appointments. After a busy day on Capitol Hill, many of us moved to the Kennedy Caucus Room, one of the most prestigious in the United States Senate, where we participated in the National Federation of the Blind Congressional Reception. The purpose in holding the reception was to bring the 2020 view on blindness to Capitol Hill. The Alliance of Automotive Innovators has been very helpful in sponsoring this event, and Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland helped us secure this beautiful room for the evening. We have had a number of exceptional congressional receptions, but by far this one was the most exceptional. Fourteen senators and representatives attended, and a number of them made remarks, some of which we will print here. The first person introduced to speak was Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland. He is the chief sponsor of the Accessible Technology Affordability Act in the Senate. The senator very generously and courteously acknowledged members of the House of Representatives and other senators from both parties. He went on to say, There's a lot going on in our country that challenges the values of this great nation. I'm not going to go into all of that, but one thing is clear: this country needs to make sure that every person is treated fairly and equitably here in America and has every opportunity. I want to thank my friend Fred Graefe for always reminding me about the importance of these issues as they relate to those who are visually impaired. We need to make sure we do what's right, and today technology is out of the financial reach of too many people who are visually impaired. That needs to change in this country, and that's why I've introduced bipartisan legislation. I want to thank Senator Bozeman, my cosponsor of this bill in the United States Senate. This will provide the kind of financial help so you can have the technology you need to be able to do all in your ability to help your families and help this country. Yes, this is about individual empowerment and fairness to the individual. But it's also about the economic strength of America by using the talents of every person in our country so that our country can perform at the level that we need to for international competition. We need your talent; we need you to help build our country; we need you to help build wealth here in America. I couldn't be prouder of what you do as individuals and as an organization. You really are carrying out the vision of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. when he said, 'Each one of us is here for a purpose. Each one of us can make a difference in someone's life, but when we join together, we can bring about change.' You are joined together, you are bringing about change, we are on that journey, and we are going to succeed. Congressman Bob Latta from Ohio was the next member to address us. He is particularly influential in the area of autonomous vehicles and the role that the federal government will play in their regulation and adoption. He thanked President Riccobono for the testimony delivered earlier in the day to the Energy and Commerce Committee. The Congressman's mother was significantly visually impaired, and she stopped driving when he was sixteen and relied on others to help her with transportation. He is excited about this bill because 37,000 people die on our nation's roads each year, and the overwhelming majority of fatalities are caused by human error. We concentrate on safety in many areas of our lives, and automobile and pedestrian safety should rank high on the list. He noted that it is wonderful when Congress can pass something that not only creates a safer world but also extends such tremendous opportunities to those who need equality in transportation. Congressman Cathy McMorris Rodgers hails from the state of Washington. She is our lead cosponsor on the Transformation to Competitive Employment Act and is also heavily involved in the issue of autonomous vehicles. She also has a deep commitment to raising expectations and eliminating discrimination for workers with disabilities. Representative McMorris Rodgers began by commending President Riccobono on the testimony he gave earlier in the day. She said that when members of that committee and the rest of Congress saw us walking those halls, there could be no better testimony to our capabilities and the things we need in order to enjoy full equality of opportunity. She said, I have a son with special needs. He's in sixth grade, and I often wonder about his future. Where is Cole going to live, where is he going to work, and what kind of future is he going to have? You know, I am super excited about his future right now as I think about the policies you are advancing, not just for the blind but for so many others around driverless cars, around competitive employment, and so many other things. So you being here makes a difference, and I just want to say thanks more than anything for doing that. I am proud to be the Republican lead on the Transformation to Competitive Employment Act. There is nothing as powerful as an idea whose time has come, and this idea has come. You look at the unemployment rate in America and we're celebrating that the unemployment rate for those with disabilities has come down; however, we need to make sure that as we are moving forward that we are recognizing the ability of each person and seeing them the way they deserve when it comes to their employment. Thanks for being here, thanks for all you do; we're in this together, and we're going to get it done. God bless you. President Riccobono introduced our next presenter with these words. "He is our lead champion in the House of Representatives for the Accessible Technology Affordability Act. He serves as the chairperson for the Subcommittee on Tax and Policy for the Ways and Means Committee. From the great state of California, here is Congressman Mike Thompson: Thank you to all of you for coming to Capitol Hill to work on this issue. The bills you have heard about today are so incredibly important, and your being here is going to be the impetus for making sure that they become law. I've got to say a special thanks to Ben Cardin who's carrying this bill in the Senate. I'm so proud that he's doing that, and I'm so happy he could get this room for all of us tonight. But you know, what I'm most happy about with Ben is that he left the House to run for the Senate because I was able to move up on the dais in the Ways and Means Committee. As a result I am the chairman of the Special Revenues Subcommittee, and I'm able to really work hard for your accessibility legislation. We are going to get this bill passed by the House, passed by the Senate, and signed into law. Congressman Sanford Bishop addressed the reception and began by thanking all of us for being at our nation's capitol. He related a story in which a high school friend was always chosen last for the basketball team, and although people liked him, they couldn't figure out why he could never keep hold of the basketball. When the congressman left to go to college, his mother hired this young man to weed her garden. When she saw that he had not cleaned all the weeds, she asked him why not, and he said that he thought he had. She convinced his mother to take him to an ophthalmologist; he was diagnosed as legally blind, he got services, went to college, and finished Summa Cum Laude. He became a minister and pastored a church for some thirty-five years. The take-away the congressman wished to share with everyone is that ability is not measured by visual impairment if you have the resources, and it has no bearing on your ability to become a fully functioning American. He said, When we invest in people, people succeed, so I am proud to be a cosponsor of the technology bill. I'm proud to support AbilityOne, and I'm proud to support all of the programs that enhance your position to be able to realize a high quality of life. ... I say to my constituents over and over again that it is the squeaky wheel that gets the grease and the crying baby that gets the milk. Here at the seat of power, I want you to squeak, I want you to cry, and I want you to let all of the members of the Senate know just how important it is to invest in each and every one of you through the Accessible Technology Affordability Act and all of the resources that will make your life better. He concluded his remarks with these words: Isn't it strange That princes and kings, And clowns that caper In sawdust rings, And common people Like you and me Are builders for eternity? Each is given a bag of tools, A shapeless mass, A book of rules; And each must make- Ere life is flown- A stumbling block Or a steppingstone. I want to thank you, each and every one of you, for not being a stumbling block but for being a steppingstone for a higher, better quality of life for all Americans, particularly those who are blind and have vision impairments. President Riccobono next introduced Congressman Bill Pascrell of New Jersey. He began by acknowledging all of the distinguished persons who came to the microphone before him and those in the room who would soon come to speak. He observed that if a member of the House or Senate was not on the Accessible Technology Affordability Act, there was something wrong with him. The congressman noted that in 2016 he suffered significant vision loss in one eye as a result of shingles on his head. He said that each and every one of us, no matter who we are, all face problems and that we are all in the same boat. This is why we must help one another. Congresswoman Alma Adams thanked us for coming to the Capitol and observed that this was where we needed to be because it is here we can meet with the people who hold the purse strings and shape the policies that will influence our lives. "I have always said that sometimes you can't change policies unless you change policymakers, so if you have to do that, you can go ahead and do it." The congresswoman has some special insight into the needs of blind people, her sister being blind and having sickle cell anemia. She assisted her sister through school, and this experience helped her recognize some of the difficulties that blind people can face in the world. She supports bills to see that blind people get into the workforce, that once there we are treated as we should be, and that we have the skills and technology to be effective in all walks of life. "You are in the right place at the right time doing the right thing, and as you continue to advocate, you need to make sure that what you need is known to each of us. ... You know it doesn't matter who we are; what matters is what we can become." Thinking further about the future, she said, "A community can only grow great when old men and old women plant trees under which we know we will never sit. We are serving here in the Congress to plant those trees for those who will come behind us and for those who are here right now. Thank you for what you do, and thank you for your leadership as well." Congressman John Sarbanes represents the district in which President Riccobono lives and where the National Federation of the Blind has its headquarters. He is a good friend of the Federation, and he next came to the microphone. He said he is proud to represent the National Federation of the Blind and proud of the advocacy work we do because he believes that all of it is oriented to lifting people up, and when you lift them up, they in turn lift everyone else. The majority leader of the United States House of Representatives, Congressman Steny Hoyer, was next introduced. The close working relationship we have with him was evidenced by the applause he received as he moved to the microphone. He reminded us that the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in 1990 and that he was the sponsor of the bill. His only regret is that he believes the bill was misnamed and should have been called the Americans with Abilities Act since the reason for its being is to help all of us focus on the things that we can do. He tells people that the Americans with Disabilities Act was not passed just for people with disabilities but so that this great country could tap all of our talents in making her the best that she can be. In closing he said, "So I want to thank you for your advocacy, notwithstanding that which you can't do but magnifying what you can do. That's what we all need to do." Before leaving the stage, Congressman Hoyer introduced a friend and a person he has known for a long time. "You now have somebody who has dedicated all her life to educating, lifting up, reaching out, and making lives better in so many roles. She is an extraordinary educator, a former president of the University of Wisconsin, a former president of the University of Miami, a former secretary of the health and human services agency, and now a member of the Congress of the United States. She has spent every day of her adult life advocating for better policies for all of our people. I am so pleased to be her colleague and her friend; ladies and gentlemen, Donna Shalala." Congresswoman Shalala said that she spent a long time as secretary of Health and Human Services and that she came back to Washington, DC, in her seventies because she found herself "pissed off." In her opinion, we have so much more to do. The Americans with Disabilities Act was step one, and Congresswoman Shalala believes that it is our job to figure out what piece of legislation will deal with the problems we face now and in the future will be step two. President Riccobono next introduced Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania. The senator apologized for beginning with bad news but noted that the poverty rate for people with disabilities far exceeds the rate for those who are not disabled. Similarly, the rate of employment of disabled people falls far below the employment rate for people without them. We all know this is unacceptable, and Senator Casey discussed four bills intended to address poverty and unemployment for the disabled. He began by talking about the Transformation to Competitive Employment Act to phase out the payment of subminimum wages and to create good jobs in their place. He supports the Disability Employment Incentive Act to double the existing tax credit for hiring a person with a disability. He similarly favors the Home and Community-Based Services Infrastructure Improvement Act that will provide additional Medicaid funds to states so they can increase the availability of accessible housing, transportation, and funds for creating competitive, integrated employment services. If passed it will also provide funds for increased wages for direct service workers. Lastly, the senator believes we need to grow the ABLE Act [Achieving a Better Life Experience]. "It's good legislation; we're glad we got it passed five years ago, but ABLE, as it stands now, isn't good enough. We've got about 56,000 accounts across the country, and we want that number to grow. One of the best ways to grow it is to raise the age from twenty-six to forty-six. That will make millions more people eligible including one million veterans. We want to make sure we do that...I'm giving all the credit to all of you for walking the halls, for making the case to move this agenda forward. God bless you and thank you. Have fun tonight." President Riccobono took the opportunity to recognize Dave Schwietert from the Alliance of Auto Innovators. He thanked the alliance for their tremendous support, both of the National Federation of the Blind and the concept that accessibility of autonomous vehicles should be baked in rather than added as an afterthought. President Riccobono introduced our next guest by saying that the way we got acquainted was by our president being called to the congressman's office with the complaint that we were holding up action on an important bill. When President Riccobono met with the congressman, the president was pleasantly surprised when Representative Chris Smith said that he understood why we were holding up his bill and that the safety provisions it was intended to provide for users of rideshare services should not be visual. He wanted to know how to change them and expected us to help. We are working with the congressman to ensure that Sami's Law makes the world a safer place for rideshare users and provides all of the benefits to blind people that will be enjoyed by those who can see. The congressman began his remarks with a cute story. He was asked to give a keynote address, told to keep it to an hour, and delivered it in an hour and five minutes. At the end of his presentation, a little girl came up and told him that his speech was long and boring. A few minutes later the father of the girl came and said, "I don't know what you two were talking about, but I just want you to know my little daughter Melissa is four years old, and she just repeats whatever she hears." He says he now keeps all of his remarks to two minutes. Representative Smith said that he has been in Congress for forty years and that much of his time and energy have been put into civil rights and disability issues. He introduced Sami's Law when the mother and father of one of his constituents came to report her brutal murder after getting into a vehicle that was not part of a rideshare service. The goal of Sami's Law is to ensure that those requesting a rideshare vehicle can verify before closing the door that they are indeed entering the vehicle they ordered. Representative Smith is grateful for our input and believes that the resulting legislation will be far better as a result of our collaboration. Congressman Steve Stivers was the last lawmaker to address the reception. He said that his goals and our goals are aligned, that he was cosponsoring some of our legislation, and that our shared commitment was to see that blind people could live the lives we want with technology that is accessible to us. He offered as one example his commitment to see that his website was completely accessible and thanked the Federation for its assistance with the project. In wrapping up the reception, President Riccobono said, "We have friends like these because all of you make the effort to come from your local chapter of the National Federation of the Blind to Washington, DC, to represent our movement. We've got some more work to do on the Hill, so enjoy some food, enjoy some drink, and let's go build the National Federation of the Blind." With a thank-you to all of the congressmen who came and to the Alliance of Auto Innovators, the reception was adjourned. There is much that could be said about the events of Wednesday and Thursday, but I think the results of our seminar are best summarized by John Par? when he says: Thank you for your fantastic work at Washington Seminar. As President Riccobono reported in his weekly notebook, we had a significant increase in all of our cosponsor counts. In the House, the Access Technology Affordability Act went from forty-nine to sixty- three cosponsors. In the Senate it went from fifteen to seventeen cosponsors. The GAIN Act went from four to thirteen cosponsors. Finally, AIM HIGH went from four to twelve cosponsors in the House. This Washington Seminar was one of the most productive in recent history, and you deserve all the credit. The Federation is built for and run by men and women who have too often been counted out rather than counted on. When work has been needed, we have been told to stand aside. Sometimes we are admired for wanting to help but told we must be realistic about the things we can do and more importantly the things we can't. But more and more because of events like our Washington Seminar we are being welcomed into the workforce and seen as contributors. We are far from our goal of total integration, but we know progress is achieved one step at a time, and the journey is painfully slow for those of us who are traveling it. But, we will not back down, we will not give up, and we will not forsake our brothers and sisters who want and demand a piece of the pie and to share in the American dream. We will make the future we want because our principles are sound, our commitment is unshakable, and our cause is as American as any challenge can be. As you read about the issues we have taken to Congress, convert your enthusiasm into action. Write, call, visit your members of Congress when they are home, and build the relationships that make real for them the need for the changes we propose. Step up; don't think of yourself as the little man or woman. Exercise your right to be heard and taken seriously, and bring others with you by building this marvelous organization we share. ---------- Legislative Agenda of Blind Americans: Priorities for the 116th Congress, Second Session The National Federation of the Blind is a community of members and friends who believe in the hopes and dreams of the nation's blind. Every day we work together to help blind people live the lives we want. The Access Technology Affordability Act (ATAA) (H.R. 2086/S.815) The cost of critically needed access technology is out of reach for most blind Americans. By providing a refundable tax credit for qualifying purchases, Congress will stimulate individual procurement of this technology and promote affordability of these tools. The Greater Access and Independence through Nonvisual Access Technology (GAIN) Act (H.R. 3929) Advanced digital interfaces create barriers that prevent blind individuals from independently operating essential devices that enhance quality of life. Congress must end the digital divide that threatens the independence of blind Americans by developing minimum accessibility requirements for such devices. The Accessible Instructional Materials in Higher Education (AIM HIGH) Act (H.R. 5312/S.3095) Until a market-driven solution for accessible instructional materials is achieved, blind college students are denied access to critical course content. The AIM HIGH Act will remove these barriers to equality in the classroom by creating a set of guidelines that clearly define accessible instructional materials. THESE PRIORITIES WILL REMOVE OBSTACLES TO EDUCATION, EMPLOYMENT, AND INDEPENDENT LIVING. WE URGE CONGRESS TO SUPPORT OUR LEGISLATIVE INITIATIVES. ---------- Access Technology Affordability Act (H.R. 2086/S.815) Issue--The cost of critically needed access technology is out of reach for most blind Americans. The high cost of access technology creates a difficult economic reality. Most access technology ranges from $1,000 to $6,000. For example, a leading screen reader is $900, a popular Braille notetaker is $5,495, one model of a refreshable Braille display is $2,795, and a moderately priced Braille embosser is $3,695. According to the United States Census Bureau 69.5 percent of blind Americans are either unemployed or underemployed.1 Consequently, most blind Americans do not have sufficient financial resources needed to purchase these items.2 These financial barriers can ultimately lead to a loss of employment, insufficient education, or even isolation from community activities. Medical insurance will not cover the cost of access technology. Current definitions of "medical care," "medical necessity," and "durable medical equipment" within common insurance policies do not include access technology. These definitions were adopted in the 1960s "when medical care was viewed primarily as curative and palliative, with little or no consideration given to increasing an individual's functional status."3 Many states' Medicaid programs and individual health insurance plans have adopted similar definitions and likewise will not cover the cost of access technology.4 Access technology enables blind Americans to participate in today's workforce. Blindness is well-defined and measurable,5 but affects each person differently and at different ages. Since individuals' needs differ, manufacturers have designed various tools that enable each blind American to perform tasks that they were once unable to accomplish themselves due to their blindness. Braille notetakers are frequently used in schools, screen reading software allows workers to check their email at home, and screen magnification software can help seniors losing vision learn about community activities. Access technology equips blind Americans to seek employment and stay employed. For the 69.5 percent of blind Americans who are either unemployed or underemployed, it is a vehicle that facilitates the job- seeking process. Despite this critical need however, public and private entities struggle to meet consumer demand.6 This leads to untimely delays in the delivery of necessary technology and ultimately harms the blind consumer. Solution-Access Technology Affordability Act: Makes access technology more affordable so that blind Americans can procure these items for themselves. It establishes a refundable tax credit for blind Americans in the amount of $2,000 to be used over a three-year period to offset the cost of access technology. The credit created by ATAA will sunset after five years and will be indexed for inflation. Provides flexibility for individuals to obtain access technology based upon their specific needs. Accessibility requires an individualized assessment of one's own skills and needs. Therefore, blind Americans should be given the opportunity to procure access technology on their own to ensure that they are receiving the tools that are most useful for them. Will increase federal income tax revenue. More blind Americans working means more people paying taxes. It also means that those blind Americans who obtain gainful employment through this tax credit will no longer need to draw from federal programs such as Supplemental Security Income or Social Security Disability Insurance and will instead be paying into the Social Security Program. GOAL--IMPROVE AFFORDABILITY OF CRITICALLY NEEDED ACCESS TECHNOLOGY NECESSARY FOR EMPLOYMENT AND INDEPENDENT LIVING. For more information, contact: Jeff Kaloc, government affairs specialist, National Federation of the Blind Phone: 410-659-9314, extension 2206, Email: jkaloc at nfb.org, Visit: www.nfb.org. 1 See 2017 American Community Survey, www.disabilitystatistics.org. 2 Erickson, W., Lee, C., von Schrader, S. (2016). "Disability Statistics from the 2014 American Community Survey (ACS)." Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Employment and Disability Institute (EDI). Retrieved November 11, 2016, from www.disabilitystatistics.org. 3 National Council on Disability, "Federal Policy Barriers to Assistive Technology," (May 31, 2000) 8, http://www.ncd.gov/rawmedia_repository/c9e48e89_261b_4dda_bc74_203d5915519f. pdf. 4 Assistive Technology Industry Associates, "AT Resources Funding Guide," https://www.atia.org/at-resources/what-is-at/resources- funding-guide/ (last accessed December 10, 2018). 5 See 26 U.S.C. ? 63(f)(4). 6 See e.g. Department of Education, Rehabilitation Services and Disability Research, "Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Request," https://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/budget20/justifications/i- rehab.pdf, p. I-50. ---------- Greater Access and Independence through Nonvisual Access Technology (GAIN) Act (H.R. 3929) Issue--Advanced digital interfaces create barriers that prevent blind individuals from independently operating essential devices that enhance the quality of life. Home use medical devices, home appliances, and fitness equipment are becoming less and less accessible for blind Americans. The rapid proliferation of advanced technology is undeniable. Most new stoves, glucose monitors, and treadmills now require that consumers interact with a digital display, flat panels, and other user interfaces. This new technology is inaccessible to blind individuals and creates a modern-day barrier. Inaccessibility is not a mere inconvenience; it threatens the safety, health, and independence of blind Americans. Advancements in technology have the potential to transform how people live in a society but are designed for those with no functional limitations.1 This flaw in product design limits options for blind Americans who need nonvisual access to important devices that are available to people without disabilities.2 Nonvisual access is achievable, as demonstrated by a number of mainstream products. Apple has incorporated VoiceOver (a text-to-speech function) into its touch-screen products, making the iPhone, iPod, and iPad fully accessible to blind people right out of the box. Virtually all ATMs manufactured in the United States are accessible, and every polling place provides a nonvisually accessible voting machine. Frequently, a simple audio output or vibrotactile feature can make a product fully accessible at minimal cost. Current disability laws are not able to keep up with advancements in technology. Although the Americans with Disabilities Act and other laws require physical accessibility for people with disabilities (e.g., wheelchair ramps, Braille in public buildings), no laws protect blind consumers' right to access technology such as home use medical devices, home appliances, or fitness equipment. The National Council on Disability concluded that accessibility standards lag behind the rapid pace of technology, which can interfere with technology access.3 This trend of inaccessibility won't improve if accessibility solutions are ignored. Only a fraction of manufacturers incorporate nonvisual access standards into their product design while others resist solutions. Solution-Greater Access and Independence through Nonvisual Access Technology (GAIN) Act: Calls on the Access Board to conduct a nonvisual access standard review. The Access Board (an independent federal agency and leading source of information on accessible design) will review the current marketplace, consult with stakeholders and manufacturers, and will issue a report with findings and recommendations for a minimum nonvisual access standard for home use medical devices, home appliances, and fitness equipment. Establishes a minimum nonvisual access standard for home use medical devices, home appliances, and fitness equipment. The Access Board will issue a final rule, not later than thirty-six months after the date of enactment of the act, to establish a minimum nonvisual access standard for home use medical devices, home appliances, and fitness equipment. The standard will go into effect two years after the final rule. Authorizes the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to enforce the nonvisual access standards for home use medical devices. Under its authority to ensure the safety, efficacy, and security of medical devices, the FDA will investigate and, when appropriate, assess civil penalties against manufacturers who fail to comply with the standard. Authorizes the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to enforce the nonvisual accessibility standards for home appliances and fitness equipment. Under its authority to investigate and enforce consumer protection matters, the FTC will investigate and, when appropriate, assess civil penalties against manufacturers who fail to comply with the standard. GOAL-END THE DIGITAL DIVIDE FOR BLIND AMERICANS. For more information, contact: Stephanie Flynt, government affairs specialist, National Federation of the Blind, Phone: 410-659-9314, extension 2210, Email: sflynt at nfb.org, Visit: www.nfb.org. 1 See NATIONAL COUNCIL ON DISABILITIES, National Disability Policy Progress Report: Technology that enables access to the full opportunities of citizenship under the Constitution is a right at 19 (October 7, 2016), available at https://ncd.gov/progressreport/2016/progress-report-october- 2016. 2 See Id. 3 See Id. ---------- Accessible Instructional Materials in Higher Education (AIM HIGH) Act (H.R. 5312/S.3095) Issue--Until a market-driven solution for accessible instructional materials is achieved, blind college students are denied access to critical course content. Technology has fundamentally changed the education system. The scope of instructional materials used at institutions of higher education has expanded. Curricular content comes in digital books, PDFs, webpages, etc., and most of this content is delivered through digital databases, learning management systems, and applications. The print world is inherently inaccessible to students with disabilities, but technology offers the opportunity to expand the circle of participation. There are currently seven million students with disabilities in grades K-12, and that number keeps growing.[1] It is reasonable to presume that the number who go on to pursue postsecondary education is similarly trending upward. Blind students are facing unlawful and overwhelming barriers to education. Instead of fulfilling the promise of equal access, technology creates more problems when not developed with accessibility in mind. Data show that students with disabilities face a variety of challenges, including matriculation and college completion failure,[2] solely because, in the absence of clear accessibility guidelines, colleges and universities are sticking with the ad-hoc accommodations model.[3] Currently, schools deploy inaccessible technology and then create another version for blind students, usually weeks or even months into class, creating a "separate-but- equal" landscape with nearly impenetrable barriers. With only 30.5 percent of blind people being employed full-time year round,[4] compared to 69.5 percent among people without disabilities,[5] students with disabilities should not be denied access by the innovations that can ensure full participation. Higher education institutions struggle to identify accessible material and comply with nondiscrimination laws. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act require schools to provide equal access, and in 2010, the US Departments of Justice and Education clarified that the use of inaccessible technology is prohibited under these laws.[6] The 2011 AIM Commission recommended to Congress that accessibility guidelines be developed for postsecondary instructional materials.[7] In the nine years since,[8] over three dozen institutions have faced legal action for using inaccessible technology,[9] and complaints are on the rise. Most litigation ends with a commitment from the school to embrace accessibility, but that commitment does little in a vast and uncoordinated higher education market.[10] Solution--Accessible Instructional Materials in Higher Education Act: Develops accessibility guidelines for instructional materials used in postsecondary education. A purpose-based commission is tasked with developing accessibility criteria for instructional materials and the delivery systems/technologies used to access those materials. Additionally, the commission is tasked with developing an annotated list of existing national and international standards so that schools and developers can identify what makes a product usable by the blind. Provides a digital accessibility roadmap for institutions of higher education. The guidelines developed by the commission will contain specific technical and functional criteria that will clearly illustrate how to make educational technologies usable by the blind and other students with print disabilities. Such criteria will be beneficial to procurement officers, informational technology staff, chief technology officers, and other key personnel at institutions of higher education. Offers flexibility for schools while reiterating that pre-existing obligations still apply. Colleges and universities are permitted to use material that does not conform to the guidelines as long as equal access laws are still honored. Conformity with the AIM HIGH guidelines is only one path to compliance; schools can pursue a different path but in doing so will forfeit the combined expertise of the relevant stakeholder communities involved in the development of the AIM HIGH guidelines. GOAL--REMOVE BARRIERS TO EQUALITY IN THE CLASSROOM. For more information, contact: Stephanie Flynt, government affairs specialist, National Federation of the Blind Phone: 410-659-9314, extension 2210, Email: sflynt at nfb.org, Visit: www.nfb.org. Remarks of Congressman Bobby Scott From the Editor: Representative Bobby Scott has been the congressman for the Third District of Virginia since 1993. He has the distinction of being the first African-American elected to Congress from the Commonwealth of Virginia since Reconstruction. He currently serves as the chairperson of the Committee on Education and Labor in the United States House of Representatives. From this position he demonstrates his courage and commitment as the chief champion with his commitment to the Transformation to Competitive Employment Act, that, when passed, will eliminate unequal pay to workers with disabilities. Here are the remarks he made: Thank you Mark for your very kind introduction, and thank you for inviting me to join this year's Great Gathering-In. You know, you gave us all those quotations. Let me give you another one. Martin Luther King frequently said that "The moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice." Now others have added in, "The moral arc of the universe bends toward justice, but it doesn't bend by itself." The National Federation of the Blind is bending that arc toward justice, and I want to thank you for all of that work. I want to recognize the NFB board and the staff as well as Federation members from around the country. I want to especially thank those who are here from Virginia. How many of you are here? I want to give a shout-out to Tracy, Eureka, Stuart, and everybody from Virginia who are here today. Advancing equal opportunity and independence for the blind and people with disabilities requires us to work together. Thanks to your hard work and some strong partnerships, I'm happy to report that the House Committee on Education and Labor is making progress. Last October we introduced the College Affordability Act or the CAA, a comprehensive overhaul of the nation's higher education system. The proposal not only lowers the cost of college, improves the quality of college, but also expands the opportunities for those students to graduate, including those with disabilities. Specifically the bill provides faculty with the resources to deliver accessible and inclusive instruction and leverage instructional materials and technology. Simply put, the College Affordability Act better aligns our higher education system with the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act so that all students can reach their full potential. We've also worked with Congress to guarantee workers with disabilities the right to earn a fair wage. This past July the House passed the Raise the Wage Act, which will gradually increase the federal minimum wage to fifteen dollars an hour by 2025. We've gone more than ten years without a minimum wage increase, the longest period in history. This bill will increase the pay for over 33 million workers, and lift 1.3 million out of poverty, including 600,000 children. But the Raise the Wage Act does not just ensure that some workers have access to a decent wage. It ensures that all workers receive the full minimum wage by eliminating the Section 14(c) subminimum wage. That 14(c) subminimum wage is outdated and discriminatory. It has not been reformed since 1938 when the Fair Labor Standards Act was created over eighty years ago. The provision continues to allow employers to pay workers with disabilities subminimum wages based not on performance and skill but on their disability status alone. Today more than half the workers with disabilities who are paid a subminimum wage make less than two dollars an hour. In the worst cases, workers with disabilities can be, and some are, paid just pennies an hour. The 14(c) subminimum wage is a relic of those times that assumed that people with disabilities could not perform. Yet, thanks to generations of struggle, federal laws like the ADA now guarantee the right to access and participation in our communities. This year we'll celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the ADA, which passed with overwhelming bipartisan support and was even signed by a Republican president. Every member of Congress should now agree that it's long past time for all workers, regardless of zip code, race, gender, or ability status to have the right to earn a fair wage. But it's been more than two hundred days since the House passed the Raise the Wage Act, so you need to talk to your senators to tell them to take up this bill. We have to keep up the pressure. Senators blocking this bill must explain to voters why they do not believe that workers deserve a decent wage, especially when studies have shown that if you are working full time at the minimum wage of $7.25, you cannot afford a modest two-bedroom apartment in any county in this country. I didn't say can't afford it in San Francisco or Manhattan; in no county in America can a full-time minimum wage worker afford a modest two-bedroom apartment. So, while the Raise the Wage Act awaits action in the Senate, the committee is also working on ways to ensure that workers with disabilities can successfully transition out of the 14(c) subminimum wage. Earlier this year I introduced H.R. 873, the Transformation to Competitive Employment Act, which is a bipartisan proposal to accompany the Raise the Wage Act. While the minimum wage bill phases out the 14(c) subminimum wage, this bill compels states and employers to work with the disability community toward creating fully integrated and competitive employment opportunities for all workers with disabilities. The bill establishes a competitive grant program to push states to transition workers with disabilities being paid a subminimum wage to competitive, integrated employment. Even in states that don't want to participate, the bill provides resources directly to businesses to independently form partnerships to meet the needs both of employers and workers. Finally, the bill establishes a nationwide technical assistance center to help transition individuals to competitive, integrated employment. The evidence is clear: individuals with disabilities are more productive and effective when they are integrated into the general workforce and paid a fair wage. Transformation to the Competitive Employment Act protects the civil rights of individuals with disabilities and encourages businesses to tap into this underutilized resource. With your support, we will continue to work on a bipartisan basis with our colleagues to bring the Transformation to Competitive Employment Act to the House floor. Finally, I'm pleased to see that the members of the NFB were able to offer testimony to the US Commission on Civil Rights at a hearing on the subminimum wage last November, where I also testified on the need to support workers with disabilities to end the 14(c) subminimum wage and provide resources to transition workers with disabilities into competitive, integrated employment. Ending 14(c) is a critical civil rights issue that deserves our nation's attention. Throughout the last eight decades NFB has been a critical advocate for the rights of blind Americans. Please continue to stay engaged, make your voices heard, and do not back down! In the words of NFB's founder, Dr. Jacobus tenBroek, "If we work together, we can do more than just guarantee the right to live in this world. We can empower people with disabilities to thrive in this world." Thank you very much for all that you do. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Mark Riccobono] Testimony about Autonomous Vehicles Hearing on Autonomous Vehicles: Promises and Challenges of Evolving Automotive Technologies by Mark Riccobono My name is Mark Riccobono, and I serve as President of the National Federation of the Blind, America's civil rights organization of the blind. Thank you for allowing me to share our thoughts with you about the potential of autonomous vehicle technology to enhance the independence of blind Americans. The promised benefits of autonomous vehicles are well known, ranging from fewer road fatalities to greater independence to better fuel economy. Autonomous vehicles are poised to be the next great American innovation. In order to unleash the myriad benefits that autonomous vehicles and their associated technologies represent, it is imperative that Congress be proactive and expeditious in paving the way for the development, deployment, and full and equal enjoyment of autonomous vehicles for all Americans. Blind Americans are enthusiastic about the prospect of autonomous vehicles. By potentially enhancing our independence by providing reliable transportation that we can access whenever we need it, just as other Americans are currently able to do, autonomous vehicles would also improve our productivity, economic outcomes, and community engagement. It is important to recognize, however, that none of these benefits will be actualized without a clear and forward-thinking approach to the autonomous vehicle issue at the federal level, which includes ensuring full and equal access for everyone. To ensure equal access, two items must be a part of any final legislation promoting autonomous vehicles, and only one of which has to do with the design of autonomous vehicle technology. The first item is protecting the blind and other people with disabilities from discrimination in the licensure process; in other words, eyesight must not be a requirement for a license to operate an autonomous vehicle. The second item is requirements related to nonvisual accessibility of user interfaces and vehicle design. Without these two requirements working in tandem, we could find ourselves in one of two ironic yet equally untenable scenarios. In the first, the blind could have unfettered access to autonomous vehicles via nondiscriminatory licensing practices, but are then unable to operate the vehicles due to inaccessible user interfaces. In the other scenario, autonomous vehicles could be designed and manufactured ideally in terms of accessibility, yet many blind people are then unable to enjoy the fruits of such innovation due to discriminatory licensing mechanisms. The National Federation of the Blind supports the responsible production and deployment of autonomous vehicles that are safe, reliable, and fully accessible. We also support nondiscriminatory public policies that make these vehicles equally available to both the blind and others with disabilities or other characteristics that prevent them from operating traditional vehicles. Early and consistent guidance from policymakers as these technologies are developed, tested, and deployed, and as states and territories craft legislation and regulations supporting their operation, is critical to realizing the promise autonomous vehicles hold for all Americans. I therefore ask this committee to take urgent action to ensure that promise comes to fruition. Thank you again for the opportunity to address you today. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Ryan Strunk] Being Honest with Oneself Should Require No Debate by Ryan Strunk From the Editor: This item is taken from the Minnesota Bulletin, spring edition, published by the National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota. Ryan Strunk is the president of the affiliate, and his perspectives are always worth reading. Here is a good one: I was not an athlete in high school. (Sadly, I suspect this is true for a lot of blind children.) I did think of myself as an intellectual though, and mom always accused me-rightly-of being argumentative, so when I learned I could combine the two by joining the debate team, I was excited at the prospect. When I read in the informational packet that I could use the powers I would develop to argue for a later curfew, I was hooked. Within a week of joining the team, however, everything changed. Our first assignment was to debate the pros and cons of capital punishment. Each of us was given a side to discuss, and we were told to research the arguments for that side of the issue. We were encouraged to make use of the library and the internet, and we were given free reign for forty minutes a day during the A lunch period. At the end of the first week, we were told that we would come back and discuss what we had learned in order to formulate arguments for the debate. This assignment terrified me to the point of freezing. I had never needed to do open research before for a school assignment, and I had no idea how. I knew how to read books, having scanned a few of them for book reports, but I had no idea how to make use of the library as a blind person. I was overwhelmed by the shelves and stacks, the inaccessibility of the racks of old newspapers and sheets of microfiche, and I could not even fathom where to begin. I could read a book if I had it, but I didn't know how to find a book in the first place. I should have been saved by the internet. After all, everyone was coming online back in the late 90s, and there was no shortage of content online. In those days, however, I only used the internet for chat, email, and gaming. It never occurred to me that newspapers were electronically available, let alone how to find and read them, so that direction was closed to me as well. I spent my first week on the debate team sitting in the classroom idly starting to write arguments out of my own head and deleting them, picking at my lunches, and filling time with nothing. Instead of asking for help from the teacher, I sank deeper and deeper into hopelessness until I could not find a way out. Before the first assignment was due-before anyone could realize I had no idea what I was doing-I went to the teacher and told him I wanted to drop the class. I never told him the real reason. The one I gave him was that I was just too closed-minded. I didn't have the ability, I said, to see things from multiple points of view, especially on that issue. My mind was made up, and it couldn't be changed. He laughed in a way that sounds, in my memory, like the verbal equivalent of a shrug and signed the drop form. I liked that version of my story better than the truth. It made me the maverick, the kid who didn't play by the rules, the guy who already had the answers and didn't need to find them in books. That was a lot more palatable than the guy who didn't know how to do research and was too proud to ask for help. I wrapped that version around myself, and I wore it so long that I eventually believed it. When the subject of debate would come up in college and beyond, I told people that "debate just wasn't for me," and I believed it. It wasn't until just a few months ago that I realized the truth I had been hiding from myself for half my life. The topic of high school debate had come up again in some mundane conversation, and when I reached to pull out that worn old story, I saw what was hiding behind it. I was a kid who didn't have the skills I needed to be successful, and I was too scared and too proud to ask for help. To this day, I don't know what kept me from reaching out. I can guess at reasons, but I'm not sure I'll ever know exactly why. I spent too long denying reality. What feels more consequential to me now is that all the reasons I can think of today are things that can still hold me back, and I suspect they drag at a lot of people who are blind: admitting I can't do something makes me less independent, asking for help makes me less independent, and solving the problem is complicated to the point of being impossible. The paradox of that thinking though, is that not asking for help, not admitting the places where I don't have the answers, and abandoning a problem rather than solving it actually makes me less independent. I never learned how to debate. I'm marginally competent at doing research. It took me years to develop the ability to see an issue from multiple perspectives. All those deficits narrowed the options available to me and had a huge impact on my life. Had I made that realization in high school, things could have turned out different-not better, but different. The truth about blindness is that sometimes we do things differently. We use alternative techniques to accomplish ordinary tasks, and we live fulfilling lives as a result. Sometimes we create those techniques ourselves, but often we learn them from blind people who have gone there before us and can teach us what they learned. If we don't admit what we don't know, choosing instead to try to figure out our own way in the name of supposed independence, we can miss out on learning the answers someone else has already discovered. Choosing to ask for help doesn't make us dependent. It means we're strong enough to admit when we need a hand. Over the years, I have received a hand from the National Federation of the Blind on numerous occasions. Even now, as I write this, my first successful attempt at polishing shoes are drying on an old grocery bag. I learned that blind people polish shoes from Dr. Maurer's article "Gray Pancakes and the Gentleman's Hat" [from Kernel Book Gray Pancakes and Gold Horses]. Members have taught me how to barbecue a steak, match suits and ties, find a bus stop in the snow, create a complicated to-do list, host a convention, pass a bill in the legislature, and so much more. If I hadn't had the help and understanding of the National Federation of the Blind over the years, things would have turned out different-and likely worse. I'm happy with the life I have now. I like how things have turned out, and I wouldn't change them. I want to make sure though that other people who don't have the answers they need know that it's okay to ask for help and that other blind people are here for them. If they're struggling with school, work, technology, cooking, or anything else, the members of the National Federation of the Blind will be ready with understanding, encouragement, and advice. I couldn't admit in high school that I didn't know how to do research. I believed it was my responsibility to figure out my problems alone. I know better now. I know that asking for help makes me more independent-not less. I know that I have a whole support system of friends and family who will help me to be successful. If you need help, we're here for you, too. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Geerat J. Vermeij] On Privilege by Geerat J. Vermeij From the Editor: Geerat J. Vermeij is a distinguished professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the University of California, Davis. He can be reached at gjvermeij at ucdavis.edu. When he writes, I always find what he has to say of interest: Every day I wake up knowing how fortunate I am. I have a loving and interesting spouse, a deeply fulfilling career, access to excellent food, a house that is fully paid off, a successful daughter and her family, a supportive brother in the Netherlands, and so much more. In short, I am privileged, so much so that the word "privileged" appears in the title of one of my books. But one way in which I am not privileged in the traditional sense is that I am totally blind. I belong to a small minority that has historically been deemed subnormal, with the result that society has often withheld opportunities that other members of the community have come to expect. How should we respond to the age-old subordinate status of the blind in society? We can't simply ignore it and accept the status quo. Should we instead look in every corner for more evidence of denied privilege? In his unfortunate essay entitled "Sighted Privilege: Recognition of the Problem is the First Step Toward Resolution," published in the February 2020 Braille Monitor, Justin Salisbury embraces the latter option. He is engaged in a diligent search for confirmation of pervasive social privilege enjoyed by the sighted majority at the expense of the blind minority. The evidence is not hard to come by; if you look for it, you will find it. But then what? Without proposing a remedy, Salisbury's essay offers only a recipe for stoking resentment, affirming continued victimhood, and sowing mistrust. To my mind, this approach is ultimately destructive and unproductive. As the National Federation of the Blind has demonstrated for eight decades, the blind have individual and collective agency, the ability and the will to change our circumstances by educating the public, changing laws, and setting good examples. With reasoned confidence in our abilities and with productive engagement in the wider world of the sighted majority, we can shake off the insecurity that feeds resentment and free ourselves of victimhood. We do this not by emphasizing differences from the majority but by cultivating affirmative attitudes toward others. A chip on the shoulder is a heavy burden that does nobody any good. Let's make the most of what we have and seek to improve our collective position by making the fruits of privilege more widely available. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Norma Crosby] The Tours in Texas by Norma Crosby From the Editor: Norma Crosby is on top of things. She and her affiliate are well organized and ready for us to come to Texas. Here is what she says about tours, and more of what is promised for next month: The 2020 convention of the National Federation of the Blind is almost here, and boy are we getting excited in Texas. We are making plans to host the biggest and best Federation family reunion ever. As I told you in the February issue, Houston has lots to offer, and we are planning to make it possible for you to take advantage of some great opportunities while you are in town. Let me tell you what we have in store for you. Space Center Houston is a fun and educational place for people of all ages, and we are working with the accessibility team to develop tours while we are in town for the 2020 convention. Tour prices will be all inclusive, except for food and drinks or souvenirs purchased on-site. The tour will include a tactile artifact room, a STEM activity, a touch tour of Starship Gallery, and a tram tour that will include an opportunity to get up close and personal with NASA rockets. Tours will be available on the morning or afternoon of July 15 and on the afternoon of July 16. Galveston Island is Houston's playground. In just about an hour, you can leave the city behind and experience a day at the beach. During our convention, we are planning to make it possible for members who want to get away to spend some time visiting the beach, the historic Strand District, Moody Gardens, and the Pleasure Pier. Moody Gardens is a great space for families to visit. Attractions include a ropes course and zip line, amusement rides, and Galveston's only white sand beach. We'll provide transportation and a day pass that will entitle visitors to access the beach and the seven major attractions. There will be a separate charge for zip line and ropes course tickets. The Strand Historic District is primarily a shopping and dining destination, but there is also a railroad museum located within the district as well. The Pleasure Pier is a dining and amusement area on Seawall Boulevard, and our visitors can purchase tickets for the pier as part of the tour package we will offer. Galveston is not a large island. So if you choose this tour, you will be able to have more than one sightseeing experience simply by taking a short rideshare or taxi trip. Our tour package will include the cost of roundtrip transportation to the island and the cost of tickets to Moody Gardens and/or the Pleasure Pier. A visit to the Strand Historic District is free except for the food, drinks, and merchandise you may elect to purchase. If you just want to have a day at the beach, we can drop you off at Stewart Beach for a day of family fun. This beach has amenities that include a playground, concessions, chair and umbrella rentals, a pavilion, a beach volleyball court, and more. Alcohol is not allowed at Stewart Beach. Specific times for the tour have not been set as of this writing, but we plan to offer an opportunity to tour Galveston on July 15 and 16. We will provide information about drop-off and pickup points prior to the convention. The Kemah Boardwalk is a little closer to town than Galveston. Families may choose to spend a few hours there if they are looking for some fun and food. The boardwalk is on Galveston Bay, approximately twenty miles from downtown Houston. It includes amusement rides, retail shops, and dining. We will offer a tour on the afternoon of July 16. Ticket prices will include roundtrip transportation and admission fees. Specific information about tours will be posted on our affiliate's website no later than April 15. Tickets will be sold online and by telephone only. Tickets are first come first served and will be available from April 15 to July 1 or until the tours sell out. To purchase tickets online, go to https://nfbtx.org or give us a call at 281-968-7733. Our office hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. Tickets will not be sold by telephone outside of regular business hours. Ticket purchases are nonrefundable. See you in Houston! ---------- [PHOTO/CAPTION: Jessica Reed] I am a Federationist by Jessica Reed From the Editor: I think this article is a pearl, and the truth is that I almost lost it. It got stored in a pending folder, and evidently I pended the desire to look at it. It came six months ago, but thank goodness, it is as timely now as it was when submitted. Jessica Reed is the mother of two children ages five and two. She is the vice president of the Fredericksburg Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of Virginia. An active Federationist since 2004, she enjoys reading, physical fitness, the outdoors, and history. In this article Jessica speaks eloquently to the value of sight, the sadness in losing it, the reluctance to believe other blind people might have answers, and the life-changing realization that those of us in the Federation have some. Here is what she says: I cry over my blindness, and all too often fall into the trap of "Why me!" I have never felt that my blindness was "just a characteristic." I would take my vision back in a nanosecond. As a student at the Louisiana Center for the Blind, I took two weeks to make a lemon meringue pie, dropping more than one egg yolk on my classmate's foot. I am many things, but I would never call myself super blind. If we are totally honest, for the first ten years of my blindness I would have flinched and may have smacked anyone who called me blind. All this and I am a Federationist. I lost my vision at the age of nine as a result of medical malpractice. To say that my family and I were devastated would be an understatement. I was close to needing to repeat the third and fourth grades because, when I did make it to school, I was more often than not missing and later found hysterical in the girl's bathroom. When it first happened, doctors assured my family that my vision loss was only temporary. I woke every morning expecting to see. Not until years later was I told point-blank by a prominent neurosurgeon, "There isn't a snowball's chance in hell." My family was never the same after this doctor visit. Today I am a stay-at-home mother to two beautiful thriving children. I have a sighted husband and live in the historic town of Fredericksburg, like I always dreamed. I have traveled, jumped out of a plane, ran a marathon, graduated from college, and have worked. I am a Federationist. When I ventured off to the Louisiana Center for the Blind at the age of eighteen, I went with the conviction that I would try out its training (which I wasn't convinced I needed), but they could keep their NFB hard- nosed, militant philosophy to themselves. I loved guide dogs and was not the political type. I had many sighted friends so therefore did not need any blindness social club. While in Louisiana, I questioned and argued with almost everything they taught. The word blind was a slap in the face. It was a scarlet letter I had to attempt to hide and mask at every turn, and I was baffled at how the staff and students could have no shame in it. These were educated, well-put-together, attractive people. There were people with children, some with advanced degrees, some who were wealthy, and some who lived paycheck to paycheck. I slowly began to fall off my pedestal. There were also those who struggled immensely with cane travel, cooking, computers, or knew no Braille at all. There were those that knew nothing other than blindness and those like me trying to navigate a jagged road of anger, frustration, and immeasurable grief. The National Federation of the Blind philosophy is not the delusion I was once convinced it was. Yes, I would love to know exactly what my children look like and see another sunrise, but what stabs through my heart most of the time is not that. It is the frustration of not being able to drive. It is the sadness that I will never be able to teach my son to drive. It is the anger that rears up when I hear of another blind Lyft or Uber customer being stranded by a driver because they have a guide dog. It is the anger that claws up at me when I hear of another blind parent having their child removed by CPS [Children's Protective Services] solely due to their blindness. It is the sadness I feel when I meet a highly educated blind person who cannot find even a minimum-wage job. These people are all me, so I am a Federationist. As a little girl, I had a little wooden cross I would hold nightly during prayers. I would trace the metal figure of Jesus nailed to that cross. The number of tears I cried while clutching that cross and wondering what I did wrong and the number of times I kissed his little feet cannot be counted. The word "inconvenience" was jarring even when put into context with "the proper training and opportunity." The phrase was jarring because I didn't fully understand its meaning ...until now. I could not see that the NFB was simply saying that it did not have to be the debilitating death of my hopes and dreams that much of society tries to impose. The NFB philosophy that I can live the life I want is not incongruous with the grief at suddenly and unexpectedly going blind; instead it compliments it. I know what it is to beg, bargain, and plead for a so-called cure. I woke up every day for years expecting to see. I had no blind role models who successfully lived the lives they wanted. I could not picture being a blind high schooler, then a blind college student, and finally a blind adult. I felt like I was waiting for my real life to begin-and let me tell you that is agonizing and exhausting! Today the NFB is the beacon of hope that I craved. The NFB fights to protect the interest of blind parents so that their children are not needlessly removed from loving homes just because a well-meaning social worker cannot understand how we safely provide for our children. The NFB fights for the equal opportunity of guide dog users to use ride-sharing companies such as Uber and Lyft without fear of being stranded. The NFB legislates for continued accessibility on the internet and everyday home appliances. The NFB has been fighting for my dreams long before I knew there would be a fight. Would I like to have my vision back? Yes! Though he was so cruel in his delivery all those years ago, the prominent neurosurgeon was correct. There is little in optic nerve research, so the potential for any vision restoration is nil. My love and contributions to this world are not. The National Federation of the Blind is the vehicle to my contributions, hopes, and dreams. I have learned that what cripples me most is not always my blindness but an inaccessible world that does not always understand me. This is a measurable variable that can be improved, and that is what the NFB strives to do. I am a Federationist. Today, I am a Federationist because my Federation family understands my sadness, anger, and frustrations of being blind. They listen to and challenge in the way that only they can. I am a Federationist. Just as no two sighted people are the same, no two blind people are the same. I have learned that there are many who have never viewed blindness as a tragedy. While I do understand where they are coming from, I think we are falling short as a Federation family if we do not acknowledge that there are also those like me who have come from a place of tragedy. The NFB philosophy was never meant to imply that blindness is not traumatizing for some, but, instead, it does not have to be our end. I am a Federationist. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Marc Maurer] The Unknown by Marc Maurer From the Editor: Marc Maurer is a man who needs no introduction, his tenure as the longest-serving President of the National Federation of the Blind and his continuing legal work speak for themselves. What many may not know is the constant wondering, thinking, and imagining that goes on in his head and which his reduced schedule now allows him to write for consideration and discussion. One question we are constantly asked is what we think about when someone talks about color. If we are totally blind, what color do we see in our heads? I used to think that my answers were shared by all totally blind people, but Dr. Maurer convinces me that this view is wrong. Here is how he did it: In the National Federation of the Blind we talk about blindness a lot, but the conversations are different from those that occur in other arenas. Diabetes is a major cause of blindness-some would say the major cause of blindness--in the United States. Retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration are also significant causes of blindness. However, we don't spend a lot of time on these topics because our focus is not on what causes blindness but on what to do as a blind person to lead a joyful life when the time has come that the medical profession has decided that it has no remedies to offer that will restore sight. We take blindness as a given, and we try to decide what can be done to bring productivity and an active life to those who are blind. Nonetheless, the calls we get at the national headquarters of the Federation are often from people who want to tell us about their vision loss, the causes of their vision loss, the difficulties they encounter because of vision loss, the unusual experiences they have because of vision loss, and their heartfelt longing to have their vision restored. These expressions come both from people who are encountering vision loss for the first time and from people who have encountered vision loss in the past but are experiencing more of it today. Consider for example a person who has been partially blind but who is now losing the remainder of that person's vision. Even if that person has been a part of the Federation and has learned thoroughly the philosophy of opportunity that we proclaim in the Federation, that person experiences loss and distress that accompanies loss with the diminution of vision. Ray McGeorge, a leader from Colorado who joined the Federation in the 1950s, sometimes possessed vision and sometimes not. He knew what the Federation believed about blindness, and he knew about the capacity of blind people. He was a machinist, and he was very good at what he did. Sometimes he was able to drive, and sometimes he could not. When in later life he lost his remaining vision, he agonized over the process. He worried not only about his personal loss but also about what people thought about his reaction to it. I learned this only later when I discussed his vision loss with others. I did not know it had been so hard on him, and I was sorry that I hadn't been aware of his personal struggle. In the last year, I have had the opportunity to visit with a number of eye doctors. They have a very predictable point of view. They believe that loss of vision is a tragedy, and they believe that anybody who has lost it is in terrible circumstances. They believe that maintaining any amount of vision is the highest priority in their practices, and they will not consider the possibility that any loss of vision may have advantages. Some of the people who call here to our headquarters tell us that they have a tiny bit of remaining vision but that the eye which has this vision also gives them extraordinary pain. One of the people who called said the eye hurt so much that it ought to be removed, but medical officials refused. The person calling asked us for advice about what to do. Somehow, we are expected to have answers. In my visits with the eye doctors in the last year, I have asked a number of questions about the prognosis for restoring tiny amounts of vision or about what the doctors expect in the progress of certain eye diseases. The astonishing part for me in the answers these doctors have given is that they don't really know. When eye diseases have progressed to a certain degree, the doctors don't know what they can do, and they don't know what the patient can expect. None of this would be especially revealing except that discussions among Federation members also demonstrate phenomena that have not previously been brought dramatically to my attention. Blind people (or some of them anyway) "see" things all the time. What is it that they see? What I have heard from my colleagues is that they see white mist, black dots, flashing lights, bands of color, or a kaleidoscope of images. The images are not always static-they change and progress. Sometimes the images are superimposed on visual cues, which can be confusing. Sometimes the images are strong enough that they disturb sleep or interrupt thought. I want to emphasize that I don't believe the people from whom I have heard these things are experiencing psychological disorders. I think the phenomena they experience are real. However, I don't think the doctors know much about it. Furthermore, as far as I can tell, the mystification in the medical profession is sufficiently profound that this type of experience is outside the current realm of study. Are these phenomena caused by specific conditions of the eye created by stimulation to the brain that occurs only in certain eye diseases? I don't think that there is currently an answer to the question. Consequently, it seems to me that we should share information on the point. Do these thoughts change our point of view in the Federation? I suspect that they do not, but I imagine that a greater knowledge of the experiences that blind people have with the phenomena that comes to us will be beneficial in welcoming people to the ranks of our membership. Confronting myths about blindness is one of the things we do in the Federation. A number of sighted people have indicated to me (I suspect doctors feel the same) that blind people see black all of the time. I am totally blind, and I do not have this experience. My imagination tells me that I see light and color. I don't imagine that my imagination of light and color matters very much except to me, but the experience of black which is attributed to the blind also suggests to those who believe in it that the lives of blind people are dark and dreary. My imagination gives color and light to my life even though I don't see it in a physical sense. However, I have not interviewed other blind people to learn what their experiences tell them about light, color, depth, perspective, and the other attributes of existence associated with vision. It might help us to know what the range of these experiences could tell us, and what better place to discuss this than in our magazine. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Dick Davis] Why Attend the 2020 NFB Career Fair? by Dick Davis, Chairperson, NFB Employment Committee From the Editor: Dick Davis has a distinguished career helping blind people. He has worked as the assistant director of BLIND Inc., our training center in Minnesota. He also worked for Dr. Jernigan at the Iowa Commission for the Blind. But what really impresses me about Dick is that all of this has been more than a job for him-it has been a crusade to improve the lives of blind people and has been more than a salary. In fact, it has been a life's goal. Dick currently serves as the chairperson of the NFB Employment Committee, and he is active in the work he leads. Here is what he has to say about the two career fairs the NFB holds each year: Frequently, people call me and tell me how much difficulty they're having finding employment. They apply online or send out cover letters and resum?s, sometimes without getting any kind of response. Frustrating! Then I ask them if they are planning to attend one of our upcoming career fairs, either the one at our national convention or the one at our Washington Seminar. Some say, "Great idea; tell me more!" And I give them the information, and they go. But too many offer some kind of excuse: they weren't planning to go this year, the convention is too expensive, or they went to the career fair once and didn't get a job. Sometimes they blame discrimination or the 70 percent unemployment and underemployment rate among blind people, which is just a statistic and has nothing to do with an individual's likelihood of success. So they just keep spinning their wheels, sending out unanswered resum?s. People, people! There is no easy way to get a job, especially if all you do is send out resum?s. If those resum?s don't result in job interviews, you're using the wrong method. The only way you will ever get a job is if you meet and talk with employers face-to-face. And with increased emphasis on diversity hiring, many employers really do want to meet you. That is what our NFB career fairs offer you-an opportunity to talk with employers we've pre-screened, employers who actually want to hire you. This year in Houston we plan to have more than fifty employers from throughout the nation in attendance. We have expanded the length of the career fair to three hours, and there will be more space too. The career fair will be Wednesday, July 15 from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. The Job Seeker Seminar, which will prepare you for the career fair by allowing you to meet many of the employers and give you lots of other useful information, will be Tuesday, July 14 from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. Its focus this year will be full inclusion. We will also have an employment committee meeting on Tuesday, July 14 from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. Dates and times for the Upward Mobility Seminar and Etiquette Dinner are still under discussion. Jobseeker/employer networking sessions may occur over some lunch hours. To sign up for the career fair and get more information, keep watching this link: https://www.nfb.org/get-involved/national-convention. It also has information on Kenneth Jernigan scholarships for first time convention attendees. Keep in mind that many NFB state affiliates and local chapters can offer some financial assistance to members. Finally, remember that you'll be in the presence of over 3,000 other blind people, and since NFB members have a higher employment rate than blind people in general, most of them will have jobs. They may know of jobs where they work and jobs with other places. Our convention has many division meetings that may cover your field of interest too. So what's keeping you? See you at the 2020 NFB National Convention and career fair! ---------- The Blind Doctor of Rocanville by Eva-Lis Wuorio From the Editor: This comes to us courtesy of Mary Ellen Gabias, a former employee of the National Federation of the Blind who now lives in Canada. What a find it is, and how fantastic to find something from seventy years ago that is still so relevant to us today. Here is the article from Maclean's Archive, April 15, 1949: Rocanville, Sask [Saskatchewan] is a village of 475 people, thirteen miles from the Manitoba border, on the Bulyea branch line that meanders across the prairie toward the Qu'Appelle Valley. At the station, there are four grain elevators, an oil tank, a water tower, and a memorial for the 1914-18 war dead. The train goes east once a day and west once a day, except on Sundays. Main Street is ninety feet wide-there is land to spare here-and all the shops and offices are on it. Some of the side streets are lined with poplar, birch, and scrub oak; the neat small houses are set back from the wide streets. The prairie licks close to the flat little settlement. Dr. Roy C. Merifield returned here at forty-five years of age ten years ago on a stormy winter day from the hospital in Moosomin, knowing he was broke and going blind. He had practiced in the village for only eighteen months previously. He had a wife and a young daughter. The future looked as dark as the dimming light of his eyes. Today, totally blind, remembered months of despair behind him, Dr. Merifield has a successful medical practice, lives a useful, busy life, solidly built on a foundation of sheer guts. It is a life of normal pursuits and normal worries, the later accented, however, by ever-present darkness. There are people on the town and municipal councils who speak against him because he is blind and who would like to get in a doctor who can see. There are grocery bills. There are dreams at night of golden fields swaying to the prairie winds, or of operations when the keenness of eye and hand are of paramount importance. And there are dark awakenings. There are, too, afternoon hours when the feet itch for the open road and the mind turns to escapades of other days, but darkness walls you in. Then there is nothing but the quiet, empty office and ears painfully keen, waiting for a diversion heralded by footsteps or the ring of a telephone. But these are things blind Dr. Merifield would speak about seldom, if at all. The small old house, modern and pleasant inside, stands on a quiet street beneath evergreens and oaks. You turn in at a well-cleared walk-the doctor shovels the snow daily for exercise-and ring at the side door marked "Dr. R. C. Merifield." The doctor himself comes to let you in. He is a small man, five foot four, 135 pounds, with grey hair waving off a broad forehead, good big nose adding character to his face, blue eyes brooding over your shoulder. If you are an old patient or a friend, he knows you practically before you speak. "I think your other senses quicken when you lose one," he'll explain. His voice is firm, friendly, and confident. The sort of a voice we've come to expect from a man to whom we go with our fears and troubles. The small sitting room and adjoining office have an immaculate, reassuring look. One ordinary day, into the office and out, came these following people. A South African War veteran suffering from Buerger's disease. The doctor eased his tight worry by saying mildly that he was in very good company. That was the King's illness too. "Why," the doctor joked, "I was the first one to diagnose the King's trouble. We were sitting in John Anderson's kitchen after dinner. When the news of his illness came over the radio John said, 'What, do you suppose it is, phlebitis?' I said it sounded more like an arterial rather than a venous trouble and was likely Buerger's." The elderly patient relaxed with the story. He reported that the alpha tocopherol (vitamin E) treatment Dr. Merifield had put him on made him feel much better. Then, in quick succession, two young women for prenatal examination, on routine visits. Up and down the countryside the doctor's reputation in obstetrical cases is sky-high. One woman said, her smile barely disguising the sharp edge of truth, "Perhaps we like him just because he can't see." Merifield says, "Delivery is so much a matter of touch, even in an instrument case, that it's not surprising one can still do it." Later in the afternoon a French-Canadian woman for a check on her anemia and hypertension. "It just makes me feel good to talk with the doctor regularly," she confided. There has been a peculiar flu prevalent in the district this winter which leaves the patient dizzy for quite some time afterward. Dr. Merifield diagnosed the trouble as due to disturbance of the function of the balancing organ in the inner ear. Fred Davis, principal of Spy Hill School, came twenty miles to consult the doctor about that. Around 10 p.m., Dalton Strong arrived to ask the doctor to come to visit his 91-year-old mother. The old lady had just got back from a visit to Kingston, Ont., and had been, it seems, suffering most of all from acute homesickness. She wouldn't eat anything and seemed terrified of all strangers. All she wanted was to stay home on the prairies she knew. "If you'll just come and see her," Strong asked the doctor, "she'd take something from you." "All right, I'll come along," the doctor said. Mrs. Merifield, a slight, grey-haired little woman, with bird-quick manner, checked on the doctor's case and got on her overshoes, coat and scarf. The doctor went firmly to the cupboard and got into his coat and checked cap. He followed Mrs. Merifield out of the door and slipped his hand under her elbow. Strong had left the engine of his car running. It was twenty below that night. The Strongs live in the old school building, partitioned to make rooms for the big family. The doctor, his hand under his wife's arm, came at a crisp, quick walk across the snowy road, up the steps. The sick old woman was moaning in one of the rooms. Dr. and Mrs. Merifield went in to see her. Mrs. Merifield reported on the count when the doctor checked on the blood pressure. He listened to her heart, talked to her soothingly, finally gave her a sedative hypodermically. She was much quieter when he left. There are other cases Dr. Merifield handles as a matter of course: they include anemias, hypertensions, digestive disturbances, appendicitis, gall bladder, gallstones, ulcers of stomach or duodenum, and cancer. "After all," the doctor says, "it is not very different diagnosing without eyes. Dr. William Goldie, associate professor of medicine at Toronto, used to tell us thirty years ago that 70 percent of the points of evidence upon which a diagnosis is based comes from the patient's history. About 20 percent from a physical examination in which most information comes from auscultation (listening with stethoscope), palpitation (sense of touch), and even from olfactory (sense of smell). Why, on occasions I've diagnosed diphtheria and some other things from my attention being attracted by the characteristic smell. "The final 10 percent comes from X-ray and laboratory reports. Of course, even sighted doctors obtain these from technicians usually. "The only part in all the foregoing where I am handicapped is the part of the physical examination which depends upon sight. I get this information from my nurse. "In maternity cases one's difficulties are greatest before the baby arrives. Here again it is examination and manipulation with the gloved hand, where touch is the only sense one can bring into play at this stage. The secret of any success I may have had is in the fact that I never leave a maternity case once labor has started. And, in other cases, I try to do every bit of work just as carefully as possible. I have to check and recheck. I cannot take as great a chance as the sighted doctor, for the public is naturally afraid that the blind person may make a mistake." I met Mr. Gordon Hodgins the next day. Gordon edits the Rocanville Record (circulation 580) and runs a print shop as his father did before him on Main Street. He's a young, blunt guy. "Sure," he said, "the wife's a patient of the little doc's. She went down to the Grey Nuns' Hospital in Regina at the doc's suggestion. At the Medical Arts Clinic a Dr. Smith examined her. Gallstones, he reported just like the little doc said. 'Not bad for a blind man,' the wife commented. That threw them. 'You don't mean to say you were diagnosed by a blind doctor,' they all said, down there in the city." "That's the way it was," Mrs. Hodgins said. "The doc's a wonder on diagnosing. Doesn't often happen he's wrong." Gordon spoke sharply. "There are some of the people in this town who have it in for him because he's blind, see. But let them have a twinge of pain and they are right there screaming for him. And he's right there to help them. "I've had him for both of my children," Mrs. Hodgins said. "And Palsy was an instrument case, too. I'd have him again." "Hold on there," Gordon said, grinning at her. "The thing I like, too," Mrs. Hodgins added, "is that he tells you to go to other doctors. He hasn't a bad word for anybody." Gordon came in again. "He gets his own mail. You ought to see him, feeling his way by the wicket to his box, working the combination. Sometimes be stops to talk to you on Main Street (in the summer he gets around more, with his cane, see, winters are more difficult), and he'll take out his watch. Not a Braille watch, just ordinary, with the glass taken off so he can feel the numbers. And he'll say, 'Time for me to be going now.' "His worst difficulty is crossing the street. Someone will shout 'Hi, Doc,' and he'll turn to greet them, and lose his direction. 'There are some in this town that'll just stand and watch him then. And some that'll call out, 'Just a little left, Doc,' or, 'Just a little to the right.'" "Mrs. Merifield, now," Mrs. Hodgins said, "she's fine. She'll try to make him help himself instead of doing everything for him, and her heart in her eyes, so you can see it plain. No fuss at all from her." "We're lucky to have him," Gordon ended definitely, "and no mistake. This district is too small for a young man, and no hospital. They like to have hospitals. There are people who've tried to get him out, and perhaps one of these days they'll succeed, but then they'll find themselves with no doctor at all." "I'll have him anytime," Mrs. Hodgins repeated, and looked with a smile at Gordon. Though Mrs. Merifield has had no training as a nurse she always wanted to train for it. Her two sisters were nurses. To help Roy Merifield get through his medical schooling after the 1914-18 war she worked in a nurse's office. It came as good experience later. Besides always going on cases, Mrs. Merifield (who is a little deaf, so that where she serves as her husband's eyes he lends his ears to her) also helps in public health work, such as immunization. She accompanies the doctor to schools and loads hypos for the shots. Babies and children under school age get their inoculations during summer months; the district is immunization-conscious. She does the doctor's blood count examinations, all the dressings, and at times has even sutured wounds. Roy Merifield was born in Ottawa. Many of his mother's relatives were doctors and he can't remember back to a time when he didn't know he was going to be one, too. He took his B.A. course at Victoria College in Toronto, one year behind Sir Frederick Banting with whom he belonged to a students' dinner club. During World War I he enlisted in the Royal Flying Corps but didn't get overseas. He got married during that period. When he resumed his medical course, Mrs. Merifield helped him get through by working in the winters, while he went on construction jobs in the summers. He graduated in 1922. By this time his family and his wife's family were living at Prince Albert, Sask., and he took a practice in the village of Kinistino, forty-five miles east from Prince Albert. "Those were the days when I worked hard, walked fast, drove fast, lived hard. It seemed to me I had boundless, endless energy," he recalls. They were still the rousting, rocking years of the young West and Roy Merifield found them to his liking. He turned down an offer from a California hospital in the 20s, for he was doing well and loving the wild, free life. So, with heavy drinking, long hours, northland journeys, and much work, the Roaring Twenties changed to the Hungry Thirties. Finally in 1936 the Merifields moved to Rocanville. In 1939, when he was forty-five, Dr. Merifield found he was losing his vision. For about eight years more he could see faint shapes, light, and darkness. Two years ago he went completely blind. He speaks of those years now calmly, though in strong words. "It was still depression when I lost my sight. Like most country doctors, I had no ready cash. Those were the years your accounts only figured in your books." "I think that sometimes, then, as I sit in my office day after day with not a patient coming in and misty shapes wavering before my eyes, I could easily have killed myself. But there were my wife and my daughter. I would go home after an empty day, wondering how long my wife could carry on with no money coming in. There were nightmares at night and worrying by day." "And then, so gradually you couldn't put your finger on it, but it must have been after two years of great anguish, my practice began to improve. I brought my office home. My wife was there to help me. She was present on every call. She drove me night and day, winter and summer, whenever I had to go to see a patient. She even came on cutter trips over roads that were impassable by car." First hope, after the two dreadful years, was fostered by the fact that Merifield learned to type. It was a new skill, learned on a borrowed machine from a book of instruction, but it gave him confidence. Winter evenings passed more quickly now, his fingers grew firm and sure. Then, too, R. W. Beath of the Institute for the Blind in Regina hearing of Dr. Merifield, put the services of the Institute at his disposal. Now again there were new opportunities. Geraldine McEwen, blind music-teacher in Winnipeg, lent the doctor a book of instruction in Braille. The doctor learned it alone, now spends time each evening reading. There is medical news as well as entertainment in Braille-a constant joy to him. His wife reads for him the additional information on new finds in medicine that would help and interest him. That turning point, year of 1941, when Dr. Merifield moved his office from the town building to his home, learned to type and read Braille, heralded brighter times. Patients came back. Young daughter Betty was able to go to the University of Manitoba and later to take an additional course in social science. (She's now a social service worker in Winnipeg.) Forced to move from a rented house, the doctor bought a lovely, little old one and renovated it into a comfortable pleasant home. He bought a car. He keeps the drive shoveled, and old Archie Black keeps the garden in flowers throughout the summer months. The doorbell rings constantly now. It's a success story all right. It's the story of a man who did not want charity. "You must carry on," Dr. Merifield would say conversationally, and there's the bugle call of a motto that should be embossed on the Merifield family crest. "I'd like others to know it's possible to carry on," he says, "under any circumstances." Within their rights, some villagers-a few members of the town council, the village manufacturer of oil cans-speak against him and advertise for a young, seeing doctor. Merifield says, "I'll leave, of course, and let him take over when he comes. But I'll stick here until they get one." Meanwhile, Billy Conner comes for his cough, a mother from Manitoba across the provincial border brings in a seven-year-old son who won't talk, a farmer's wife comes in with a tumor, and the doctor sends an appendicitis case to a hospital in Moosomin or Regina. "I won't worry about it," the doctor says, "but I won't be stepped on either. I'm too stubborn to walk out while there are loyal patients. Also, you see, I must-and am-earning my living. Regardless of who is right, the main thing which I'd like to say to all blind folks is that even a blind person need never be pushed around if he decides to be like other human beings." ---------- Leave a Legacy For more than seventy-five years the National Federation of the Blind has worked to transform the dreams of hundreds of thousands of blind people into reality, and with your support we will continue to do so for decades to come. We sincerely hope you will plan to be a part of our enduring movement by adding the National Federation of the Blind as a partial beneficiary in your will. A gift to the National Federation of the Blind in your will is more than just a charitable, tax-deductible donation. It is a way to join in the work to help blind people live the lives they want that leaves a lasting imprint on the lives of thousands of blind children and adults. With your help, the NFB will continue to: . Give blind children the gift of literacy through Braille; . Promote the independent travel of the blind by providing free, long white canes to blind people in need; . Develop dynamic educational projects and programs that show blind youth that science and math are within their reach; . Deliver hundreds of accessible newspapers and magazines to provide blind people the essential information necessary to be actively involved in their communities; . Offer aids and appliances that help seniors losing vision maintain their independence; and . Fund scholarship programs so that blind people can achieve their dreams. Plan to Leave a Legacy Creating a will gives you the final say in what happens to your possessions and is the only way to be sure that your remaining assets are distributed according to your passions and beliefs. Many people fear creating a will or believe it's not necessary until they are much older. Others think that it's expensive and confusing. However, it is one of the most important things you will do, and with new online legal programs it is easier and cheaper than ever before. If you do decide to create or revise your will, consider the National Federation of the Blind as a partial beneficiary. Visit www.nfb.org/planned-giving or call 410-659-9314, extension 2422, for more information. Together with love, hope, determination, and your support, we will continue to transform dreams into reality. Invest in Opportunity The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back. A donation to the National Federation of the Blind allows you to invest in a movement that removes the fear from blindness. Your investment is your vote of confidence in the value and capacity of blind people and reflects the high expectations we have for all blind Americans, combating the low expectations that create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. In 2019 the NFB: . Distributed over seven thousand canes to blind people across the United States, empowering them to travel safely and independently throughout their communities. . Hosted forty-eight NFB BELL Academy programs, which served more than three hundred and fifty blind students throughout the United States. . Provided over one hundred thousand dollars in scholarships to blind students, making a post-secondary education affordable and attainable. . Delivered audio newspaper and magazine services to 118,900 subscribers, providing free access to over four hundred local, national, and international publications. . In the third year of the program, over three hundred fifty Braille- writing slates and styluses were given free of charge to blind users. Just imagine what we'll do next year, and, with your help, what can be accomplished for years to come. Below are just a few of the many diverse, tax-deductible ways you can lend your support to the National Federation of the Blind. Vehicle Donation Program The NFB now accepts donated vehicles, including cars, trucks, boats, motorcycles, or recreational vehicles. Just call 855-659-9314 toll-free, and a representative can make arrangements to pick up your donation-it doesn't have to be working. We can also answer any questions you have. General Donation General donations help support the ongoing programs of the NFB and the work to help blind people live the lives they want. Donate online with a credit card or through the mail with check or money order. Visit www.nfb.org/make-gift for more information. Bequests Even if you can't afford a gift right now, including the National Federation of the Blind in your will enables you to contribute by expressing your commitment to the organization and promises support for future generations of blind people across the country. Visit www.nfb.org/planned-giving or call 410-659-9314, extension 2422, for more information. Pre-Authorized Contribution Through the Pre-Authorized Contribution (PAC) program, supporters sustain the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind by making recurring monthly donations by direct withdraw of funds from a checking account or a charge to a credit card. To enroll, visit www.nfb.org/make- gift, and complete the Pre-Authorized Contribution form, and return it to the address listed on the form. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Kenneth Jernigan] Blindness: Is the Public Against Us? by Kenneth Jernigan From the Editor: In our discussions about sighted privilege, one of the concerns that has been raised is that the concept is very different from what we have previously thought about the role of blind people and sighted people in society. There have also been concerns that by even venturing to use the term privilege we are allying ourselves with what some call a leftist victim mentality. As you read this speech that was delivered almost forty-six years ago, I urge you to think about whether some in the audience felt the same discomfort in being associated with civil rights and the cause of black people that we feel today as a new generation seeks to understand those things that retard their progress and ways of explaining and redressing them. Here is what Dr. Jernigan said in 1975: When the orange-billed seagull scares from my shadow and flees from my pass, I look up and see the sun laughing a smile on the water. When mothers and fathers shout and hit their children for discipline, I look up and see the sun lure transient clouds to cover her face. And when the blind man, dogless, loses his homeward path, I have seen the stranger straighten his solo way while the sun sets. I have wondered: Is there a land where the birds are unafraid, where the little children are uncried, and the blind people see Where the sun won't laugh at the seagulls and hide from the children and leave when the blind man is lonely. That poem-which appears on the wall of a California coffee house- portrays to a remarkable degree (even if only in microcosm) both the best and the worst traits of humanity: compassion, bigotry, sensitivity, obtuseness, concern, arrogance, perceptive awareness, and a total lack of understanding. Certainly with respect to blindness it exemplifies every misconception of the darkest middle ages. When the blind man (dogless or otherwise) is lonelier than others-when he has it so bad that the sun itself must flee from his plight, it is not the blindness which should be mourned but the social attitudes and the cultural heritage-the root causes of the broken spirit and the blighted soul. Second-class status and deep despair come not from lack of sight but from lack of opportunity, lack of acceptance, lack of equal treatment under the law, and (above all) lack of understanding. Not only does the coffee house poet speak about blindness but also (doubtless without knowing it) he speaks about our reason for organizing; for if the principal problem we face is the blindness itself (the physical loss of sight and its alleged inherent limitations) there is little purpose in collective action. If, as the poem puts it, the only solution is, "a land where the birds are unafraid, where the little children are uncried, and the blind people see," we had better pack it in and leave it to the experts. And even then, there will be no real solution; for (with present knowledge and foreseeable technology) most of us who are blind today are going to stay that way, and that is that. If this is truly the way of it, let us take such comfort as we can from the doctor, the preacher, and the psychiatrist-and let us square our shoulders and take it alone, not seeking the company of others with similar affliction, who (at the very best) can only remind us of what we are not, and what we can never become. But, of course, this is not the way of it-not at all. Everything in us rejects it. All of our experience denies it. We know that with training and opportunity we can compete on terms of absolute equality with the sighted, and we also know that the sighted (with education and correct information) can come to accept us for what we are-ordinary human beings, neither especially blessed nor especially cursed-able to make our own way and pay our own tab. This is why the National Federation of the Blind came into being. In 1940 a small band of blind people from seven states met at Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, to begin the movement. At first it was mostly faith and dreams, but that was over a generation ago. Today (with more than 50,000 members) we are a nationwide crusade with local chapters in every state and the District of Columbia. At an accelerating pace we have become aware of our needs, our potential, and our identity. An increasing number of the sighted have also become aware and now march with us, but the mass of the public, a majority of the media, and most of the social service agencies still think in pre-Federation terms. Deep down (at the gut level) they regard us as inferior, incompetent, unable to lead an everyday life of joy and sorrow, and necessarily less fortunate than they. In the past we have tended to see ourselves as others have seen us. We have accepted the public view of our limitations and, thus, have done much to make those limitations a reality. But no more! That day is at an end. Our problem is so different from what most people imagine, that it is hard for them even to comprehend its existence. It is not the blindness, nor is it that we have lacked sympathy or goodwill or widespread charity and kindness. We have had plenty of that-too much, in fact. Rather, it is that we have not (in present day parlance) been perceived as a minority. Yet, that is exactly what we are-a minority, with all that the term implies. Do I exaggerate? In the summer of 1972 the National Federation of the Blind held its convention in Chicago. A local television station sent a black reporter to do coverage. She went directly to the exhibit room and used most of her film on various mechanical aids and gadgets. To round out her story, she came to me and asked that I comment on the value and benefit of it all. I responded obliquely, asking her how she would feel if she were at a national meeting of the NAACP or the Urban League and a reporter came and said he was there to film the shoe shining and the watermelon eating contest. She said she wouldn't like it. "Well," I said, "suppose the reporter took another tack. Suppose he wanted to spend all of his time and film on an exhibit of gadgets and devices incidentally on display as a sidelight of the meeting, ignoring the real problems which brought the group together in the first place." She said she wouldn't like that either. In fact, she said, it would be worse since the question about the shoe shining and the watermelons could be easily discredited, while the other approach was just as bad but far less apparent and, therefore, probably more destructive. I then told her about a reporter who came to one of our meetings and said, "I'd like to get pictures of blind persons bowling and of some of the members with their dogs." I tried to explain to him that such a story would be a distortion-that we were there to discuss refusal by employers to let us work, refusal by airlines to let us ride, refusal by hotels to let us stay, refusal by society to let us in, and refusal by social service agencies to let us out. He said he was glad I had told him and that it had been very helpful and enlightening. Then he added, "Now, could I see the dogs and the bowlers? I am in quite a rush." As I told this story, the black reporter was obviously uncomfortable. She seemed truly to understand, but when I asked her if she still intended to feature the exhibits and the gadgets, she stuck to her guns. "In the first place," she said, "I've already used all of my film. In the second place my editor told me to do it, so that's the way it has to be." The television coverage appeared on schedule-usual image, usual distortion. There is nothing wrong with bowling or dogs or canes or exhibits, but it was a bad scene. A year later (in June of 1973) the blind were again in Chicago-this time for a different reason. The National Accreditation Council for Agencies Serving the Blind and Visually Handicapped (NAC) was meeting, and the blind were demonstrating and picketing. Formed in the mid-1960's by the American Foundation for the Blind, NAC symbolized (as it still does) everything odious and repulsive in our long and painful tradition- custodialism by governmental and private social service agencies, ward status, vested interest, intimidation, exclusion, and second-class citizenship. Our attempts to gain representation on NAC's Board were answered by double-talk and tokenism, by Uncle Toms representing nobody but themselves and their masters, and by threats and reprisals. Finally, we had had enough. So when (without warning and in violation of its own bylaws and policies) NAC tried to hide from us by changing its meeting from Cleveland, Ohio, to an out-of-the-way motel in Chicago (a motel in the midst of construction and remodeling), we came to confront them. And not just a few of us, but the blind of the Nation. It was short notice and difficult doing, but we came-hundreds of us, from all over the country: California, New England, the deep South, and the Midwest. It was a day of dramatic importance. It was the first time in history that the blind as a people (not just a local group or a given segment but the blind as a people) had mobilized to take to the streets for collective action. There were state delegations, placards and signs, marches in downtown Chicago, and a rally at Civic Center Plaza. Was it newsworthy? By every test known to journalism, the answer would have to be yes. Yet, the Chicago Tribune for Thursday, June 21, 1973, carried not a single line about the demonstrations. It was not that the Tribune forgot us. Far from it. There was not just one, but two stories about the blind. And what were these stories that were of such importance as to be more newsworthy than the first national demonstration by the blind in history? One was headlined "Busy blind man finds time to help children." The other was captioned "Blind, he directs music in city school." What a commentary! It was all there. The blind are especially talented in music. They are also burdened and deprived. Therefore, when one of them (instead of just doing the normal thing and receiving) turns it around and gives to others (particularly, children), it has human interest and news value. What would have happened if Martin Luther King had been leading the first black demonstrations in Chicago and the papers had ignored it-printing, instead, "Busy black man finds time to help children" and "Black, he directs music in city school"? I think you know what would have happened, and so do I. There would have been a furor of massive proportions. Yet, the incidents I have related passed without notice or ripple, almost as a matter of routine. What I have said must be seen in perspective. The Tribune writers and the other members of the Chicago press were not trying to put us down or conspire against us. They were calling it as they saw it, writing what tradition had taught them to write. Like any other cross-section of society, they doubtless were (and are) people of integrity and goodwill. It was not a matter of morals or motives, but of comprehension. It was all tied up with their notions about blindness. Pathos, compensatory talents, musical ability, inspiration, bravery against odds, world of darkness, heart-rending tragedy-these they (and even their editors) could understand: run-of-the-mill, good human interest, no sweat. But the blind as a minority? Discrimination? Marches? Confrontation with the social service agencies, the very people who were trying to help the blind? Ridiculous! The reporters couldn't understand it, and (at least, at the emotional level) they didn't believe it. So how could they write it? And even if they did, how could their editors approve it, or the public buy it? Forget it. Don't think about it. Let it alone. Of course, the attitudes of the press are representative of the broader society, and the situation is certainly not unique. It is exactly the way the blacks were treated 50 years ago. They were lumped together and seen as a single caricature-good-natured, irresponsible, rhythmic, shiftless, and a mite dishonest-second-class all the way. A black person was never shown in a straight role on the stage or in the movies but only as a foot-shuffling, jolly simpleton. It was Amos and Andy and Uncle Remus and Aunt Jemima; and not only the blacks but all of us will bear the scars for generations to come because of the failure to understand, the lack of concern to care, and the absence of the courage to act. Fifty years ago it was the blacks. Today it is the blind. But we are organized, and we are on the move. We want no strife or confrontation, but we will do what we have to do. We are simply no longer willing to be second-class citizens. They tell us that there is no discrimination-that the blind are not a minority. But we know who we are, and we will never go back. Lest you think I am picking on Chicago, let me say that New York was about the same. In July of 1973 (only a month after the NAC demonstration in Chicago) the largest group of blind people ever to assemble anywhere in the world up to that time met in New York. For almost a week we discussed our hopes and our problems-planned and dreamed. Some 2,000 of us marched on NAC headquarters. There was a considerable amount of local radio and television coverage, and a little in the papers. Nationally there was hardly a ripple. I can only explain it as before. It was not conspiracy or deliberate put-down. In some ways it was worse, for an individual can be made ashamed of prejudice and repression but rarely of charity and kindness. They didn't understand it; they didn't believe it; and (above all) they didn't know how to write it. It didn't fit the image and the preconception. Sometime back a local student chapter of the National Federation of the Blind undertook to analyze advertisements mentioning blindness. An ad to help people stop smoking came to their attention and resulted in the following correspondence: CAMPANA CORPORATION Division of Purex Corporation Limited Batavia, Illinois DEAR SIR: At our April meeting, we read part of an advertisement from your University Plan to Help People Stop Smoking. The reading states in part: "Try smoking with your eyes closed and see how much of smoking is visual. Blind people rarely smoke, not only because of fire danger, but because they are not influenced by these visual aspects of smoking." Since blind people do smoke as much and as often as their sighted friends, and since blind and sighted alike have little conscious concern for the fire hazard involved, we found your advertisement of BANTRON both inaccurate and annoying. We hope that you will reread your information concerning BANTRON, and see the misconceptions about blindness in it so they may be corrected. Thank you very much. A courteous letter-not unreasonable, belligerent, or full of recrimination. Back came the reply, loud and clear-saying, perhaps, more than its author intended or realized: Thank you for your letter of April 29. Your comments about the sweeping generalizations of blind people not smoking are well taken, and did indeed cause me to study the package directions for Bantron. Although I have yet to know a blind person who did smoke, I will concede the point on the basis that (a) you are more expert on the subject than anyone here, and (b) any such generalization such as blind people fearing fire, left-handed people being awkward, black people being shiftless, Italians gangsters, Jews cunning, Germans warlike, or Iowans as corn growers is by nature indefensible and inaccurate. Unfortunately, Bantron is not a high volume product, and it may be some time before package directions are next redesigned, and some time after that before the new directions achieve distribution. In fact, it may be years before your suggestions bear tangible fruit. But they have been considered and will be acted upon when the time finally arrives. A casual (one might almost say a cavalier) response. A rather glib admission that the statements about blindness in the ad were probably false and that nobody around the office had any real information on the subject- or, for that matter, cared to have any, one way or another. No recognition that lives might have been damaged or opportunities lost. Only the godlike statement that, "...it may be years before your suggestions bear tangible fruit. But they have been considered and will be acted upon when the time finally arrives." What insensitivity! What contempt! What arrogance! What irrefutable proof of the absolute necessity for the National Federation of the Blind! Yet, they tell us that there is no discrimination- that we are not a minority. But we know who we are, and we will never go back. Not only must we deal with the ad writers and the working press but also with Mr. Magoo-lovable Mr. Magoo. Because he is almost blind he bumbles and blunders through a series of bloopers-walking into telephone poles and apologizing to them because he thinks they are people, patting the tops of fireplugs and speaking to them as children, and walking up half- finished skyscrapers to the brink of disaster and ruin. It's funny because he can't see and makes such stupid goof-ups. Never mind that blindness isn't like that and that no blind person in the world is so incompetent or stupid as to hit a telephone pole and believe it's a human or think the top of a fire plug feels like the head of a child or wander up the girders of an open building. It fits the stereotype, so it's hilariously comical. But what does it do to blind people-to our public image and our private lives? A few weeks back I received a call from a blind woman in Indianapolis. She said, "The other day I was at the home of a friend, who is also blind, and her four-year-old son was watching Mr. Magoo on television. He turned to his mother in hurt and bewilderment and said, 'Mother, why are they making fun of you?'" My caller went on to tell me that later that same week she was walking down the street when a small child spit on her and said, "You're old Mr. Magoo." She was so shaken by the two incidents coming together that she called to ask what the Federation could do about it. Of course, this negative behavior is not surprising from small children or even from the public at large; but surely we have the right to expect better from the social service agencies, the very people who are supposedly knowledgeable and established to help us. Yet, an outfit in Seattle calling itself Community Services for the Blind (ultra-respectable and approved by the United Way) decided this spring to make Mr. Magoo the principal focus of its public relations and funding. The leaders of our Washington affiliate protested, but to no avail. A blind man on the Community Services board (Uncle Toms are, indeed, pathetic; and we have our full quota) thought it was funny, and even constructive. But the board's sighted president put it all in perspective: The advertising message [he said in a letter to one of our members] is especially directed at people who are responsible for the blind-not the blind themselves. We don't feel the blind person will tend to identify himself with Mr. Magoo, necessarily; in fact, many may not even know who he is.... If there is any kind of a negative aspect in the fact that Mr. Magoo has poor eyesight, it is all the more effective, just as a crippled child on a muscular dystrophy poster is more effective than a normal child. [Emphasis added.] What a damning self-indictment! What an ironic commentary on the end of an era and the death of a system. Yet, they tell us that there is no discrimination-that the blind are not a minority. But we know who we are, and we will never go back. To round out the picture of the public mind, consider the following recent examples: A man wrote to me a few months ago saying that he would like to buy a cat or dog for every blind person in Colorado Springs. "I saw a young blind boy," he said "with a white cane and a puppy dog. He seemed so happy. If you think it would help I would be glad to see every blind person in Colorado Springs has a pet. Cat or dog." A dental hygiene student wrote to me from Fresno, California: "I am working on a research paper," she said, "concerning the special needs of visually handicapped or blind people with regard to dental care. I hope to determine: (1) how the dental procedure needs to be altered to accommodate them, and (2) special dental problems of these patients." Recently a blind woman was in the hospital for gall bladder surgery. A tape on the foot of her bed was inscribed in large letters: "Patient is blind but self-sufficient." It's all tied up in the word "but." Am I quibbling? Not really. Is it subtle? Not very. An expert on penology and social reform wrote to me to say that, in his opinion, the blind (regardless of their misdeeds) should not be put in the penitentiary. "If the seriousness of their offense merits incarceration," he said, "they should be dealt with in a special manner." In other words, even in the "big house" we should be second-class and segregated. The author of a book on the teaching of medical transcribing wanted her work put into Braille. "I wrote you," she said, "because I have watched the teaching of this subject to the blind over a period of years and it is unnecessarily painful and lengthy. They do make first-rate transcribers and always seem so pathetically grateful for a chance to learn." A religious organization circulates a card called "Courtesies of Gentleness for the Sighted in Contacts with the Blind." It says: A handshake to a blind person is like a smile to a sighted person. So shake hands on greeting and on leaving your blind acquaintance.... Never fill to the brim a cup given to a blind person; it is too hard to keep on an even keel. Give him a refill instead.... Don't express sympathy for a blind person in front of him. In motoring, guard against slamming the car door on the blind person's hands. Also see that he doesn't extend his arm or hand outside the car.... Never force an approaching blind person to give you the right- of-way, for every time he has to deviate from his course, he loses his bearings; In other words the blind can't plan or do for themselves. Do it for them, and think for them, too. And don't express pity for them- at least, not to their faces. Gentle and courteous all of the way. Incidentally, the Federationist who sent me this card said: "I find it demeaning and offensive." A doctor at the Mayo Clinic wrote: "I am sorry to say she is blind and cannot be helped. Anything you can do to make her life easier would be greatly appreciated." From Pennsylvania comes this: Today I was advised by the Department of Labor Inspections Division that under the new life safety measures, which will emanate from the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, it will not be possible to allow a blind person to live on the second floor of a boarding house having more than three guests unless the building totally conforms with the federal specifications and standards. Southern College, located in Orlando, Florida, announces: "Tuition for all students is basically $417 per quarter. There is an additional quarterly fee of $125 for visually-impaired students." In 1972, James Reston, the well-known syndicated columnist, commented on Senator Eagleton's forced withdrawal from the Democratic vice- presidential nomination: "This is not primarily Eagleton's fault," Reston said, "but the system's. That system is very compassionate to human beings whose age and health interfere with the efficient execution of their work. It tolerates Supreme Court justices who are in serious ill health or who are even almost blind." The key word (as I am sure I don't have to tell you) is even. That "even" is at the center of our problem as blind people. It takes for granted (as an obvious commonplace, needing no argument) that the blind are unable to perform competently as Supreme Court justices; in fact, that it is ridiculous even to assume that they might; and that any system which tolerates such manifest irrationality can only be explained on the basis of compassion. Compassion, indeed! The compassion is often misplaced. Recently, for instance, we held a luncheon for employers so that they could get acquainted with blind job applicants, and the East Moline, Illinois, Metal Products Company saw no reason to come. "Because of the type of business we are in," their letter said, "metal stampings and weldments involving punch presses, shears, brakes, and welders, we feel that we have nothing to offer the blind inasmuch as we have nothing in a counting or packaging type of work." The irony is that one of the people attending the luncheon (totally blind from childhood) works every day shearing steel and operating presses. He has done it for 15 years and is considered the best in the plant. In Michigan in 1970 Tom Munn (a blind man) took a State Civil Service examination for the position of mechanic. He passed with a score of 96, and his name was placed on the register. He was not offered employment; others (with lower scores) were hired. In 1972 the Civil Service Commission created a separate list for the handicapped. Munn's name was transferred from the open register to the separate list, and his score was reduced from 96 to 70-which (regardless of performance) was the grade to be given to all so-called "successful" future blind applicants. Munn requested that his performance be evaluated. The request was refused. In 1974 (acting on his own) he secured a work trial evaluation with the Motor Transport Division of the Department of Management and Budget. He did the job without difficulty. The results were ignored. In 1975 (his patience finally exhausted) he contemplated a lawsuit. Officials of the State agency for the blind (the very people charged by law with the duty to help him) allegedly tried to coerce him into silence. Tom Munn and the National Federation of the Blind have now brought action in the federal courts against both the State agency and the Civil Service Commission. Yet, they call it compassion and say we are incompetent. They tell us that there is no discrimination- that the blind are not a minority. But we know who we are, and we will never go back. Surely all of this is sufficient, but it is only illustrative. Southern Illinois University plans to make a study of the dating and mating selection patterns of the blind; the Minnesota Braille and Sight Saving School plans a course in sex education and wants specialized materials and techniques; and the National Enquirer puts it all together in a November 11, 1973, article entitled "Finds Blindness Upsets Sexual Functioning." The sex drives of the blind, [the article says] are upset by their inability to see light, states a West German researcher. Dr. H. J. von Schumann, of Dusseldorfs, said he found that irregular menstrual cycles in blind women and loss of sexual ability in blind men seem related to their inability to see light. The hormone- producing system controlled by the pituitary gland appears to need stimulation by light if sex hormones it produces are to be kept at adequate levels. Hardened as I am to ignorance and superstition, I still find it difficult to know exactly what to do with that one. I confess that I was reluctant even to bring it to you at all for fear some of the sighted (lacking first-hand experience) might be tempted to believe it. The demands of modesty and the wish to be seemly would seem to rule out any attempted refutation by personal laboratory performance, and the customs and laws of the day make it inadvisable to stage mass exhibitions to place the matter in perspective. So I guess the best I can do is this: pick any random hundred of us, and put them alongside any random hundred of them; and I believe we will acquit ourselves with credit and pleasure--probably with volunteers to spare. Ask the sighted with the background to know. What a dreary picture! We are dogless and lonely; we can't enjoy smoking; we are Mr. Magoo; we need pets to keep us company; we have different dental needs; we must be segregated, even in the penitentiary; we should be pitied, but not to our faces; we cannot live on the second floor of a boarding house; our college tuition is higher; we cannot shear steel or operate presses; we cannot compete in the Civil Service but must be content with a separate list and a score of 70; and, finally, we are even inadequate for the joys of sex. It would seem that all that is left is to pack it in; and even that is taken care of in an article on the right to death by choice appearing in the January 1974, Atlantic: "I do not wish," the author says, "to survive any accident or disease resulting in vision too impaired to see or read. A world without beauty seen is no world for me. A life without freedom and movement is no life for me. If age and illness deny me these, I choose death." So where does all of this leave us? In the first place it leaves us with the need for perspective; for as the saying goes, we have never had it so good. Despite the exclusions and the denials, we are better off now than we have ever been. It is not that conditions are worse today than they were ten or twenty years ago, but only that we are more aware of them. In the past we wouldn't have known of their existence, and even if we had, we wouldn't have been able to do anything about it. Today we are organized, and actively in the field. The sound in the land is the march of the blind to freedom. The song is a song of gladness. Yes, there are discriminations and misconceptions; but there are also joy and promise. The old is dying, and the new is at hand. It is true that not all sighted people have goodwill toward us, but most do. As we begin to move toward first-class citizenship (especially, as we insist upon our rights), we will inevitably provoke hostility; but we will also inspire understanding and respect. If we simply go forth with chips on our shoulders and bitterness in our hearts, we will lose. We must have greater flexibility and more positive belief in ourselves than that. There is a time to fight and a time to refrain from fighting; a time to persuade; a time to take legal action; a time to make speeches; a time to educate; a time to be humble; a time to examine ourselves to root out arrogance, self-deception, and phony excuses for failure; a time to comfort our fellow blind; and a time to stand unflinchingly and uncompromisingly with the fury of hell against impossible odds. Above all, we must understand ourselves and have compassion in our hearts, for the sighted as well as for our fellow blind-and, yes, even for ourselves. We must have perspective and patience and the long view; and we must have the ability and the willingness to make sacrifice, and the courage to refuse to wait. We must destroy a system which has kept us in bondage, but we must not have hatred in our souls for that system or that bondage-for the bitterness will destroy, not our enemies but us. We must recognize that the system was an indispensable element in making us what we are, and, therefore, that its chains (properly seen) are part of our emerging freedom- not to be hated or despised but to be put aside as outdated and no longer to be borne. As we look ahead, the world holds more hope than gloom for us-and, best of all, the future is in our own hands. For the first time in history we can be our own masters and do with our lives what we will; and the sighted (as they learn who we are and what we are) can and will work with us as equals and partners. In other words, we are capable of full membership in society, and the sighted are capable of accepting us as such and, for the most part, they want to. We want no Uncle Toms-no sellouts, no apologists, no rationalizers; but we also want no militant hell raisers or unbudging radicals. One will hurt our cause as much as the other will. We must win true equality in society, but we must not dehumanize ourselves in the process; and we must not forget the graces and amenities, the compassions and courtesies which comprise civilization itself and distinguish people from animals and life from existence. Let people call us what they will and say what they please about our motives and our movement. There is only one way for the blind to achieve first-class citizenship and true equality. It must be done through collective action and concerted effort; and that means the National Federation of the Blind. There is no other way, and those who say otherwise are either uninformed or unwilling to face the facts. We are the strongest force in the affairs of the blind today, and we are only at the threshold. We must operate from a base of power-yes; but we must also recognize the responsibilities of power and the fact that we must build a world that is worth living in when the war is over-and, for that matter, while we are fighting it. In short, we must use both love and a club, and we must have sense enough to know when to do which-long on compassion, short on hatred; and, above all, not using our philosophy as a cop-out for cowardice or inaction or rationalization. We know who we are and what we must do and we will never go back. The public is not against us. Our determination proclaims it; our gains confirm it; our humanity demands it. My brothers and my sisters, the future is ours. Come! Join me on the barricades, and we will make it come true. ---------- Continuing the Recipe Column by Gary Wunder In a recent issue I asked readers to tell me whether or not you thought the recipe column we have run since 1971 was still of value. The email and telephone calls I have received are overwhelmingly in support of our keeping the column. Whether the Monitor survey echoes this we will see, and please do take the survey. The question I most frequently get is why we would consider doing away with the column. If readers of the Braille Monitor want the column, we will keep it. The problem is that we continue to have difficulty getting state affiliates to submit. I try to contact each affiliate that will be asked at least six months out to tell them where they are in the flow of states. I then offer a warning about two months out. If I haven't heard anything by the time we are starting to edit the articles, I used telephone calls. Sometimes I am told that pleas for recipes go unanswered. Sometimes I receive no response at all. If you want the recipe column to continue, please contribute when asked by your state president. If you don't see your state represented in the alphabetical list of recipes, one state per month, ask why not, and help your state president assemble them. If this is a tradition worth keeping, let's do it right and with the pride that is represented in everything we do. ---------- Recipes Recipes this month were contributed by members of the National Federation of the Blind of North Carolina. Ralph Tucker Spaghetti Sauce by Mary Le O'Daniel This recipe is a family favorite. Ralph Tucker was a former mayor of Terre Haute, Indiana. I got the recipe from a daily radio program while living there in the early 70s. Ingredients: ? cup olive oil ? cup butter 2 cups onion, chopped 1 cup green pepper, chopped 2 pounds ground beef 5 cloves garlic crushed ? cup parsley 2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon pepper 2 cups sliced mushrooms 1 or 1 ? cups red wine 2 cups tomato puree 4 cups tomato paste (six 6-ounce cans) 3 cups canned tomato juice 2 tablespoons oregano Method: In large skillet, melt butter and heat oil slightly. Saut? onion and green pepper until golden. Add hamburger and cook stirring constantly. Add seasonings and mushrooms and cook ten minutes. Add wine, cover and let sit for five minutes. In three-quart kettle, combine tomato ingredients and oregano and bring to boil. Add skillet mixture and cook over medium heat one hour, stirring occasionally. Enjoy. ---------- Marinade for Roast or Steak by Mary Le O'Daniel Ingredients: 3 tablespoons oil 3 tablespoons wine 1 tablespoon vinegar 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 tablespoon soy sauce 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 1 tablespoon catsup 1 tablespoon prepared mustard Salt to taste Method: Use meat tenderizer on a three-pound roast. Mix above ingredients in a glass bowl. Soak roast in sauce for 24 hours. Broil fifteen minutes on each side, five inches from flame. Slice on diagonal. ---------- Parmesan Chicken Cutlets (Heart Healthy) by Christy Wheeler Ingredients: 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated 2 tablespoons dried Italian seasoned breadcrumbs 1/8 teaspoon paprika 1 teaspoon dried parsley 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1 pound) Method: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In re-sealable plastic bag, combine cheese, crumbs and all seasonings; shake well. Transfer mixture to plate; dip each chicken breast in cheese mixture, turning to coat all sides. Arrange on nonstick baking sheet. Bake until chicken is cooked through, 20-25 minutes. Enjoy! (Only 178 Cal/5 G Fat/3.3 G Carbs/28.1 G Protein) ---------- Pasta Corn Casserole by Christy Wheeler Ingredients: 2 cups uncooked pasta (small shells, rotini, broken spaghetti or any pasta) 2 cans cream style corn 2 cans whole kernel corn (drained) 2 cups grated cheddar cheese (or cheese of your choice) 1 stick melted butter 1 chopped onion Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients in a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish. Cook uncovered for approximately 50 minutes. ---------- English Pea Salad by Alvin Ricks Ingredients: 1 can English peas 1/2 cup grated cheese 1/2 cup chopped onion 1/2 cup sweet pickle cubes or pickle relish 3 boiled eggs, chopped Mayonnaise Method: Combine all ingredients in a medium-size bowl using just enough mayonnaise to moisten the mixture. (Adjust to your taste) Refrigerate until ready to serve. ---------- Pickled Peaches by Alvin Ricks Ingredients: Fresh peaches (peeled and halved) 1-1/4 cups rice wine vinegar 1/4 cup honey 1/4 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice 1 - 1/2 inch ginger root Method: Heat all ingredients (except peaches) in a medium-sized pot, until small bubbles appear. Remove from heat and let cool. Place peaches in a quart jar. Pour cool syrup over peaches. Refrigerate for two weeks before eating. Generally lasts up to one month in the refrigerator. ---------- Monitor Miniatures News from the Federation Family The National Federation of the Blind DeafBlind Division Mentoring/Mentee Program: Are you a person who is both blind and has a hearing loss, has attended many national conventions, and would like to mentor other persons who are deafblind? Are you a deafblind person who would like to teach others about hearing loss and how they live their life successfully? Are you a deafblind person who will be attending the convention for the first time but has never experienced such a gathering? Are you a deafblind person who would like to learn from other deafblind persons on how they get food in a large hotel without assistance, find their room, check in to the hotel, browse the tables in the exhibit hall, and/or navigate the hotel lobby? Well then you have come to the right place. The NFB DeafBlind Division is coordinating a mentoring and mentee program designed for those who are deafblind who will be attending this year's 2020 National Convention in Houston, Texas. Deafblind individuals who have been to a national convention in the past will be paired up with persons who are first-time convention attendees and who are new to hearing loss. If you are willing or in need of this program, as a mentor or mentee, please email: marsha.drenth at gmail.com. ---------- NFB Pledge I pledge to participate actively in the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind to achieve equality, opportunity, and security for the blind; to support the policies and programs of the Federation; and to abide by its constitution. ----------------------- [1] US Department of Education National Center for Education Statistics, "Children and Youth with Disabilities," last updated May 2019, https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cgg.asp [2] Brand, B., Valent, A., Danielson, L., College & Career Readiness & Success Center American Institutes for Research, "Improving College and Career Readiness for Students with Disabilities," 2013. [3] "Report of the Advisory Commission on Accessible Instructional Materials in Postsecondary Education for Students with Disabilities." (2011) [4] United States Census Bureau American Community Survey, "The percentage of non-institutionalized persons aged 21-64 years with a visual disability in the United States who were employed full-time/full-year in 2017," http://www.disabilitystatistics.org/reports/acs.cfm?statistic=4 [5] United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, "69.5 percent of people who worked in 2017 worked full time, year round," December 20, 2018, https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2018/69-point-5-percent-of- people-who-worked-in-2017-worked-full-time-year-round.htm [6] Department of Justice Civil Rights Division and Department of Education Office of Civil Rights Letter to College and University Presidents, June 29, 2010. [7] "Report of the Advisory Commission on Accessible Instructional Materials in Postsecondary Education for Students with Disabilities." (2011) 42, No. 1. Higher ED Accessibility Lawsuits, Complaints, and Settlements [8] LaGrow, Martin. "From Accommodation to Accessibility: Creating a Culture of Inclusivity." March 13, 2017. https://er.educause.edu/articles/2017/3/from-accommodation-to-accessibility- creating-a-culture-of- inclusivity?utm_source=Informz&utm_medium=Email+marketing&utm_campaign=ER. [9] Information Technology Systems and Services, University of Minnesota Duluth, "Higher Ed Accessibility Lawsuits, Complaints, and Settlements," https://www.d.umn.edu/~lcarlson/atteam/lawsuits.html. [10] Government Accountability Office. "Education Needs a Coordinated Approach to Improve Its Assistance to Schools in Supporting Students." Report to the Chairman, Committee on Education and Labor, House of Representatives. 10-33 (2009). From buhrow at nfbcal.org Wed May 6 14:56:20 2020 From: buhrow at nfbcal.org (Brian Buhrow) Date: Wed, 6 May 2020 14:56:20 -0700 Subject: [Brl-monitor] The Braille Monitor, May 2020 Message-ID: <202005062156.046LuKbx015026@nfbcal.org> BRAILLE MONITOR Vol. 63, No. 5 May 2020 Gary Wunder, Editor Distributed by email, in inkprint, in Braille, and on USB flash drive, by the NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND Mark Riccobono, President telephone: 410-659-9314 email address: nfb at nfb.org website address: http://www.nfb.org NFBnet.org: http://www.nfbnet.org NFB-NEWSLINE? information: 866-504-7300 Like us on Facebook: Facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind Follow us on Twitter: @NFB_Voice Watch and share our videos: YouTube.com/NationsBlind Letters to the President, address changes, subscription requests, and orders for NFB literature should be sent to the national office. Articles for the Monitor and letters to the editor may also be sent to the national office or may be emailed to gwunder at nfb.org. Monitor subscriptions cost the Federation about forty dollars per year. Members are invited, and nonmembers are requested, to cover the subscription cost. Donations should be made payable to National Federation of the Blind and sent to: National Federation of the Blind 200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place Baltimore, Maryland 21230-4998 THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND KNOWS THAT BLINDNESS IS NOT THE CHARACTERISTIC THAT DEFINES YOU OR YOUR FUTURE. EVERY DAY WE RAISE THE EXPECTATIONS OF BLIND PEOPLE, BECAUSE LOW EXPECTATIONS CREATE OBSTACLES BETWEEN BLIND PEOPLE AND OUR DREAMS. YOU CAN LIVE THE LIFE YOU WANT; BLINDNESS IS NOT WHAT HOLDS YOU BACK. THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND IS NOT AN ORGANIZATION SPEAKING FOR THE BLIND-IT IS THE BLIND SPEAKING FOR OURSELVES. ISSN 0006-8829 ? 2020 by the National Federation of the Blind Each issue is recorded on a thumb drive (also called a memory stick or USB flash drive). You can read this audio edition using a computer or a National Library Service digital player. The NLS machine has two slots-the familiar book-cartridge slot just above the retractable carrying handle and a second slot located on the right side near the headphone jack. This smaller slot is used to play thumb drives. Remove the protective rubber pad covering this slot and insert the thumb drive. It will insert only in one position. If you encounter resistance, flip the drive over and try again. (Note: If the cartridge slot is not empty when you insert the thumb drive, the digital player will ignore the thumb drive.) Once the thumb drive is inserted, the player buttons will function as usual for reading digital materials. If you remove the thumb drive to use the player for cartridges, when you insert it again, reading should resume at the point you stopped. You can transfer the recording of each issue from the thumb drive to your computer or preserve it on the thumb drive. However, because thumb drives can be used hundreds of times, we would appreciate their return in order to stretch our funding. Please use the return envelope enclosed with the drive when you return the device. Vol. 63, No. 5 May 2020 Contents Join the Virtual 2020 NFB Convention Federationism in the Time of the Coronavirus by Chris Danielsen A Timely Gift from a Talented and Generous Author by Jonathan Mosen Counseling and Coronavirus: A Perspective on Well-Being by Candice Chapman and Jeannie Massay Our Social Committee for Staff is Still Hard at Work by The Social Committee The NFB of Colorado Takes the Distancing Out of Social Distancing by Jessica Beecham Math that Feels Good: Enabling Sighted and Blind People to Share the Mathematical Experience by Al Maneki Steve Benson Dies by Barbara Pierce Doing What's Necessary by Stephen O. Benson Across Three Continents and Generations, A Candle of Hope is Ignited by Syed Rizvi A Taboo Topic for People Who are Blind...Hearing Loss *Gasp* by Marsha Drenth Learning to Lead One Step at a Time by Brittany Ingram Owning Your Voice by Nina Marranca The Blessed Blind Big Brother by Shawn Callaway Blueprint for Learning by Stephen O. Benson Recipes Monitor Miniatures Join the Virtual 2020 NFB Convention Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the annual convention of the National Federation of the Blind, originally scheduled for Houston, Texas, from July 14-19, is going virtual. Celebrating its 80th year, the organized blind movement is delighted to take this opportunity to connect blind Americans for the largest gathering of the blind in history! The 2020 National Convention will include most of the elements conventioneers expect, with some new twists. Members are requested and non- members are invited to register at no cost for the convention in order to get access to exclusive offers, convention announcements, door prizes, and other content. But, not so fast! Where do we send door prizes? Send door prizes to National Federation of the Blind, Attention: Convention - FS, 200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230. Remember that you must register to be eligible, so don't miss out. Registration for the convention, as well as details of the convention schedule and logistics as they become available, can be found at www.nfb.org/convention. Those who booked convention reservations at the Hilton Americas or the Marriott Marquis in Houston will receive a full refund of any room deposit collected. The hotel will contact you no later than May 1 to confirm the amount to be credited. (Please be patient and wait to hear from the hotels; they are severely understaffed during the coronavirus crisis.) Similarly, if you previously registered for the 2020 convention online or through the mail, you will be contacted about your registration fees and banquet ticket purchases. Mark your calendars for July 14-19, and plan to connect with your Federation family across the country. Additionally, as local conditions permit, Federation affiliates will organize in-person gatherings in conjunction with convention events to enhance the convention experience. The 2020 convention of the National Federation of the Blind will connect blind Americans from anywhere and build opportunities everywhere. Make plans to be a part of it, and join the largest gathering of the blind anywhere! Register for 2020 National Convention Registrations must be postmarked by May 31. Please register online at www.nfb.org/registration, or complete and mail all requested information on the form below to: National Federation of the Blind, Attn: Convention Registration, 200 E. Wells Street at Jernigan Place, Baltimore, MD 21230. Registrant Name: __________________________________________________ Address: _________________________________________________________ City: _________________________ State: ________________ Zip: _______ Phone: ____- ____-______ Email: ____________________________________ Upon registering for the 2020 National Convention, more information regarding the various formats and agenda will be provided as soon as it is available. While registration is free, we welcome and encourage donations to support our ongoing work to protect the rights of all blind Americans. Please note that the most up-to-date information will be available at nfb.org/convention. If you have questions, please contact nfb at nfb.org or call 410-659-9314. We look forward to your participation. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Chris Danielsen] Federationism in the Time of the Coronavirus by Chris Danielsen From the Editor: Chris Danielsen is the director of public relations for the National Federation of the Blind, but that one line cannot begin to convey who he is, what he does, and how very lucky we are to have him. In the midst of this coronavirus pandemic, Chris has managed to outline almost everything we are doing without making it so detailed that it would be tiring to read and fail in its attempt to give an overview that hints at and gives information as to where more detail can be had. Everything we are doing, from the live online presidential release with more than eight-hundred participants, to the affiliate activities that combine education, physical fitness workouts, and just a chance for some socialization and sharing among friends demonstrates what family members do to reach out and help other family members. Here is one of the finest articles I have ever been privileged to help in publishing: Whatever else may yet happen in the year 2020, it has already seen its defining event: the pandemic spread of the novel coronavirus, which causes a respiratory disease imaginatively named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Despite the clinical blandness of its name, this illness is not to be belittled. At this writing there are over 369,000 cases in the United States alone, resulting in over 11,000 deaths, as well as nearly 1.5 million cases worldwide with a death toll of over 76,000. That is why a virus that some originally hoped would be confined to the discreet geographical location where it was identified late last year has upended the lives of virtually everyone in our nation. The way that we all work, learn, and socialize has dramatically changed, with most of us staying in our homes and venturing out as little as possible in order to slow the spread of the virus. Although the disease is killing only a fraction of the people who get it, many of whom experience only mild cold or flu symptoms if any, that number is nonetheless staggering, as is the number of people who experience symptoms that are serious enough to require hospitalization. Therefore, the vast majority of state governments have ordered increasingly tight restrictions on human activity, shutting down many businesses entirely, while limiting the scope of others and requiring everyone who can to work from home. The order also extends to emptying primary and secondary schools as well as college and university campuses. These orders have devastated our economy, taken investments and retirement plans on a roller-coaster ride, dramatically increased unemployment, overwhelmed our healthcare system, turned grocery shopping into competitive hoarding, and stretched the capacity of broadband internet connections, to name just a few results. In short, there is not an individual, a business, or an organization that is not affected by this serious and frightening outbreak, and that very much includes the National Federation of the Blind. Fortunately, our movement continues to demonstrate the love, hope, determination, and resilience that have always been a part of who we are and how we operate. With the steady and strong leadership of President Riccobono and our National Federation of the Blind Board of Directors, as well as our affiliate, chapter, and division leaders combined with the efforts of countless members, we have done our part to slow the spread of the disease, rallied to address the unique affects the crisis has on blind people, and found innovative ways to continue our work and grow our movement during this difficult and anxious time. As the seriousness and scope of the coronavirus pandemic became apparent in mid-March, the National Federation of the Blind quickly took action to do our part in slowing the spread of COVID-19. Although we had originally proposed cautious guidelines for holding traditional meetings as late as March 11, it became clear the next day that our initial measures needed to evolve. On that day, March 12, 2020, Maryland's governor and others across the nation closed schools and issued further restrictions on public gatherings. So, on March 13, the board of directors met and issued a directive that all in-person Federation meetings at the national, affiliate, and local level be immediately canceled or postponed. This includes state conventions, local chapter meetings, division meetings, fundraisers, and other events. Originally planned to be in effect until Easter, this directive was later extended to May 31 or whenever federal, state, and/or local social distancing restrictions are lifted, whichever is later. The following week, a third of the staff of the NFB Jernigan Institute was shifted to emergency telework, both to accommodate specific health and personal needs and to prepare should further restrictions require our headquarters to be shut down entirely. On March 23, Maryland Governor Larry J. Hogan issued an order that, in President Riccobono's judgment, required us to close the NFB Jernigan Institute at 5 p.m. that day. As mentioned, however, the infrastructure had already been put in place for most staff to work remotely, so, with a few exceptions, the work of the national staff began again the next morning and has continued ever since. As always, this work follows the direction of our national elected leaders and serves the needs of our affiliates, chapters, and members across our movement. It was clear from the outset that one of the most critical needs during this crisis would be timely and accessible information about the COVID-19 pandemic. Communications staff at the Jernigan Institute quickly put together a list of resources, both from within and outside the Federation. That list is still being updated and is available at www.nfb.org/covid19. NFB-NEWSLINE was also ramped up to meet the emergency. Blind people in all fifty states, DC, and Puerto Rico can access current outbreak statistics and breaking news articles about the pandemic, regardless of whether NFB-NEWSLINE is sponsored in their area. While national-level information and breaking news are critical, most decisions in response to the pandemic are being made at the state and local level. Accordingly, affiliates also began immediately developing and distributing their own collections of resources for publication on their websites and disseminating to every blind person they can find. In addition to identifying local and statewide information and resources, our affiliates are directly assisting blind people with critical needs like finding volunteers to drive them to medical appointments or to deliver groceries or prescriptions. Our nationwide network has never been more critical to meeting the needs of blind people, especially those who are vulnerable due to age, underlying health conditions, or physical isolation exacerbated by the limited availability of public transportation and ride- sharing options. Therefore, as previously mentioned, our imperative is to find and help as many blind people as possible, without regard to their membership in the Federation. Our Utah affiliate developed a list of resources and set up a conference call to discuss strategic action, including the Utah Council of the Blind and others in the effort. The National Federation of the Blind of Colorado worked with the Colorado Center for the Blind to set up a hotline for all blind Coloradans who have questions or need assistance. The Texas affiliate is working with Lions clubs in rural areas of that vast state to recruit volunteers who will help get groceries, medicine, and other critical supplies to blind people who need them. The National Federation of the Blind of Maryland started a coronavirus fund to help unemployed blind people get essential supplies. These are just a few examples of the actions our affiliates are taking to address the needs of blind people across our nation in this time of need. Our advocacy and policy team is closely monitoring federal legislation that is intended to relieve the economic distress that the pandemic is causing. This legislation will of course benefit blind people in many ways, but it may harm us, intentionally or unintentionally, in others. For example, an early legislative alert called our members to action to stop a Senate proposal that the requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) be completely waived during the crisis. As a result of members contacting their senators, the waiver language was watered down to require only a study by the secretary of education to recommend whether any limited waivers should be authorized. We will continue to monitor developments in this area. We are also urging Congress to adopt provisions that will specifically help blind people deal with the setbacks the pandemic is causing. Randolph-Sheppard vendors, for example, will suffer ever-increasing hardship if Congress does not take action to support them, so our National Association of Blind Merchants initiated a letter-writing campaign to ask Congress for an appropriation to support the Randolph-Sheppard program. In addition, we are pushing for the incorporation of our Access Technology Affordability Act into COVID-19 relief legislation so that blind people can acquire the technology they may need in order to work from home or change jobs. We signed on to a cross- disability letter urging healthcare providers to avoid using low expectations and unfounded misconceptions about the lives of people with disabilities in making critical-care decisions. More information about public policy as it affects blind people during the outbreak is available at nfb.org/covid19. In addition to these nationwide efforts, our affiliates are working closely with state rehabilitation agencies, departments of transportation, health and safety agencies, and the like to ensure that blind people in their jurisdictions have access to the services and supports they need. Online accessibility is always a primary focus of our activities, but it is especially important during this time of social distancing. Public schools, colleges, and universities have closed their physical facilities and moved to online learning. We know that access to course-management platforms, accessible textbooks, and other materials is uneven to say the very least. To combat this problem, we immediately launched an initiative called #AccessibleNow to identify problems and to urge schools at all levels to be proactive in meeting the needs of blind students. One of the first components of this initiative was a Twitter chat that brought together advocates, teachers, and blind students to discuss ways to improve accessibility and accommodate students during the crisis. An email address, accessiblenow at nfb.org, has been set up so that blind people can inform us of barriers in education and beyond. Other accessibility issues that blind people are facing include difficulty in applying for unemployment benefits, small-business assistance, and other services that states are offering in order to mitigate the devastating economic effects of mass business closures. State and local COVID-19 response directives and other information may also be inaccessible. The National Federation of the Blind is combatting these problems at all levels. While COVID-19 brings many challenges, it also presents opportunities to reach out to more blind people. Early in our response efforts, President Riccobono announced that any affiliate that wanted one would be given access to a Zoom Pro account. Zoom is a powerful and popular audio-and- video conferencing service that has been used at the NFB Jernigan Institute for some time now. It is especially useful to our movement because it is highly accessible. Many affiliates and divisions are taking full advantage of Zoom not only for the conduct of virtual NFB business meetings, but also to hold trainings, seminars, philosophy discussions, or just virtual social gatherings. With coordination and leadership from the NFB Jernigan Institute, a distance education plan has been developed to provide blind children and their parents with home-based activities covering Braille, independent living, STEM subjects, arts and crafts, and more. This will help replace some of the one-on-one instruction that blind children are not receiving from teachers of blind students while schools are closed. The access technology team will offer weekly "accessibility boutiques" to train information technology workers and others on accessibility principles, expanding a program of our Center for Excellence in Nonvisual Access that until now primarily benefited people living and working in the Baltimore area. All of these activities are open to blind people, parents of blind children, and other interested individuals whether or not they are members. We are intentionally connecting with people we did not know previously and who may never have attended a Federation event due to transportation issues, health concerns, or other factors. It seems highly likely that we will see substantial growth in our organization. It is often said that a crisis is a time of challenge but also one of hope and opportunity. No doubt, blind people and the National Federation of the Blind will face additional challenges because of COVID-19. In addition to those mentioned above, for example, we will need to be particularly mindful of our financial situation because of the economic contraction that is occurring, and the monetary contributions of those who can make them will be more critical than ever. At the same time, we are expanding our existing capabilities, learning new ways of doing things, and reaching new potential members and partners. As we plan our first-ever virtual convention, all of those processes will continue. There is every reason to believe that, as we have in the past, we will emerge from this crisis stronger and more resilient than ever. Let's connect and protect blind people during the time of the coronavirus, and let's go build the Federation. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Jonathan Mosen] A Timely Gift from a Talented and Generous Author by Jonathan Mosen From the Editor: Jonathan Mosen is a well-known name. He has had articles in the Braille Monitor with some frequency, has had a lot of visibility in his work with HumanWare, Vispero, and Aira, and is appreciated for several books he has written that make the iPhone and other devices much more useful to those not technically suited to read a manual or lengthy help file. Jonathan is without doubt an activist, and he intends to do good in the world. Here is just one manifestation of the spirit that drives this man's life work: Kia ora [be safe] everyone, from a beautiful Wellington, New Zealand. As many of you know, I'm now CEO of a national organization here in New Zealand. I'm no longer developing Mosen Consulting projects, but I keep titles available as long as they remain relevant. Occasionally, I check in to see what we have sold through our automated system. Having just done this, I have noticed a sharp increase in the number of people buying my audiobook on Zoom Cloud Meetings, Meet Me Accessibly, which is a three-hour description of how to use Zoom on a range of platforms with a screen reader. There has been a very sharp spike in sales in just the last few days. Clearly, this is because more people are already working from home or are preparing to do so. I do not feel comfortable profiting from a need people have during a crisis that is unprecedented in living memory. If people need access to the material at a time like this, I can afford to give it away especially since Mosen Consulting is no longer my primary means of making a living. I have therefore refunded in full everyone who has purchased Meet Me Accessibly during March and made it free on the website. You are welcome to download it free and distribute it anywhere you want. The only thing I ask is that you please not change any of the files and that it be distributed in full. Download it free from http://mosen.org/zoom I hope this helps in some small way during a very tough time for many. There is no sugar coating the fact that we are living through a very difficult period in history. But, if we follow quality advice, including regular handwashing and levels of isolation appropriate for the degree of outbreak in our country, we'll get through it. Let's all do our best to stay safe, be mindful of the safety of others, and be kind. Take care, Jonathan ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Candice Chapman] [PHOTO CAPTION: Jeannie Massay] Counseling and Coronavirus: A Perspective on Well-Being by Candice Chapman and Jeannie Massay From the Editor: Much of what we read today about the coronavirus quite correctly focuses on what we can do to stay physically safe. On the hierarchy of needs, that has to be placed at the top. But we also know that this kind of social isolation is not normal, and in order to be mentally healthy as well as physically okay, we need to think about strategies to keep us feeling as well as we can. This article comes from two wonderful counselors. Candace Chapman is a former scholarship winner and now serves on the Scholarship Committee. She is close to completing her doctorate in counseling. Jeannie Massay is also working on her doctorate. Both of these women are actively involved in practicing, their sessions occurring virtually instead of physically. Although this is written in first person, as they request, keep in mind that both of them concur in the opinions expressed. Here's what they say: Just when you think you've got life all figured out, coronavirus comes along and makes a mockery of your carefully laid plans. Seriously, who could have seen a global pandemic coming? Certainly not me. However, if being a member of a helping profession has taught me anything about life, it's that if you aren't facing one challenge, you're facing another. This knowledge gives me comfort, because just as I've overcome other challenges, I stand a good chance to overcome this one. Just as in any other challenging time in life, I'm relying upon the skills and strategies that I practice myself and with my clients to stay positive, healthy, and relatively happy. I hope that by sharing a few of these things with you, you find some peace and comfort in these strange days. After all, this is one of the most universal challenges that I can recall. Establish a Routine I know, I know. You're probably reading this going, "Thank you, next!" Go with me here. People need structure in their lives; some more than others. In times of difficulty and uncertainty, having structure can often lead to peace of mind. Whether you're working from home or completing online classes or trying to get out of your Netflix slump, establishing a routine can be a way to preserve your mental health. I've been working from home, so in order to maintain motivation, I "go to work." This simply means I get up in the morning and prepare for my day as if I'm going to commute to a building other than my home. So, I get up, complete my morning routine, and then go to the space that I have designated in my home as "work." I do everything in that space that I would do on a regular basis. Whatever your current activities include, try designating spaces that mimic life before corona. Replicating your regular routine will inject a sense of normalcy that people, myself included, can appreciate. Maintaining your normal routines can help keep depression and anxiety at bay. You may find that you have a heightened sense of depression, anxiety, or both during this uncertain time. This is absolutely normal. Make sure that you are adding in more contact with friends and family in whatever ways that you can. Establishing this as a part of your routine can make life a lot better. If you find yourself feeling more depressed or anxious than usual, try limiting the amount of media that you take in. There is news, but much of it is constantly rehashing. If you hear this enough or it is predominately what you hear, the world feels like it is limited only to the virus. Don't let yourself be fooled and be hooked into this single track in your thinking and feelings. Exercise Ah, I see you're more on board with this one. Whether you like it or not, exercise is beneficial, not only for your physical health, but also your mental health. You feel good, your mind is clear, and energy is available in heaps. The other great thing about exercise is that it comes in so many different forms. Whether it's taking a safe, socially distant walk around your neighborhood or finding a routine on-line that you like and burning calories in your living room, exercise is a good way to stay healthy in both mind and body. I have personally enjoyed following an exercise routine from one of my favorite professional dancers on Instagram. I encourage you to get creative and search out something that makes exercise enjoyable. One other thing to keep in mind: exercising outside comes with the added bonus of vitamin D, which is also good for solid health and positive mood. Sunshine is good for the soul! Meditation and Mindfulness Activities I have to admit, this is one of my personal favorites when it comes to staying calm and healthy no matter what the circumstance. It's easy enough to find a nice meditation app to follow along with, or you can find a guide online and create your own. As with apps, there are tons of guides available on the web, and just like with the exercise routine, find one that works for you. Another great thing about meditation is that you can combine it with lots of other activities that are also good for overall well-being. I have found that yoga and meditation is one of the most pleasant, relaxing self-care combinations I have in my self-care tool kit. Some of the more well-known apps that focus on mindfulness and meditation are Headspace, Sanvello, and Stop, Breathe & Think. When checking out YouTube or internet searches for mindfulness or meditation, be patient. You may not particularly enjoy every video you encounter. However, keep looking until you find one that you will use and that you enjoy. Aromatherapy Play-Doh This activity is one that I first came across while preparing a presentation on effective self-care activities for counselors. This activity can use homemade Play-Doh, or the kind you can purchase at the store. Once you've either purchased your Play-Doh or made some, find your favorite essential oils, combine the scents you like, and add a few drops to the Play-Doh. This aromatherapy Play-Doh is the gift that keeps on giving. When you squeeze the Play-Doh, it acts in a similar way to a stress ball, the oils are activated and you get their effect through your sense of smell, and finally you have the scents from your oil selections on your hands so that you can experience the positive effects long after you've stored your Play-Doh. Eat with Intentionality Since we are somewhat stuck at home, it might be easy to just graze through meals without thinking about eating regularly. Try to pay attention to what and when you are eating. Making sure that you are getting good nutrition not only helps your brain work better, but it also helps with emotional regulation. Eat a variety of foods including sources of protein, vegetables, fruits, and grains. I'm not saying don't add in a cookie or brownie occasionally, because, hey, they're delicious! They should be supplemental rather than the bulk of your intake for any given day. Sleep I know, you are probably thinking "Really?" and the response is "Absolutely!" Maintaining a good sleep schedule is important to brain health and emotional regulation. Our brains actually rid themselves of neurotoxins while we sleep so that we can better function the next day. While many of us are out of our normal routines, it is really important to get the right amount of sleep and to establish a routine around sleep. That means getting up at approximately the same time each day and going to bed at approximately the same time each night. Try to unplug from your phone, tablet, television or other activities that are stimulating about thirty minutes before you go to bed. If you are having trouble getting to sleep, the meditation and relaxation exercises that you have already checked out will come in handy here. There are tons of resources available to help you through this time of uncertainty and confusion, and this is by no means comprehensive. I simply have shared some of the most relevant things in my life and the lives of those with whom I work. I'll leave you with one final thought: you are not alone in this struggle. It's important to always remember that we are in this together. ---------- Our Social Committee for Staff is Still Hard at Work by The Social Committee From the Editor: The staff at the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute is a positive, hardworking group. Part of staying positive is to make an intentional effort to bolster staff morale. This is the reason we have a social committee, and when the first Thursday came around and all of us found ourselves working from home, the social committee still found a way to reach out and encourage. Here is what they sent to the staff on March 26: Good afternoon, cooped-up colleagues, This is a community service message from your social committee. Things you should NOT do during the coronavirus pandemic: Do not decide to Feng Shui your living room (you could pull your back out.) Do not kiss your Peapod driver because he found you some toilet paper. Do not take up cooking now (your family will thank you later.) Do not cut your own hair. Do not chase your cat because you want cuddle time (you will REALLY regret it.) Do not tell your almost eighty-year-old mother that you are going to start getting her groceries. (She looks confused, shocked, and then mad all in a span of five seconds. Then she says "Girl, have you completely lost your mind. You most certainly will not be doing that!") True story. We hope you have enjoyed this dose of levity and information courtesy of the social committee!! We want you all to know that we are here for you if you need us, just reach out. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Jessica Beecham] The NFB of Colorado Takes the Distancing Out of Social Distancing by Jessica Beecham From the Editor: Some people have it all: brains, talent, physical attractiveness, and the ability to make a room light up whenever they enter. All of this could be said about Jessica, but the thing I admire most is that none of this makes any difference in the way that she approaches each and every person she meets. She is not falsely modest, but neither is she full of herself. She is a winner, and for those of us who get the opportunity to be around her, she makes us feel like winners as well. Her most recent assignment is taking charge of coordinating the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado to take the distance out of social distancing and replace isolation with stimulation. Here is the article she has written about the efforts her affiliate has made, and let us all be thankful for what they are doing and for what other affiliates around the country are doing as well. In March, COVID-19, which had been rearing its ugly head in the media for weeks, suddenly struck society hard and fast. Many states began seeing their first positive COVID-19 cases. Within the span of just over a week, the sizes of recommended group gatherings went from fifty, to ten, to five, to shelter in place and see only those who live in your home. Many of us were deemed "non-essential" and were not allowed to attend work or had to switch gears and adopt a work-from-home model. Others, we who were deemed "essential" went to work in fear that we would contract this deadly virus or potentially carry it home to our vulnerable family members. Students and teachers alike scrambled to switch to virtual learning platforms. Medical professionals scurried to secure testing supplies, ventilators, and protective gear. Maybe most notably, stores across the nation hustled to keep up with the mysteriously increasing demand for toilet paper. While the whole country was taken by storm, members of the National Federation of the Blind quickly began to realize that this crisis would affect our members in unique ways. Grocery stores began to refuse to provide shopping assistants due to lack of staff. Taking public transit made adhering to social distancing guidance increasingly more difficult. Medication and grocery deliveries were significantly delayed. People who did get grocery deliveries were only receiving a portion of the items they actually asked for. Students struggled with inaccessible learning platforms. Blind people had to be concerned with whether we could get tested for COVID-19 at drive-up facilities. Even more concerning was the idea that if we fell ill and ended up hospitalized, would our medical needs be deprioritized because of our blindness. In true Federation fashion, the National Federation of the Blind stepped up and swiftly began addressing these issues. While we do not claim to have most or all of the answers, the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado has been working hard to do our part. Starting with the goal of continuing to serve blind people throughout the state to the best of our ability, we developed a two-pronged strategy. The first prong was to build a network to assist blind Coloradoans with meeting essential needs like getting groceries, picking up prescriptions, and finding rides to critical destinations. We recruited volunteers through social media, leadership groups, and Lions across the state. We then began matching blind people with volunteers through our hotline 303-778-1130, extension 219 and email address assistance at nfbco.org. We used volunteers from affiliate, chapter, and division leadership to call members as well as people on the free white cane and slate and stylus lists just to check in and make sure that their needs were being met. So far, we have gotten tremendous feedback all around. When asked to pick up groceries for an individual with type II diabetes who felt unsafe going to the store, one volunteer responded, "Thank you so much for thinking of me." Another volunteer wrote a letter to his leadership group after giving one of our members a ride to dialysis to say how rewarding it was to get out and help others during this time. He urged other members of the group to register as volunteers. One of our members said, "I was so stressed out about how I was going to get my groceries. I did not know what to do. I almost cried with relief when I was matched with a volunteer." Another individual shared that when she had to move suddenly and unexpectedly that it would have been way too overwhelming for her to manage without the assistance of one of our volunteers. Maureen Nietfeld, who spearheaded the hotline said that "It has been a win-win situation. We have been able to assist blind people in getting the critical help that they need, and our volunteers have felt more centered through serving others during this time when we all feel so helpless and vulnerable." Our second goal was to unite our members around educational workshops to decrease the feelings of isolation, help blind people live the lives we want, and to seize this unique and unprecedented opportunity to build the National Federation of the Blind. Each evening at 5 p.m. mountain time, we host an educational workshop. Topics have run the gamut from weekly staples like "Workout Wednesday" and "Philosophy Friday" to other items of interest including accessible gaming; guide dogs; tech toys: the good, the bad, and the ugly; essential oils 101; and much more. In one of our "Philosophy Friday" calls, President Mark Riccobono shared his thoughts on what it means to live the life you want. When one individual shared that he tried and tried and never was able to get his foot in the door to find a job and expressed that for him living the life he wants would be financial freedom, President Riccobono very eloquently explained that in part, our message is aspirational. Even if things are not perfect now, we work hard to make them better for the next generation of blind people. In another call we discussed sighted privilege. Long-time Federationists and non-members alike discussed "sighted privilege" and how this impacts our movement. Long-time Federationist Jim Gashel says he is "violently opposed" to the use of this terminology. He feels that it takes away from the idea of blindness as a characteristic. At the same time, others shared that the idea of "sighted privilege" was powerful in helping them express something they have felt and experienced but had not worded quite the same way. We invited people from across the country to join us for these calls. Before each workshop begins, all participants are unmuted, and we have a lot of fun getting to know one another. Scott LaBarre, president of the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado, said "While we are practicing physical distancing in Colorado, we are certainly not practicing social distancing. The Colorado affiliate is using this opportunity to grow closer than ever; our efforts are allowing us to find new blind people, and the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado is grateful for this opportunity to serve." To explore their online offering, send your request and your email address to jbbeecham at gmail.com. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Al Maneki] Math that Feels Good: Enabling Sighted and Blind People to Share the Mathematical Experience by Al Maneki From the Editor: Al Maneki is a living legend. He has gone where few blind people have gone before, into the field of mathematics, and beyond this, he thinks it is a field in which more blind people should be involved. He knows technology and the software sighted people use to perform all of the mathematical functions required to be a skilled mathematician. He continuously presses the National Federation of the Blind to be a leading force in the incremental steps required to give us full access to the tools of science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics. He is quick to credit the efforts of others in the work that he does, and this you will clearly see in his article. Here it is: Author's note: I want to begin this article by acknowledging the valuable assistance of fellow team member Karen Herstein, who verified most of the facts and citations given here. I also want to thank the other members of the Nemeth Braille translation team: Martha Siegel, Alexei S. Kolesnikov, Rob Beezer, and Volker Sorge, for reviewing the first draft and making suggestions. I also want to thank David Farmer, director of programs, and the American Institute of Mathematics, for its support and assistance with our work on Nemeth Braille translation. As the author of this article I assume full responsibility for any errors, misrepresentations, and oversights. Readers who wish to contact me may do so by email, apmaneki at earthlink.net. - Al Maneki The Beginning The press release issued by the American Institute of Mathematics (AIM) on January 16, 2020, said in part: Mathematics and science Braille textbooks are expensive and require an enormous effort to produce-until now. A team of researchers has developed a method for easily creating textbooks in Braille, with an initial focus on mathematics textbooks. The new process is made possible by a new authoring system which serves as a "universal translator" for textbook formats, combined with enhancements to the standard method for putting mathematics in a web page. Basing the new work on established systems will ensure that the production of Braille textbooks will become easy, inexpensive, and widespread. This press release was issued in conjunction with the annual Joint Mathematics Meetings (JMM) of the American Mathematical Society (AMS), Mathematical Association of America (MAA), and several other professional mathematics organizations. There was a special session at this year's JMM, held in Denver, on open educational resources. A one-hour portion of this session was devoted to talks by me and two of our team members on the progress we have made so far. We will have more to say about AIM later in this article. The work described in this press release has been taking place quietly but with considerable NFB involvement since 2017. Given the considerable progress that has been made to date, the overwhelmingly positive response to this press release and to our JMM talks from both the mathematics and the blind communities, this is the right moment to inform readers of this magazine about this effort. Let me emphasize here that it is still too early for anyone to expect that mathematics textbooks can be produced on demand and delivered promptly. For a very long time the development of an easy, inexpensive, and widely used piece of software to convert printed mathematics texts into Nemeth Braille has been considered the Holy Grail of providing mathematics textbooks to blind students. Marc Maurer, the Immediate Past President, told me that years ago, he asked Abraham Nemeth and Tim Cranmer to work on automated Nemeth Braille translation software. This was to no avail. Both leading technology giants of that day did not take up Dr. Maurer's request. Anyone who has experienced the pleasure of learning mathematics from a hard copy Braille text can tell you how much simpler the learning process and self-discovery can be. By keeping the fingers of one hand on an initial calculation and by keeping the fingers of the other hand on a concluding calculation, one can mull over the sequence of calculations that leads from the first one to the final one. In the case of logical arguments, one can mull over the sequence of logical steps that would lead from an initial proposition to a conclusion. To save textbook space and to challenge reader's mathematical abilities, textbook authors will frequently leave out this intermediate material. Hard copy format of a mathematical text gives the reader the necessary time to think about the material and fill in the details left by the author to the readers. In the case of tactile diagrams, a reader may use both hands to explore the patterns and the relationships displayed by the entire diagram. This type of exploration is simply not possible when a diagram is described verbally. A verbal rendering of a diagram may introduce the describer's own interpretations of that diagram, depriving the listener of the opportunity for self-discovery of that diagram's content. This is not to say that the use of refreshable Braille displays has no place in mathematics. We will have more to say about refreshable Braille displays later in this article. The Back Story Our story begins with Natalie Shaheen, the project director for the National Federation of the Blind's Spatial Ability and Blind Engineering Research Project and the program director for the associated NFB EQ summer programs, undertaking her doctoral studies at Towson University under Dr. Jonathan Lazar. As Martha Siegel, professor emerita, Department of Mathematics, Towson University, tells it, Shaheen and Lazar discussed the difficulties and delays in obtaining a Braille textbook for a required statistics course. This tale of woe is well known to many of us. Lazar suggested that Shaheen take this matter up with Siegel. The outcome of this conversation was an enraged Dr. Martha Siegel, determined to do something about this. At this point, in early 2017, Siegel and I had an extensive conversation and began to map out a strategy. Our first collaboration was "Guidelines for Collegiate Faculty to Teach Mathematics to Blind and Visually Impaired Students" which appeared in the summer 2017 issue of Future Reflections, the NFB's quarterly publication for Parents of Blind Children. See: https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/fr/fr36/3/fr360307.htm, or https://www.maa.org/sites/default/files/cupm/FacultyGuidelinesForTeachingVis uallyImpairedStudents.pdf Siegel is the ideal spokesperson to promote our quest for the Holy Grail of automated Braille translation software. She has boundless energy and is totally committed to our Braille project. Siegel served as the editor of Mathematics Magazine from 1991 to 1996 and as secretary of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) from 1996-2010. She was a faculty member in the mathematics department of Towson University from 1971 until 2015, when she became professor emerita. From her extensive service, she has many contacts in the mathematics community. The Team and the Method From the beginning, Siegel has held a firm mental image of how Braille translation software might work. She realized that Braille translation from all renditions of LaTeX and other presentation software languages would be virtually impossible because we cannot anticipate the form and structure of all presentation languages. Despite the overabundance of just LaTeX versions alone, Siegel's plan was to develop a standard version of LaTeX to provide the framework for Braille translation software. She insisted that authors could be persuaded to write their textbooks in this standardized LaTeX version, enabling straightforward Braille translations. In the Summer of 2018, Siegel recruited Alexei Kolesnikov, a colleague at Towson University. Although he had no prior experience with Braille translation, he was very familiar with LaTeX. He realized, along with Martha and me, that converting the words is easy: Braille is just another alphabet. The hard part is converting the structure of the book in a nonvisual way, converting the mathematics formulas, and converting the graphs and diagrams. "Given the amazing technology available today, we thought it would be easy to piece together existing tools into an automated process," Kolesnikov said later. Our approach to developing Braille translation software depended on breaking up the overall problem into three distinct problems, then solving each piece separately: . First: The overall structure. A typical mathematics textbook uses visual clues to indicate chapters, sections, captions, and other landmarks. In Braille all the letters are the same size and shape, so these structural elements are described with special symbols. . Second: Accurately conveying complicated mathematical formulas. In Braille, mathematics formulas are represented using the Nemeth Braille Code. The existence of the Nemeth Braille Code simplifies the problem of automated Braille translation for us, i.e., when the translation software encounters a mathematical expression or formula, simply convert it into its Nemeth equivalent. . Third: Providing a nonvisual tactile way to represent graphs and diagrams. The nonvisual representation of graphs and diagrams remains a unique challenge. Many of the usual tools of presenting information using color, thickness of a line, shading, etc., are not available in tactile graphics. The tips of our fingers have a much lower resolution than our eyes, so the size of the image must be bigger (yet still fit on the Braille page). The labels that include a picture must be translated to Braille and placed so that they do not interfere with the drawn lines. Diagrams that show three-dimensional shapes are particularly hard to read in a tactile format. Our plan to develop a standardized version of LaTeX began to change when Siegel introduced us to the American Institute of Mathematics (AIM) in January 2019, at the JMM which was held in Baltimore. AIM is an organization devoted to advancing mathematical knowledge through collaboration, to broadening participation in the mathematical endeavors, and to increasing the awareness of the contributions of the mathematical sciences to society. Since 2002 AIM has been part of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Mathematical Sciences Institutes program. One of the participants from AIM was Rob Beezer, a mathematics professor at the University of Puget Sound in Washington state. His participation was most fortunate for us. He had already developed an authoring tool which he called PreTeXt, open-source software that contains all the properties of the standardized version of LaTeX that we were hoping to develop. In August 2018 Siegel and Kolesnikov initiated a call with Beezer and David Farmer from AIM about PreTeXt. But it was the 2019 JMM where Beezer spoke with Volker Sorge about Braille (more on Volker Sorge later in this article). Later that day Siegel, Kolesnikov, Volker, Beezer, Farmer, Herstein, and I gathered at a table where we were introduced to Brian Conrey, AIM's director. Looking back, it would be fair to say that this is when our Nemeth Braille team was formed and our collaboration with AIM was solidified. Beezer sees automated Braille translation software as a natural extension of a dream he has been pursuing for several years: "We have been developing a system for writing textbooks which automatically produces print versions as well as online, EPUB, Jupyter, and other formats. Our mantra is 'Write once, read anywhere.'" Beezer added Braille as an output format in his system when we decided to use PreTeXt as our standardized file format and authoring tool. According to Beezer's scheme, we may consider all the Braille codes, Nemeth, music, etc., as just another presentation language on par with EPUB, Jupyter, etc. What a novel view of Braille! All the elements of the first problem will be handled through PreTeXt. The non-mathematical elements in a PreTeXt file may be transferred as inputs to Liblouis, an open-source Braille translator and back-translator. The output BRF file for the translated mathematics textbook is created by Liblouis. The codes in the PreTeXt file identify the mathematical elements for us. These elements are then inserted into a Nemeth Braille translator, and the translated Nemeth Code is transferred into its proper positions in the BRF file. For our Nemeth Braille translator, we are using MathJax, a standard, open-source package for displaying mathematics formulas on web pages. When we met Volker Sorge, a reader in scientific document analysis in the School of Computer Science at the University of Birmingham, England, he had already extended MathJax to produce accessible mathematics content on the web through verbal screen readers. This MathJax accessibility was initially introduced as part of a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation with support from AMS and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM). Sorge was added to our team when he agreed to extend MathJax accessibility to include electronic Braille devices and hard copy Braille printers. Sorge noted, "We have made great progress in having MathJax produce accessible mathematics content on the web, so the conversion to Braille was a natural extension of that work." Sorge is a member of the MathJax consortium and the sole developer of Speech Rule Engine, the system that is at the core of the Nemeth translation and provides accessibility features in MathJax and other online tools. When I inquired about the connection between AIM and MathJax, I got three responses from Sorge, Farmer, and Siegel. Here are their direct quotations: According to Sorge: "We (i.e., MathJax and Alex Jordan (mathematics department, Portland Community College)) organized an AIM workshop on mathematics accessibility on the web a few years ago. That's where Rob and I started experimenting with Braille translation. But I assume most people were aware of MathJax before that as it is the main solution to transform and render math on the web." According to Farmer: "I was going to say it as: AIM is not involved with MathJax, but AIM is involved with Volker because of the workshop he co- organized in May 2018." According to Siegel: "And we are involved with AIM (and therefore MathJax) because I saw that AIM had sponsored the workshop on web accessibility for the blind, and I contacted Brian Conrey. MAA has been recommending MathJax for a while." Currently, we have no solutions to the third problem, i.e., the automated generation of tactile graphs and diagrams. At best, graphs and diagrams may be generated from PDF files and scaled to size to fit a standard 11" x 11.5" Braille sheet. Individual graphs and diagrams, once they have been embossed, are then manually inserted into the proper positions in a Braille volume that has already been generated from the BRF file. Alexei Kolesnikov has done much of the work and gained valuable experience in producing tactile graphs and diagrams. He has used a Tiger Max Braille embosser to produce them. Converting the print labels into Braille labels also requires an extra level of attention to details. All these difficulties will have to be taken into consideration for us to automate textbook production completely. The Grant The initial work for automated Nemeth Braille translation was funded by a grant issued in 2019 to Towson University from the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults. Under this grant, we began to develop some of the methods for automated translation as stated in the three problem areas. Kolesnikov downloaded a set of calculus II lecture notes with the belief that if we could translate these notes, we would be able to translate anything at an equivalent or lower-class level. Our translation of the chapter on double integrals of functions over regions in these lecture notes revealed several problems with the structure elements of PreTeXt that were intended for Braille translation and the Nemeth translation from MathJax. After several iterations of proofreading by Herstein and myself, improvements and corrections were made to PreTeXt, and some improvements were made to the MathJax Nemeth translator. I think we have the PreTeXt translation software working quite well. But we don't have all the features that we need in Speech Rule Engine and MathJax. To avoid the difficulties inherent in embossing three dimensional diagrams, we decided not to attempt a complete translation of these calculus II lecture notes. However, we gained valuable experience in the art and craft of automated Braille translation. To complete work on the current grant, we began a Braille translation of the open-source textbook, Abstract Algebra: Theory and Applications (AATA) by Thomas W. Judson, written initially in PreTeXt. In the standard mathematic curriculum, abstract algebra is taught at a comparable level to or a slightly higher level than calculus II. As of this writing we have Brailled the first five chapters, and Herstein and I are now proofreading them. Diagrams have been produced for these five chapters. The diagrams are accurate; but work is still needed to automate the process of producing Braille labels and placing these labels in their proper positions, and if necessary, providing additional text explaining what is in the diagram. For the purposes of demonstration, we brought a Braille copy of chapter two (with no diagrams) and a set of embossed diagrams from chapter one (both items containing imperfections) of Judson's book to the JMM. The other two speakers from our team were Sorge and Kolesnikov. The overall response to our three presentations was most enthusiastic. Members of the audience went away with a better understanding of PreTeXt, Nemeth Braille, and the importance of hard copy Braille textbooks for blind and visually impaired students. They sympathized with and supported the need for PreTeXt. However, in addition to the target audience at JMM, we must develop a greater appreciation for PreTeXt and Nemeth in the overall mathematics community. This was the very reason for AIM's press release at this time. The challenges of getting more textbooks authored in PreTeXt are immense. There is the matter of inertia. Authors are accustomed to doing what they have always done. Too often they don't want to learn anything new. Textbook publishers must also buy into PreTeXt so that they will be willing to mass produce books from PreTeXt files. Now What? Despite the overwhelming difficulties inherent in the PreTeXt/Liblious/MathJax (PLM) approach to automatic translation, this is our best strategy for getting Braille books produced rapidly. Eventually, this approach can be made to work for books in all scholarly fields, especially those involving heavy use of footnotes. While direct Braille translations from presentation languages, such as LaTeX, may be desirable, there seems to be the universal belief that Braille translation from any presentation language is impractical. Since all textbooks written in any presentation language contains so much code that is irrelevant to Braille, the process of extracting the relevant material for Braille is daunting. For this reason, there have been virtually no successful efforts at translation from presentation language files. In today's learning and research environment, downloading and uploading of mathematical content to the web is absolutely essential. Although many limitations are imposed using one-line refreshable Braille displays, these are the only devices we have for web communications. We will use them until better refreshable Braille displays become available. We must continue to insist that all mathematical materials on the web are nonvisually accessible. In order to simplify the PLM translation software for the average blind or sighted user, we must improve all the software components so that file transfers and specification of parameters are easy to perform and foolproof. We must also write good documentation to guarantee ease of use. Of course, the procedures and use of PLM translation software will be nonvisually accessible. I don't know when all of this will be finished. At present, if anyone wishes to write a mathematics book in PreTeXt and to translate it into Nemeth Braille, it would be best to get in touch with Rob Beezer, email beezer at ups.edu. For the remainder of this year, we hope to perfect our techniques in order to produce an error-free Nemeth Braille copy of AATA with diagrams. Also, on the calendar this year, there will be a one-week workshop on Braille translation sponsored by AIM from August 3-7. At this workshop we will reconsider all aspects of PLM translation software. We will pay special attention to the problem of automating tactile graphics. Ultimately, PLM translation software should be good enough so that any book that is translated into Nemeth Braille from it will pass the proofreading of a certified Nemeth proofreader. You can be sure that the NFB's technical and mathematical expertise will be well represented at this workshop. My Take This work on PLM translation software has been a most pleasant experience for me. It has brought back many of the memories of my student days-the struggles and the triumphs of mastering mathematical concepts without benefit of hard copy Braille textbooks. The work we are doing now will make life easier for the next generation of blind students. Despite the difficulties I faced, compared to the advantages that the upcoming students will have, there is no doubt in my mind; I would do it all over again just the way I did it. My accomplishments in mathematics are all the proof I need. I have been an NFB member for almost fifty years. Over this half century, we have accomplished enormous successes because of both our collective and individual actions. Just remember that PLM translation software would never have been started if Natalie Shaheen hadn't taken the individual action of paying a visit to Martha Siegel. My heart and soul are inextricably tied to NFB. We are the only game in town! ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Barbara Pierce] Steve Benson Dies by Barbara Pierce From the Editor: It is not easy to be a part of publishing a tribute to Stephen Benson, in part because of how long we served together on the national board and as state presidents, and in part because Steve's talents and personality are not easily captured in one article. I think that our former editor Barbara Pierce's article is a beautiful attempt. Since Steve had more than twenty articles published in the Braille Monitor, I found it difficult to choose the one to run with this tribute. Readers are encouraged to search back issues to enjoy the writing, experience, and perspectives of our departed friend. Here is what Barbara Pierce has to say: I must have met Steve Benson in 1975 when I attended my first national convention. He was the host affiliate president, so he was a busy man at that convention, and I really don't remember meeting him. In fact, it seems as if I have always known Steve. At that time, he was teaching Braille at the Hines Veterans' Hospital. He had to walk a careful line as a Federation leader not to be seen to show preference for the NFB's philosophy. His solution was to live what he believed and offer friendship to his students. He also quietly passed along names of the veterans who were interested in the NFB to Federation leaders in their states. Steve was a wonderful traveler. He wrote a manual on cane mobility, and he made a point of traveling everywhere with his long white cane. I remember Dr. Jernigan telling me this after a meeting he had with Steve in which they were planning the 1988 National Convention, which was in Chicago. The Jernigans made arrangements to meet Steve outside the restaurant. Mrs. Jernigan spotted Steve striding along about a block and a busy intersection away. She reported to Dr. Jernigan that Steve came to the intersection just as the light changed so that he could cross the perpendicular stream of traffic without ever stopping. A blind walker can do this if he or she is listening ahead and gets clear cues that the parallel traffic is accelerating. Sighted people do this all the time, but one has to be a good and confident cane traveler to pull it off and make it look easy. Mrs. Jernigan reported the crossing to Dr. Jernigan, and he filed it away in his facts about Steve. We all had a list like that. David Andrews wrote to me with one of his memories that parallels my story about Steve's incredible mobility. Dave said: Among other things, Steve may have been the best totally blind traveler I ever walked with. He was very smooth and always knew where he was in relation to his environment. He and I were going to lunch in downtown Chicago one day. He said let's go to such and such, I don't remember the restaurant, but, being relatively new to Chicago, I just said sure. We walked down a long block, and he stopped, turned in-and walked straight to the right door. I asked him how long it had been since he had been there, and he said "Oh, about ten years." Steve was a fine Braille teacher and an avid Braille reader. When he worked for the Chicago Public Library, he hosted an interview program in which he interviewed authors. He loved that task. He wrote lots of press releases for the library, and he brought that skill to the Federation. I worked long and hard with Steve doing press for the NFB. He was charming and articulate in interviews, and he was always ready to pick up the slack and write when we needed articles. Steve was what my mother called a "spiffy dresser." I could always count on Steve to appear impeccably dressed and groomed. He wrote several grooming articles to help parents of blind boys. These appeared in the Braille Monitor, but I have always been sorry that we did not put together the book for parents of blind children that I dreamed about doing. Several of the pieces that Steve wrote were scheduled for that book. When Steve fought his battle with lymphoma, he made a point of sitting down with each of the people in the Federation with whom he was close. He told us each how much we had added to his life and how much he loved us. These were very meaningful conversations. Steve was modeling for us how to build and nurture friendship. He kept his friends for a lifetime, and he taught us how to tend our friendships. Recent months have been difficult. Steve was necessarily living in the past, and in our conversations I could see him disassociating himself from politics and current events, which he loved. It makes me smile to picture Steve catching up with Dick Edlund, Betty Niceley, Don Capps, and Dr. Jernigan and getting to know Dr. tenBroek. Rest in peace and joy, my friend. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Stephen O. Benson] Doing What's Necessary by Stephen O. Benson From the Editor: This is how Steve's article was originally introduced when it appeared in the Braille Monitor. Editor's Note: Sighted people are often curious about the simple modifications that blind people make in order to get on with ordinary life. Mostly they are not ingenious or complex. The simpler the better is a good rule to follow, and blind youngsters are particularly clever at applying the principle to their play. Steve Benson, president of the NFB of Illinois and member of the NFB Board of Directors, has struck up a friendship with one of his fellow commuters into downtown Chicago. He has passed along Kernel Books, which have been well received, but the woman recently expressed eagerness to know how Steve has developed the little tricks that he uses every day. Steve began thinking back to childhood and the modifications he and his friends made that enabled him to join in neighborhood games. The following article was the result. Here it is: The Hawthorn was a fine old gray-stone, twelve-flat building in Chicago's Lincoln Park area across the street from De Paul University. It boasted polished, dark hardwood millwork; oak parquet floors; and formal marble entrances. Sometime in the 1920s it was converted to a fifty-nine- unit rooming house. It was there that my mother and I settled in 1943; I was just a year-and- a-half-old. Two significant things occurred at about that time: doctors at Children's Memorial Hospital determined that I had retinitis pigmentosa, and my mother became manager of the Hawthorn. Since we lived where my mother worked, she was able to guide and mold her young son in ways she could not have otherwise. The Hawthorn and its inhabitants had much to do with who I have become. When I entered first grade, I was unable to read standard print. So, school officials placed me in what were then called "sight-saving classes." I did not and could not fully understand the implications of that placement. I could not identify facial features. I could not follow the flight of a batted or thrown ball. I could not see a bird in a tree. I had no idea what blindness was. At some point the notion of blindness was raised, but I did not regard myself as blind, for I could see. Somewhere along the line it was suggested that I was "half-blind," and that seemed okay. As I moved from second to third to fourth grade, my visual acuity diminished while the print I was expected to read became smaller. Reading became more and more difficult. I have very distinct memories of sitting at my desk, staring out the window, trying to puzzle out the print figures on the page in front of me. It was like reading gray print on gray paper. My teacher printed my math problems in large figures in India ink, and still I struggled. That was the middle of fourth grade, and it was another year before I was transferred to a school where I could learn to read and write Braille. The prevailing theory then was that vision should be used until it was absolutely necessary to learn Braille. That theory was based on age-old misconceptions about blindness, and to a disturbing degree that misguided theory persists today. Inevitably those beliefs colored my attitude toward my loss of vision. For all practical purposes my formal education began when I reached the second half of fifth grade. Until that time I had never read a book from the library; I couldn't. I began learning Braille in September of 1952. By January of 1953 I was able to read a biography of Andrew Jackson. It was not easy. Many of the bad reading habits I had developed as I tried to read print carried over to Braille. In fact, some of those bad reading habits stayed with me well into adulthood. Although schoolwork was difficult for me, I mastered a variety of other skills at home with enthusiasm. Nick and I met in the backyard of the Hawthorn when we were about three years old. Both of us lived in single- parent households with no siblings, so we bonded like brothers. Though I was legally blind, neither of us had any idea that my limited vision should make a difference. Nick and I learned what my sight would and would not allow me to do. We invented alternative techniques or devices that enabled me to participate in virtually every childhood activity. Nobody instructed us in the design of devices or techniques; we just did what had to be done. The Hawthorn was loaded with kids. The backyard was thirty feet wide and about a hundred feet long, all cement. It was like a Hollywood stage set, ever changing. One day railroad tracks were drawn with chalk, complete with switches and crossovers. Our wagons and tricycles traversed the cross- country paths until it rained or until we tired of it; then the yard became something else: a baseball diamond, a football gridiron, a site for statue maker or red-light green-light, and more. I participated in all of these activities. We organized teams and devised alternative ways for me to play ball. I was fully involved. At about the time Nick and I were ten, we met Tom, who lived in the building next door. Nick, Tom, and I joined other kids in the neighborhood in softball, touch football, basketball, and track events. In each of these sports the alternatives we developed worked for me and for the rest of the kids. In softball (using the sixteen-inch ball that is common to the Chicago area), I was usually the pitcher. The catcher would position himself behind home plate, clap his hands, and receive my deliveries. When the pitches were too far out of the strike zone, he would tell me the location so that I could make a correction. My objective was to hit the corners so that the batter would be less likely to drive the ball up the middle since I could not field a line drive in the conventional manner. I also tried to keep the ball low so the batter would hit the ball into the ground. Batting presented a different set of challenges. I could not hit a pitched ball with any consistency, so I balanced the ball on the fingertips of my left hand and swung the bat with my right. I became surprisingly skilled at hitting the ball, and I had the advantage of being able to place my hits pretty accurately. But I must admit that I did strike myself out on occasion, to almost everybody's delight. It was always challenging, and we had great fun. The alternatives we devised for softball were typical of what we did for all sports. The modifications were really minimal. I played; I prevailed; I experienced ignominious defeat; but I competed and am richer for having done so. Nick and Tom were extraordinary guys. They were imaginative, patient, and willing to learn along with me. I guess the only thing they eventually balked at was allowing me to work on their cars. They were adamant that they didn't want me to hurt my hands. I was never able to persuade them to change their minds. I suppose that by then we had begun to accumulate the caution of adulthood. Arts and crafts were a way of life for my mother. She got me involved in puppetry when I was about six. By the time I was nine years old, I was performing before audiences of up to three hundred. Later I performed as a part-time professional puppeteer for seventeen years and was a charter member of the Chicagoland Puppetry Guild. Mother organized talent shows in which the kids in the building and the surrounding neighborhood participated. We kids were involved in every aspect of the productions, from printing and selling tickets to painting sets to setting up a hundred or so chairs for the audience. I remember thinking about the shows that this was not fun, but in retrospect those performances had tremendous value for all of us, especially for a blind kid. We learned something about teamwork and collective effort. When I was about seven years old, my mother began to require me to do certain chores around the Hawthorn. I installed rolls of toilet paper, carried messages to the tenants, and counted linen and towels. As I grew older and taller, I changed light bulbs, took telephone messages which I typed, shoveled snow, and cleaned the yard and basement. By the time I was twelve or thirteen, I collected rent, recorded payment, and issued receipts. When I was sixteen, the building's owner paid me the staggering sum of $50 a month for my toil. It was my first paying job. At nine years of age several of my friends and I joined a local Cub Scout pack. I was expected to participate in all of the pack projects, including weaving a reed basket and making plaster casts of animal heads. My lion's head turned out to be an astonishing shade of purple. At eleven I joined Boy Scout Troop 300. All the boys and scoutmaster were blind. That was my first contact with a blind adult. We were expected to fulfill all of the requirements for promotion; there were no exceptions. We made a crystal set radio and a one-tube radio, and they had to work. We erected tents and cooked on fires we had to build. We learned to swim, and we competed in aquatic events at Boy Scout camp. Scouting, puppetry, and the backyard talent shows helped me build confidence. My mother taught me how to use the public transit system in Chicago. She understood the necessity for a blind person to master its use, so I learned which busses and trains went where. During the summer of 1956 I began learning to travel independently with a forty-six-inch white cane. My travel teacher was blind. As a high school freshman, I was required to get to and from school on public transportation. Mastery of independent travel skills and good judgment were essential. These skills have enabled me to travel confidently to thirty-four states for business and pleasure. As I reflect on my childhood, it is difficult for me to imagine that I missed much. Had it not been for my extraordinarily talented mother, who had the sense to let me grow and learn, and had it not been for Nick and Tom, who were not for the most part afraid of blindness, growing up would surely have been different. Nick, Tom, and I are still friends. Our lives bear the scars of experience, but we often recall the many events of childhood that inspire a smile, a chuckle, or a back-slapping laugh. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Syed Rizvi] Across Three Continents and Generations, A Candle of Hope is Ignited by Syed Rizvi From the Editor: This presentation was made at the mid-winter meeting of the National Association of Blind Students on February 10, 2020. Syed is the first vice president of the division, and here are the moving remarks he made: Good morning, everyone. I would like to tell you all a story today about a woman named Seema. It's World War II. The British Empire is stretched thin due to the war that would supposedly end all wars. The empire has lost control of Southeast Asia. India, once a great country, fractures into three separate countries. Mohammad, living in India, flees to East Pakistan. While in East Pakistan he attends medical school and becomes a doctor. East Pakistan falls and becomes Bangladesh, so he flees again to West Pakistan, which is modern day Pakistan. As the country rebuilds, it needs doctors. He settles in a small village called Phulerwan, appointed to live there by the government as a rural doctor. While there, he builds his family. He gets married and has four beautiful children: Asad, Huma, Seema, and Karar. But today we are going to talk about Seema and Asad. Seema was a bright child from birth. As she grew up, anything she put her mind to and tried, she did well and excelled. As a rural doctor, Mohammad would have to go to farmhouses and all over the countryside visiting patients. Out of his four children, he would always bring Seema as she always would bring light into the room. She was smart, intelligent, and actually knew the backcountry roads better than he did, even as a little girl. She excelled in academia but once she came to middle school, she could no longer read the small text or see the blackboard. Mohammad didn't understand what was going on. As a family practitioner, Mohammad knew basic medicine, but he knew something was going on. He took her to the capital city to meet with the best doctors. She was diagnosed with Stargardt's disease. Living in the countryside in a Third World country, she didn't have access to a lot of great resources. Eventually, she had to leave school, and her bright light began to dwindle. Due to disability-phobic attitudes, she faced abuse and discrimination. Meanwhile, in Pakistan, in-fighting began, and groups like the Taliban and Al-Qaeda started spreading violence amongst the people. Seema's eldest brother, Asad, wanted the best for his family, so while his wife worked as a doctor in the main city of Karachi, she paid for him to be able to go to Europe as the western world promised a more peaceful and equal life. While in Western Europe, he studied to become an orthopedic surgeon. He brought over his family, one by one, wife and his two children. While in Europe, he realized, that as a foreign-born doctor, he could never become a full- fledged attending doctor in the Irish hospitals since he wasn't an Irish citizen. He wanted to live in a country where there was complete equality no matter his origin or the color of skin. So, he looked toward America, the promised land. The streets-he had heard they were paved with gold. He moved to Connecticut. Once they moved to America, they had their third child. Each of his three children all excelled. His eldest son was a football player, an all-American kind of kid, was on the swim team, and went to UMass Amherst and Johns Hopkins University. His daughter went to Mount Holyoke, went to Tufts, and became a dentist. His third child-well the signs started to pop up. But Asad ignored them because he couldn't accept that they were there. His son would go to school and complain that he couldn't see the board. He would complain that he wasn't able to see the sheets or his work. Asad, being a doctor, knew how genetics work, and he knew that since his sister had Stargardt's, it was possible that his son could have it as well. But, again, that would be something too hard to face. Finally, at some point, the reality had to be met. He took his son to an ophthalmologist and specialist in Stargardt's, and he was diagnosed with the disease. Asad thought about his father's story: Mohammed, having to leave India, going to Bangladesh, going to Pakistan. Then he thought about his own story: having to escape from the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, going to Europe and bouncing around from Ireland to Scotland, and finally to the United States. He thought, "I'm forty-eight now. Why do I have to face something like this? I have bounced all around the world and was promised the American dream-that the streets would be paved with gold. How could this happen here?" As his son moved forward, they tried to help his problem by using CCTV, using magnifiers, but nothing really helped. In high school he didn't do as great as he could have, and he fell behind his older siblings. He became depressed; older siblings were becoming doctors and dentists and playing sports and he, he was barred from full access. For Asad, it was like watching his little sister's life story play in front of his eyes all over again. It was as if it was a nightmare that could never end. But once his son began college, an organization reached out to him when he applied for a state scholarship. That organization was called the National Federation of the Blind. That small light that had dwindled away was again ignited. His new Federation friends told him he could be anything he wanted and that his blindness would not determine his future. He started getting straight A's in college. He went from failing high school to the Dean's List and then the President's List. His blind mentors and even university staff told him, "Why don't you go transfer to a better university? But first-we have a training center run by an entire blind staff, where they train you within six to nine months to make it so that your blindness can be reduced to a mere nuisance." Like Mohammed and his father Asad, his journey began. Starting in Massachusetts, he moved to Louisiana for nine months and got the training he needed. From Louisiana he moved to Texas and attended a great university. Whereas, before, he was barred from accessing every aspect of life, now he was able to excel academically, socially, spiritually, and religiously. In May, he's graduating. For four years he's been competing for the number one men's powerlifting team in the United States. In May he'll graduate with high honors. In June he's getting married. In the fall he'll be heading to law school and will be living the life that Seema never could. But, since we began with a tragic story, like all great stories, there's always a happy ending. He still talks to Seema regularly on the phone, and Seema says, "You know what? Everything that I had to go through- it's fine. You are living the life I've always wanted, and that makes it okay for me. I am happy through you." Ladies and gentlemen, Seema is my aunt. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Joe and Marsha Drenth] A Taboo Topic for People Who are Blind... Hearing Loss *Gasp* by Marsha Drenth From the Editor: Marsha lives in Pennsylvania and works as a social worker providing instruction in assistive technology. She is the president of the Pennsylvania Association of the DeafBlind and first vice president of the national DeafBlind Division. She has been a Federationist since she was three, the age at which she attended her first convention. Issues faced by the deafblind are tremendously important, and Marsha has written a wonderful piece. Enjoy: First, you are probably saying to yourself that hearing loss is NOT a taboo topic. You are also probably saying that you know many people who have a hearing loss. But if they are a person who already is blind, do they acknowledge or talk about that hearing loss? Do they--or maybe even you-- admit to the presence of hearing loss? Do you ask others to speak up when you can't hear them? Or do you just ignore the problem, rationalizing that it is not important to know what that person is saying, and go on with your normal activities? Do you shy away from interacting with people who have strong accents? Do you dislike crowds because they are too noisy and make it difficult to hear people speaking to you? How does it apply to you and others who are blind and who also have a hearing loss? Depending on the severity of hearing loss, it can cause difficulty in communication, independent living, navigation, social interaction, education, and employment. In most cases there are two different communities within which a person becomes deafblind: the blind community in which someone loses hearing and the deaf/hard-of-hearing community in which someone loses vision. In other cases, some simultaneously obtain both hearing and vision loss slowly or suddenly for various reasons. Deafblind individuals vary greatly in their reason for the hearing and vision loss, communication modalities for expressive and receptive language, education, orientation and mobility, support systems, involvement, experiences, and exposure. A combination of hearing loss and vision loss can happen at any point in a person's life and affects all races, ethnic backgrounds, education levels, genders, income levels, and pre-existing disabilities. Why does this affect the greater disability community? As blind people we use our hearing to the best of our abilities. By no means am I saying that blind people always have supernatural hearing, nor do blind people hear better than sighted people, but blind people learn to use their hearing to its fullest extent. For example, when walking down the street, blind people can hear buildings, doorways, trees, people walking by, traffic, and so much more. As blind people, we are taught to listen for traffic to make sure that it's safe to cross the street. As blind people we can recognize voices and tell you who is nearby. As blind people we use our hearing to locate other people and objects within our environment. Nothing is wrong with this, since using one's hearing to compensate for the loss of vision makes sense. Unfortunately, this heavy dependence on hearing causes a blind person to be extremely fearful of losing that hearing, similar to how a sighted person is mortally afraid of losing their vision. Blind people cannot imagine losing their hearing. They think the world will be over if they ever lose it. Many times, people will say, "That will never be me; my hearing will always be good." These and many other reasons cause us to ignore the possibility that we could lose our hearing at any point in our lives, often making it a taboo topic. How do I know all of this? Because I was once one of those blind people who refused to address the possibility of losing my hearing, and now I am deafblind. Yes, it can happen to anyone, at anytime, anywhere, for a number of reasons. My story of hearing loss began in 2007. After living with blindness most of my life, I started to become lost in familiar environments that I frequented daily. I was connected with my local chapter of the National Federation of the Blind, and many blind people told me that I just needed more orientation and mobility training, not knowing that I had been using a long white cane since I was five years of age. A friend who worked as an O&M instructor suggested that I have my hearing tested. So I made the appointment, telling myself that I was just having a lot of issues lately and nothing was wrong. At the end of the hearing test, the audiologist told me that I had hearing loss. My first reaction was that there was no way, and that could not happen to me. It was true, however, and I was fitted for hearing aids. I did not wear the hearing aids, though, because I did not like the way they fit into my ear or how they made things sound. I was in pure denial. I moved to Baltimore, Maryland, in September 2008, for a job that unfortunately never materialized. I was still not wearing the hearing aids for the same reasons, but I did notice that I could not hear voices in loud places and could no longer hear the openings of doorways. I participated in the 2009 NFB Youth Slam as a marshal, still not wearing those hearing aids. I married my now husband in December 2009 and moved to Pennsylvania. I was still not wearing the hearing aids, although I noticed more changes in my hearing. In 2011 my hearing took a sharp downturn, and I had issues hearing my husband in the same room, understanding speech, hearing traffic, and using JAWS on my computer. I finally took the hearing aids out of the box and put them into my ears. I still disliked how they felt and how they sounded. Between 2011 and 2013 I transitioned from a mild hearing loss to profoundly deaf. In the spring of 2012, I transferred from the local community college to Temple University to finish my degree in social work. Dealing with a major hearing loss and attending classes at a major university in the fall semester of 2012 and the spring semester of 2013 became overwhelming. Even with hearing aids and listening devices, I could not hear my professors and classmates. I began to fear that I would not hear traffic when crossing major streets in Philadelphia. Overall, life became much more challenging, and I realized that my hearing-based skills were insufficient for safely and successfully continuing my education. I needed to learn deafblind skills. Therefore, from November 2013 to July 2014, I attended the Helen Keller National Center for Deafblind Youths and Adults in New York (HKNC). HKNC is similar to an NFB training center in that it teaches Braille, communication, independent living skills, technology, orientation and mobility, and job readiness skills, yet it does so with deafblindness in mind. For instance, HKNC offers communication training in tactile American Sign Language using the hand-over-hand method for feeling what another person is signing. Orientation and mobility is targeted directly at teaching skills for deafblind persons to be independent, such as using communication cards for receiving information about the environment when Braille, spoken language, and sign language are not available. Every consumer at HKNC faces the duality of hearing and vision loss, and sharing this journey with others helps address the social and emotional aspects of the struggle. Although I did not like being away from my family and friends, my time at HKNC was probably one of the best things that helped me during that time. After completing my training at HKNC, I enrolled for my senior year at Temple University. This last year of my undergraduate career was challenging in a new way, since I was using tactile sign language interpreters for communication and Computer-Assisted Realtime Translation (CART) with a Braille display for reading what the professor wrote on the board. I was blessed to have learned Braille at a young age since I was now using Braille in class for CART and at home for reading my textbooks. I took seventeen credit hours in both the fall and spring semesters, with an additional two-hundred-hour internship each semester. In May 2015 I graduated with my bachelor's degree in social work. In June 2015 I was hired to be the program manager for the Pennsylvania Statewide DeafBlind Support Service Provider program. During my four-and-a-half years in that position, I met many individuals who were deafblind, both those who came from the deaf community and others who came from the blind community; one thing they all had in common was that it was taboo to speak about the vision and hearing loss they were experiencing in their communities of origin. Currently I hold a social work/teaching position in Philadelphia. Our motto in the National Federation of the Blind is that blindness is just a characteristic and that we as blind individuals can live the lives we want. The same can be applied to people who are blind and have a hearing loss. It is respectable to be blind, and it is equally respectable to be deafblind. Unfortunately, misunderstanding leads to many situations in which blind people negatively judge deafblind people because they use different O&M techniques, have different communication needs, or take more time to collect information about their environment. Sometimes deafblind individuals are avoided, ignored, brushed off, or excluded from important conversations within the local, state, or national disability communities. Much of the time deafblind persons are not sought out to give their perspectives or feedback. This all leads to deafblind individuals believing that the label "deafblind" means that one is a lesser person or that one is exactly like Helen Keller or our modern day Haben Girma [first deafblind graduate of Harvard Law School]. Just as it should not be taboo to talk about blindness, it should not be taboo to talk about hearing loss with blindness. So why is this topic not being discussed within the general disability and NFB communities? Why do deafblind men and women feel like they are at the bottom of the disability hierarchy? Why aren't more people identifying as blind people who also have a hearing loss? I identify as a person who is deafblind, and it is okay to have both a hearing and vision loss. I am not a person who is afraid to ask for people to repeat themselves. I am not afraid to say that I cannot understand a person or ask him/her to please slow down his/her speech. I am also not afraid to say that deafblindness is not always like what Helen Keller experienced. I will tell people who I am and what I need. So should you. The next time you cannot hear something or someone, speak up and make your needs understood in a respectful, polite manner. Tell people that your hearing loss causes some issues in this or that situation. This is the first step on the path of freedom and independence. Be proud of who you are, with or without a hearing loss. Hearing loss does not mean that you're less of a person or that your life will be less. It simply means that you will have different but wonderful experiences. It is okay for me to be deafblind. It's okay for others to be deafblind. And it's okay for you to be deafblind. ---------- Learning to Lead One Step at a Time by Brittany Ingram From the Editor: Brittany Ingram lives with her husband Isaiah and her two-year-old daughter Marjorie. Brittany wants to go beyond her high school diploma, and when family responsibilities allow, she wants to get a college degree. She loves to read, and when the time comes, she will be homeschooling her daughter. Her grandmother was told about the organization when Brittany was in elementary school, so she has been a member since the age of nine. She now serves as the president of the Fredericksburg Area Chapter of the NFB of Virginia. She likes to write poetry and stories, loves to read, and knits on a knitting loom. Her favorite hobby is self-education, and she is, in her own words, an autodidact. This article first appeared in the September 2019 issue of The Vigilant, the newsletter of the National Federation of the Blind of Virginia. The journey that has brought me to this point in my life, where I am furiously trying to balance family, personal health, and volunteer responsibilities, has been a long and tiresome road. I have been asked to share some of my journey with you, and I hope I can do my story justice. At first glance I am not an image of perfect leadership. I never dreamed of really taking the world by storm or making a career out of activism. I am quiet, reserved, introverted, a reader, and a thinker. I enjoy a simple lifestyle that includes good homemade meals and playing with my baby. So when I received a phone call that would uproot my quiet little world, I was, you could say, blindsided. I have been a member of the National Federation of the Blind since I was nine years old. I lost my sight when I was five and was told when I was six that I was broken. My blindness is due to childhood abuse which resulted in Stevens-Johnson Syndrome. After being placed in foster care I was told that, because my eyes were damaged, my family did not want me. Of course this was completely absurd, and my grandmother was quick to gain custody of both me and my little brother; but the words calling me unwanted and broken have never really left me. And they were quite believable until my grandmother decided to expose me to the organization where blind and broken are as opposite as earth and sky. I remember all the events of my years with the organization running through my mind when the president of the historic Fredericksburg chapter called me in July 2018. My daughter was about nine months old, and since she had been born, I had only gone to one monthly meeting and had not even thought to pay my yearly dues. For all intents and purposes, I was inactive and focusing on learning to parent as a blind mother. So I was shocked to say the least when I was asked to participate in the Virginia Chapter Leadership Institute. I immediately thought I was the wrong person for the job. I was not an example of strong blind independence, and I had a baby girl who was starting to show signs of needing additional attention and care. Yet I thought of how much smaller and disinterested the chapter had seemed the last time I had been there, and I started to feel both sadness and resolve building up. For reasons I did not fully comprehend, they wanted me to represent the Fredericksburg chapter in this leadership thing. I sighed and agreed, just so long as it did not interfere with my parenting duties. I made it clear that, as much as I loved and believed in the NFB, my daughter came first. And so, I was in. I have been on a roller coaster ride this past year. I started out with very little confidence, ability, or even conviction. Doubts, second guesses, and fear of imperfection and useless contributions have plagued my heart and mind for months. But something strange and unexpected has also been coming over me. It all started in December when a project was sent out for the leadership members to complete in preparation for our first gathering in January. It was a personality quiz that highlighted your strengths, preferences, and overall character. I was once again taken by surprise. Here was something that told me what I was good at: organization, communication, and staying focused. I felt like I was looking into the mirror for the first time. And as time passed, I began to recognize those and other skills coming forward. I noticed how certain traits translated beyond my leadership role and into my role as wife and mother, friend and sister, and how it began to shape my daily priorities. I was curious, and when that happens, there is only one result; I go diving into books and research everything I can get my hands on. How could I use these traits and skills in my leadership role to their most productive uses? What really defines leadership, and do I have all the qualifications? Is there a way to use my shortcomings and weaknesses as effectively as I use my strengths and talents? The answers were right there if I could only find them. Here is what I have learned so far. I will probably never stop discovering new philosophies, debatable definitions, and opinionated preferences when it comes to leadership. But between the conversations with the other participants, all the books and resource materials, and my own revelations, I also am beginning to understand who I am and how I personally portray the image of a leader. Everything in life is about balancing priorities, knowing yourself well enough to know when to draw the line in the sand, and not wasting any time on what you are not fully passionate about. This past year I have not only made some great friends through this program, but I have discovered who I really am, the kind of person I want to model for my daughter, and the kind of partner I hope to be for my husband. Doubt and fear are still a daily obstacle for me, but I am learning to work with them and use them to my advantage-as reasons for doing instead of reasons for running. I still have a lot to learn, a lot to improve on, but leadership is no different from any other goal in life; I just have to slow down, breathe deeply, and take the journey one step at a time. ---------- Owning Your Voice by Nina Marranca From the Editor: Nina Marranca is a bright, witty Federationist whose writing is both entertaining and educational. I particularly like the case she makes for not remaining ignorant but embracing the things she needs to learn. Nina is currently working on her bachelor's degree in psychology and criminal justice at Medaille College and is simultaneously getting training at the Louisiana Center for the Blind. Her goal is to get her PhD in clinical psychology. This speech was delivered at the National Association of Blind Students Leadership Seminar which occurred just before the 2020 Washington Seminar. Here is what she said: Good morning everyone. For those of you who don't already know me, I'm Nina Marranca. I'm from New York but am currently in training at the Louisiana Center for the Blind. I'm studying psychology and criminal justice. My goal is to make a career in the field of trauma-informed mental health and to conduct clinical-minded research. But beyond those boring details, I'm an extrovert, if you haven't figured that one out already. Coffee is of equal importance to oxygen in my book, and when I'm not being loud, which considering I come from a large Italian family tends to be rare, you can find me reading or binge-watching murder shows. I've been involved with the NFB for almost a year-and-a-half. I am very excited to speak with you all today. These remarks required a bit of reflection from me on the last year and life in general. About a year ago I heard a dynamic and beautiful person speak at the 2019 NABS Winter Seminar. She is a close friend of mine and the same person who asked me to speak with you all as a matter of fact. She told her story with such confidence and conviction. Her words were beautifully honest, fueled with determination and a sense of individuality. She talked about growth, self-discovery, and learning to view obstacles as a source of strength, rather than reasons to doubt our abilities. When I think of owning your voice, her speech still jumps to the forefront of my mind. The energy in that room had been powerful; her speech made me think I want to do that. I want to stand up and own my words like that. I want to help others feel like that. At this time last year, it wasn't that I had never advocated before. Sure, I had spoken up during the run-of-the-mill daily interactions in a coffee shop, on the bus, in the grocery store. The jobs I hold while in school require me to talk with students and families on a daily basis about a variety of services and individual circumstances. I didn't have a problem asking questions or attempting to correct misconceptions. In short, if you would have asked me back then if I owned my voice, I would've responded quickly with "Of course I do." I only see now that I was wrong. What does it mean to own your voice? I asked a group of students that very question the other day. I received answers about realizing the impact you can have, about being cautious with tone and dynamics, and even about copyrighting one's voice so that you could, literally, own said voice. Here's the thing: none of those answers were wrong. After explaining that I was using their answers as a starting place when preparing this speech, someone turned to me and asked: "Well, what does it mean to you to own your voice?" Surprisingly, I had to stop and think. I wanted to pinpoint the first time I felt that I could truly use my voice for more than just yelling about which of my brothers ate the remains of a pizza that I had counted on for lunch. So I thought about it, and it took me back to a classroom, of all places. But in this instance, I was not the student. I had just finished reading a story in Braille to a bunch of first and second graders. It was the first time I did school outreach. Since then I've talked in countless classrooms, auditoriums, and cafeterias. Those presentations are beyond enjoyable, especially when you factor in the open and honest nature of kids. They ask questions that adults will flinch away from, apologizing and admonishing instead of praising curiosity and stimulating acceptance. I'll get back to the importance of questions in a moment, but first, I'd like to tell you all about my first experience speaking in a classroom. The kids were seated in a circle on a carpet. There were maybe ten or twelve of them. Before reading, we talked. Little fingertips skimmed Braille pages and held my cane, while small voices asked questions that adults wonder but would never let themselves ask. After I read the story, the little boy who had been showing the pictures in the book to his classmates stood before me, nervously guiding my hand because he wanted to show me the braces that covered at least half of his body. "That's so cool!" I exclaimed. "You're like iron man, you know? You're a real superhero. I think that's awesome!" His small hand slapped mine in a high five, and I could hear the smile in his voice as he laughed. His classmates watched on, in silent awe of my revelation that this little boy may in fact wear gear that resembled a real-life superhero instead of gear that made it no doubt difficult to run and play like everyone else. It wasn't until after that I found out this little boy had been struggling with being picked on by his classmates, with learning to use his voice, with learning to accept that he was different from the other kids. This little dude's name is Keath, and to this day, that memory sticks with me. After leaving that day, my heart was content. Put simply, I was happy and exhilarated all at once. It was the first time I truly felt I owned my voice, and all of the credit goes to a superhero-loving six-year-old. Since then I've spoken in countless classrooms, whether they are filled with bubbly five-year-olds or students studying to become teachers. However, I wouldn't be completely honest if I acted as if one experience made me comfortable with owning my voice, in situations related to blindness and in those that are not. Instead it has been a collection of small moments that have transformed me from someone who found walking to the corner or asking for assistance incredibly terrifying. It's been a long process for me, and I am still learning. Just to name a few experiences in which I feel that I have owned my voice offhand: advocating at last year's Washington Seminar, hosting and producing a podcast with other students, being a part of a panel discussion teaching families how to ensure equal college education for students with disabilities, and preparing my research papers for submission for publication. All of these things may seem different on the surface, but all of them give me the feeling I had when I spoke to kids in a classroom for the first time-a mix of contentment and exhilaration. Owning your voice doesn't happen with one encounter; rather, it's about finding where you feel content using your voice for good, for change, to stand up for what you believe in. Today I feel confident when standing in the face of adversity because I know that I have the power through my voice to speak up. I have the power to be a leader but also admit when I do not know something. That is why questions are so important. The majority of misconceptions stem from a lack of knowledge. However, when learning to own your voice, I urge you to embrace this lack of knowledge instead of being disquieted by it; it is a perfect starting place for growth and education. I encourage you to help others ask questions and to recognize the importance of asking them yourself. I have found that this is a huge part of owning your voice and using it to the best of your ability. I would like to bring up another point about owning your voice that I personally struggle with. This may seem like common sense, but it is worth mentioning. Owning your voice does not mean that you will always be the perfect advocate, or mentor, or student, whatever your goal is, all of the time. This is something I personally struggle with because I'm a major perfectionist, and sometimes I feel like I should be able to advocate for it all, fix it all, react in the best possible way all of the time. Last summer several students and I were traveling back to an event using Lyft. It had been a weekend filled with discussions on advocating, on learning to use your voice the way you want to, whether that be through leadership or something else. After first accusing us that we all were not blind and lecturing us on proper passenger etiquette because you know, the fact that every person had either a cane or a dog apparently didn't solidify the whole blind thing for him, he stated: "You know, I think it's great that you all are coming out. It's an inspiration." "So we're an inspiration because we're living our lives?" I asked. "Yes, isn't that the point?," the driver said before attempting to "educate" me about how the efforts of blind people were heroic and inspirational because we clearly shouldn't be traveling alone. I ended up snapping at the driver to stop speaking to us. I was furious. You'd think most of my anger would be directed at the driver, right? Oh, it was, and my friend found it helpful to announce upon arriving at our destination "Yeah, I saw her inner Italian come out for the first time." But I was actually mad at myself. How could I mentor these students and teach them to use their voices for good if I can't even do that with a Lyft driver? Doesn't that make me a hypocrite of the highest degree? This bothered me for a bit until I helped lead a group discussion that got pretty personal. A student whom I'd been working with that weekend, someone who had barely spoken a word the first night, was the top contributor in this conversation. She shared experiences, listened to others, and responded beautifully. She was coming out of her shell, and to this day, I'm still witnessing this transformation. I realized something that day. No matter how you choose to own your voice, because it is your choice, you will not always use it correctly or to the best of your ability. There will be times when you think: why do I even bother? But there will be many more moments when you think: I did the right thing; my voice had an impact here. I live for those little victories. As you learn to grow and to find where you feel both content and exhilarated while using your voice, remember that owning your voice is a lifelong process. It can be fraught with uncertainty and discomfort. But owning your voice also means you will experience countless small victories, experiences that fill your heart and teach you lessons that will bring you closer to the person you want to be. I challenge you to never forget the impact of a single conversation. I challenge you to push yourself out of your comfort zone in any way you feel best fits you. I challenge you to find what you love, because in my experience, passion grants us the ability to own our voice in a way that knowledge at times may not. And finally, I challenge you to revel in the small victories, to surround yourself with people who encourage you to own your voice in all that you do, and to always, always aspire for more. I would like to leave you all with a quote from Maya Angelou that I feel sums up the nature of the process of learning to own your voice. She says: "We delight in the beauty of the butterfly but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty." ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Shawn Callaway is pictured here with his much younger brother and sister when they were children.] [PHOTO CAPTION: Shawn poses with his now adult siblings.] The Blessed Blind Big Brother by Shawn Callaway From the Editor: Shawn Callaway is a husband, father, breadwinner, the affiliate president for the District of Columbia, and a member of the National Federation of the Blind Board of Directors. But before he became all these things, he was a younger man, who had family responsibilities. Like Shawn, I am the oldest sibling. As the oldest we are told we need to model good behavior for the younger children, but it isn't until they become adults that they tell you how they looked to us for guidance, strength, and what they might become. Here is Shawn's experience: For the first ten years of my life, I did not have siblings, and my mother's siblings did not have children either. Even though I enjoyed the extra attention from loved ones, I had a burning desire to be a big brother and not an only child. In 1982 my wish was fulfilled after the arrival of my little brother Anthony. In 1987 I was blessed with another sibling after the arrival of my baby sister Fern. During my pre-teen and adolescent years, being a big brother was truly a joy and an honor. I participated in sibling activities such as playing Nintendo with my brother and playing dolls with my sister. I was often charged by my parents to take my siblings to the playground. Seeing the smiles on my sibling's faces as they played on the monkey bars or in the sandbox was a sight to behold. Most importantly, as a big brother I was anointed to provide guidance and advice when necessary. Often my brother would ask for advice, and we would have discussions on subjects ranging from navigating friendships to how to avoid getting in trouble with our parents. My sister was a toddler, and she made sure that I coddled her when she wanted to be coddled. I also read books to her when she wanted to be read to. In 1990 I decided to attend college in South Carolina. Although I was excited to move eight hours away from home, I felt some sense of sadness because I truly missed my brother and sister. However, during my second year in college my life dramatically changed. Due to a horrific accident, I lost my eyesight and had to return home. As I traveled back from South Carolina, there were many questions I asked myself. The primary question was "As a blind person, how will my siblings treat me?" Even though my brother and sister were nine and four, it truly mattered how they felt about me as a big brother. When I returned home, I was happy to learn that the relationship did not change. At nine my brother understood that I was blind, and he quickly adapted to it. On the other hand, my sister was too young to understand my blindness, and it took time for her to adjust to my vision loss. It happened at about four-and-a-half. One day she sat in my lap and asked me to read her a book. I told her "Fern, I cannot read a book to you because I am blind." My sister paused and said, "That's right, you are blind, so I am going to get a book and read to you." This scenario warmed my heart, and I was in for a wonderful supportive ride with my siblings. To them I was still the big brother. As the years passed, they continued to seek advice and guidance from me. My brother would ask me questions about girls and sports. My sister would ask questions about choosing a college and the process of buying a home. More importantly, when I provided them with constructive criticism, they were never dismissive of my comments or suggestions. In addition, if my siblings had an issue with me, they had no problems expressing their feelings. Observers who are reading this article may say to themselves "Siblings are supposed to be supportive and caring for their loved one who has become blind or disabled." However, as a facilitator of a peer support group for people experiencing vision loss, I have encountered siblings of people who are blind or disabled who have received negative emotional feelings because of their sibling's disability. These feelings include resentment, embarrassment, and feeling as though they are a parent and not a brother or sister. First, feelings of resentment manifest within a sibling because they may feel that all of the attention has been diverted to the disabled sibling. Once a family member acquires a disability, other family members tend to focus on the disabled loved one at all times. The ongoing special attention tends to occur because the parents may feel that the primary focus should be on the disabled child. Also, special attention toward the disabled sibling can occur at extended family outings and reunions. This attention may cause a sibling to feel isolated and withdrawn. Secondly, some siblings feel embarrassed being out in public with their disabled sibling. The feelings of embarrassment further escalate because the sibling watches people stare and whisper to themselves about his/her disabled sibling. This may cause the sibling to feel ashamed and unhappy about the unwanted attention. Lastly, some siblings feel parentified because their disabled sibling is not independent and may require constant assistance with daily needs. This is most common for the sibling of an individual who has experienced vision loss. If you are a blind person who has not obtained independent living skills, you are going to be extremely dependent on close family members and friends. Therefore the sibling is placed in a position of feeling as if they must always care for the daily needs of his/her disabled sibling. This can cause high levels of stress and anxiety. As I continue to facilitate a peer support group, I have encouraged siblings to locate and participate in support groups and organizations for siblings of individuals with disabilities. Also, I have encouraged siblings and other family members to seek family and group counseling to address negative feelings developed from interacting with their disabled loved one. Support groups and group counseling can assist siblings in releasing any suppressed emotions they may possess toward their disabled sibling. Also, disabled siblings will be able to freely express themselves about their life as a disabled person. This is especially important if the sibling recently acquired the disability. Adjusting to having a disability is not only difficult for the sibling who acquires it but for all family members and friends who play an integral part in the life of the disabled sibling. Recently I had a conversation with my siblings, and I asked them if they experienced resentment, embarrassment, or feelings of being a parent because of my blindness. My siblings emphatically said no to the above questions and made it clear that my blindness was never an issue to them. Credit for my siblings' feelings must be given to our parents. Whatever situations or circumstances that have occurred within the lives of my siblings and I, my parents have always made sure to treat us equally, and neither my siblings nor I received more attention than the other. Also I am truly blessed to have uncles, aunts, cousins, and close family friends who have been supportive of me and have given my siblings the equal attention and support they deserve. Anthony and Fern are now thirty-seven and thirty-two years old respectively, and they are leading productive lives. Anthony works for Maryland Park and Planning as a recreational counselor providing guidance and assistance to children with disabilities. Fern is a senior health analyst for an agency in Washington, DC. My siblings have provided me support as I continue my tenure as president of the National Federation of the Blind of the District of Columbia. They have volunteered and participated in several Federation events including fundraisers, community outreach events, and state and national conventions. Over the years I have received awards for my volunteer and advocacy efforts for the blind and disabled community. The recognition ranges from receiving the NFB of DC Community Services Division Oliver Washington P.A.C.E Award to receiving a citation from United States Senator Chris Van Hollen for my work in bringing awareness to the lack of employment opportunities for blind people. However, my most cherished award was received in a parked car in Washington, DC. My sister gave me a ride home from a family event, and when I began to get out of the car my sister told me to stick out my hand. When I reached my right hand toward her, it touched her arm. On her arm were dots. I asked my sister, "Why do you have dots on your arm?" She said, "The dots are a Braille tattoo that spells love." I asked my sister what made her get a tattoo in Braille? She replied, "It is to honor you and to show you how proud I am of you." She also said that the tattoo is in recognition of the blind community. After entering my home I sat on my couch, and tears began rolling down my face. The tears represented the happiness I felt from my sister's recognition of me, but the tears also represented my recognizing that I am a blessed blind big brother. ---------- Leave a Legacy For more than seventy-five years the National Federation of the Blind has worked to transform the dreams of hundreds of thousands of blind people into reality, and with your support we will continue to do so for decades to come. We sincerely hope you will plan to be a part of our enduring movement by adding the National Federation of the Blind as a partial beneficiary in your will. A gift to the National Federation of the Blind in your will is more than just a charitable, tax-deductible donation. It is a way to join in the work to help blind people live the lives they want that leaves a lasting imprint on the lives of thousands of blind children and adults. With your help, the NFB will continue to: . Give blind children the gift of literacy through Braille; . Promote the independent travel of the blind by providing free, long white canes to blind people in need; . Develop dynamic educational projects and programs that show blind youth that science and math are within their reach; . Deliver hundreds of accessible newspapers and magazines to provide blind people the essential information necessary to be actively involved in their communities; . Offer aids and appliances that help seniors losing vision maintain their independence; and . Fund scholarship programs so that blind people can achieve their dreams. Plan to Leave a Legacy Creating a will gives you the final say in what happens to your possessions and is the only way to be sure that your remaining assets are distributed according to your passions and beliefs. Many people fear creating a will or believe it's not necessary until they are much older. Others think that it's expensive and confusing. However, it is one of the most important things you will do, and with new online legal programs it is easier and cheaper than ever before. If you do decide to create or revise your will, consider the National Federation of the Blind as a partial beneficiary. Visit www.nfb.org/planned-giving or call 410-659-9314, extension 2422, for more information. Together with love, hope, determination, and your support, we will continue to transform dreams into reality. Invest in Opportunity The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back. A donation to the National Federation of the Blind allows you to invest in a movement that removes the fear from blindness. Your investment is your vote of confidence in the value and capacity of blind people and reflects the high expectations we have for all blind Americans, combating the low expectations that create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. In 2019 the NFB: . Distributed over seven thousand canes to blind people across the United States, empowering them to travel safely and independently throughout their communities. . Hosted forty-eight NFB BELL Academy programs, which served more than three hundred- and fifty-blind students throughout the United States. . Provided over one hundred thousand dollars in scholarships to blind students, making a post-secondary education affordable and attainable. . Delivered audio newspaper and magazine services to 118,900 subscribers, providing free access to over four hundred local, national, and international publications. . In the third year of the program, over three hundred fifty Braille- writing slates and styluses were given free of charge to blind users. Just imagine what we'll do next year, and, with your help, what can be accomplished for years to come. Below are just a few of the many diverse, tax-deductible ways you can lend your support to the National Federation of the Blind. Vehicle Donation Program The NFB now accepts donated vehicles, including cars, trucks, boats, motorcycles, or recreational vehicles. Just call 855-659-9314 toll-free, and a representative can make arrangements to pick up your donation-it doesn't have to be working. We can also answer any questions you have. General Donation General donations help support the ongoing programs of the NFB and the work to help blind people live the lives they want. Donate online with a credit card or through the mail with check or money order. Visit www.nfb.org/make-gift for more information. Bequests Even if you can't afford a gift right now, including the National Federation of the Blind in your will enables you to contribute by expressing your commitment to the organization and promises support for future generations of blind people across the country. Visit www.nfb.org/planned-giving or call 410-659-9314, extension 2422, for more information. Pre-Authorized Contribution Through the Pre-Authorized Contribution (PAC) program, supporters sustain the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind by making recurring monthly donations by direct withdraw of funds from a checking account or a charge to a credit card. To enroll, visit www.nfb.org/make- gift, and complete the Pre-Authorized Contribution form, and return it to the address listed on the form. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Stephen O. Benson] Blueprint for Learning by Stephen O. Benson From the Editor: The following is reprinted from the Braille Monitor, October 1991, complete with its original editor's note. Editor's note from Dr. Kenneth Jernigan: In many ways a great deal of progress has been made by blind people in recent times regarding jobs, better special tools and equipment, and increased understanding. But in at least one critical area blind children growing up today are being very badly short-changed in a way that was very nearly unheard of when I was a child in the mid-1930s. In recent decades most blind children have not routinely been taught how to read and write Braille. Many of these children have now reached adulthood. I talk to them by the hundreds. Almost without exception they feel they were betrayed by their teachers and the other "experts" their parents trusted to plan their education. We as blind people should not have to fight for blind children to have the chance to learn to read and write Braille. Parents expect schools to teach sighted children how to read and write, and there are laws requiring that it be done. We want the laws to protect blind children, too. But the "experts" often fight against such laws. They seem to think deciding whether to teach a blind child to read Braille is very complicated. The truth is that it is very simple. If a child can't see well enough to read print easily, Braille should be taught. But that is not what usually happens, and the blind child pays a heavy price for the rest of his or her life. Stephen Benson is totally blind and is president of the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois. In "Blueprint for Learning," he describes in vivid detail the "experts'" decisions which crippled his early education. Unfortunately, his experience is still being repeated in countless lives across our country. Here is what he says: At one-and-a-half years of age my eye condition was diagnosed as retinitis pigmentosa, which often results in total blindness. As I approached first grade, my doctors and teachers (the team of professionals) asserted that I should use my limited vision to its maximum for as long as possible. My family was directed to enroll me in what was then called "sight saving." Print was to be the medium by which I was to learn to read. The sight-saving classroom was equipped with the best technology of the day (1948): dark green chalkboards with yellow chalk, yellow paper with heavy green lines, indirect lighting, desks with adjustable work surfaces that allowed the student to bring reading and writing materials closer to the face, and typewriters with large print. Each student wore prescription lenses and had access to handheld magnifiers. In addition, we used large- print textbooks. In third grade we learned to type by the touch-typing method. In my case and in countless others, neither equipment nor teaching techniques would or could work. The techniques and the teachers' efforts were misapplied. The prescription for sight-saving class was in error. From the first day of class my limited vision prevented me from reading effectively. Over the course of the next four-and-a-half years my visual acuity decreased while the print I was expected to read became smaller. I remember alternately gazing out the window and puzzling over a printed page. By fourth grade my teachers had to print out my classwork by hand, using large letters and India ink. With all of that I still felt as though I was reading grey print on grey paper. Yet I remained in sight- saving class until the middle of fifth grade. The toll I paid for the professionals' decisions was high. I dreaded reading; my confidence eroded; I feared blindness; I acquired bad reading habits that carried over into adulthood. I never checked a book out of the library. Why should I? I couldn't read it. During the summer of 1952 the professionals finally admitted that print might not be the right way for me to be getting an education. In September of that year I was transferred to what we referred to as the blind school, where I began to learn Braille. It wasn't difficult. My teacher was competent. She knew Braille. She gave me positive encouragement. My reading and writing speeds were slow at first; however, as I gained proficiency and confidence, speeds increased. In January of 1953, at age eleven, I checked out and read a library book for the first time in my life. It was in Braille. Over the last forty years teams of professionals have continued to make the same foolish and costly decisions, probably with greater frequency as the years have passed. As a member of the National Federation of the Blind's Scholarship Committee, I have met an astounding number of high school and college students who, because they had some vision, were deprived of Braille or were discouraged from learning it without regard to whether the student could read print well enough to compete with sighted peers. One scholarship applicant, not unusual, uses taped books and a closed-circuit television magnifier. Under the best conditions she is able to read for only a minute at a time and that with great discomfort. She is enrolled as a part-time student in a community college, partly because her vision doesn't allow her to meet the reading and writing demands of full- time status. She has asked to be taught Braille, but her family and the teams of professionals with whom she has worked have actively discouraged it. Too many parents assume that the "experts" must "know what's best," and will necessarily "do what's best for the child." Those assumptions are often wrong and prove to be quite costly to the blind child. "What's best for the child" is a catch phrase that too often translates into decisions that are convenient for the teacher, school, or district and into efforts to make the blind child's educational needs conform to budget priorities. Was my experience forty years ago and that of the college student I described mere coincidence? I don't believe they were. Nor do I believe that de-emphasis on literacy (Braille) was or is accidental. De-emphasis on Braille is disgraceful, just as de-emphasis on print would be. People who have a good command of reading and writing skills tend to do better in math, science, history, languages, music, and all the rest. People who can read and write successfully have a better chance at competitive employment and every other situation in life, for that matter. The anti-literacy/anti-Braille position taken by so many educators of blind children and adults has had wider negative impact than they might imagine. Several years ago, I worked at an agency for the blind in Chicago. In support of a program to teach Braille, I submitted a grant request to the Chicago Tribune Foundation. The grant request was turned down. The reasons, according to a foundation spokesman, were that Braille has nothing to do with literacy; it is obsolete, and reading can be done by recordings. I was disappointed that the program did not receive that support. I was disgusted by the ignorance of the foundation personnel, but I was not surprised. For fifteen years I taught Braille for the Veterans Administration at Hines Hospital. One of my assigned duties was to supervise Western Michigan University interns (student teachers) studying to become rehabilitation teachers. An alarming number of these interns didn't know Grade II Braille, could not write with a slate and stylus, and had to be instructed in the use of an ordinary Braille writer. One intern didn't know Grade I Braille, though he had taken and passed a Braille course. Though I wrote negative reports regarding their poor skills, all of these interns passed the internship, and presumably all were certified by the Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER). If future generations of blind people (children and adults) are to be literate, and if future generations of blind people hope to be competitive in society, they must have access to the printed word by a method that will allow writing as well as reading. It is time for educators to grit their teeth and admit that a colossal error has been made. Then they must bring themselves up to speed on Braille and all of its tools, mechanical and electronic. It is time for educators to join us in our effort to require that Braille be made available to any child who wants it and to participate in making sure that sufficient funding is available to make mandates and good intentions mean something. ---------- Recipes Recipes this month were contributed by members of the National Federation of the Blind of North Dakota. [PHOTO CAPTION: Jesse Shirek] Steak Quesadillas by Jesse Shirek Jesse Shirek is the president of the National Federation of the Blind of North Dakota and has this to share about himself: Anyone who knows me well would tell you that I love to cook. One of the most motivating things about cooking is the opportunity to experiment with ingredients. I am a creative person and love to put my own twist on a recipe, so I'm sharing my steak quesadilla story and recipe with you. It's become a go-to recipe in our home, and I'm excited to share it with my Federation family. When my wife Sherry and I were first dating, she came to visit me in North Dakota from the East Coast over Easter weekend. One night we were both starving, and earlier that day I made some pico de gallo. As you can imagine we were craving some Mexican food to go with our chips and pico. I thought I would try something for the first time. After throwing some ingredients together and a few minutes of cooking we had a delicious meal, and I had Sherry fooled into thinking I am an amazing cook. Please, don't tell her how easy the recipe is. Ingredients: 8 ounces cooked sirloin steak (you can substitute cooked pork or chicken) 1 red bell pepper sliced 1 onion sliced 8 ounces shredded cheddar or pepper jack cheese 4 8-inch tortillas 1 teaspoon vegetable oil Sauce: (you can substitute 1 cup salsa for the sauce) 1 teaspoon cumin 1 teaspoon smoked paprika 1 tablespoon chili powder 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper-optional 1 cup beef broth Method: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine cumin, smoked paprika, chili powder, and cayenne pepper in a small bowl; stir well and set aside. Set frying pan on a burner and set it to medium heat, adding enough oil to coat pan. Add onions and cook for ten minutes or until onions are soft, stirring occasionally; add red peppers and cook for five more minutes. Add sauce or salsa to the pan; stir and let most of the moisture evaporate from the pan. Add the steak and stir for one minute. Remove pan from heat. Arrange four tortillas on a baking sheet, and spoon the steak mixture on one-half of each tortilla; top with cheese and fold each tortilla in half. Bake for ten minutes or until tortillas are crisp. ---------- Pico de Gallo by Jesse Shirek Ingredients: 6 tomatoes diced 1 quarter onion diced 2 jalape?os cut fine 1 clove garlic minced 1 bunch cilantro chopped 1 teaspoon cumin 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper Lemon juice added to your taste Salt and pepper to taste Method: Combine all ingredients in a medium-sized mixing bowl, stir well, and refrigerate for one hour. Enjoy with your favorite tortilla chips. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Sherry Shirek] Corn Casserole by Sherry Shirek Sherry Shirek has been the National Federation of the Blind of North Dakota First Lady for less than a year. She has also served on the affiliate board as the secretary since 2016. Sherry is our affiliates "social lady" as she loves to plan social events during the holidays. She also has been the chair of the convention planning committee since 2017. Sherry grew up in the Boston area, and as we know, some Boston folks have difficulty pronouncing the letter R. No, it's not a con casserole for prisoners; this corn casserole has been served at Sherry's New England family Thanksgiving feasts for generations. The tradition continues as the hot dish has now made its way onto the family Thanksgiving table in North Dakota. Maybe it can become a traditional side dish during your family's Thanksgiving dinner too. It smells amazing while cooking and warms your belly. This recipe is shared with the Federation family with love. Ingredients: 3 cans (14.75 ounces) cream-style corn 3 large eggs 6 slices of white bread with crust French's original crispy French-fried onions Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 C). In a large casserole baking dish add the three cans of cream-style corn and three eggs. With a fork, beat the eggs into the creamed corn until well blended. Two slices at a time, break up all six pieces of bread into three-inch pieces and pile on top of the egg and cream corn mixture. With a fork, gently push the bread into the mixture and move around until bread is saturated and evenly distributed. Place your casserole dish, uncovered, on center rack in oven. Bake for one hour. Use a fork to check the center. The casserole is cooked thoroughly when the middle is slightly firm and no longer a soft liquid texture. Top off casserole with French fried onions and let sit ten minutes before serving. Enjoy! This recipe can be easily adjusted to a larger or smaller dish. The formula is one egg and two slices of bread per can of cream-style corn. Adapt cooking time accordingly. Makes six servings. ---------- Coconut Cream Pie by The Shireks When Sherry and Jesse bought their first house, their realtor bought them a coconut cream pie from the local bakery just a couple of blocks away. This delectable treat was a first for the couple and left them wanting more. Sherry altered a recipe she found online, and now this delicious pie has been a favorite during the holidays at the Shireks' home since 2014. Ingredients: One 9-inch pie crust cooked 1 cup shredded sweetened coconut 1 and 1/2 cups Half & Half (can substitute with 1 cup milk and 2/3 cups heavy cream) 1 and 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk 2 eggs beaten 3/4 cup white granulated sugar 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 cup fresh whipped cream (can substitute with Cool Whip) Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 C). Spread shredded coconut evenly on a baking sheet. Bake two minutes, then using a spatula, flip coconut and bake another two minutes or until golden brown. Remove coconut from baking sheet and place on a plate to cool. Set aside. In a medium saucepan combine Half & Half, coconut milk, eggs, sugar, salt, and flour then mix well. Bring to a boil over low heat stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in ? cup toasted coconut and vanilla. Reserve the remaining coconut to top the pie. Pour the filling into the pie shell and chill until firm (about four hours). Top with whipped cream and sprinkle remaining coconut over top. Fresh whipped cream: Place metal mixing bowl and metal whisk in freezer for 10-15 minutes. Add two tablespoons of sugar to bowl, and add in one cup heavy whipping cream. Whisk just until the cream reaches stiff peaks. My notes: Electric beaters often come with metal whisk. For pie filling, use fat-free Half & Half, low-fat sweetened coconut milk to cut calories and fat. Use light or nonfat Cool Whip instead of fresh whipped cream. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Charlene Ota] Crockpot Hamburger Soup by Charlene Ota Charlene serves as an officer on the National Federation of the Blind of North Dakota Board of Directors and is married to Milton Ota, the immediate past president. Ingredients: 1 pound extra lean ground beef (you can brown the beef before adding to the soup, or add it in raw, even frozen). 4 cups beef broth 1 15-ounce can kidney beans, drained 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables (green beans, peas, corn, carrots) 1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes 1 chopped onion 1 chopped red pepper About 2 tablespoons chili powder (more or less depending on your taste) A little salt and pepper About 5 ounces cooked macaroni (added at the end) Method: Put everything in the crockpot except the pasta. Cook on low for about five to six hours. If the hamburger was not cooked before adding to the soup, use a fork to break up the hamburger. Cook the pasta and add to the soup. Makes about six generous servings. I put some sour cream and shredded cheese on my bowl of soup, too. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Paxton Franke] Paxton's Pork Chops by Paxton Franke Paxton Franke is a student at North Dakota State University and works as a CNA [certified nursing assistant]. He has just recently found the National Federation of the Blind of North Dakota, and we are so glad to be connected with him. Ingredients: 6 pork chops 2 7-ounce containers of Dijon mustard Juice from 2-3 large lemons Olive oil Rosemary Salt and pepper Method: The best way to prepare these is to dry any excess moisture off the meat with a paper towel. Salt generously and add a few dashes of pepper for good measure. Take a large casserole dish and cover the bottom with olive oil. Squeeze in your lemon juice and whisk it with the mustard. Add some freshly chopped rosemary and mix all the meat and sauce into the dish. Use your hands and spread it around! Take a few full sprigs of rosemary, give them a good smack and spread them around the dish. Finally, if you're feeling extra fancy take some lemon wheels and lay them underneath the meat for some extra aroma. Let sit up to 24 hours. Bake at 400 degrees. Pork chops should read 140 degrees before they are ready to be taken out of the oven. Cover with some aluminum foil and let sit for five minutes to let the meat relax and reach that magic 145-degree temperature. Best served with a healthy dose of a citrusy medium-bodied white wine. ---------- Monitor Miniatures News from the Federation Family Essay Contest: In an effort to support blind children and their education during this trying time of uncertainty, NFB of Texas is offering an essay contest. These essays are meant to be a way for children to explore what they are going through and process their feelings. Hopefully in writing things down, it will enable children to feel more in control of their surroundings and empowered in their situations. Please contact Emily Gibbs at egibbs at nfbtx.org or 281-968-7347 with questions. Instructions: Please answer the following question: How have you dealt with the coronavirus, social distancing, or another life challenge? Upload answers using the following form: https://forms.gle/CmY45rgeqiGgYVxp8. Answers should be no less than 500 words. Answers will be uploaded to NFB-NEWSLINE? for everyone to read. A $50 gift card will be awarded to one essay in each of the following grade brackets: K-3, 4-6, 7-8, 9-12. Donate to the NFB of Texas https://www.nfbtx.org/donate.php FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Blind Americans Encountering Discrimination by Restaurants and Other Services During COVID-19 Crisis. Restaurants, Banks, and Others Denying Service to Blind Pedestrians Baltimore, Maryland (April 3, 2020): The National Federation of the Blind, America's civil rights organization of the blind, today demanded that restaurants, banks, and other businesses, as well as drive-through COVID-19 testing facilities, provide equal service to blind customers, as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act, whether the blind customer is on foot or in a vehicle. Many businesses are offering drive-through service only during the COVID-19 pandemic. The National Federation of the Blind has received numerous reports of discrimination against blind people who have tried to access drive-through windows on foot, and at least one local television station has reported on the problem. "We reject the argument that accessing a drive-through window on foot is unsafe for blind people, since we regularly cross busy intersections and interact with vehicles," said Mark Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind. "But even if a restaurant, bank, or testing center is unable or unwilling to offer pedestrian access to its drive-through window, the law clearly requires that it offer reasonable modifications to allow the blind and others with disabilities to take advantage of its public services. The bottom line is that, especially at a time when access to vehicle transportation for non-drivers is limited, there is no legal or moral excuse for denying service to blind people simply because we are not in a car. To do so is unlawful and discriminatory, and we will not tolerate it." This news brief is also available at: https://www.nfb.org/about- us/press-room/blind-americans-encountering-discrimination-restaurants-and- other-services In Brief Notices and information in this section may be of interest to Monitor readers. We are not responsible for the accuracy of the information; we have edited only for space and clarity. Word to EPUB is Now a Reality: I am delighted to let you know that the DAISY Consortium has released WordToEPUB! Finally, a free and easy to use tool that creates valid, accessible EPUB files from structured Microsoft Word documents. To learn more about this feature-rich tool, visit the news announcement at: https://daisy.org/news-events/articles/new-epub-creation-tool/. And visit the download page at: https://daisy.org/wordtoepub To find a list of EPUB Apps and our reviews, visit: https://inclusivepublishing.org/rs-accessibility/ And the best bookmark for Inclusive Publishing visit: https://inclusivepublishing.org/ SSA Kiosks to be Made Accessible: The National Federation of the Blind and two blind individuals, Lisa Irving and Amy Bonano, have resolved their 2017 lawsuit against the Social Security Administration and entered into a settlement agreement designed to ensure that SSA's visitor-intake-processing kiosks are accessible to blind users by December 31, 2021. Per the agreement, SSA will work with a third- party, kiosk-accessibility expert to redesign the agency's kiosks so that blind users can enter required intake information, including their Social Security number, privately and independently. ---------- NFB Pledge I pledge to participate actively in the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind to achieve equality, opportunity, and security for the blind; to support the policies and programs of the Federation; and to abide by its constitution. From buhrow at lothlorien.nfbcal.org Wed May 27 11:03:25 2020 From: buhrow at lothlorien.nfbcal.org (Brian Buhrow) Date: Wed, 27 May 2020 11:03:25 -0700 Subject: [Brl-monitor] The Braille Monitor, June 2020 Message-ID: <202005271803.04RI3PZM027192@nfbcal.org> BRAILLE MONITOR Vol. 63, No. 6 June 2020 Gary Wunder, Editor Distributed by email, in inkprint, in Braille, and on USB flash drive, by the NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND Mark Riccobono, President telephone: 410-659-9314 email address: nfb at nfb.org website address: http://www.nfb.org NFBnet.org: http://www.nfbnet.org NFB-NEWSLINE? information: 866-504-7300 Like us on Facebook: Facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind Follow us on Twitter: @NFB_Voice Watch and share our videos: YouTube.com/NationsBlind Letters to the President, address changes, subscription requests, and orders for NFB literature should be sent to the national office. Articles for the Monitor and letters to the editor may also be sent to the national office or may be emailed to gwunder at nfb.org. Monitor subscriptions cost the Federation about forty dollars per year. Members are invited, and nonmembers are requested, to cover the subscription cost. Donations should be made payable to National Federation of the Blind and sent to: National Federation of the Blind 200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place Baltimore, Maryland 21230-4998 THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND KNOWS THAT BLINDNESS IS NOT THE CHARACTERISTIC THAT DEFINES YOU OR YOUR FUTURE. EVERY DAY WE RAISE THE EXPECTATIONS OF BLIND PEOPLE, BECAUSE LOW EXPECTATIONS CREATE OBSTACLES BETWEEN BLIND PEOPLE AND OUR DREAMS. YOU CAN LIVE THE LIFE YOU WANT; BLINDNESS IS NOT WHAT HOLDS YOU BACK. THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND IS NOT AN ORGANIZATION SPEAKING FOR THE BLIND-IT IS THE BLIND SPEAKING FOR OURSELVES. ISSN 0006-8829 ? 2020 by the National Federation of the Blind Each issue is recorded on a thumb drive (also called a memory stick or USB flash drive). You can read this audio edition using a computer or a National Library Service digital player. The NLS machine has two slots-the familiar book-cartridge slot just above the retractable carrying handle and a second slot located on the right side near the headphone jack. This smaller slot is used to play thumb drives. Remove the protective rubber pad covering this slot and insert the thumb drive. It will insert only in one position. If you encounter resistance, flip the drive over and try again. (Note: If the cartridge slot is not empty when you insert the thumb drive, the digital player will ignore the thumb drive.) Once the thumb drive is inserted, the player buttons will function as usual for reading digital materials. If you remove the thumb drive to use the player for cartridges, when you insert it again, reading should resume at the point you stopped. You can transfer the recording of each issue from the thumb drive to your computer or preserve it on the thumb drive. However, because thumb drives can be used hundreds of times, we would appreciate their return in order to stretch our funding. Please use the return envelope enclosed with the drive when you return the device. Vol. 63, No. 6 June 2020 Contents Illustration: Moving Forward and Staying in Place: How Innovation Gets it Done Navigating Uncharted Territory: Moving Toward our First Virtual Convention with a Little Less Stress and a Little More Yesssssss by Jessica Beecham Learning in the Time of COVID-19: The Impact on Blind Students of Current Guidance Issued by the US Department of Education Regarding Students with Disabilities by Carlton Anne Cook Walker A US Diplomat with an Extraordinary Global View by Marc Lacey with Prior Beharry Why I am a Federationist, and How the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois was Born by Rami Rabby Of Sleeping Dogs and Prancing Ponies: It's Time for the NFB to Act on Discrimination Against Blind Hams by Curtis Willoughby A Hobby that Taught me the Value of an Education, the Need for Self- discipline, How to Raise Money, and the Value of Networking by Gary Wunder Audible Traffic Signals: The Technology, the Reality, and the Possibilities by Curtis Chong It's Habit-Forming by Judy Sanders Harry Gawith, Hardworking Sighted Federationist by Ramona Walhof My Time at NFB EQ 2019 by Maura Loberg Convention Memory Minute Contest: Share Your First Convention Experience by Tracy Soforenko The Give 20 Campaign by Tracy Soforenko Celebrating the 2020 Braille Readers are Leaders Winners Recipes Monitor Miniatures [PHOTO/CAPTION: Mark Riccobono and Karen Anderson work on their laptops.] [PHOTO/CAPTION: Anil Lewis smiles as he works on his laptop at the dining room table.] Moving Forward and Staying in Place: How Innovation Gets it Done The coronavirus has disrupted society about as much as any one event could. It has caused us to work hard at figuring out what businesses are essential and what tasks we can do from home for both essential and nonessential work. Regardless the classification we might fall under, the National Federation of the Blind considers itself essential, and accordingly we have tried to conduct our programs from home. We have been immeasurably assisted by the kind of technology that exists today: email, texting, and setting up audio and video conferences. COVID-19 has added work to an already full plate, so there is plenty for us to do if only we can be innovative enough to figure out how to do it. Luckily, Federation and innovation in the same sentence are almost redundant. Here are some shots of how we are learning to shelter in place and still do the work that this dynamic organization requires. [PHOTO CAPTION: Jessica Beecham] Navigating Uncharted Territory: Moving Toward our First Virtual Convention with a Little Less Stress and a Little More Yesssssss by Jessica Beecham >From the Editor: When I think of Jessica what comes to mind is that she is the wellness person. Whether one is looking for physical health, mental health, or spiritual health, Jessica has strategies she is willing to share. Not only is she willing, but as you will see in this article, she is a very able writer. Enjoy what she has to say about our upcoming national convention: The announcement of our first-ever virtual convention of the National Federation of the Blind has stirred a great deal of mixed conversation. Some of us are intrigued by the idea of potentially hosting the largest gathering of blind people in the world. Others are eager for the opportunity to participate without the expenses that are customarily associated with convention travel, hotel, and food. Still others are thrilled at the idea that they will be able to get to every meeting on time without getting lost in a huge convention hotel at least once. Although there is much to be excited about, you may be experiencing a bit of anxiety around the idea of participating in a convention-packed week over Zoom or another virtual platform. Currently, Zoom fatigue is a hot topic. A simple Google search will reveal articles in leading publications including National Geographic, BBC, Forbes, Psychology Today, Harvard Business Review, USA Today, and on and on and on, all covering the topic of the stress associated with increased video conferencing. While we may have the advantage of not having to stare lovingly into the eyes of our dear colleagues for hours at a time through a screen, we certainly experience other aspects of virtual conferencing which can induce stress. These include learning to navigate a new virtual environment, poor internet quality, technology failure, endless sitting, figuring out how and when to jump in and talk without stepping on someone else, audio delays, being tethered to our technology, and more. Just like every convention, the experience will not be stress free. Hopefully, these tips will help reduce stress so that we can make our first virtual convention one that we will fondly remember. Create the Optimum Convention Environment One of the nice things about virtual convention is that one can participate from anywhere. Want to start your day with a meeting from bed? Go for it! How about a lunchtime meeting on your stoop or patio? This is just fine. Whether it is your couch, kitchen table, office desk, or favorite comfortable recliner, identify several different places from which you might like to enjoy convention, and make sure that they are set up in such a way that is conducive to your success. This might mean making sure that you have a charged device available or that you have access to a charger. It might also mean doing what you can to eliminate background noise. If you want to participate in a place that might be noisy, do it in a meeting where you will have a listening role as opposed to an active speaking role, and be sure you are muted. Zoom, or most other video conferencing platforms for that matter, support a variety of access methods. Just as an example, if you have a home phone, computer, cell phone, and tablet, you have four ways that you can access the convention. Well-charged devices and handy access to accessories such as chargers, headsets with microphones, and note taking devices will play a major part in a less stressful and more productive convention experience. Learn the Platform Whether we use Zoom, another video conferencing platform, or something else entirely, learning the platform will be key to a smooth convention. Once we know a little more about what convention is going to look like, there will be training available. Take advantage and learn the features. Knowing how to seek the floor, ask a question, mute and unmute, vote, or whatever else may be possible will make you more comfortable. If the majority of users are comfortable and confident in the use of the platform, it will make for much smoother and more enjoyable meetings. Eat Healthy Just as with an in-person convention, our food and beverage choices will affect our experience. Starting your day with a solid breakfast, fueling with healthy snacks throughout the day, drinking lots of water, and making sensible lunch and dinner choices will give your body the energy it needs for a long and information-packed day. This should be the easiest convention ever to make solid food choices because if you don't buy it, you can't eat it. Planning your convention meals and snacks, shopping ahead, and doing a little prep for those extra busy times when your listening meetings are slim and your active participation level is high will help you stick to better food choices. You may choose to splurge from time to time, but Door Dash and UberEATS do not have to be your go-to. Remember: When you have a listening role in a meeting, you can prepare your meal and eat your healthy dinner during the programming. Just make sure you are muted; nobody likes hearing your loud chewing noise. Move Although it sounds a bit counterintuitive, sitting actually makes us more tired. Whether virtual or in person, getting up and moving is an excellent way to tolerate long days at convention. When you have a listening role in a meeting, you are free to get up, get coffee, move, stretch, or even walk around a room. Since the onset of COVID-19, several people have participated in movement activities while listening to meetings. Their activities have included riding stationary bikes or restorators, walking on treadmills, doing yoga, walking around the room, or taking trips up and down stairs. These are all great ways to incorporate movement when you are not actively speaking or leading a meeting. When you do have a leadership role, it is good to plan some movement time before or after the meeting where you will be spending significant time sitting. The Sports and Recreation Division plans to provide pre-recorded fit breaks that will be available for convention attendees. We will also have prerecorded workouts that can be accessed any time, so working out at your convenience will be easier than ever. Join our Facebook group to get access to our fit breaks, workouts, and convention-related movement challenges. Sleep What? Who sleeps during national convention? It is likely that many convention attendees will find that virtual convention is a bit more mentally fatiguing. Getting eight hours of sleep each night will increase your energy and stamina throughout the day. Whenever possible, setting a time for bed and a time to wake up will help in establishing and reinforcing a good sleep schedule. Many of us have assumed being an adult means freedom from a bedtime, but adhering to a predictable sleep schedule isn't about being an adult; it's really about being mentally and physically healthy. In these times of social distancing, we must make our own structure-setting our goals and relying on self-discipline where previously we have relied on others. Plan Ahead Each year, once the convention agenda is released, many of us go through and plan our entire week. Even though we do not have to worry about navigating from meeting to meeting in a large convention hotel, having a plan is still essential. Develop a system that allows for easy access to meeting login credentials, information about the meeting, and whether you have a role above and beyond that of a listener. You can add this information to your calendar, keep hardcopy or electronic notes, record information to a Victor Stream, or pretty much use any system that is easy for you to manage independently and quickly. This will help you to be at your best and get the most out of your meetings. If you have a meeting where you plan to participate or have a major leadership role, it is important to plan to be in a quiet environment with a device nearby or a headset with a microphone so that you can be easily heard. Since presenters/speakers may be asked to have their cameras on, you can plan to be in an area that is clean and uncluttered. Since it is customary to dress to impress at convention, it will also be important to make sure that the portion of you which is in camera view is appropriately clad in business attire. Consider having someone check out the view before the meeting begins to make sure that you are in the camera frame and that your visible background looks great. There will likely be meetings with information you want to remember, so you should be set up with the ability to take notes. You don't want to be scrambling at the last second and missing content. You can plan meal, snack, and movement times around meetings where you will be a listener. Also, making sure to leave time between meetings for a mental break is a great idea. The best laid plans do not always come to fruition. Convention is jam-packed. Although we are making every attempt to keep this virtual convention to a manageable number of meetings, there will be more content than any person can attend. Do what many of us do at conventions and ask someone to attend a session for you and report on it. You can do likewise when there is a meeting they are missing but would like to attend. Even if you have planned to attend a meeting, give yourself permission to skip it or take a break if needed. The virtual experience will be new for all of us, and it is important that we make our mental health a priority. Convention should be FUN, and it is not necessary that every one of us attend every meeting. Tips for Planning Content For those of us who are planning content, it is good to remember that not every meeting needs to be long. If you can cover the content that needs to be covered in half an hour, then that amount of time is sufficient for the meeting. People will be in the virtual space from early in the morning to late at night. It is important that we think about how to make our meetings effective, memorable, and concise. If it makes sense, explore ways to provide content that people can access at their convenience. This reduces the number of meetings on the agenda and still provides convention attendees with quality content that they can enjoy during and after convention Do Something Fun This is a great year to add some element of fun to the convention. If your area's social distancing guidelines and your health permit small gatherings, get together with friends or chapter members and enjoy portions of the convention together. Maybe listen to a session while catching sun by the pool. Have a banquet party at which a group gets together and cooks or orders a delicious meal. It might be the best banquet meal you have ever had. A strong cocktail (optional), good food, Federation family, and an inspiring banquet address from President Riccobono is a sure recipe for a fantastic banquet. One of the most important aspects of a National Federation of the Blind convention is spreading love, so find ways to have fun and spread the Federation love to others. Although it is perfectly fine to be a little nervous about a new convention format, we have a lot to be excited about. Take a deep breath, plan, eat, move, sleep, have fun, and let's go build the National Federation of the Blind! ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Carlton Anne Cook Walker] Learning in the Time of COVID-19: The Impact on Blind Students of Current Guidance Issued by the US Department of Education Regarding Students with Disabilities by Carlton Anne Cook Walker >From the Editor: Almost overnight the COVID-19 pandemic has upended life as we knew it. The closure of schools across the United States left teachers and parents scrambling to devise effective ways for students to continue learning at home. Parents, teachers, and advocates raised concerns that the rights of students with disabilities might be swept aside during the crisis. In this article Carlton Anne Cook Walker, president of the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children (NOPBC), reviews a series of directives issued by the US Department of Education regarding students with disabilities. She also explains what the National Federation of the Blind has done to ensure that the rights of blind students and other students with disabilities are not eroded during the COVID-19 crisis. Here is her most informative article: When the COVID-19 pandemic gripped our nation in March, businesses and institutions across the country were ordered or strongly encouraged to close their doors. The closure orders have had a significant impact on public schools. Between March 16 and March 24, schools in all fifty states, the District of Columbia, and all five US territories (American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, Northern Marianas, and US Virgin Islands) were under state orders or recommendations to shut down. While this time period encompassed the scheduled spring break for some schools, most had ten to thirteen weeks of the school year remaining when the shut-down orders were issued. Guidance from the United States Department of Education On March 12, 2020, even before state-ordered school closures took effect, the US Department of Education (USDOE) published guidelines specific to COVID-19-related school closures and the provision of special education services and FAPE (free appropriate public education) to students with disabilities. The March 12 document indicated that schools had no duty to provide education services to students with disabilities unless the school provided "educational opportunities" to students in regular education. In those cases, the USDOE recognized that schools must provide "equal access" to those educational opportunities and must provide FAPE to students with disabilities. Ongoing controversy surrounds this USDOE position that schools only have duties to students with disabilities when they provide educational opportunities to nondisabled students. This has been the guidance of the USDOE in the Trump administration since at least September 2017. However, earlier guidance from the USDOE did not indicate that schools could avoid their responsibilities to students with disabilities by withholding educational opportunities from all students. The current guidance was not mentioned in 2014 (regarding educational services to students with disabilities during school closures related to the Ebola pandemic) or in 2012 (with regard to areas ravaged by Hurricane Sandy), both occurring under the Obama administration. Scapegoating of Students with Disabilities By advising school officials that they could avoid their legal obligations to students with disabilities, USDOE opened Pandora's box. As schools began to close their doors, many school officials declared that they would not offer any instruction to any students, and they blamed students with disabilities for this decision. These school officials opined that it was too difficult to provide services to students with disabilities via distance instruction. They shared with the general public their fears of an avalanche of litigation resulting from their failure to follow students' IEPs (individualized education plans) during the crisis. These claims were not well founded. First, during in-person instruction, many schools routinely have violated provisions of students' IEPs on a regular basis. Braille materials are delayed, filled with errors, or nonexistent. Inaccessible materials, particularly educational software and websites, are used routinely. Far from being fearful of litigation, some school officials routinely dismiss parental complaints about IEP violations. They know how difficult, time-consuming, and expensive it is for parents to hold school officials accountable in administrative hearings and in court. If these recalcitrant school officials were truly afraid of IEP-related litigation, blind students would be receiving accessible materials on time, Braille instruction early and often, adequate and age- appropriate cane travel instruction and use, and access to necessary accessible assistive technology throughout school and at home. In fact, for most blind students the transition from in-person instruction to at-home distance instruction should be an easy one-at least if the district has been following federal special education law by providing accessible materials and assistive technology for the student to use at home. Moreover, for years, quality disability-related education services (such as physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy) and blindness-specific instruction (such as Braille instruction, training in the use of accessible technology, and cane-travel instruction) frequently have been provided through distance instruction. Claims that these services cannot be provided remotely are either a result of ignorance or of intentional misdirection. Blaming of disabled students for the lack of instructional services to all students created a backlash against students with disabilities. Across the country, parents of nondisabled students began to complain that their children were being left behind because of "those children." Even some parents of children with disabilities, including parents of blind children and of blind children with additional disabilities, joined the utilitarian chorus: "So long as the majority of students are being served, it's reasonable to ignore the education of disabled students." On March 16, twenty-four states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico announced school closures. On the same day, the USDOE published another document addressing new COVID-19-related concerns affecting schools. Notably, and possibly a result of the growing backlash against disabled students, the USDOE explicitly addressed the affirmative duty of schools to "take appropriate action to investigate or otherwise determine what occurred when responding to reports of bullying and harassment of students based on actual or perceived disability, race, color, or national origin." This document also reiterated the March 12 guidance regarding duties to disabled students. It noted that IEP team meetings need not be held in person and that evaluations not performed in-person could continue during school closures. The next day, on March 17, the USDOE's Office of Civil Rights (OCR) put out a YouTube video and a press release confirming schools' legal obligations to disabled students and pointing out the feasibility of meeting those obligations. "Online learning tools must be accessible to students with disabilities," the USDOE stated, "and they must be compatible with the various forms of assistive technology that students might use to help them learn." Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights Kenneth L. Marcus also advised, "Students with disabilities must have access to educational technology utilized by schools, and OCR will continue to work to ensure that no student is excluded from utilizing these important tools." Good Guidance, Bad Example By March 20, nineteen more states closed their schools, bringing the total number of states with mandatory closures to forty-three. The next day, on Saturday, March 21, the USDOE issued another document, apparently seeking to spur school district officials to meet their legal obligations to students. This new USDOE guidance repeated earlier guidance and directly addressed concerns schools had put forth regarding special education services. While it acknowledged that some services, including "hands-on physical therapy, occupational therapy, or tactile sign language educational services" cannot be provided through distance education, it reminded school officials that many special education services can be offered using distance education. Unfortunately, it appears that this guidance was hastily written. It offered an example wherein the USDOE advised that it would be permissible for a teacher to provide written educational materials to sighted students and offer only audio access to a blind student. However, long-standing federal law has not been changed due to the COVID-19 crisis, and a closer look at the language used in the guidance makes it clear that this is a very narrow example that cannot be applied to most blind students. The blind student example in the new USDOE guidance reads as follows: "For example, if a teacher who has a blind student in her class is working from home and cannot distribute a document accessible to that student, she can distribute to the rest of the class an inaccessible document and, if appropriate for the student, read the document over the phone to the blind student or provide the blind student with an audio recording of a reading of the document aloud." Please note important conditions contained in this example. For the read-aloud to be permissible, the teacher would need to be unable to "distribute a document accessible to" the blind student. This should be difficult to prove because, presumably, the school provided Braille or accessible electronic documents before the school closures. Braille production does not require hands-on interaction with a student; it only requires the embossing of educational materials that should be no more difficult than the printing of those same educational materials. Alternatively, an accessible electronic file could be used by the Braille reader with a school-provided refreshable Braille display, or it could be embossed at home on a school-provided embosser. Fortunately, the USDOE example notes that the teacher may read the materials aloud or provide the student with an audio recording only "if appropriate for the student." If the student needs to interact with the text (as all of the nondisabled students get to do), audio alone would likely not be appropriate for the student. If nondisabled students are provided with text to access the assignment, schools need to prove why blind students do not need the same access to text. The March 21 USDOE "blind student" verbiage evidenced a lack of understanding about accessible education options for blind students, especially with regard to distance learning. The example of read-alouds was behind the times given present technology. It is unfortunate that the USDOE chose the example they used, but it certainly does not mean that schools can shrug off their responsibilities under federal law to every blind student by simply providing an audio version of materials provided to nondisabled students in readable text. COVID-19 School Closures Do Not Alter Federal Law USDOE guidance made clear that schools must provide all IEP services, including special accommodations and modifications (SAMs), unless they cannot do so. Schools should work with parents to find ways to deliver IEP SAMs, beginning with methods used before school closure and methods long accepted under federal law. These methods may include the drop-off of materials, distance instruction, and provision of accessible assistive technology at home. These methods can be incorporated into the current IEP as an amendment for which no formal meeting needs to be held. If the school and parent cannot agree, the IEP team should meet (using distance technology) to discuss providing IEP SAMs during school closure. As noted above, IEP and evaluation meetings need not be held in person, and there are no provisions for timeline extensions due to school closures. These matters will likely be very case-specific, but schools that fail to hold timely IEP meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic may find themselves out of compliance when schools, enforcement agencies, and courts reopen. Congress Invites Changes to Federal Law The USDOE has taken a clear and unequivocal stance that COVID- 19 has not changed federal law and that students with disabilities still have rights to FAPE. However, some interest groups have asked Congress to change federal law and strip disabled students of their rights. In fact, drafts of the landmark CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) contained a provision to allow USDOE Secretary Betsy DeVos to grant wide-ranging waivers to states that would cause disabled students to lose significant substantive and procedural rights and protections under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 for a minimum of twelve months. The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) and other disability-rights organizations jumped into action. Members from across the nation asked their federal representatives in the House and Senate to vote against any law that would take away students' education and civil rights. Our advocacy worked-to a point. The final CARES Act contained a section titled, "National Emergency Education Waivers." In part, this section directed Secretary DeVos to submit within thirty days a report recommending never-before-available waivers of the IDEA, the Rehabilitation Act, and two other federal statutes related to education and civil rights of disabled individuals during the COVID-19 emergency. Congress placed no restrictions on the type or duration of the waivers Secretary DeVos could recommend, meaning that students with disabilities might lose all of the education and civil rights protections that have been available to them for more than three decades. Once again, the NFB and other disability advocacy organizations mobilized. We urged our members to continue communications with their congressional representatives, but we did not stop there. On April 10 our President, Mark A. Riccobono, sent a letter to Secretary DeVos, urging her to recommend no waivers of these important laws. President Riccobono's letter emphasized three important points: (1) Waivers of these laws would not "meet the needs of students" as required by the CARES Act and would, instead, keep student needs from being met. (2) The USDOE had provided the same school closure guidance to schools since September 2017, so schools should have been prepared to follow federal law during any unforeseen school closures. The letter noted, "While the COVID-19 emergency is widespread, its impact on education at the local level is far less than in previous state, national, and international catastrophes. LEAs [local education agencies] impacted by COVID-19 have far more resources than those impacted by hurricanes and other natural disasters." (3) Some schools and organizations such as the NFB successfully have provided accessible instruction and resources despite school closures, providing evidence that schools can follow the law, as written, without waivers of education and civil rights for students with disabilities, including blind students. Here is President Riccobono's letter: April 10, 2020 The Honorable Betsy DeVos Secretary United States Department of Education 400 Maryland Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20202 RE: CARES Act Education Waivers Dear Madam Secretary: Section 3511(d)(4) of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) requires that you submit a report to Congress "with recommendations on any additional waivers under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1401 et seq.), the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 701 et seq.), the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), and the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2301 et seq.)." As President of the National Federation of the Blind, the largest organization of blind people in the United States, I urge you to refrain from recommending any additional waivers under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. No additional waivers are necessary to meet the needs of students during the emergency, and none should be recommended to Congress. Emergencies have long been part of the educational landscape. In recent years, several states and local educational agencies (LEAs) across the country have faced emergency situations, including hurricanes, floods, and other natural disasters, requiring the long-term closure of schools. These emergencies often left entire communities without internet, power, or shelter. Despite these severe situations, Congress has never sought to allow the Secretary to waive provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) through any legislation addressing national crises. While the COVID-19 emergency is widespread, its impact on education at the local level is far less than previous state, national, and international catastrophes. LEAs impacted by COVID-19 have far more resources than those impacted by hurricanes and other natural disasters. Moreover, the Department of Education ("the Department") has provided guidance to LEAs for years regarding their responsibilities to provide their students with disabilities free appropriate public education (FAPE) during emergency situations, including school closures. States and LEAs across the nation received notice of their disaster-related responsibilities in US Department of Education guidance issued in September 2017. The Department reissued that guidance in September 2018, and the COVID-19 outbreak guidance issued in March 2020 remains identical.1 Certainly more than two years is adequate. Many LEAs across the nation are following the Department's guidance and providing FAPE to their students with disabilities, including blind students.2 They utilize accessible technological solutions for distance learning, and they continue to provide blind students the materials and tools they need at home to learn.3 Given that many LEAs are already meeting their long-known responsibilities without waivers, it is clear that waivers are not "necessary" to allow "States and local educational agencies to meet the needs of students during this national emergency."4 Some states and LEAs are focusing their efforts on planning their waiver requests in anticipation of your recommendations to Congress, as opposed to meeting their legal obligations to provide FAPE. Blind students, and other students with disabilities, should not be stripped of their rights to FAPE simply because some LEAs have not done their due diligence for years and now seek to further avoid their legal obligations. Our nation benefits when these students receive the FAPE they need to be ready for post-secondary education, post-secondary employment, and living independently. Failing LEAs should not be rewarded for their multiple and long-term failures to comply with IDEA, Section 504, and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. LEAs may use IDEA Part B funds to mitigate the damage caused by their lack of preparedness. Additionally, the CARES Act also provides a tremendous amount of financial support for states and LEAs in this time of national emergency. Section 18003 provides $13,229,265,000 dedicated to elementary and secondary schools, and Section 18003(d) emphasizes the use of these funds for underserved student populations, including students with disabilities.5 With this massive appropriation, even unprepared LEAs can meet their legal obligations to the students they serve. Waivers that will allow a further delay of educational services are in no way necessary. 1 "If an LEA continues to provide educational opportunities to the general student population during a school closure, the school must ensure that students with disabilities also have equal access to the same opportunities, including the provision of FAPE. (34 CFR ?? 104.4, 104.33 (Section 504) and 28 CFR ? 35.130 (Title II of the ADA)). SEAs, LEAs, and schools must ensure that, to the greatest extent possible, each student with a disability can be provided the special education and related services identified in the student's IEP developed under IDEA, or a plan developed under Section 504. (34 CFR ?? 300.101 and 300.201 (IDEA), and 34 CFR ? 104.33 (Section 504))." From: "Non Regulatory Guidance on Flexibility and Waivers for Grantees and Program Participants Impacted by Federally Declared Disasters" (September 2017, https://safesupportivelearning.ed.gov/sites/default/files/disaster- guidance.pdf), "Non Regulatory Guidance on Flexibility and Waivers for Grantees and Program Participants Impacted by Federally Declared Disasters" (September 2018, https://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/disasters/disaster- guidance.pdf), and "Questions and Answers on Providing Services to Children with Disabilities During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Outbreak" (March 12, 2020, https://www2.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/idea/memosdcltrs/qa-covid-19- 03-12-2020.pdf). 2 Due to the long-term nationwide shortage of professionals in blindness education, many blind students have been receiving services using distance technology tools for years. School closures should have no impact on blind students receiving education in this manner. 3 Since August 2006, IDEA regulations have required IEP teams to provide assistive technology at the student's home if access is necessary for the student to receive FAPE." 34 C.F.R. section 300.105(b). 4 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, Section 3511(d)(4). 5 This grant of more than $13.2 billion represents an almost doubling of the Fiscal Year 2020 final federal IDEA Programs appropriation of $13.86 billion and more than a fifty percent increase of the $26.1 billion federal appropriate for Elementary & Secondary Education. From: http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/Final-FY20-Appropriations-for-Education- Related-Discretionary-Programs-with-State-Tables.pdf The National Federation of the Blind and other organizations have stepped up to provide educational opportunities for blind students and their families during the COVID-19 emergency. Our Distance Education Resources provide interactive online lessons, how-to videos, and written lesson ideas to meet the educational needs of blind students. LEAs receiving federal money can do the same. Without the unnecessary crutch of waivers, LEAs can focus on meeting their students' needs. With the additional funds from CARES, LEAs can implement or enhance systems to deliver high-quality and equitable educational opportunities to their blind students and other students with disabilities. As a father of two blind daughters, I urge you to report to Congress that no waivers are necessary and to encourage underperforming LEAs to reach out to, and learn from, successful LEAs and organizations like the National Federation of the Blind. Sincerely, Mark A. Riccobono, President National Federation of the Blind Advocacy Works! Many advocacy groups urged Secretary DeVos to grant only limited waivers, but others believed that broad waivers would be granted. On April 27, Secretary DeVos issued her report, and she rejected calls for waivers of substantive rights of students with disabilities. Her report noted, "Schools can, and must, provide education to all students, including children with disabilities." Further, the report stated, "The needs and best interests of the individual student, not any system, should guide decisions and expenditures," and "Services typically provided in person may now need to be provided through alternative methods, requiring creative and innovative approaches." The press release accompanying the secretary's report presented the same focus on student need found in President Riccobono's letter: " . . .there is no reason for Congress to waive any provision designed to keep students learning. With ingenuity, innovation, and grit, I know this nation's educators and schools can continue to faithfully educate every one of their students." Of the waivers Secretary DeVos did recommend, most dealt with allowing agencies to have more time to spend funds so that they will not lose them, granting extended time to complete service obligations tied to scholarship funding, and other administrative functions unrelated to direct services. One of the waivers Secretary DeVos recommended provides additional protection for disabled children who receive early intervention services. It allows those services to continue past the child's third birthday until school-age services begin. Another waiver allows vocational rehabilitation agencies "to replace expired or spoiled food products at Randolph-Sheppard vending sites required to close due to COVID-19, thus allowing facilities to reopen more efficiently following the COVID-19 pandemic." Each of these waivers increases the rights of disabled individuals rather than limiting them, as some groups had requested. The National Federation of the Blind Continues to Support Students and Families The National Federation of the Blind blog, "Don't Be a Barrier: Be Accessible NOW," highlights existing and new NFB resources that set forth legal protections for blind students of all ages. On March 16, a blog post requested participation in the NFB Education Technology Survey designed to gather data for advocacy purposes. It encouraged parents and teachers to report accessibility-related concerns by emailing AccessibleNOW at nfb.org. Many schools were not adequately prepared for a long-term closure. Administrators and educators struggled to determine what, if any, education would be provided to students. Despite the guidance from the US Department of Education, many states and local school districts were reluctant to embrace their mission of education. Sadly, many blind students and their families were left without instruction, accessible materials, or assistive technology. As Dr. Kenneth Jernigan often said, "If a blind person has proper training and opportunity, blindness can be reduced to a physical nuisance." Yet, during the COVID-19 crisis, too many blind children across the country were not receiving any education from their schools. On March 24, the NFB launched a Distance Learning Resources initiative that provides blind children and their families with fun, accessible activities, interactive Zoom lessons, Braille book readings, and how-to videos in which blind adults demonstrate nonvisual methods of performing tasks around the house. On May 4, one week after Secretary Devos' report, NFB President Mark A. Riccobono sent a letter to the Chairs and Ranking Members of the US Senate and US House Committees overseeing education, urging Congress to accept the very limited waivers Betsy DeVos recommended and to expand two of them in order to, "improve educational opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic and [to] protect students with disabilities whose needed services were adversely impacted by unplanned school closures" and "help Randolph- Sheppard entrepreneurs reopen their business, return to work, and employ their workforce." Here is his letter: May 4, 2020 The Honorable Lamar Alexander Chairman Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions United States Senate 455 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 The Honorable Robert "Bobby" Scott Chairman Committee on Education and Labor United States House of Representatives 1201 Longworth House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 The Honorable Patty Murray Ranking Member Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions United States Senate 154 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 The Honorable Virginia Foxx Ranking Member Committee on Education and Labor United States House of Representatives 2462 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Dear Chairman Alexander, Chairman Scott, Ranking Member Murray, and Ranking Member Foxx: I write to you regarding Secretary DeVos's report required under Section 3511(d)(4) of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The National Federation of the Blind is pleased that no objectionable waivers undermining the educational rights of blind students were included in the report. This correspondence highlights two of the Department of Education's recommended waivers, along with two additional legislative proposals to Congress that would improve the lives of blind Americans and students with disabilities. As President of the largest organization of blind people in the United States, I urge Congress to incorporate these four waivers in upcoming coronavirus legislation. We commend Secretary DeVos for including "explicit authorization for Part C services to continue during the delayed Part B transition evaluation timeline," so that children with disabilities are eligible for Part C services until a determination is made for Part B services. Prior to this national crisis, toddlers with disabilities would often go without services for weeks after their third birthday simply because their evaluation, determination of eligibility, and overall transition to Part B services were not conducted in a timely manner. As such, the National Federation of the Blind recommends the granting of this waiver, so that toddlers with disabilities may continue to receive Part C services during these unprecedented times. We also recognize that Part B services have been impacted by this national crisis, and students with disabilities who are close to exiting services, due to age or high school graduation, need those missing services so that they will be prepared for post-secondary education, post-secondary employment, and living independently. We urge Congress to extend Part B eligibility for services for twelve months after a local education agency's resumption of in-person instruction or eighteen months after the end of the child's IEP eligibility (based on age or graduation from secondary school), whichever occurs later by granting transition waivers to all students within twelve months of exiting IEPs: Section 612(a)(1)(A) of the IDEA (20 U.S.C. ? 1412(a)(1)(A)). We agree with the Secretary of Education's proposed waiver authority under the Rehabilitation Act, which allows the use of FY2020 vocational rehabilitation funds to replace spoiled and expired supplies for Randolph- Sheppard businesses following the COVID-19 emergency. This will aid blind vendors in reopening Randolph-Sheppard facilities after the pandemic. In addition to the Secretary's recommendation above, we urge Congress to grant a waiver to the Rehabilitation Act allowing states to spend rehabilitation funds to ensure a fair minimum return for all Randolph- Sheppard vendors. We propose the below language, which states, "State agencies designated by 20 U.S.C. 107(a)(5) may use funds appropriated pursuant to 29 U.S.C. 701 Sec. 110 to assure a fair minimum return to blind vendors operating vending facilities on federal and other properties for a period of time not to exceed September 30, 2021." This will ensure that blind merchants are provided a fair and equal opportunity to strengthen and maintain their businesses long after this unique national emergency. These waivers will improve educational opportunities during the COVID- 19 pandemic and will protect students with disabilities whose needed services were adversely impacted by unplanned school closures. They will also help Randolph-Sheppard entrepreneurs reopen their business, return to work, and employ their workforce. We thank you for your thoughtful consideration and are happy to provide any additional clarification should it be necessary. Sincerely, Mark A. Riccobono, President National Federation of the Blind cc: The Honorable Betsy DeVos, Secretary, United States Department of Education Next Steps While the USDOE has declined to request unnecessary waivers of the IDEA or the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, some groups are still clamoring for Congress to strip disabled students of their rights. If their efforts are successful, state departments of education around the country may request and receive waivers that will turn back the clock. Such waivers would enact into law substandard educational opportunities for students with disabilities. We must urge our congressional representatives, our state departments of education, and our local school districts to focus on learning for all students. As President Riccobono noted, "Without the unnecessary crutch of waivers, LEAs can focus on meeting their students' needs. Underperforming LEAs [can] reach out to, and learn from, successful LEAs and organizations like the National Federation of the Blind." ---------- A US Diplomat with an Extraordinary Global View by Marc Lacey with Prior Beharry >From the Editor: It was with profound sadness that we heard about the death of Rami Rabby on April 17, 2020. Rami died in Israel from cancer at age seventy-seven. As a tribute to him, we are running an article which originally appeared in the October 2007 issue of the Monitor. Here is how it was originally introduced: Editor's Note: One of the more memorable battles that NFB members have fought was the one to win the right for blind people to serve overseas in the United States Foreign Service. An NFB leader, Rami Rabby, who had served as president of the NFB of Illinois and secretary of the National Federation of the Blind, was interested in joining the Foreign Service and was formidably equipped to serve his adopted country in that capacity. But the State Department had other ideas. The discussions were difficult, and our efforts to educate department bureaucrats culminated in a congressional hearing that dozens if not hundreds of us attended. The result was a victory that changed the lives and prospects of a handful of blind Americans who wish to work for the Department of State in other countries. More broadly, it removed a general barrier for all blind people. It hardly seems possible to those of us who remember the original fight that Rami Rabby is now retiring from the Foreign Service. On July 7, 2007, the New York Times carried a story about Rami's career. Here it is: As chief of the political section at the American Embassy here for the last two years, Avraham Rabby has had the job of surveying Trinidad's political landscape for Washington. The fact that he has not actually seen the Caribbean island-or any of the places on five continents where he has been posted-has not stymied him. "I necessarily listen more than a sighted person would," he said. "If I'm walking along a street, I can tell there is a building next to me because of the echoes of my feet or my cane. A blind person sees the world differently from a sighted person. Our impressions are no less valid." Mr. Rabby, who lost his sight at the age of eight because of detached retinas, is the State Department's first blind diplomat. It is an achievement he fought for in the 1980s, passing three written entrance exams and two oral exercises along the way. But even then the State Department barred him from the diplomatic corps. "You don't ask a blind person to drive a bus or be a bank teller," George S. Vest, who was the personnel director for the Foreign Service, explained in a 1988 interview. "There are jobs which are dangerous or unsuitable for them. And in the Foreign Service we're full of jobs like that." The department contended that diplomats, blind ones included, had to be able to work anywhere in the world and to work with confidential documents without any outside aid. In addition, State Department officials said diplomats had to be able to pick up on nonverbal cues, such as winks or nods, which can sometimes have more meaning than the words being uttered. But Mr. Rabby illustrated another essential quality of diplomats: perseverance. "No international treaty has ever been decided on the basis of a wink or a nod," he retorted, after hiring a lawyer and challenging the State Department's policy, which dated from the eighteenth century. Aiding Mr. Rabby's effort was a federal law barring the government from disqualifying prospective employees because of disabilities. Eventually, after the news media and Congress found out about his case, the State Department reversed course. The new policy would consider disabled diplomats on a case-by-case basis. Mr. Rabby became case No. 1. In 1990 he was off to London, where he was posted at the embassy there as a junior political officer. He moved next to Pretoria, South Africa, where Nelson Mandela had just been freed from prison and where Mr. Rabby witnessed the country's first free elections. "It was one of the most stimulating experiences in my life," he said, noting that he was one of the embassy's election observers. "People ask me how I can assess a political rally if I can't see it," he said. "I tell them that I listen to the crowd and to the speakers. You can sense what is going on." He spent time in Washington at the State Department's Bureau of Human Rights and in postings in Lima and New Delhi. During a stint at the United States Mission to the United Nations, he helped write resolutions dealing with literacy, global health, and the rights of the disabled. His final posting-he retired at the end of June at the mandatory retirement age of sixty-five-was to Port of Spain, where he became an expert in Trinidad's political system, which has long been divided between parties, one predominantly Afro-Trinidadian and one Indo- Trinidadian. When journalists descended on Trinidad recently in search of information on the suspected plot to set off a bomb at a fuel line at Kennedy International Airport that was traced back to this Caribbean island, he became one of the officials to talk to. "A diplomat does a lot of writing, a lot of reading, a lot of thinking, a lot of talking and has to attend a lot of meetings," he said. Thanks to technological advances and a full-time assistant, Mr. Rabby could do all of those things too. He wrote his cables to Washington using a machine that wrote in Braille. He then read them back to his assistant, Rhonda Singh, who typed them up. He also had a computer with a speech program that allowed him to listen to his email messages. As for tracking news developments, Ms. Singh, an American citizen who lives in Trinidad, read him the local papers. "I was basically his eyes," she said. Born in Israel, Mr. Rabby, who is known as Rami, was sent to live with an aunt in England at the age of ten because his parents believed there were better schools for the blind there. A Hebrew speaker, he quickly mastered English at Worcester College for Blind Boys. "I remember the headmaster used to go out and speak to groups about the school, and he used to say that we teach our boys to stand on their own two feet and, if necessary, to step on yours too," Mr. Rabby recalled. He went off to Oxford, where he studied French and Spanish. Finding a job after college proved a challenge. "Time and time again I met recruiters who felt that a blind person could not work in management," he said in the British accent that he has never lost. Eventually he joined Ford Motor Company in Britain, where he worked in human resources. After about a year he moved to the United States and earned an M.B.A. at the University of Chicago. After graduation in 1969 he sought out a management training program but had few offers after "dozens and dozens, if not hundreds" of interviews. He finally landed a job with a management consulting firm, Hewitt Associates, and later moved to Citibank. He also spent time as an independent consultant, writing a number of employment guides, including one giving advice to blind job seekers. "One of my problems in my working life, after a few years I get a bit tired of what I am doing, and I want to change," said Mr. Rabby, who became an American citizen in 1980. It was while living in New York that he decided to make the jump into international relations, a longtime interest. The State Department's regular rotations of its diplomats proved a perfect fit. His fight to join the Foreign Service has helped others along the way. There are now four blind Foreign Service officers stationed around the globe, the State Department said, among about 170 disabled Foreign Service employees overseas. Mr. Rabby said blind Foreign Service officers had recently been restricted from adjudicating visa applications because of their inability to verify photographs and signatures of applications. Mr. Rabby, who attributes the decision to the increased restrictions after the September 11 attacks, said he did visa work at the start of his career in London with the assistance of a reader, who verified documents for him. He asked the questions and assessed the responses. "The State Department is not yet completely on the side of the angels," he said. A State Department official disputed that there was a policy in place restricting the assignments of blind diplomats. Decisions on assigning personnel, the official said, are made on a case-by-case basis in accordance with the law. Even before Mr. Rabby headed out into the world as a diplomat, he was already testifying before Congress on his quest for the job. He said back then that he did not want to be put in a pigeonhole as a blind diplomat. "Blind people are as different from one another as sighted people," he told members of the House Foreign Affairs and Civil Service Committees in 1989. "There is no such thing as a category labeled 'blind.'" ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Rami Rabby] Why I am a Federationist, and How the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois was Born by Rami Rabby >From the Editor: We were fortunate to have Rami at the 2018 state convention in Illinois, and our affiliate preserved both audio and video from a presentation he made at the banquet. Rami's Federation involvement exemplifies exactly what Federation involvement should be: he saw a need, at first a selfish need, then he saw the opportunity to help, he stepped forward as a leader, and later, when he needed help, he turned to an organization which was better able to help him because of the work he himself had put into it. Here is what he said to our good folks in Illinois: Why I am a Federationist is inextricably linked to how the NFB of Illinois was born. On September 5, 1967, I was standing on the deck of the transatlantic liner The United States as it sailed past the Statue of Liberty and up the Hudson River to the Port of New York. As a sighted child in Israel I had seen the movie called On the Town about three sailors on shore leave gallivanting around Manhattan among those amazing skyscrapers and having the time of their lives in an America of unlimited opportunities. So my excitement and anticipation were at fever pitch as we docked at Pier 83. I was in a group of Fulbright scholars on my way to a master's program in business administration at the University of Chicago. Our group leader had suggested to us that, before continuing on our separate ways to various US universities, we should consider spending a few days in New York in order to get used to the country which was to be our home for the next few years. So upon disembarking I loaded all, and I mean all, of my belongings into a taxi, and off I went to the Grand Central YMCA. Imagine my shock when the clerk at the reception desk told me I could not stay at the Y because "our insurance company will not cover us for the added risk of having you here." That was literally my first experience in the US. Fortunately, Dr. Jacob Freid, then executive director of the Jewish Braille Institute of America, found an alternative, more welcoming accommodation for me, but two days later I was hit with the second surprise. I knew absolutely nothing about the study of business administration since my BA degree at Oxford University in England was in French and Spanish. So I very much wanted to make contact with blind students in the US and particularly with blind business school students. I had heard of Recording for the Blind, now Learning Ally, so I was sure they would help me. I composed a formal letter of introduction and asked Recording for the Blind to mail it at my expense to all the business administration students registered with them. Here, too, the answer was no. "Our confidentiality policy would not allow us to do that," they said. At which point Dr. Freid said to me "You know, given your experiences at the Y and at Recording for the Blind, what you ought to do, once you're settled in Chicago, is get in touch with Kenneth Jernigan." So in March 1968 I called Dr. Jernigan, who invited me to visit him at the Iowa Commission for the Blind. After just half an hour with him I came to two life-changing conclusions: first, that I had met in Dr. Jernigan a true soulmate and kindred spirit, and second, that as far as my blindness was concerned, the National Federation of the Blind was my natural home. Dr. Jernigan urged me to go back to Chicago, contact as many blind people as I could, and invite them to the organizing meeting of the new NFB affiliate. Our initial core group included Steve Hastalis, Jim Nyman, and Steve Benson, among others. Our recruitment efforts were bolstered by the arrival of a team from the national office which included Ramona Walhof, Jim Gashel, and Mary Ellen Halverson. On Saturday, August 10, 1968, in the Gold Room of what was then the Sherman House, now the Thompson Center in Chicago, Dr. Jernigan gaveled to order the inaugural meeting of what we then called the Illinois Congress of the Blind, which later, of course, became the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois. We hit the ground running. Just two months later we got the legendary mayor of Chicago, Richard J. Daley, to proclaim White Cane Safety Day. We successfully lobbied the Illinois legislature to enact the White Cane Law. At our first state convention in 1969 none other than Archbishop John Cardinal Cody of Chicago delivered the invocation, and Congressman Abner Mikva came to express his support. We went to war with the Chicago Lighthouse for the Blind over its demeaning sheltered workshop practices and absence of blind people on its Board of Directors, and we demonstrated against NAC, which had accredited a number of agencies for the blind in Illinois. In fact, our activism and influence were such that in 1975 Governor Dan Walker dispatched his top aide and troubleshooter, Steve Teichner, to address our national convention in Chicago. In his speech Teichner complimented the NFB, but he was astonished when, during the ensuing discussion, Dr. Jernigan produced an internal gubernatorial office memo from which he read to the convention what was obviously the Walker administration's real thinking about us as follows: "The NFB of Illinois is the most vocal, politically active consumer group of all. They always seem to accomplish their goals, even if the mechanism is by embarrassment. Rami Rabby is a tough son-of-a-bitch. He will nail an opponent to the wall if he has to. You can tell him I said so. He is highly critical and considers himself anti-establishment. He is hard to work with, but you must do it; if you can co-opt him, you have 80 percent of the battle won." To which Dr. Jernigan reacted: "May all people feel toward us that way. It is not necessary to be loved, but it is essential to be respected." I must say that for a brief moment I was taken aback when I heard myself described the way that memo did. But you know, deep down inside, I just loved it. So why am I a Federationist? In large I am a Federationist for the same reason that I believe we are all Federationists: that is because the work we do in changing what it means to be blind, transforming public agency attitudes toward us, and spreading the message "live the life you want" is supremely important. But beyond that, my debt to the Federation has an added, more personal dimension to it. Before coming to the United States I had lived in four other countries: Israel, England, France, and Spain. In none of them was I ever politically engaged, either because I was a child as in Israel or because my studies and girls occupied all my time, as in England and France, or because speaking out against the government could land you in jail if not worse, as under Franco's dictatorship in Spain. So it was the Federation that taught me how to challenge government bureaucracies. It was the Federation that taught me how to negotiate the complexities of the legislative process and the judicial system. And, it was the Federation that taught me how to convince the media to report on us, not under the rubric of human interest but rather under the rubric of social revolution. Through the Federation I came to appreciate American democracy and America's open and freewheeling political culture. It is this appreciation which led me first to apply for and receive a green card, which allowed me to stay in this country, and then to seek and obtain US citizenship. That, too, is why I am a Federationist. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Curtis Willoughby] Of Sleeping Dogs and Prancing Ponies: It's Time for the NFB to Act on Discrimination Against Blind Hams by Curtis Willoughby >From the Editor: Curtis Willoughby spent his career as an electrical engineer, no small feat given that the school to which he applied did not want to take him. In addition, more than a few would-be employers doubted his ability to do a job they might have. Curtis is a licensed amateur radio operator, more commonly known as a ham radio enthusiast. The largest organization representing amateur radio operators is the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), and as you will see from the email that is part of Curtis's article, the organization publishes four magazines. Foremost among them is a publication called QST, a code meaning calling all stations. For a number of years this magazine has been made accessible by the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, but the technical content of many of the articles requires more than an audio representation. Amateur radio operators also participate in contests in which part or all of a weekend is given to a competition for the number of other operators one contacts, the number of states he or she may contact, or the number of countries he or she reaches. As Curtis notes, information from the library is often so delayed that blind amateur operators find the contests have come and gone before they read about them. This is not so much a criticism of the library but a statement that the ARRL should be producing accessible material and not rely on the library for the timeliness of its publications to blind people. Here is what Curtis says: It has been several years since the National Federation of the Blind Amateur Radio Division had an all-out effort to get the nation's amateur radio organization known as the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) to eliminate its discriminatory practices against its blind members. We have been like sleeping dogs, but the ARRL just gave us a big kick. It publishes four magazines on the web in a form that is inaccessible to the blind, while claiming that all of its members can read them online. When we were actively pushing for literature accessibility, several of the members wrote our ARRL board members concerning this discrimination and were ignored or told that someone would look into it. As unbelievable as it may sound, sometimes we were told that we should be satisfied that the ARRL's premier publication, QST, was available through the Library of Congress. Never mind that QST is delayed about a month to allow for it to be recorded, which often causes blind hams not to be able to obtain the rules for contests until the contests are over. Many other groups and individuals are worked up about this, too, but none of them are as well organized or as influential as the NFB. It is time for us to act in such a way that will get the discrimination eliminated once and for all! I am planning to prepare a resolution for the Resolutions Committee this year that will condemn and deplore this discrimination and will demand an immediate end to it. We have a lot of good friends in Congress now, but none so good as one who attended Dr. Jernigan's "caucuses" as described in the James Omvig book Jernigan in His Own Words. He has been our friend ever since, and I think he would count it a privilege to get some ARRL leaders into his office and read the riot act to them. It might go something like this: "Now you folks go out there and clean up after these ponies, and don't you leave anything lying in the street either, or we will have to crack the whip, do you understand!" Here is an email I received from a ham, David Allen, from New Zealand: Hi, Curtis. Seeing this should have excited me. It only frustrates me because I know that it doesn't mean what it says. True, I am a member of this organization [ARRL], but my numerous attempts to get true accessibility on its radar has gotten me nowhere. Therefore, I am hoping you may be able to help. I got your address in an article on the NFB website. I might indeed find lots of good reading in QST and the other magazines, but only if I were sighted. Can we ever make them get it? The notion that my needs are met by QST that is being served up by NLS is laughable. I would hope that a resolution at this year's convention might address this discriminatory practice. Here is the email David received from the ARRL, precipitating his letter to Curtis: ARRL members now have digital access to all four magazines! No matter your level of experience in ham radio, you'll find articles and stories for you. New ARRL Member Benefit ARRL members will now receive digital access to four ARRL magazines beginning with its latest issues. Joining QST and On the Air on a digital platform will be the bimonthly editions of QEX, the Forum for Communications Experimenters, and NCJ, the National Contest Journal. QEX includes articles, columns, and other features ranging from construction projects to more advanced technical information in radio theory and practice. NCJ targets radio amateurs active in radio sport and includes scores, technical articles, contributions from top contesters, and advice for radio sport enthusiasts alike. "All members can enjoy specialized content and a high-quality reading experience whether at their desk or on the go. Offering this suite of digital magazines is an opportunity for us to give members more of what they want while adding value to ARRL membership," said ARRL Publications Manager Steve Ford, WB8IMY. ARRL's digital magazine editions provide replicas of the printed editions with added functionality, allowing users to fully search issues, enlarge pages, share articles, and more. All four are easily accessible through any web browser from members-only links. The free ARRL magazines app also supports downloading complete issues for offline reading. It is available for iOS and Android in the Apple App Store and Google Play. For more information visit www.arrl.org/arrl-magazines. Editor's Note: For more information on this issue, contact Curtis Willoughby by email at ka0vba at dimcom.net. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Gary Wunder] A Hobby that Taught me the Value of an Education, the Need for Self- discipline, How to Raise Money, and the Value of Networking by Gary Wunder In recent articles about blind people both older and younger than I am, I have frequently heard them referred to as pioneers in going into the public school system. I started public school in 1961, and certainly teachers and administrators regarded what we were doing as a novel experiment, one that would free children from having to travel across the state to go to a residential school for the blind. That freedom, which many of us who got to stay at home appreciated, would come at a cost for far too many in my generation and the ones to follow. But at the time we were involved in a social experiment, and we firmly believed it was good, forward thinking, and progressive. The public school I attended was Norman Elementary and was located in downtown Kansas City. I lived in the south part of the city, so a special bus was sent to get me and other children who did not live near downtown. The bus ride took about an hour each way, but there was not a complaint to be heard about the time on the bus because the public schools accepting blind people wasn't considered a right, but an honor. My parents were grateful for and impressed by the fact that the school system would send the bus so far to help their child and even more impressed that there was such a program. There was no Public Law 94-142, no Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and I don't believe I heard the words "free and appropriate education" until I was enrolled in college. The school I attended had what we called a resource room. In the first few grades, this is where I spent all my time, and it was in this room that I learned the fundamentals that would see me through school: reading, writing, and the basic concepts of arithmetic. My instruction was in Braille, and on many mornings I would arrive at school to the sound of the Braillewriter embossing that day's assignments. Ruth Thomas was a sighted teacher, and after I had used a Braillewriter for about a year, it seemed to me that her Brailling was exceedingly slow. In fairness what she lacked in speed was offset by her accuracy, and I took it as my job to work on that part of my Braille writing. Miss Thomas was the woman who taught me to read, and I do not remember being told that the process would be difficult or cumbersome because I would have to learn 180 contractions before I could read. The books I got were written in grade two, and learning to read simply meant that this shape was for the word and, this shape for the word with, and this shape for the word for. I learned that the letter b standing alone represented the word but, c the word can, d the word do, and so on until we got to z which, when standing alone, meant the word as. At the same time I was learning to read Braille, I was also learning to spell. Sighted people who read print did not know my special grade two signs and had to be content reading each word letter by letter. My spelling tests would ensure that I could write in a way they could read, the typewriter being shortly introduced into the curriculum. Oh how I wished they knew grade two when on my spelling test appeared the word knowledge, the word represented in Braille with the simple letter k. In those first few years I got what today might be called a segregated education. But as I learned the basic skills, I first took one, then two, then three classes with the sighted children attending the school. By the time I was in fifth grade, the resource room was not so much a place of learning but a place to store my books between classes and to answer questions that for some reason teachers in the regular classroom could not address. Usually they had something to do with Braille and its special format requirements. Sometimes it meant asking my resource teacher to draw a picture, a graph, or a diagram. While in the fifth grade I met a student who had recently come from the Missouri School for the Blind. When we would ride the bus together to and from school, he would tell me about all of the experiences he had way across the state in St. Louis. He rode a train; I had never ridden a train except at a zoo. He had ridden a Greyhound bus; I had only taken a short trip on one when our family went to see my father, who worked for a short time two hundred miles from where we lived. My friend had ridden in an airplane to get back and forth from school, but at that point in my life I had only seen model airplanes and heard the sound of jet engines. Did I bowl? No. I knew what a bowling alley sounded like from television, but I had no idea that a blind person could bowl. He said that the school for the blind had a bowling alley and that he used it several times each week. Did I have access to a swimming pool all year round? No, only in the summer, and even then it was rather crowded. He said that at the school for the blind children could go swimming anytime they wanted. So, at the age of ten, I sat at the table with my parents and told them that I really needed to go where I could get a better education, and that was the Missouri School for the Blind. Just how they kept from laughing at a boy of ten telling them where he wanted to go to school I don't know. They talked with me about how far away the school was and that I wouldn't be able to come home every day. They talked with me about missing home and being away from my brothers and sisters. I listened respectfully, but what were brothers and sisters compared with bowling and swimming? With repeated urging my parents took me to the school, talked with officials there, and reluctantly had me admitted to start at the beginning of my sixth-grade year. I learned some great skills, and there is no question that I benefited from the experience in many ways. When at home, my clothes magically appeared in my closet and in my dresser drawers. At the school, I soon discovered that I did not know how to hang up a pair of pants or a suit coat. I did not know how to fold underwear or mate socks. I didn't even know how to make a bed. In the dining room at the school for the blind we sat at long tables, and when we arrived, we found an empty plate in front of us. Serving dishes were passed, and I had to figure out how many scoops constituted a reasonable serving. For the first few weeks my helpings ranged from meager to more than my share, but eventually I figured it out. How much butter does one cut off a stick to cover a biscuit? When butter is in a bowl, what serving is appropriate to coat two pieces of toast? I had never thought of myself as sheltered or protected, but I certainly came away with a new appreciation for mom and how much she did for me and the rest of her children. I suspect my house parent thought her new charge a little dull, but she was patient enough to show me how to do these things once or twice and stubborn enough to let me succeed or fail on my own after that. After the school for the blind I came home and went to a small public school that drew its students from three towns and the farms that separated them. In this school there was no resource room, and the school staff freely admitted that they knew nothing about educating a blind person. Their assumption was that I probably already knew what I needed to know about blindness and that together we would work out whatever obstacles presented themselves. Mostly they were right, but they had a little too much faith in my resourcefulness and self-discipline. When the school couldn't provide me with books in Braille, I had no idea how to go about getting them, so I tried to use materials on tape for some subjects in which Braille was absolutely necessary. Algebra without a Braille book was a nightmare. Trying to learn Spanish without being able to see the spelling of words was quite difficult. Despite the good intentions and educational resources available to me, I was not a good student. I was an average student. People would remark on this frequently, observing that someone who was as smart as I appeared to be should be doing far better. They attributed my poor performance to laziness and not applying myself. I didn't like the label; it didn't fit with my self-image, and fortunately it didn't do much to mold it. Nobody thought I was lazy when it came to doing chores. Nobody applied that label when I was given work to do for pay and spent long days in the field putting up hay, cleaning bricks, or working in the sheltered workshop in Kansas City. So why was the label so liberally if sadly applied to my academic performance? It is hard to know how valuable one's reflections are after all this time, but I offer a few conclusions. For one thing, I had a hard time connecting the dots- a rather strange statement from someone who reads and writes Braille, don't you think? People said I was mature for my age, but I think this only meant that I had a well-developed ability to talk and listen, spending a goodly amount of time with adults and being the oldest in my family. I cannot reconcile my failure to get Braille books that I desperately wanted with the fact that I knew of two agencies in Kansas City that did Braille transcription and was willing to pass that information along to anyone who might ask. To me, textbooks had come from the American Printing House for the Blind, and I had no idea how to ask them to send me the books I needed. But I think a more accurate reason for my mediocre performance is that I did not really understand why I went to school. I went because I was told to. I went because I was a rule follower. I went because that was my assignment, just as my mother's assignment was to clean our house and my father's assignment was to bring home the bacon. But it took me a long time to capture the real why of school and the role it would play in my life. I was reminded of all of this when I saw Curtis Willoughby's article about ham radio. When I heard that people could talk with others in different cities, states, and even countries, I was intrigued. To say that I was enthralled with electronic gadgets would be an understatement, but when I decided to be a ham radio operator, I learned that it wasn't as simple as buying a radio and getting on the air. One had to learn about basic concepts of electricity, about transmitters and receivers, about the characteristics of various frequency spectrums and how the bending of radio waves in the upper atmosphere would determine which part of the spectrum could be counted on for communication given the time of day, the distance involved, and even the place we were in the eleven year sunspot cycle. How were vacuum tubes constructed? What were their components? How did the vacuum tube actually serve to amplify a signal? Putting up an antenna was more than just dangling a wire out the window. Given the frequency one used, it had to be a certain length. How was that figured? I couldn't go to my mother, my father, or any of my school teachers to find out. So it was that at age thirteen, when I wanted to do something on my own and could not find a teacher, that I learned why I had been taught to read and write. For the first time it came to me that I could learn about the flow of electricity and the application of Ohm's law, radio theory, and the regulations governing the amateur radio service. I could if I exercised self-discipline and the skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic that I had too often viewed as boring tasks to be done with as quickly as possible. Although most who heard about my ambition to be a ham radio operator congratulated me, they had nothing to offer when it came to explaining all the material that would be on my test. Because it was a hobby and simply something that I wanted to do, there was no pressure from adults to do it. If I worked at it, it might happen. If I decided to let it go because it was too hard, no one in the family would criticize me because I was the only one who was invested in the idea of doing it. For all of the enjoyment I have gotten out of amateur radio-learning the international Morse code and using it to communicate with people from around the world, serving to help people from around the country get corneas for transplant, handling messages from military personnel to their loved ones at home-the greatest gift I have gotten from amateur radio has been learning why I went to school and coming to see what I was taught as a way to educate myself on any subject I wished. Although I now live in an area that restricts the installation of antennas that can be used for worldwide communication, the fact that I am a ham radio operator continues to play an important part in my life. I now appreciate learning for the sake of learning. Although I don't have the greatest mind in the world, I am convinced that I can learn most things if only I decide to invest energy into the task. It was the experience of having to find books without the assistance of a school librarian that taught me to be resourceful enough to find the materials I needed, and how many times that experience has paid off for me. And then there was the special experience of doing something that my family did not do that made me unique and caused me to know things they did not. As a minor aside, once I studied the material, passed the tests, and got my license, I needed radio equipment. That took money. Where did money come from? Usually it came from mom and dad, but here another lesson was learned. My dad said that money came from work and that if I wanted some of it I better be prepared to do something to earn it. This hobby is the reason that I know how to put up hay, clean and stack bricks, put washers on bolts, and put together China markers. These activities would not play much of a role in my resum? today, but they served me well in my early years when people could see that I was not asking them for my first job. I have written this piece in the hope that it will bring together several important points. Helping a child learn is extremely important, but getting him or her to see the reason why learning is important is every bit as significant. Be slow to label: is a child's failure to do a thing based on laziness, or is it from not really understanding how it fits into what he or she will be expected to do in the future? Be aware that maturity is not indicated by having a good attention span and being able to understand and use big words; maturity also requires understanding something about the world, one's place in it, and what will be expected to achieve one's goals. Don't discount the importance of a hobby as some of my family would do, seeing it as a distraction that might keep me from doing other more productive things. I close with one final tribute to amateur radio. Young people are constantly told about the importance of building a network. That kind of talk was not fashionable in my time, but I unknowingly built one. When I moved to Columbia, Missouri, and began to converse regularly with residents who were ham radio operators, I especially enjoyed talking to a man named Pete and a friend of his named John. They would frequently talk with one another and welcome me into their conversation. When I went looking for my first job as a computer programmer, I got an internship at the University of Missouri Hospitals and Clinics. I told my two friends about it and went into a rather lengthy explanation of computers and the institution giving me an internship. They were ever so polite in laughingly telling me that they knew about computers, and they knew about the university hospital. Pete was the director of laboratories and had a substantial role in starting the hospital's computer department and later the section that would develop programs for the department of pathology. Oh, and his boss John turned out to be the head of the pathology department, and although I can't say whether my relationship with them had anything to do with it, I was offered a job after my six-week internship. Who knew? What a hobby, and to it I offer a most heartfelt thank you. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Curtis Chong] Audible Traffic Signals: The Technology, the Reality, and the Possibilities by Curtis Chong >From the Editor: Curtis Chong is probably best known for his technical expertise and his long service as the chairperson of the computer science division. But he is not so easily pigeonholed. He has many interests, and almost everything he writes I find intriguing. He has a good sense of history, a good sense of what is going on in the present, and is very willing to offer his thoughts about what we should do in the future. Here is what he has to say about audible pedestrian signals: Audible traffic signals (now called accessible pedestrian signals) have generated a lot of discussion (if not controversy). There are differing opinions about where and under what circumstances these signals should be installed. However, given the increasing complexity of traffic patterns in our cities today and the improvements in accessible pedestrian signal technology, one would be hard-pressed to find anyone who would say that accessible pedestrian signals provide absolutely no benefit to the nonvisual pedestrian. The problem with these devices seems to be a lack of consistency as to how they behave and where they are placed. Should accessible pedestrian signals provide information using buzzers, beeps, clicks, recorded speech, vibrations, or some combination of the above? Should they generate a locator tone to help the blind pedestrian to find the signal pole? Does the nonvisual indication that the walk sign is on need to be generated all the time or only when requested? If the blind pedestrian must activate the nonvisual walk sign indicator, is it appropriate to require the pedestrian to press and hold the activation button or should a simple press be sufficient? Is it sufficient for the signal to indicate only that the walk signal has been activated or would blind pedestrians be well served if more information was provided during the crossing, for example, an audible homing signal on the other side of the street which tells the pedestrian in what direction to walk? At any given corner, where should the signal poles be placed for easy crossing, and at what height should the activation button be positioned? Should accessible pedestrian signals be installed at every signalized intersection or only at those intersections which are difficult or impossible to negotiate nonvisually? The earliest audible traffic signals used loud buzzers or alarm bells to alert the blind pedestrian that the light was green. Later versions alternated between the sound of a chirping bird or a cuckoo clock, depending on what intersection had a green light. Other models generated repeating clicks to indicate the state of the walk signal: slow clicks when the signal was off and rapid clicks when it was on. Accessible pedestrian signals with more modern technology generate a beep tone every second that (in theory) is meant to be heard only when the pedestrian is within ten or twenty feet of the signal, thus enabling the pedestrian to determine the location of the signal pole. The volume of the beep tone is supposed to vary depending on the level of ambient sounds. This type of accessible pedestrian signal continually beeps every second unless or until the pedestrian presses and holds the arrow-shaped button on the signal pole. Then, the signal will say something like, "Wait...wait to cross street name a at street name b." Then, when the walk signal comes on, the signal will say something like, "The walk signal is now on to cross street name a." On some accessible pedestrian signals, you will hear a voice counting down the number of seconds remaining before the walk sign will be turned off; on others, you will hear a louder series of tones which is supposed to serve as an audible homing beacon to guide the blind pedestrian to the other side of the intersection; and there are still others which remain silent during the walk phase. Some accessible pedestrian signals have Braille symbols on them to indicate which street is to be crossed using the signal; other signals do not. Some signals vary the volume of the locator beeps depending on the volume of ambient traffic noise; others do not. Municipalities around the country have developed their own local policies and procedures relating to accessible pedestrian signals. Ideally, these policies and procedures are developed in cooperation with state affiliates and local chapters of the National Federation of the Blind; however, more often than not, cities make their own decisions about when and where to install accessible pedestrian signals and how they will be configured. When this happens, decisions are too often made based on what we in the National Federation of the Blind would call outdated stereotypical thinking about the characteristic of blindness. For example, some traffic engineers believe that accessible pedestrian signals should be installed near agencies for the blind where blind people are likely to cross the street. It never occurs to them to think that perhaps the agencies are encouraging their students to learn to cross streets where no accessible pedestrian signals are installed. In the cities of Aurora, Colorado; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Des Moines, Iowa; Baltimore, Maryland; and Minneapolis, Minnesota (cities where I have lived), there are accessible pedestrian signals at some street crossings with locator tones for each signal pole along with speech to tell you when the walk signal is on. I don't know how these cities determined where to install these accessible pedestrian signals. I often found these signals at four-way crossings which would ordinarily not pose a problem for a blind pedestrian with decent independent travel skills. In San Diego, California, I encountered accessible pedestrian signals which beeped and talked, similar to the ones in Denver. I appreciated the count-down timer which would tell me how many seconds were left as I crossed the street. In the city of Honolulu, Hawaii, I remember that within a few blocks from the local agency for the blind, there were accessible pedestrian signals at a busy intersection which generated slow or rapid clicks to tell the blind pedestrian when the walk signal was on. Slow clicks meant that you were not supposed to cross; rapid clicks meant that the walk signal was on and that it was theoretically safe to cross. Moreover, while crossing, the blind traveler could hear clicking on the opposite side of the street which served as a homing beacon. There was no controlling mechanism to activate the nonvisual indicators; they were on all the time. The majority of signalized intersections that we are likely to encounter today will not be equipped with accessible pedestrian signals of any type. We cannot know where, in specific cities, accessible pedestrian signals might be operating, let alone how each signal will work. Thus, as I see it, the best course of action for the savvy blind pedestrian to take is to assume that most of the time, street crossings will not be equipped with accessible pedestrian signals and plan accordingly. Agencies who provide independent travel training services to the blind should help their students to understand this reality and train them to be confident enough in their travel skills that they can cross all but the most complex intersections they encounter, regardless of the presence or absence of accessible pedestrian signals. We, the organized blind, should work with local governments so that nothing about us is done without us. Local chapters of the National Federation of the Blind should understand the local policies and ordinances that determine how, when, and where accessible pedestrian signals are installed, and we should all work with our local governments to establish uniform standards for accessible pedestrian signals that consider our real needs and avoid outdated stereotypical thinking about the characteristic of blindness. Ideally, the installation, deployment, and operation of accessible pedestrian signals would be governed by a national standard which everyone agrees with. But, given the past history of this technology, I am doubtful that this will occur. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Judy Sanders] It's Habit-Forming by Judy Sanders >From the Editor: Some people are blessed with having keen insights into themselves and others. Judy is one of these, and so often we are blessed when she shares what she feels and thinks. This wonderful piece appeared in the Spring 2019 issue of the Minnesota Bulletin, the newsletter of the National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota. This is how it was introduced: Editor's Note: I have known Judy Sanders since I joined the Federation over twenty years ago. In fact, she was one of the primary people who recruited me into the organization. If you know Judy, you know she is always learning something new and always willing to teach what she learns. In this essay, we discover the importance of keeping track of our possessions, and we also learn how to problem-solve when we inevitably lose track of something, as we all do from time to time. We can mitigate the inconveniences of blindness by cultivating good organizational habits. One of the most important habits is to keep everything in its place. Having said that, we all know that we don't always follow our own rules. Whenever I come home, my cane goes in the corner by the front door. However, there was the time when it wasn't there. A friend was picking me up, and we were in a hurry. I wanted to be outside waiting for her, but my cane wasn't by the door. Trying a methodical search in all corners didn't work. I was beginning to panic because I did not want to be the cause of us being late. Then came the lecture to myself. "Think back to when you came home! What did you do upon entering the apartment? What else can I use for a cane?" I remembered that the phone was ringing, and I hurried to answer it. I widened my search beyond the corners to the pathway leading to the phone. Bingo! Stepping on it in the hallway made my day. I now keep two canes in my corner by the front door. A few months ago I was watching the Home Shopping Channel, where they were demonstrating a small icemaker. They convinced me that it would be the perfect thing to make ice for my coffee or easily make ice for serving cold drinks to company. They promised that I would have it in less than two weeks, just in time for summer. Upon getting the notice that the icemaker had arrived, I headed out the door to pick it up. It occurred to me that the carton would be heavy and bulky; so I unlocked my door for easier access on my return. Our concierge offered to carry it upstairs, but I said I could manage. He said, "Well, at least let me press the button on the elevator." "Sure," I said. "Please press three." With my two hands full and my cane on my shoulder, I stepped into the elevator. (Maybe for next year's essay I'll write about cane technique.) The elevator door opened, and I stepped out and walked down to the end of the hall. Entering the apartment I immediately felt that something wasn't right. I walked forward into the living room and went to place the package on the table-but there was no table! Carefully placing the carton on the floor I cautiously looked around. It took less than five seconds for me to realize that I was in the wrong apartment. Fleeing as quickly as possible with my bulky package seemed advisable. Heading toward the elevator I knew my first step was to figure out where I was. Looking at the outside marker I discovered that I was on the fourth floor. (Let's hear it for Braille signs!) I headed down one floor and made the welcome trek to the right apartment. It felt good to be home! I was gratified to know that no one saw me. I wanted to understand how this happened. Beginning with an examination of my own actions (or lack thereof), I realized that I did not pay attention to what was happening around me. The elevators in my building announce floors every time we stop. But I wasn't paying attention. And then I wondered why the concierge pressed four when I definitely said three. I learned from my reader that the address on my package was apartment 403. That was the number for my previous apartment. And now comes the rest of the story. Two days after this incident I prepared to leave my apartment where the last thing I did was reach for my white cane. It is always in the corner by my front door. I know this because the first thing I do when returning home is to place it there. My corner should have two canes in it because of my extra cane in case one breaks. Imagine my surprise when I found only one cane! After time spent looking around my apartment, I sat down to think. Where was it? The only possible conclusion was that the missing cane was in Apartment 401. I must have automatically put the cane in the corner upon entering the apartment and, because my hands were full and I was in a hurry, I left it behind. With much dread I walked upstairs one flight and approached 401. Standing outside the door I hoped to hear nothing and that I might find an unlocked door. No such luck. Timidly, I knocked and listened as someone approached. "May I help you, a gentleman asked?" Sheepishly, I said that I had a question, and then I would explain. "Would you look behind your door and tell me if you see a white cane that looks like this one?" In an awed tone he said, "Why, yes there is!" I began the explanation by saying, "Just like you I left my door open. But I inadvertently came to the wrong floor carrying a large package. When I exited your apartment, I left my white cane behind." The man exploded with laughter, and I joined in. There must be a moral to this story; I will leave you to figure it out. I just thought it was funny. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Harry Gawith, March 6, 1944 - December 26, 2019] Harry Gawith, Hardworking Sighted Federationist by Ramona Walhof >From the Editor: Ramona Walhof is well-known to readers because of her numerous articles here and the books and other literature she has written on the subject of blindness and the National Federation of the Blind. Here she pays tribute to a longtime Federationist who served at all levels of the Federation and was as invested as any blind person in our work. Here is what she says: Harry Gawith grew up on a ranch in eastern Oregon. After graduating from college, serving more than three years in the US army, and teaching school, he moved to Idaho to take a job as shop instructor at the Idaho Commission for the Blind in 1973. Immediately, he joined the National Federation of the Blind. Only a month after moving to Idaho, Harry rode a chartered bus across the country to New York City for the NFB convention and participated in the New York demonstration against NAC [then called the National Accreditation Council Serving the Blind and Visually Handicapped]. He was elected treasurer of the National Federation of the Blind of Idaho in 1977 and was re-elected every two years until 2019. In the commission shop where he taught, Harry was required to wear a blindfold when operating all the equipment. He was a good teacher, patient and creative. Harry drove vans to take students on many field trips: camping, woodcutting, exploring training centers in other states, and more. In 1976, Jan Omvig and Harry Gawith were married. They worked together on many NFB projects. I first met Harry in 1982 when I was hired to direct the Idaho Commission for the Blind. There were many problems at the agency, especially a lack of funds. Part of the floor in the shop was made of wood and in very poor condition. There was concern that state officials might attempt to close the shop, so Harry proposed that he work with students to replace the wooden part of the shop floor with cement. I asked for a step- by-step plan, and Harry brought it quickly. First, all the equipment had to be moved. The entire wooden floor had to be removed and the supports underneath examined and reinforced. A frame for the new concrete floor was built; then a new concrete floor was poured and allowed to dry. We demanded that blind students must be involved in all these activities, and they were very eager to help. I was only the cheerleader. One of the students asked if she could call the local newspaper, and I encouraged her to do so. The process was completed in good time, equipment moved back into place, and everybody, (including Harry and I) learned from the experience. The young lady who called the press told me later that learning to use the jackhammer and being allowed to talk to the reporters was a turning point for her in her training. She was very angry about being blind and said so often, but this experience showed her that she could be productive and successful as a blind person, and she was. Harry and the students did other projects to improve the commission building. The sidewalk they poured on two sides of the building is still in good condition after more than thirty-five years of Idaho winters. The shop floor was so exciting because it was the first-time students had been part of a major project to improve the building. The Southwest Idaho Chapter of the NFBI operated a booth to sell cinnamon rolls at the Western Idaho Fair which ran for ten days each August. Harry chaired that cinnamon roll booth from the time it started until the time it was terminated, about thirty years. First it was operated from a tent on the grass; then we operated from a better booth which had to be constructed every year and torn down after the fair; then it was put on a trailer so it could be hauled in and hooked up quickly. Harry planned and led all these improvements. During the fair, he ordered frozen cinnamon rolls each day and oversaw the maintenance of the equipment and booth. Through the years thousands of dollars were raised for the Federation. Federation members, friends, and students gained valuable experience and confidence by baking, frosting, and selling these cinnamon rolls. At least one young blind man gained the confidence to go to work from his fair experience. Jan usually handled the scheduling of workers. Many stories can be told about building, painting, selling, and dealing with customers in conjunction with this cinnamon roll booth. While I was president of the NFBI, Harry as treasurer was reliable and cooperative. He kept accurate books through many changes in reporting to state and federal officials. Harry and Norm Gardner (president of the NFBI before me) learned about computers. He learned to operate a Braille embosser which was kept in the Gawith's basement. Our first embosser was fed paper through the bottom. We needed a table with a slot in the middle for the paper, so Harry built a metal cart on wheels for this purpose. When the Southwest Idaho chapter of the NFBI began to hold an annual bike-a-thon, Harry helped with the shopping, loading and unloading tables and chairs, bikes, cases of soda and water, and all the gear we used. We wondered how we would get along without him. But when the time came, Harry was able to turn these jobs over to others, and our current bike-a-thon chair, Al Schneider was able to find replacements-not just one, but several. Jan and Harry worked on many projects as a team. Most notable is our legislative banquet or luncheon. Invitations are designed and printed, then it is necessary to keep track of responses from legislators and collect ticket money from members. Together, the Gawiths did this for many years, through 2019 even though Harry's health was failing. At national conventions, Harry wanted to be busy. I don't remember when he started working with Diane McGeorge distributing door prizes, but he did it for at least three decades. He also worked in the NFB store in the exhibit room as a cashier for many years. Harry died December 26, 2019-too young at age 75-after a long illness. Knowing that 2019 might be Harry's last convention, NFBI president Dana Ard led the collection of personal notes and financial gifts, which she presented as a surprise to Harry at the banquet. He was very touched. It was the first and only time we heard him speak of his feelings. He made it clear that the NFB was an important part of his life and that the friends he made in the NFB were many and important. Few Federationists have contributed more over a longer period of time. We miss the booming voice that was Harry's and the wonderful worker he was. But most of all we miss our friend. ---------- Leave a Legacy For more than seventy-five years the National Federation of the Blind has worked to transform the dreams of hundreds of thousands of blind people into reality, and with your support we will continue to do so for decades to come. We sincerely hope you will plan to be a part of our enduring movement by adding the National Federation of the Blind as a partial beneficiary in your will. A gift to the National Federation of the Blind in your will is more than just a charitable, tax-deductible donation. It is a way to join in the work to help blind people live the lives they want that leaves a lasting imprint on the lives of thousands of blind children and adults. With your help, the NFB will continue to: . Give blind children the gift of literacy through Braille; . Promote the independent travel of the blind by providing free, long white canes to blind people in need; . Develop dynamic educational projects and programs that show blind youth that science and math are within their reach; . Deliver hundreds of accessible newspapers and magazines to provide blind people the essential information necessary to be actively involved in their communities; . Offer aids and appliances that help seniors losing vision maintain their independence; and . Fund scholarship programs so that blind people can achieve their dreams. Plan to Leave a Legacy Creating a will gives you the final say in what happens to your possessions and is the only way to be sure that your remaining assets are distributed according to your passions and beliefs. Many people fear creating a will or believe it's not necessary until they are much older. Others think that it's expensive and confusing. However, it is one of the most important things you will do, and with new online legal programs it is easier and cheaper than ever before. If you do decide to create or revise your will, consider the National Federation of the Blind as a partial beneficiary. Visit www.nfb.org/planned-giving or call 410-659-9314, extension 2422, for more information. Together with love, hope, determination, and your support, we will continue to transform dreams into reality. Invest in Opportunity The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back. A donation to the National Federation of the Blind allows you to invest in a movement that removes the fear from blindness. Your investment is your vote of confidence in the value and capacity of blind people and reflects the high expectations we have for all blind Americans, combating the low expectations that create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. In 2019 the NFB: . Distributed over seven thousand canes to blind people across the United States, empowering them to travel safely and independently throughout their communities. . Hosted forty-eight NFB BELL Academy programs, which served more than three hundred and fifty blind students throughout the United States. . Provided over one hundred thousand dollars in scholarships to blind students, making a postsecondary education affordable and attainable. . Delivered audio newspaper and magazine services to 118,900 subscribers, providing free access to over four hundred local, national, and international publications. . In the third year of the program, over three hundred fifty Braille- writing slates and styluses were given free of charge to blind users. Just imagine what we'll do next year, and, with your help, what can be accomplished for years to come. Below are just a few of the many diverse, tax-deductible ways you can lend your support to the National Federation of the Blind. Vehicle Donation Program The NFB now accepts donated vehicles, including cars, trucks, boats, motorcycles, or recreational vehicles. Just call 855-659-9314 toll-free, and a representative can make arrangements to pick up your donation-it doesn't have to be working. We can also answer any questions you have. General Donation General donations help support the ongoing programs of the NFB and the work to help blind people live the lives they want. Donate online with a credit card or through the mail with check or money order. Visit www.nfb.org/make- gift for more information. Bequests Even if you can't afford a gift right now, including the National Federation of the Blind in your will enables you to contribute by expressing your commitment to the organization and promises support for future generations of blind people across the country. Visit www.nfb.org/planned-giving or call 410-659-9314, extension 2422, for more information. Pre-Authorized Contribution Through the Pre-Authorized Contribution (PAC) program, supporters sustain the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind by making recurring monthly donations by direct withdraw of funds from a checking account or a charge to a credit card. To enroll, visit www.nfb.org/make-gift, and complete the Pre-Authorized Contribution form, and return it to the address listed on the form. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Maura Loberg] My Time at NFB EQ 2019 by Maura Loberg >From the Editor: Maura Loberg is the president of the Nebraska Association of Blind Students. She is currently a student at the Colorado Center for the Blind and is very close to graduation. She will begin class in the fall at Nebraska Wesleyan University, where she will be pursuing a double major in psychology and English. Lately, she has been spending her unprecedented free time baking, going on walks, listening to music and, what most benefits us, writing. Here is a speech she did in October at the NFB of Nebraska State Convention discussing her trip to and participation in the National Federation of the Blind Engineering Quotient (NFB EQ) program: The revolving door opens, and the sounds of airport traffic fill my ears. Dozens of people line up for the noisy TSA machines, while others amble to the food court to grab their morning coffee. The rush makes my aunt visibly nervous as we walk toward the empty ticket counter. Before I have time to load my behemoth of a suitcase onto the conveyor belt, I hear familiar voices saying my name. I say a brief goodbye to my aunt before I head over toward the comforting voices of another Nebraska friend's family. As we all check in together, we run across the other two friends heading to the program; by the time we head to the gate, we resemble a small tribe. Even with such great company, however, I still don't expect much from the program. For context, I had been to many similar science programs before (for both blind and sighted youth), and many of them were full of cranky teenagers and scatterbrained instructors who rushed through experiments like wildfire. I assumed NFB EQ would be quite similar, but, luckily, I was mistaken. My three friends and I flew into BWI after a long layover, and we were met with anticipation and excitement from the NFB staff right when we landed at the gate. As soon as we got to the Jernigan Institute, I immediately heard familiar voices, music, and the unmistakable swipe of canes. I ran into several old friends in the Harbor Room, and, after several pieces of pizza and an unexpected conversation with an engineering professor, my hopes for the week were lifted. NFB EQ was about re-imagining blindness in STEM fields, taking on the unknown, and, well, building stuff. And build stuff, we did. The first full day of NFB EQ we were told to build a rough model of the structure we were hoping to showcase at the end of the week. We were given no major rules; we needed to put our creative juices to work. Needless to say, I had a lot of fun throwing around ideas (and pieces of cardboard), for it set the tone for the days ahead. Tuesday brought several tutorials on drawing with different dimensional views, cutting with handsaws, and using different measuring and organizational techniques. What amazed me was that there truly were no tasks we couldn't do: raised-line drawings were completed with sensational rubber blackboards, Braille rulers and straight-edges were readily at hand, and handsaws were distributed without fear for the students' safety. With these alternative techniques and tools, we were asked to start mapping out our structures, knowing that any kind of model we wanted to build for the exhibition was truly in our grasp. Wednesday saw us take a tour of a post and beam facility, where we got up close and personal with a wooden bridge and climbed on stepladders into the rafters of an adjacent building constructed nearly a century ago. This gave us an idea of how to best support our structures. We also learned more than we thought was possible about load and calculation methods that engineers use in their everyday occupations. We were asked to put together towers in teams and had to see which ones would hold the most weight based on these calculations. Thursday was a chaotic mess of events happening at once. We had to bear down and get our projects ready for the exhibition on Friday. The NFB Jernigan Institute's Members Hall was bustling with noise. The scratch of pens drawing detailed plans from the top, front, and right views; the cutting and hot-gluing of balsam wood in extremely specific measurements; and frantic whispers of the mathematical formulas behind our individual structure, which we had to write out and explain to the audience. I spent a lot of time that day cutting out the pieces of my design, which was called a Netflix room and was shaped like a hexagon. Friday's exhibition got me in contact with some of the most important members of the NFB, and all the presentations were fascinating. I saw everything from simple square and rectangular creations to a nineteen-gon, which is exactly what it sounds like. It showed me just how creative and innovative we can be with the right tools and alternative techniques. Luckily for us, we weren't just using our newfound vigor and overly caffeinated brains for all work and no play during the week. The staff of NFB EQ was extremely energetic and motivated, and they pushed us to explore the wonders of Baltimore and the potential we had to travel in diverse places. We went swimming in the lake, explored several areas downtown, and had a taco picnic at a nearby park, where we were free to go wherever we wanted. I ended up on the swings for three hours that night (I'm a child at heart.) We also played extreme games of accessible UNO and Apples to Apples while socializing with friends in the iconic Harbor Room. These fun experiences reminded me that, above the blindness and additional challenges, we were all just teenagers who wanted to have fun with our friends, and NFB EQ made that happen. After all was said and done, I found myself flying to Omaha with a revitalized belief that I could truly achieve my dreams and do anything I set my mind to. I'd like to thank the Nebraska affiliate for its continuous support, as well as the entire National Federation of the Blind. I can no longer participate in these specialized STEM events now that I have graduated from high school, but I will keep the memories I made for years to come. The organization has done a truly remarkable job showing me I can live the life I want and that my blindness is not the characteristic that solely defines me or my future. I hope that these essential programs continue taking place. Even though I will not be pursuing a career in science, technology, engineering, or math, I hope that those who go down that career path can use these experiences to launch into new and exciting opportunities for themselves. So thank you, Federation family, for constantly inspiring me to think better, dream bigger, and live the life I want. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Tracy Soforenko] Convention Memory Minute Contest: Share Your First Convention Experience by Tracy Soforenko >From the Editor: Tracy Soforenko is the chairman of our Kenneth Jernigan Fund. He brings us news about an interesting contest that will help us get to know one another a little better and promote another fine program conducted in memory of an outstanding leader and former president of the National Federation of the Blind. Here is what Tracy says: In 2005, I attended my first convention where I learned the Texas Two- Step while wearing learning shades...well, no, I wore a pair of black socks over my eyes. That experience taught me that I could do anything. For many, our very first convention becomes a life-changing experience. During the May 2020 Presidential Release, President Mark Riccobono shared memories from his first convention: dodging the persistent Buna Dahal who wanted him to buy a candy bar, exploring Disneyland with students from the Louisiana Center for the Blind, and putting together all the pieces of Federation philosophy at the end of the convention. As a means of encouraging others to register for this year's convention, we ask that you share a video or audio message about a special memory of your first convention in less than sixty seconds. By tagging your social media post with #NFB20 or submitting the entry directly to us by email or phone, you will be entered to win a cash prize and have your story shared at this year's convention. Contest Rules We are seeking entries that are heartwarming, funny, and creative. All entries must: . be less than one minute! . be received by July 1, 2020 . include the words "National Federation of the Blind" in full . include your name in spoken form . nominate three other people by name to participate . have the submitter's name preregistered for convention How to Submit Contest submissions can be made in several ways: . On Social Media - Post your video using #NFB20 on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or TikTok. In the same post, tag three others to participate, too. . By Email - If you do not have social media, record a video, voice memo, or audio file with your phone or computer, and email the file to NFB20 at nfb.org. . By Phone - We've made participating as easy as leaving us a voicemail! Simply call the National Center at 410-659-9314, dial extension 2020, and leave a one-minute voicemail of your experience. Be sure to nominate three friends as part of your message, then call them to share the news after you hang up. Note: Submissions by phone or email may be used on National Federation of the Blind social media. Prizes and Award Announcement The Kenneth Jernigan Convention Scholarship Fund Committee will review submissions and award the top three winners based on the creativity and impact of their stories. Submissions will be played during convention, and winners will be announced at the banquet. . First Place Winner: $200 . Second Place Winner: $150 . Third Place Winner: $100 Be sure to register for national convention to get the latest updates and agenda. You can register and learn more at nfb.org/convention. ---------- The Give 20 Campaign by Tracy Soforenko >From the Editor: Tracy is the Kenneth Jernigan Committee chairperson, and he writes with this announcement about the 2020 activities of the Jernigan Fund: Each year, thousands of Federation members purchase raffle tickets to support the Kenneth Jernigan Fund. This fund provides financial assistance to support Federation members in attending their first convention of the National Federation of the Blind. Many of us received support to attend our first convention, and that first convention experience was life changing. We need to pay it forward. In 2020, we still need your generosity to fund the great programs of the National Federation of the Blind. When you give twenty dollars or more between May 15 and July 18, you will be entered into the Kenneth Jernigan Convention Drawing to win the following: . round-trip transportation for two for the 2021 National Federation of the Blind Convention . hotel at the convention . registration and banquet for two . $1,000 in walking around cash Donations can be made online at www.nfb.org and selecting "donate." Donations can also be made by calling our donation telephone line at 410- 659-9314 and selecting option four to donate. You must specify the breakdown of your donation among the White Cane, Jernigan, and SUN funds in the notes field, and your donation will be counted for the drawing regardless of which fund you designate. The drawing is for individuals and is not intended for contributions by divisions, state affiliates, or chapters. The winner of the drawing will be announced on July 18 at the banquet. Help us share the Federation with others, and thank you for your generosity. ---------- Celebrating the 2020 Braille Readers are Leaders Winners On December 1, 2019, Braille readers across the United States began to log the pages they read for the 2019-2020 Braille Readers Are Leaders contest. Sponsored by the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults, the contest was created as a way to encourage Braille literacy. School-age participants entered in any of five categories: grades K-1, 2-3, 4-5, 6-8, and 9-12. This year's contest also included a category for adults who wished to hone their Braille reading skills. Altogether ninety- three contestants from twenty-two states took part in the 2020 competition. At the close of the seven-week reading period, contestants submitted their reading logs. Based on the number of pages read, three winners were declared in each category. First-place winners were awarded $25, second- place winners received $15, and third-place winners and honorable mentions were awarded $10. Every participant was sent a packet of Braille-related gifts. In addition to the regular competition, participants could be nominated to receive one of the Breaking Reading Limits Awards. These awards are given to readers who face special challenges in their effort to master Braille reading. Such challenges include, but are not limited to, being an English-language learner or having disabilities in addition to blindness. For many participants the contest was an inspiring challenge. "I just want to say thank you for this incredible opportunity," wrote the mother of a sixth-grader from New York. "My daughter is so hopeful, and she really is going to try to read as much as she can, which will benefit her greatly. This contest is at the perfect time, just when she needed a boost." The mother of a fifth-grade student from Illinois wrote, "Thank you again for the opportunity for us to have Braille in our lives. As the mom of a son who has low vision due to a progressive eye condition, I welcome any and all ways to encourage my son to read more Braille." One participant in the adult category was Caroline Karbowski of Ohio. A college student majoring in biology, Caroline has taught herself to read Braille tactilely. "The contest was a great way to practice," she wrote. "It was a lot of fun." The top reader in this year's contest was Aisha Safi of Chevy Chase, Maryland. Aisha, who is in fourth grade, read a whopping 7,798 Braille pages! The following is a list by category of the 2020 Braille Readers Are Leaders winners: Adult First Place: Susan Ford, Boise, ID Second place: Tara Chavez, Albuquerque, NM Third place: Terry Wilcox, Des Moines, IA Grades K-1 First place: Shaindel Eisenberg, Lakewood, NJ Second place: Eliya Farnsworth, Mesa, AZ Third place: Mason Bakken, Kuna, ID Grades 2-3 First place: Clara Scelsi, Pell City, AL Second place: Eleanor Mason, Wausau, WI Third place: Aaliyah Ochoa, Mesa, AZ Grades 4-5 First place: Aisha Safi, Chevy Chase, MD Second place: Jace Lyden, Belle Plaine, KS Third place: Zanyiah Bell, Bowie, MD Grades 6-8 First place: Refael Shuter, Richmond Hill, NY Second place: Mercy Rao, Columbia, MD Third place: Isaiah Rao, Columbia, MD Grades 9-12 First place: Ammar A. Tarin, Gilbert, AZ Second place: Holly Connor, Clayton, MO Third place: Samuel Thurston, Chesapeake, VA Honorable mention: Kaitlyn Overshiner, Dain Bridge, IN Honorable mention: Airel Schlosser, Indianapolis, IN Breaking Reading Limits Awards Saredo Goumaneh, grade 9, St. Cloud, MN Jace Lyden, grade 5, Belle Plaine, KS Paul Wales, grade 9, Silver Spring, MD Congratulations to all of the 2020 Braille Readers Are Leaders winners! ---------- Recipes Recipes this month were contributed by staff of the Colorado Center for the Blind, BLIND Inc., and the Louisiana Center for the Blind. These recipes were chosen by the home management staff from each center. We understand that sometimes cooking for a crowd can be somewhat expensive. However, here we have a few recipes that you can make for the cost of a single NFB banquet ticket plus registration. These are perfect for any gathering or banquet night NFB party. It's time to choose your own banquet adventure! Choose a salad, an entr?e, a side, and a dessert to create your own NFB banquet at home. SALADS Broccoli Salad by the Louisiana Center for the Blind staff Ingredients: For the salad: 2 bunches broccoli florets, washed and cut into small pieces 10 strips crisp bacon, crumbled 1/2 cup onions, diced 2/3 cup raisins 1/2 cup sunflower seeds For the dressing: 1 cup Miracle Whip 1/3 cup sugar 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar Method: Mix together in a large bowl, two bunches broccoli florets, washed and cut into small pieces; ten strips crumbled crisp bacon; 1/2 cup diced onions; 2/3 cup raisins; and 1/2 cup sunflower seeds. In a separate bowl, mix together 1 cup Miracle Whip, 1/3 cup sugar, and two tablespoons balsamic vinegar to make dressing. Add as much dressing to salad as desired and lightly toss. Caprese Salad by the BLIND, Inc. kitchen The first item in any proper NFB banquet is the salad. Give the classic banquet salad an upgrade with this summer classic, Italian caprese. Here we used cherry tomatoes, but feel free to use whatever tomatoes you like. Buying in-season produce is often a good way to stretch those dollars. This recipe serves eight to ten. Ingredients: 3 containers cherry tomatoes washed and cut in half (roughly 3 pounds) 2 pounds regular low moisture or fresh mozzarella (extra points if you make your own) About 40 basil leaves (sliced thinly) Salt and pepper to taste Olive oil and balsamic vinegar (optional) Method: Wash and cut your cherry tomatoes in half. If using a larger tomato variety, cut into bite-sized pieces. Cut your low-moisture mozzarella into half-inch cubes. To make sure things are cut evenly, keep a reference piece next to you. Also, sticking the cheese in the freezer for ten minutes before cutting will firm up the cheese, making it easier to slice. If using fresh mozzarella, just tear it up into bite-sized pieces using your hands. Add to a large salad bowl with the tomatoes. Thinly slice your basil leaves. An easy way to do this is to pile a few leaves on top of each other and use a very sharp knife. Sprinkle the basil over the salad. Toss and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with olive oil and balsamic vinegar at the table, if using. Chips and Salsa by the Colorado Center for the Blind We love this recipe as a fun and delicious alternative to a salad. It is best enjoyed with friends! Ingredients: 4 cloves garlic 1 jalape?o, seeded 1/2 onion 4 roma tomatoes, halved and seeded Small handful cilantro Splash lime juice Heaping 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 bag corn tortilla chips Method: In a food processor mince garlic, then add jalape?o to ensure it's well minced. Add cilantro, then onion, and pulse in order to keep chunky. Last, add tomatoes, lime, and salt; pulse until the desired consistency. Serve with chips. Quick tip: This recipe is even more delicious if you take the time to roast the tomatoes and peppers before blending. ENTR?ES Tacos Carne Asada by the Colorado Center for the Blind This recipe was chosen by the staff at the Colorado Center for the Blind. We love to share the kinds of recipes we might prepare with our students. Grilling on the patio is one of our favorite things to do in the summer; it's a great way to bring everyone together. After inviting friends over one day and preparing this recipe, one of our instructors loved it so much he knew it had to be included as a banquet option. It's a great recipe to share with your friends and enjoy while spending time outside in the summer. Ingredients: For the tacos: 2 pounds flank or skirt steak, trimmed of excess fat Olive oil, for coating the grill Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 16 (7-inch) corn tortillas Shredded romaine or iceberg lettuce, for serving Chopped white onion, for serving Shredded Jack cheese, for serving 2 limes, cut in wedges for serving Mojo: (marinade) 4 garlic cloves, minced 1 jalape?o, minced 1 large handful fresh cilantro leaves, finely chopped Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 limes, juiced 1 orange, juiced 2 tablespoons white vinegar 1/2 cup olive oil Pico de Gallo: 4 vine-ripe tomatoes, chopped 1/2 medium red onion, chopped 2 green onions, white and green parts, sliced 1 serrano chile, minced 1 handful fresh cilantro leaves, chopped 3 garlic cloves, minced 1 lime, juiced 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1 teaspoon kosher salt Method: For the mojo: In a mortar and pestle or bowl, mash together the garlic, jalape?o, cilantro, salt, and pepper to make a paste. Put the paste in a glass jar or plastic container. Add the lime juice, orange juice, vinegar, and oil. Shake it up really well to combine. Use as a marinade for chicken or beef or as a table condiment. Yield: approximately 1-1/4 cups. For the Tacos: Lay the flank steak in a large baking dish and pour the mojo over it. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour or up to eight hours, so the flavors can sink into the meat. Don't marinate the steak for more than eight hours though, or the fibers break down too much, and the meat gets mushy. Preheat an outdoor grill or a ridged grill pan over medium-high flame (you can also use a broiler). Brush the grates with a little oil to prevent the meat from sticking. Pull the steak out of the mojo marinade and season the steak on both sides with salt and pepper. Grill (or broil) the steak for seven to ten minutes per side, turning once, until medium-rare. Remove the steak to a cutting board and let it rest for five minutes to allow the juices to settle. Thinly slice the steak across the grain on a diagonal. Warm the tortillas for thirty seconds on each side in a dry skillet or on the grill, until toasty and pliable. To make the tacos, stack up two of the warm tortillas, lay about four ounces of beef down the center, and sprinkle with some lettuce, onion, and cheese. Top each taco with a spoonful of the pico de gallo salsa and garnish with lime wedges. Repeat with the remaining tortillas. For the Pico de Gallo: In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients together. Toss thoroughly. Let it sit for fifteen minutes to allow the flavors to marry. Yield: 2 cups. Note: To make this dish vegetarian, substitute the carne asada with portobello mushrooms and proceed with the recipe as listed above. Pollo a la Plancha (Chicken on the Griddle) by the BLIND Inc. staff We cannot have an NFB banquet without chicken. We drew inspiration from the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico, the home state of BLIND Inc.'s home management instructor. In this recipe, we marinade chicken cutlets in a flavorful marinade full of citrus and Caribbean seasonings. However, if you want to use boneless chicken thighs, pork chops, steak medallions, or large portabella mushrooms for a vegan alternative, by all means do it. This recipe is easily adaptable. The best part is that this recipe can easily be scaled up or down, and it is super easy to make. You don't even need a griddle. A heavy cast iron or stainless steel pan will do just fine. Feel free to serve this with some of our suggested side dishes: rice and beans, roasted sweet or regular potatoes, fried sweet plantains, or any side dish of your choosing. It serves eight to ten. Recipe adapted from Serious Eats[.com]. Ingredients: 8 medium cloves garlic, pealed 1/2 cup of freshly squeezed orange juice, from two large oranges (Sorry, carton orange juice will not do for this.) 1/2 cup of freshly squeezed lime juice, from about four limes The zest of one of the oranges and two of the limes 1 teaspoon of cumin (extra points if it is freshly ground) 1 teaspoon of dried oregano 3 large onions cut into thick slices 20 chicken cutlets (about 4 ounces each) or 10 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut in half and pounded thinly with a meat mallet 1 teaspoon of ground black pepper Salt to taste Oil for cooking Method: For the marinade: Using a blender or food processor, pur?e garlic, orange juice, lime juice, zest, cumin, oregano, black pepper, and two teaspoons kosher salt. If you don't have a blender or food processor, mince your garlic and add to a large bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl, and mix to combine. Let marinade sit in the fridge for one hour to let the flavors meld. After an hour, remove from the fridge, and proceed with the recipe. Put chicken in a gallon-size plastic storage bag, or a glass baking dish. Pour the marinade over the chicken, and let sit for thirty minutes. Take the chicken out of the marinade and pat dry. In a large skillet or griddle placed on medium high-cooking in batches to avoid crowding the pan-cook chicken on each side for three to five minutes or until it is cooked through and golden brown. If cooking in batches, put cooked chicken in a very low oven to keep warm. In the same pan you cooked the chicken, cook onion slices over medium heat for seven to ten minutes or until onions have softened and sweetened a little bit. Add a splash of water if onions start to burn. On each plate, place two cutlets and top with onions. Serve with your side dish of choice. Buttermilk-Marinated Roast Chicken by an LCB Instructor This recipe comes from the book Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat. I wanted to include this recipe not only because roasted chicken is delicious, but also as a tribute to Samin's book, which has been enormously influential for me personally as a home cook and home management teacher. In her book, she does an incredible job breaking down the elements involved in good cooking, making great food seem both more beautiful and more accessible. I strongly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in improving his/her skills in the kitchen, both beginner and expert alike. Regarding this recipe, Samin writes: "The buttermilk and salt work like a brine, tenderizing the meat on multiple levels: the water it contains increases moisture, and the salt and acid it contains disables proteins, preventing them from squeezing liquid from the meat as the bird cooks. As an added bonus, the sugars in the buttermilk will caramelize, contributing to an exquisitely browned skin." Ingredients: One whole chicken (3-1/ 2 to 4 pounds) Salt 2 cups buttermilk Method: The day before you want to cook the chicken, remove the wingtips by cutting through the first wing joint with poultry shears or a sharp knife. Reserve for stock. Season the chicken generously with salt and let it sit for thirty minutes. Stir two tablespoons of kosher salt or four teaspoons fine sea salt into the buttermilk to dissolve. Place the chicken in a gallon-sized re-sealable plastic bag and pour in the buttermilk. If the chicken won't fit in a gallon-sized bag, double up two plastic produce bags to prevent leakage, and tie the bag with a piece of twine. Seal it, squish the buttermilk all around the chicken, place on a rimmed plate, and refrigerate. If you're so inclined, over the next twenty-four hours you can turn the bag so every part of the chicken gets marinated, but that's not essential. Pull the chicken from the fridge an hour before you plan to cook it. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit, with a rack set in the center position. Remove the chicken from the plastic bag and scrape off as much buttermilk as you can without being obsessive. Tightly tie together the legs of the chicken with a piece of butcher's twine. Place the chicken in a ten-inch cast iron skillet or shallow roasting pan. Slide the pan all the way to the back of the oven on the center rack. Rotate the pan so that the legs are pointing toward the rear left corner and the breast is pointing toward the center of the oven (the back corners tend to be the hottest spots in the oven, so this orientation protects the breast from overcooking before the legs are done). Pretty quickly you should hear the chicken sizzling. After about twenty minutes, when the chicken starts to brown, reduce the heat to 400 degrees and continue roasting for ten minutes and then move the pan so the legs are facing the back right corner of the oven. Continue cooking for another thirty minutes or so, until the chicken is brown all over and the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. When the chicken is done, remove it to a platter and let it rest for ten minutes before carving and serving. Serves four. SIDES Gluten-Free Panzanella Salad This recipe was chosen by the Louisiana Center for the Blind. Here is what one of its instructors had to say: I included this recipe because I think it goes very well with the roasted chicken entr?e. But also, if the grocery store shelves are any indication, many of us are baking homemade bread at home, and Panzanella is a great way to use up day-old leftover bread. Panzanella is a great side dish because it plays the role of starch, salad, and sauce. Though I am not always a huge fan of gluten-free bread on its own, it actually works very well in this recipe if you or your guests need gluten- free items. However, if you can't get enough gluten, this recipe is equally delicious with your typical, full-gluteny French bread. Ingredients: 3 tablespoons good olive oil 1 loaf gluten-free French bread, cut into 1-inch cubes (6 cups) 1 teaspoon kosher salt 2 large ripe tomatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes 1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and sliced 1/2-inch thick 1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes 1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes 1/2 red onion, cut in 1/2 and thinly sliced 20 large basil leaves, coarsely chopped 3 tablespoons capers, drained For the vinaigrette: 1 teaspoon finely minced garlic 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard 3 tablespoons Champagne vinegar 1/2 cup good olive oil 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Method: Heat the oil in a large saut? pan. Add the bread and salt; cook over low to medium heat, tossing frequently, for ten minutes or until nicely browned. Add more oil as needed. For the vinaigrette, whisk all the ingredients together until well blended. In a large bowl, mix the tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper, yellow pepper, red onion, basil, and capers. Add the bread cubes and toss with the vinaigrette. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Serve, or allow the salad to sit for about half an hour for the flavors to blend. Yield: 12 servings Mexican Street Corn Salad by the Colorado Center for the Blind Here's what one of our instructors had to say about this recipe: I love this recipe as a side dish for Mexican meals as it is very different from the traditional sides you usually get. It is a twist on a classic Mexican snack, Elote, which is commonly sold on the streets and at festivals in Mexico. It is creamy, spicy, and full of flavor. Ingredients: 4 cups of corn kernels (about 5 ears) 1 tablespoon olive oil 1/2 red bell pepper, diced 1/2 red onion, diced 1/2 cup chopped cilantro 1 jalape?o, minced 1 avocado, chopped 4 tablespoons lime juice (about 2 limes) 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons sour cream 3 tablespoons mayonnaise 1/2 cup crumbled cotija or parmesan cheese Method: Heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the corn and stir it around for about three to five minutes or until it starts to char, which is the reason for the high heat. Transfer the corn to a large bowl and allow to cool for a few minutes. Add remaining ingredients to the corn and mix well. Adjust lime juice and salt as necessary. Rice Pilaf by the BLIND, Inc. kitchen This recipe was chosen by the instructors at BLIND, Inc. While you could easily serve our main dish with any side dish of your choice, this rice pilaf makes for a delicious option, and it tastes like it was hard to make. Ingredients: 2-1/2 cups long grain white rice 2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil 1/2 cup chopped onion (roughly 1 medium onion) 1/2 cup chopped celery (optional) 1 bay leaf 4 cups of warmed unsalted or low sodium stock (chicken or vegetable); check rice package instructions for exact quantity. To check the package, you can use something like KNFB Reader or Seeing AI. Salt and ground pepper to taste 1/8 teaspoon cayenne (optional) 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley (about half a bunch) Method: Heat stock on the stovetop using a saucepan or in the microwave using a heatproof bowl. While the stock is heating, heat a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and coat the bottom of the pan. When the oil is hot, add the uncooked rice and brown the rice, stirring occasionally, for a couple of minutes. You know the rice is brown when it smells a little bit like popcorn. When the rice has browned, add the onions, celery (if using), and cook a few minutes longer until the onions begin to soften. Add warmed stock, salt, pepper, cayenne (if using), and the single bay leaf. Cover tightly with a lid and bring to a boil. Once liquid starts to boil, bring the heat down to your stove's lowest setting and simmer for twenty to twenty-five minutes, or the time suggested on the rice package. For the love of rice, do not remove the lid. Once time has elapsed, turn off the heat and leave on top of the stove, covered, for an additional ten minutes. Take off the lid, fluff using a fork and stir in parsley. At this point you can add additional things such as lime or orange zest, golden raisins, green peas, chopped nuts, or anything else that strikes your fancy. DESSERTS Texas Sheet Cake by BLIND, Inc. staff While we all wish we were in Texas, our current situation makes our usual family reunion a bit difficult. Instead, we decided to bring a cake the size of Texas into your kitchen. Imagine having this giant cake baked in a cookie sheet as the centerpiece of your home banquet table. If you don't have a cookie sheet, you could use a regular casserole dish, but the cake might take a few extra minutes to finish cooking. This cake is sure to impress your guests. Just make sure that President Riccobono gets a slice before the banquet speech! Recipe adapted from All Recipes[.com]. Ingredients: For the cake: 2 cups all-purpose flour 2 cups white sugar 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional) 1/2 cup sour cream 2 eggs 1 cup butter 1 cup water 5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder For the icing: 6 tablespoons milk 5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder 1/2 cup butter 4 cups powdered sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional) Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a cookie sheet (also known as a half sheet pan). Alternatively, grease a nine-by-thirteen casserole dish. Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Beat in the sour cream and eggs into the flour mixture. Set aside. Melt the butter on low in a saucepan, add the water, and five tablespoons cocoa. Bring mixture to a boil, then remove from heat. Allow to cool slightly for about five minutes. Mix chocolate mixture into the flour-egg mixture until blended. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in the preheated oven for fifteen to twenty minutes, or until a toothpick or a butter knife inserted into the center comes out clean. For the icing: In a large saucepan, combine the milk, five tablespoons cocoa and 1/2 cup butter. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat. Stir in the confectioner's sugar and vanilla, then fold in the nuts, mixing until blended. Spread frosting over warm cake. Let entire cake cool for fifteen to twenty minutes before slicing. Enjoy by itself, or with some homemade banquet coffee. Strawberry Panna Cotta by LCB Instructors Part of the fun of a great dinner party is the alchemy of taking a handful of basic ingredients, using a few simple techniques and flourishes, and turning it into something that seems special and fancy, but is really pretty easy. Panna Cotta is one of these types of recipes. It's delicious, creamy, and delicate, relatively easy to make, and requires just a couple ingredients. It is also naturally gluten-free and can be made with little or no added sugar if preferred. And while ramekins can help present this dessert in a way that seems fancier, they are not required. You can serve this in any small bowl or glass, as long as you do not unmold the panna cotta before serving. Ingredients: 1 pound fresh strawberries 1/2 cup whole milk 1-1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin powder (1 envelope) 1/8 teaspoon salt 1/3 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1-1/2 cups heavy cream Method: Pur?e the strawberries until very smooth. Push the pur?e through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds and set aside. Place six, four-ounce ramekins on a baking sheet and set aside. Add the milk to a medium saucepan. Sprinkle the gelatin evenly over the surface and let stand for ten minutes. Add the salt, sugar, and pur?ed strawberries to the gelatin mixture. Heat over high heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture reaches 135 degrees or until just beginning to steam. This should take about two minutes. While stirring constantly, add in the vanilla and heavy cream. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl set over ice. Stir frequently until the mixture cools to 50 degrees, about ten minutes. Strain the mixture into a large measuring cup or pitcher and distribute evenly among the ramekins. Cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap, making sure not to disturb the surface of the cream. Refrigerate for at least four hours. Unmold from ramekins and serve immediately. Note 1: To easily unmold panna cotta, pour one cup of boiling water into a small bowl. Dip the ramekin into the water for three seconds. Run a knife around the edges of the ramekin and invert onto serving plates. Note 2: Panna cotta can also be served without unmolding. Make ahead tip: Panna cotta will keep for up to three days covered with plastic wrap and stored in the refrigerator. Yield: 6 Servings Mexican Chocolate Cake This recipe was chosen by the staff at the Colorado Center for the Blind. It is great for sharing with friends and family and would make the perfect ending to your banquet. Ingredients: For the cake: 3/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips 1/2 cup walnuts 2-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon 3 eggs 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup light brown sugar 2 tablespoons butter 1 cup buttermilk 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 cups sifted flour 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt For the frosting: 1 6-ounce package semi-sweet chocolate chips 1 cup sour cream (8 ounces) 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon Method: Grease a ten-inch tube pan. In a blender, grate the chocolate chips and walnuts. In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Add sugar, brown sugar, and butter; beat well. Fold in the chocolate mixture and add cinnamon, buttermilk, and vanilla. Gently fold in flour, baking powder, soda, and salt until no dry ingredients are visible. Pour in to prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees for forty-five to sixty minutes. Cool in pan for five minutes. Turn out of the pan to cool completely. Split horizontally into three layers. Spread with chocolate frosting. For the frosting: Melt chocolate chips. If melting on the stove, pour a few inches of water into a pot and fit a heat-proof bowl over the pot. Heat the water to a simmer, and add the chocolate to the bowl, stirring gently to melt. If melting in the microwave add the chocolate to a microwave safe bowl. Heat on high for thirty seconds and stir. Repeat in ten- to fifteen-second increments until the chocolate is melted. Stir sour cream and cinnamon into the chocolate. Spread on cake. 12-14 Servings. [PHOTO CAPTION: Cammie Schuttler holds her daughter, Sophia] Nine Nonvisual Cooking Techniques You Can Use in the Kitchen by Cammie Schuttler, Home Management Instructor, LCB I am delighted to be a part of the team to bring the 2020 NFB Banquet into your home. Being a part of the NFB did not let me settle in life. The NFB showed me I could be more, I could do more, and I needed to push myself. Receiving blindness skills training at LCB gave me the confidence and the skills I needed to be able to accomplish any goal. Finally, teaching at LCB continuously challenges me to grow and be all that I can be. This is why I wanted to share some cooking techniques I learned during my time in training and since then. So this year we can all be the chefs for banquet and not let blindness hold us back. The following are nine nonvisual cooking techniques that you can utilize with the recipes we have provided. 1. You can center a skillet or pot on any stovetop by using the heat the stove gives off, once you have placed your pot on the burner you want to use and turn the burner on. Place your hand above the pot. If your pot is centered on the burner, the heat will be even across the burner. You will not feel like it is hotter on the right side of the pot than the left for example. If you feel there is more heat coming from one side of the pot, with your free hand move the pot a little at a time toward the area that feels hotter, until the heat feels even over the whole burner. 2. You can locate the handle of a skillet or pot on a hot stove by using a cooking utensil like a spoon to locate the outside of your pot. Hold the spoon vertical to keep your hand away from the heat of the stove, and move the spoon around the rim of the pot until it hits the handle. 3. When a pot comes to a boil on the stove, you will be able to hear the liquid rapidly bubbling or when touching the handle feel the pot vibrating. 4. Raw meat is smooth, squishy, and shapeable. Cooked meat feels rough, firm, and will retain its shape when pressed on. You can identify when meat is fully cooked by checking the texture of the meat. Touch the outside of the meat, looking at the firmness and roughness. If you press down on the meat, pressure will have to be applied to press into the meat, the meat will bounce back, and hold its final shape. If you poke into the meat with a fork or toothpick the meat will be tough, force will be required to poke through the center of the meat, and the fork or toothpick will not smoothly pull out of the meat. These texture differences from when the meat was raw tell you the meat is fully cooked. 5. When mixing dry and wet ingredients together you can nonvisually tell when the ingredients are mixed and all dry ingredients have dissolved by sound and texture. When you first begin mixing dry and wet ingredients together, the small grains of dry ingredients rub up against the bowl and make a unique sound. As the grains dissolve this sound will disappear. When you start mixing dry and wet ingredients together your spoon is light and easy to move around but does not move in one smooth motion. When your ingredients are mixed, the spoon typically requires some force to move around the bowl but can move in one continuous motion. You will also not notice any grains in the mixture if you feel it. 6. To space food out on a cooking sheet evenly before baking you can use two or three fingers. For example, when placing cookie dough on a cookie sheet with your free hand lying flat, place three fingers on the top corner of the cookie sheet. I am right-handed, so I would start in the top left-hand corner. Place a cookie beside your fingers moving right. Move to the opposite side of the cookie and place three more fingers. Do this until you run out of space moving right. Next, start a new row. Find the first cookie you put on the cookie sheet. Underneath that cookie put three fingers, and then lay down another cookie. 7. No matter what method you use to cook vegetables, when vegetables are fully cooked, they are soft enough to easily poke a fork through them. 8. When flipping food in a skillet, there are nonvisual methods you can use to flip food. No matter what utensil you choose to flip with, you want to have as much control over the food you are flipping as possible. First, use your utensil to locate the food in the skillet, using constant contact on the surface of the skillet and moving the utensil around in a grid pattern. You want to get underneath the food and flip it over while keeping your utensil on the surface of the skillet. This will help prevent your food from being flipped outside the skillet. To check and see if you flipped the food over, you would need to touch the top of the item you just flipped. You can do this by locating the food again, as described above. Place the tip of the utensil on the top of the food. With your free hand, find your hand holding the utensil; with a light touch take a couple of fingers, follow the utensil you are cooking with down toward the skillet. Keep your wrist up at about a 90-degree angle. Using constant contact, move down the utensil until you reach the tip of the utensil and the top of your food. If you successfully flipped the food, there should be a difference in the texture of the food from when you put it in the skillet. 9. When trying to flip food over, if you have problems with the food moving around too much for you to get underneath it, you can use a fork in your free hand, and lightly set or poke the food with the fork on top to help keep it still. Once you have gotten underneath the food, remove the fork. [PHOTO CAPTION: Conrad Austen] Five Cues to Know if Your Food is Done by Conrad Austen, Home Management Instructor, LCB When I am working with a student who has limited experience cooking as a blind person, one of the major questions that comes up is how to know when your food is done. After all, so many of the indicators that are listed in recipes are visual. Think of the number of times you've seen written, "bake the cookies until golden brown," or "the edges of the pancakes should start to bubble," or "the steak should be slightly pink in the center." However, all these things can be determined using nonvisual cues. Though there are hundreds of nonvisual techniques that one can use in the kitchen, I would say that most of the cues regarding checking for doneness fall into one of five categories. These categories are touch, taste, timing, sound, and smell. Touch: For many of us who are blind, we have had the experience of being told to avoid the kitchen because of the fear that we might "touch." Namely, that we might touch something that is hot, or something that is sharp, or something that will make a mess. However, for the blind cook, the sense of touch is an incredibly powerful tool when it comes to gathering information in the kitchen, and we shouldn't be afraid to use it. Have you ever touched your food while it is still cooking in your skillet? If not, you might be surprised to realize that, while the pan itself is quite hot, a good amount of the time the food itself is actually not too hot to touch. For instance, if you are cooking scrambled eggs over medium-low heat, you can gently touch the top of the eggs to check how they are cooking. Or, when pan-frying a burger or chicken over medium heat, you can gently touch the top of the meat after flipping to see if you have gotten that ideal texture on the surface. You can also check the firmness to determine how much longer it will need to cook. There are certainly times you should not touch your food directly with your finger. For instance, anything liquid, oily, or uncooked batter (like pancakes before they've been flipped) will transfer a lot of heat and could burn you, even when cooking over medium or medium-low heat. However, in these cases, the sense of touch is still just as useful. You will simply want to use some sort of utensil (my favorite is a basic metal dinner fork) to touch your food instead of touching it directly with your hand. Think of this as your kitchen cane. Just as your cane will give you information about the location and texture of things without touching them directly, your kitchen cane (a utensil) will let you know where things are in your pan, as well as their texture and firmness. And just like with your cane, metal tends to transfer vibrations more easily, so a metal utensil will give you a better sense of touch, which will give you more information about what is going on with the food in your skillet. However, if you are using nonstick pans, you will want to avoid using metal utensils, as these can scratch or damage the nonstick coating. Taste: While this cue may seem obvious, I think it bears emphasis here. For many people the act of tasting your food only happens once-at the very end- when the food is "done" and already on the table. But when cooking, as long as it is safe (don't try to taste uncooked meat), it's very helpful to taste your ingredients and season as you go. Tasting is something you can and should do throughout the process of cooking, not just at the beginning or end. Taste, adjust salt and other seasonings, and taste again. Some flavors like bitterness or earthiness may have faded into the background, while others like brightness or savoriness will become more apparent. But it's important to remember that you may not want to declare your food "done" until you have tasted, adjusted, and tasted again. Timing: Timing is another cue that is equally helpful for both blind and sighted cooks. Though timing should almost never be relied on exclusively, it is important to have a rough estimate of how long something will take to cook before you get started. At the very least, it will give you a sense of whether things are going right or wrong. If your timer goes off, you check your food, and it seems to be done, then great job! If your timer goes off, you check your food, and it is not done yet, then you have a chance to figure out why there might be a discrepancy. Maybe your heat is too low, or maybe you added too many ingredients at once and it caused your temperature to drop. Either way, your solution is probably more time, or more heat, or both. However, it is important not to focus entirely on your timer and ignore other cues that might signal your food is cooking too quickly. If your cookies have only been in the oven for five minutes and you start to smell caramelization verging on burning, don't ignore what your senses are telling you. Open the oven, take the cookies out, and check on them to figure out what is going on. Ultimately, one big benefit of timers is that they let you stop worrying about something for a period, so you can make use of the downtime in a recipe to clean up or get something else done. Whether it's a pizza dough that needs to rise for thirty minutes, a soup that needs to simmer for forty-five minutes, or a meat that needs two to three minutes to properly sear before flipping, setting a timer frees you up from having to make yet another mental note, allowing you to work more efficiently and stay more present. Also, nowadays, many smart speakers like Alexa and Google Home allow you to set multiple timers, and to even name them so you don't get two different timers confused. You can even use Siri on your phone to set timers, though you may want to use the "Hey Siri" feature so that you don't have to touch your phone with messy hands. Sound: While many of us may just think of the sounds from a kitchen as background noise, if you pay close attention, there is a lot of valuable information that can be picked up from it. Sound can tell you a lot about the temperature of a pan or ingredient, the rate at which something is cooking, and the overall level of doneness. There is even a difference in sound between hot and cold water as you pour it into a glass, though this is probably more of a party trick than a cooking technique. As an example, we can look at cooking bacon on the stove. First, we want the pan to be nice and hot before anything goes into it. After turning the burner to medium and waiting a minute or two, you can run your hand under the sink and flick a few water droplets onto your pan. If they sizzle right away, you know your pan is preheated. Now, as you first place your bacon into the pan, you should hear a nice sharp sizzle. If there is no sizzle at all, your heat is too low. If it sizzles too violently, your heat is too high. As the bacon continues to cook, you will notice that the volume of the sizzle will start to go down, but the pitch of the sizzle will start to go up. When you flip the bacon after about a minute or two, you should notice a new, rejuvenated sizzle, but not as loud as when the first side hit the pan. This lets you know that the previously uncooked topside of the bacon is now on the bottom, and the bottom side is now the top. As you continue to cook the bacon, the volume of the sizzle will continue to go down and the pitch will continue to go up. This lets you know that both fat and moisture are being rendered out of your bacon. I prefer to take mine out of the pan while there is still some moderate sizzling. This gives me a strip of bacon with crispy edges but a somewhat chewy middle part. If you cook the bacon until there is very little or no sound, you will have very crispy, nearly burnt bacon. Smell: Smell is the last of the major cues for testing for doneness. While it would be hard to rely on smell alone, it can serve as a good signpost to let you know your cooking is on track. For instance, if you are baking cookies, a good indicator that they are nearly ready to come out of the oven is when the smell starts to perfume the whole kitchen. This tells you that the sugars in the dough are caramelizing, or "turning golden brown" as your recipe probably states. You can also smell meat as it browns, or oil as it heats up. One last note on using smell is that anytime you smell burning, you should always figure out where it is coming from. It might just be some crumbs that fell to the bottom of the oven, or it might be that your Alexa set a timer for fifty minutes instead of fifteen. Either way, you will want to get to the bottom of it and decide whether it is something to worry about or not. Conclusion: I've outlined five cues that, when combined, can give you a wealth of information about your cooking and whether it is done or not. But while these are good techniques for blind cooks, I would argue that they are equally important for sighted cooks as well. After all, they are all just different sources of information, and the more information you have the better informed your decisions will be. If a sighted cook were simply waiting for his/her food to turn a certain color, they could easily miss the fact that it smelled fully done five minutes ago, or that it is now as hard as a rock, or that there is no sizzle whatsoever. In conclusion, I would say that for anyone who wants to become a better cook, stay present- and pay attention to your food and all the cues it is giving you. ---------- Monitor Miniatures News from the Federation Family FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wet-Ink Signature Requirement Endangers Social Security Disability Applicants and Recipients During COVID-19, Lawsuit Says National Federation of the Blind and Others Ask Court to Require Acceptance of E-signatures Washington, DC (May 5, 2020): Timothy Cole is being treated for non- Hodgkin's lymphoma. His treatment leaves him immunocompromised and unable to work, and places him at additional risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. He needs to apply for disability benefits from the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the safest way to do so would be to fill out the application online at his home in Jacksonville, Florida. Because he is immunocompromised, leaving his home or interacting with paper mail is dangerous for Mr. Cole. But since he plans to hire an attorney to help with the complex application process, he cannot submit his application online because applicants using authorized representatives, like attorneys, must sign a paper copy of their application. This is true even though SSA has an online application and electronic signatures are accessible, secure, and federally approved. Mr. Cole and three other plaintiffs, along with the National Federation of the Blind, are suing the Social Security Administration in federal court. They seek a court order requiring SSA to allow e-signatures on applications rather than requiring a "wet-ink" signature when the applicant is using an attorney or other authorized representative. SSA does not require wet-ink signatures for applications for some benefits when an authorized representative is not being used by the applicant. The suit contends that the requirement has always been discriminatory, but during the COVID-19 pandemic it also endangers the health and even the lives of applicants, as even SSA has recognized in quarantining its own mail for two days and shutting down its field offices. The lawsuit also asks the court to order SSA to allow blind people to fill out the application for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) online. Blind people are categorically excluded from applying for this benefit using the online application. The suit also asks that the court require e- signatures to be accepted on paperwork required when a beneficiary is subject to a continuing disability review (CDR), as is one of the blind plaintiffs in the lawsuit. "The Social Security Administration regularly interacts with hundreds of thousands of blind people and other consumers with disabilities," said Mark Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind. "Yet policies like this one persist, despite the fact that the SSA has both the authority and the capability to accept electronic signatures. It is both unlawful and unconscionable that this agency continues to place blind and disabled consumers at a severe disadvantage, especially during a life- threatening global pandemic. Government should innovate, not discriminate." The lawsuit has been filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia. The plaintiffs are represented by Eve L. Hill, Andrew D. Freeman, and Abigail A. Graber of the Baltimore law firm Brown, Goldstein & Levy LLP. This release is also available at: https://www.nfb.org/about-us/press- room/wet-ink-signature-requirement-endangers-social-security-disability- applicants In Brief Notices and information in this section may be of interest to Monitor readers. We are not responsible for the accuracy of the information; we have edited only for space and clarity. Our Summer Experience Camp 2020 is Going Virtual! A Free Program at Leader Dogs for the Blind We are going virtual with our free camp experience this summer! With camper safety in mind, we have cancelled our traditional Summer Experience Camp for 2020. Going virtual allows us to open camp to teens fourteen and fifteen years old in addition to our standard ages of sixteen and seventeen years old. Many aspects of our camp adapt well to this platform, including exploring mobility options like guide dog travel, building leadership skills and relationships with peers. Camp dates are expected to be confirmed soon. To receive updated information about Summer Experience Camp as it becomes available, please fill out the form on our website. To learn more about our programs and services visit LeaderDog.org. We are always in need of volunteers to raise our puppies. Learn more at LeaderDog.org/puppy. Our mission is to empower people who are blind or visually impaired with lifelong skills for safe and independent daily travel. Rachelle Director of Communications & Marketing Leader Dogs for the Blind 1039 S. Rochester Rd. Rochester Hills, MI 48307-3115 Direct 248-659-5013 Toll Free 888-777-5332 ---------- The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back. ---------- NFB Pledge I pledge to participate actively in the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind to achieve equality, opportunity, and security for the blind; to support the policies and programs of the Federation; and to abide by its constitution. From buhrow at lothlorien.nfbcal.org Fri Jul 10 08:09:41 2020 From: buhrow at lothlorien.nfbcal.org (Brian Buhrow) Date: Fri, 10 Jul 2020 08:09:41 -0700 Subject: [Brl-monitor] The Braille Monitor, July 2020 Message-ID: <202007101509.06AF9fIX007009@nfbcal.org> BRAILLE MONITOR Vol. 63, No. 7 July 2020 Gary Wunder, Editor Distributed by email, in inkprint, in Braille, and on USB flash drive, by the NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND Mark Riccobono, President telephone: 410-659-9314 email address: nfb at nfb.org website address: http://www.nfb.org NFBnet.org: http://www.nfbnet.org NFB-NEWSLINE? information: 866-504-7300 Like us on Facebook: Facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind Follow us on Twitter: @NFB_Voice Watch and share our videos: YouTube.com/NationsBlind Letters to the President, address changes, subscription requests, and orders for NFB literature should be sent to the national office. Articles for the Monitor and letters to the editor may also be sent to the national office or may be emailed to gwunder at nfb.org. Monitor subscriptions cost the Federation about forty dollars per year. Members are invited, and nonmembers are requested, to cover the subscription cost. Donations should be made payable to National Federation of the Blind and sent to: National Federation of the Blind 200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place Baltimore, Maryland 21230-4998 THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND KNOWS THAT BLINDNESS IS NOT THE CHARACTERISTIC THAT DEFINES YOU OR YOUR FUTURE. EVERY DAY WE RAISE THE EXPECTATIONS OF BLIND PEOPLE, BECAUSE LOW EXPECTATIONS CREATE OBSTACLES BETWEEN BLIND PEOPLE AND OUR DREAMS. YOU CAN LIVE THE LIFE YOU WANT; BLINDNESS IS NOT WHAT HOLDS YOU BACK. THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND IS NOT AN ORGANIZATION SPEAKING FOR THE BLIND-IT IS THE BLIND SPEAKING FOR OURSELVES. ISSN 0006-8829 ? 2020 by the National Federation of the Blind Each issue is recorded on a thumb drive (also called a memory stick or USB flash drive). You can read this audio edition using a computer or a National Library Service digital player. The NLS machine has two slots-the familiar book-cartridge slot just above the retractable carrying handle and a second slot located on the right side near the headphone jack. This smaller slot is used to play thumb drives. Remove the protective rubber pad covering this slot and insert the thumb drive. It will insert only in one position. If you encounter resistance, flip the drive over and try again. (Note: If the cartridge slot is not empty when you insert the thumb drive, the digital player will ignore the thumb drive.) Once the thumb drive is inserted, the player buttons will function as usual for reading digital materials. If you remove the thumb drive to use the player for cartridges, when you insert it again, reading should resume at the point you stopped. You can transfer the recording of each issue from the thumb drive to your computer or preserve it on the thumb drive. However, because thumb drives can be used hundreds of times, we would appreciate their return in order to stretch our funding. Please use the return envelope enclosed with the drive when you return the device. Vol. 63, No. 7 July 2020 Contents Illustration: Our National Board National Federation of the Blind Stands in Solidarity with All Those Impacted by Racial Injustice by Mark Riccobono The Room is Zoom: An Overview for Many of the National Convention Sessions by John Berggren and Stephanie Cascone Thoughts on Black Lives Matter and Bringing our Other Characteristics to the Table by Gary Wunder Being Black Helped Me Be Blind and Being Blind Helped Me Understand that #BlackLivesMatter by Anil Lewis The Coronavirus Brings Pain to the Federation Family: Brian Miller Dies at Age Fifty-Two by Gary Wunder The Game of Risks by Sarah Patnaude Using Bullet Shell Casings as Cane Shaft Reinforcements by Justin Salisbury Showing Up with Vision Loss-Even When It's Hard by Maria Johnson President Mark Riccobono Recognized with Baltimore Business Journal Leaders in Diversity Award for 2020 by Chris Danielsen Dolphin GuideConnect by Matt Hackert Recipes Monitor Miniatures Seventeen Active People Who Lead the National Federation of the Blind The burden of the pandemic has fallen hard on all of us, but seventeen people in particular have been charged with coming up with policies that will help the National Federation of the Blind continue to do all of our regular business and to take on the special challenges that COVID-19 presents. Our Board of Directors has learned a lot about the coronavirus and has contributed perspectives from throughout the country as each member watches their local and state officials struggle with the challenges. But these seventeen people had to do more than collect information; they had to synthesize and act upon it in the best interest of all of us. It is for them that we give this special shout-out and honor them by dedicating this issue in recognition of the people they are, all that they do, and the tremendous responsibility they take foreseeing that we continue to be the leading force and work with the blind in the United States. [PHOTO/CAPTION: First row from left to right: Pam Allen (Louisiana), First Vice President and Chairperson of the Board; Amy Buresh (Nebraska), Board Member; Denise Avant (Illinois), Board Member; Mark Riccobono (Maryland), President; Norma Crosby (Texas), Board Member; Carla McQuillan (Oregon), Board Member; Terri Rupp (Nevada), Board Member. Second row from left to right: Jeannie Massay (Oklahoma), Treasurer; John Fritz (Wisconsin), Board Member; Joseph Ruffalo Jr. (New Jersey), Board Member; Adelmo Vigil (New Mexico), Board Member; Shawn Callaway (Washington D.C.), Board Member; Ron Brown (Indiana), Second Vice President; Amy Ruell (Massachusetts), Board Member; Everette Bacon (Utah), Board Member; James Gashel (Hawaii), Secretary; Ever Lee Hairston (California), Board Member.] National Federation of the Blind Stands in Solidarity with All Those Impacted by Racial Injustice by Mark Riccobono For eighty years, the National Federation of the Blind has viewed addressing discrimination and promoting equality as essential elements of our work. Today we stand in solidarity with the black community in their fight for justice and in their pursuit of equal treatment under the law. We condemn the continued murders of black Americans including those of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd. Further, we acknowledge that these horrific deaths represent a vile and long-standing pattern of institutionalized racism that permeates the criminal justice system. While there are police officers that are doing good work, the fact remains that black and brown individuals are disproportionally impacted by police brutality, unfairly condemning people of color to prison cells and graveyards. As a civil rights organization with a diverse membership, we strive to grow in our understanding of conditions that affect us. Throughout our history, we have participated in civil disobedience and honor the value that it holds to bring about social change. We are firmly committed to enacting our organizational diversity statement, which in part expresses, "We recognize that our views and convictions will be challenged, and we expect this challenge to take place in a climate of tolerance and mutual respect in order to maintain a united organization." Recognizing that this is a time of intense grief, a time of learning, and a time of reflection, we stand with our members who are in pain and pray not only for peace but for justice. We stand in solidarity with our black members and publicly commit to do anti-racist work within our organization. We ask our nonblack members to take the time to self-reflect about ways we can participate to create an anti-racist world. With you in love, with you in justice, we affirm that #BlackLivesMatter. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Map of the United States with many brightly lit points connected in a raised 3D pattern; over the image, it says "NFB20, July 14- 18, Anywhere & Everywhere."] The Room is Zoom: An Overview for Many of the National Convention Sessions by John Berggren and Stephanie Cascone From the Editor: Many of you know the name John Berggren as the man who has been in charge of convention organization and activities for several years. Many of you also know Stephanie Cascone, our director of communications and marketing. Here is what they have to say about one of the tools we will use to carry off our first virtual convention: For a few months now we've been talking about the National Federation of the Blind hosting its first-ever virtual convention. This is the last issue of the Braille Monitor you will see before the gavel falls, so we want to give you a few tips about the way you can participate in the convention. This is not intended to be an extensive review of the convention format on Zoom, but a brief overview of how to access the platform and a couple of important commands. There is definitely more to come. Many Ways to Access The first thing to know is that Zoom is a service that offers people a way to communicate no matter the device they use. If the way you talk is on a touchtone telephone connected to the wall by a cord, you can participate in the convention. If you use a cordless phone, the same is true. If you have a computer and a headset, you can participate and will have even more options. If you have a smartphone, whether it uses the Android operating system or Apple iOS, you can communicate. If your communication device happens to be a tablet, again, Zoom is for you. When using the mobile app or a computer, the closed captions can be accessed with a Braille device. Just as we find in any large meeting, a smooth and successful gathering depends on patience and courtesy. The need for both is amplified in a virtual meeting. On the Zoom platform there is what is known as a mute button. When pressed, you can hear what people are saying, but they cannot hear you, or more importantly what is going on around you. What you think of as a minor distraction in your environment such as the click of a keyboard, the bark of a dog, the shuffling of papers, or the movement of your smartphone on the desk is amplified using Zoom. When you consider multiplying these distractions by ten, fifty, or one hundred, you can see that listening to a presentation could be almost impossible. Some of you are old enough to remember the first two-way radios in which talking required the depressing of a microphone key, and listening required releasing it. When using Zoom, it is helpful to keep this analogy in mind. Unmute yourself when requested, and as soon as you have finished your comment, go back on mute. Commands to Know "Sorry, I was on mute" is a phrase many of us have heard or said a lot these past few months. Muting is made easy regardless of the way you participate. On a regular phone muting is accomplished with star six and unmuting is done in the same way. On a Windows 10 computer muting and unmuting is done using the key sequence alt+A. Using an Apple computer, the key sequence is Command+Shift+A. On a smartphone, whether iOS or Android, the mute button is located at the bottom left of the screen. Asking for the floor is much like being in a classroom-you raise your hand. The way you will do this depends on the device you use to get into the Zoom meeting. If using a regular touchtone telephone, pressing star nine will raise your hand. The key combination when using a computer is alt+Y for Windows and Command+Shift+Y for Mac OS. With a smartphone the hand is raised by pressing the "More" button at the bottom right of the screen and then selecting the raise-hand option, which is one of the first commands on that screen. This is certainly a very short introduction to what you will want to know before the first convention session starts. We will provide a list with key combinations for the various devices that can be used, and we encourage everyone to participate in the training sessions we will hold prior to the convention. By the time the gavel falls, we want each and every participant to be enjoying convention without the anxiety that can too often come with the use of a new application, program, or service. More to Come For more information and to learn about upcoming training sessions, continue to follow discussions on our various listservs, listen for updates from your chapter and affiliate leaders, and regularly visit the national convention information webpage at www.nfb.org/convention for updates. Let's meet in July and enjoy the virtually unlimited opportunities that come with our first-ever virtual convention. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Gary Wunder] Thoughts on Black Lives Matter and Bringing our Other Characteristics to the Table by Gary Wunder It is all too easy to assume that people know me since I edit the Braille Monitor, but for purposes of this article let me do a little self- introduction. I am going to be speaking about something I am learning about rather than something I already know, and I'm going to be addressing issues that I have not lived but have worked to understand. I am a white male who is sixty-five years old. By any standard I have gotten most of the breaks that society has to offer. I realize that some of where I am and what I do is related to decisions and choices I've made, but I also hold in my soul a great deal of gratitude for the people who have wished me well and made my path easier. I only wish that every person in this country who is blind was offered the same opportunities, and it is to that end that I write to help those of us in the Federation make this an achievable goal. Now let me turn to the dual subjects of this article. When I first heard the statement "Black Lives Matter" and then heard the broader statement "All lives matter," I thought them to be quite compatible, in harmony, one simply being more expansive than the other. All lives do matter, but to conflate the two statements being expressed is precisely the problem because it moves the emphasis away from the lesser importance given to crimes against black people and the treatment they receive at the hands of those hired to heal and unite the communities they serve. I was slow to understand the difference between the two statements until a few analogies were offered. If I say that blind lives need to be insured to focus readers of my message on the fact that blindness has kept people from buying life and health insurance on the premise that blind people will necessarily have shorter lives and cost more to insure, is my message emphasized or deemphasized by the statement that, of course, all people need or deserve insurance? If I say that blind people need computer hardware and software they can use to participate fully in today's society, and someone else makes the observation that all people in this day and age need access to computers. What happens to my message about the cost of screen reader technology, Braille displays, and software that is written in such a way that it doesn't matter how much money I spend on all of this assistive technology-I simply cannot use what is so available to the general public? When we advertise the National Federation of the Blind's scholarship program, we are saying that blind students matter, that the technology used in the classroom must be accessible, and that accommodations must be made in the classroom for things that are only presented visually. Is that message heard, or is it likely to be overshadowed or dismissed entirely when someone makes the observation that of course many students need scholarships, whether they are blind or can see? If I put forward the message to Congress that blind people need access to home and medical appliances they can use, and someone who hears it observes that everyone needs the same thing, doesn't my message that inaccessible touchscreens make both types of appliances inaccessible and threaten to drive me out of my home harder to hear and consequently less likely to be acted upon? If in appreciation I say to a gathering that I love my wife. Immediately someone observes that yes, but you love everybody, don't you? Wouldn't an answer that yes, I love everybody, actually be one that diminishes the point I was trying to make and could actually be hurtful rather than helpful? At one time in our Federation we had a simple message. It went something like this: The thing that brings us together is blindness. The thing that keeps us together is focusing only on blindness. Being people from all walks of life of course means we will have issues in addition to blindness, but for the sake of unity, we must leave these at the door. Sometimes this focus was right. We should be able to fit under one roof those who favor more military spending and those who favor less. They should be able to agree that, in a country in which we spend so much money on and depend upon the military, there ought to be a place for blind people in her service. A woman who wants to stay at home and raise her child should be able to sit beside a woman wanting a professional career, both arguing for the accessibility of home and medical equipment. A man who believes salvation comes through Christ should sit comfortably with the man who feels that Christ was a good man but not as important as his Christian brother. Both should be able to share in the cause of making more spiritual material available accessibly in Braille and audio, and both should be able to address transportation issues that sometimes keep blind people from engaging in religious services. But what happens when the more difficult issues intrude? How do we deal with the unarguable fact that a white man in St. Louis County gets more frequent visits from a rehabilitation counselor or teacher than a black man who lives in East St. Louis? Does the man from East St. Louis have a point in saying that he can never learn Braille when the person providing lessons comes so infrequently? What about his learning cane travel when the cane travel instructor fears walking with him through his neighborhood? We must somehow have policies that work for the blind of East St. Louis as well as the blind living in the more affluent St. Louis County, and a black person must have the right and all of us must take responsibility to listen when he says that the rehabilitation system he encounters is not the one we so frequently talk about. It certainly is our obligation to point out that the flawed system we want to fix must address not just the problems people have who live in affluent areas but also those for people of color who often may not? Do we have all the answers? No. Does this mean we should avoid tackling the questions that will lead to equal opportunity? It does not. It is only through applied brainpower, building relationships, and making a place for ourselves in all communities where blind people live that we will begin to change those things that are difficult. It is only through risk and demonstrated caring that we will convince blind people in these communities that our message is for them, our love is for them, and that our aspiration that they can live the lives they want also includes them. We must work hard to avoid the suggestion that we are doing the offering, and they can come into our tent. Instead we want to make it clear, especially to ourselves, that this tent belongs to all of us and that addressing the issues of all blind people is a core principle of the Federation and not a gesture patronizingly offered by those who have the power to those who do not. In a very divided nation we have messages to send about the needs of blind people, but perhaps we will send other needed messages as well. The futuristic Star Trek wanted to captivate us with new technology and going "where no man has gone before," but quite intentionally it hooked us with another possibility, another promise we might strive to keep. That promise was to give all women and men an equal opportunity, to see others without stereotypes based on race, geography, or political differences. The point was not to ignore the differences we found among earthlings and others in the universe but to applaud the majesty of it all. The show wasn't perfect; we had to have the good versus the bad, so some of those we found in the universe had to be fought, defended against, and made to understand that they could not live by conquering or mistreating others. Live and let live is so easily said and so much harder to implement. But it is nothing less than treating people as you want to be treated. Perhaps, more expansive and inclusive is to treat people as they would have you treat them. If we can send our message of need and hope together, what a force for good we can be- a force that starts with leading blind people and culminates in helping to lead all people to build a better world in which we see our safety, security, and happiness as inextricably bound together with those of our fellow human beings, regardless their race or socioeconomic status. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Anil Lewis] Being Black Helped Me Be Blind and Being Blind Helped Me Understand that #BlackLivesMatter by Anil Lewis From the Editor: Anil Lewis is a person with such prominence in the Federation that writing a headnote about him seems almost as unnecessary as writing an introduction for President Riccobono, Immediate Past President Maurer, or our first vice president and chairman of the National Federation of the Blind Board of Directors, Pam Allen. Therefore, I will not use the space to introduce Anil but to express my appreciation to him for the writing of an article that required going beyond the past and the present and demanded that he look into his soul and share with us what he found there. This takes guts; it takes honesty; it takes humility; it assumes that for all of his effort we, the readers, will invest some of ourselves, including our souls, in trying to understand the messages being expressed. I will never know what it is like to be a black man, but Anil Lewis believes that I have the capacity to learn more than I now know, and both publicly and privately I give him my pledge to honor his faith and trust. Here is what I believe to be the most moving and educational article I have ever had the privilege of editing and publishing: Although my father died when I was six, I grew up as part of a large extended family. My mother raised four children on her own, two of whom were blind (I became blind at age twenty-five). I am also blessed to have a host of aunts, uncles, and cousins who are all like mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers. Growing up as a young black man in Atlanta, one of the most progressive civil rights cities in the country, I was aware of the challenges I would have to face as a black person in a predominately-white society. I grew up realizing that I am the beneficiary of the work of many civil rights leaders who paved the way for me to receive a proper education and opportunities for gainful employment. Thanks to my family, I developed a positive self-concept of myself as a black man despite society's negative depiction of black people throughout the mainstream media. With their support and encouragement, I was able to secure opportunities to receive the interventions that made it possible for me to excel. I was told that I would need to be better just to be perceived as equal, and as a result, I became extremely self-confident, regardless of any environment or situation. My academic success enabled me to receive college scholarships and subsequently made it possible for me to obtain relatively good jobs with above-average pay. My extended family also taught me the skill of successful interracial interaction, or how to wear the "mask," a skill that allows me to navigate within a racially charged environment in a manner that is not perceived as intimidating, but allows me to use intimidation when it helps me reach my objective. Although I code-switch (use vocabulary that is appropriate to the audience), I am able to do this without compromising myself or altering my true identity-"When in France...." Little did I know, but this lived experience and acquired skill set would help me adapt to being blind later in life. With the relatively quick onset of my blindness due to retinitis pigmentosa (RP), I lost a significant amount of my sight over a weekend, leaving me unable to read the text on my computer screen and making it next to impossible for me to continue to operate as a sighted person. My mother made no excuses. She encouraged me to "Get up and do something." Luckily, I was referred to the services offered by the state vocational rehabilitation agency and a local community rehabilitation center, where I learned that I needed to acquire the alternative skills of blindness in order to regain my independence. However, the systems in place set the bar so low that I would not be encouraged, supported, or allowed to reach my full potential. I attained a mediocre skill set at best. My acquisition of limited cane travel abilities using routes, a Braille reading speed of thirty-three words per minute, and an inability to cook anything without the use of a microwave allowed me to graduate from my blindness training with praise and accolades. Fortunately, I possessed good computer skills prior to my blindness, so I was able to teach myself how to use JAWS to access the computer and was an above average user. Soon after my graduation, I quickly became a staff member at the same center, teaching others Braille and access technology. I was proud of my accomplishments, but I did not realize that my "achievement" was perpetuating a system of inadequate training and low expectations. Then I met members of the National Federation of the Blind. This newly acquired extended family acknowledged my skill set and immediately began encouraging me to set higher expectations for myself and for other blind people. With their support, I worked hard in order to maintain my self-confidence and develop a positive self-concept as a blind person. I improved my blindness skills and learned a new language of blindness: Structured Discovery, long white cane, competing on terms of equality, etc. As a member of the 1999 Three Strikes Leadership Seminar, I participated in a week-long leadership training at the NFB national center that exposed me to the history of the blindness movement, educated me about the achievements of the NFB, and inspired me to work collectively to overcome the challenges to our liberty that still remain. I became aware that I have benefitted from the work that many have done before me to create opportunities to learn, grow, and be accepted as an equal in society. Once I gained this consciousness of the struggle and the dedication of the blind people that came before me and the continued systemic ableism that still exists and prohibits blind people from reaching their full potential, I engaged in the collective action of the NFB. My Federation family taught me the skill of coping with public attitudes about blindness and how to blend in on terms of equality. My new mask allows me to navigate within a custodial-rich environment in a manner that commands respect. Often the only blind person in the room, I am able to make others comfortable with my presence and still be able to engage in those uncomfortable conversations in a manner that facilitates learning rather than denial. However, in order to educate myself so that I could influence others, I needed to learn the truth about blindness. The knowledge I needed to acquire was not readily available, and the role models I needed were not depicted on TV or radio. In fact, mainstream coverage of blind people perpetuates negative stereotypes and misconceptions about blindness, much like the media has for too long portrayed black people. I knew it would require a dedicated effort to gain a true understanding of blindness, and I soon received the support and guidance of my Federation family. I read Walking Alone and Marching Together, the written history of our movement, along with other informative materials. With these and my ongoing contact, I gained a greater understanding of the truth about blindness and the systemic obstacles to our full participation. Subsequently, as an active member of the NFB for over twenty years, I have worked to address the discriminatory policies and practices that prevent blind people from living the lives we want and to fight for the security, equality, and opportunity that will enable us to serve as full participating members of society. Recently, in the wake of the extreme social unrest (awakening), brought about by the videos depicting the racial injustices leading to the murder of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and far too many other black people, I have realized that I have not exercised the same degree of dedication to address the systemic racism that prohibits black people from living the lives we want. If I am to be honest, my lack of dedication to educate myself has resulted in my ignorance, which is no excuse for my silence and is shameful. It has made me complicit in the tragedy, which is completely unacceptable. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stated, "The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people." I consider myself a good person, and I am recommitted to acquiring the knowledge to effectively exercise my voice toward ending the tragedy of systemic racism. First, I had to process the internal and external anger that grew from my guilt and newly evolved awareness. Most do not know that I have a really bad temper, but anyone who really knows me understands that I process anger through humor. I do not mean laughing at the situation but adopting a less frustrating perspective that helps me dissipate the anger and focus on the problem toward a solution. It is imperative for me to be able to decompress before taking action, or my anger results in my making bad decisions. I had to resolve a profound internal conflict in order to determine how I would take action. A dear friend shared a video from Trevor Noah, the host of the Daily Show, which was about a twenty-minute train of consciousness giving his perspective on the recent racially charged situations that have raised worldwide awareness of systemic racism. Trevor possesses an amazing talent to use his humor to address socially relevant issues in a manner that offers alternate perspectives that challenge your existing paradigm. Subsequently, I read Trevor Noah's book, Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood, which, for my blind friends, is available on BARD. This was the therapy I needed in order to deal with my emotional crisis and to begin my real education. Trevor's lived experience, chronicled in this book, serves to entertain and enlighten. I encourage anyone who like myself, has anger issues that prevent them from making a conscious decision to educate themselves about the nuances of race, racism, and racial interaction to read this book. Let me be clear: I am not suggesting that reading Born a Crime is the textbook to the understanding and enlightenment about systemic racism. I am only stating that it helped me to get past the anger to be open to learning more. Far too many people stop at denial, or in my case, presumed enlightenment. We want to be able to ingest all understanding by watching the news, reading a newspaper article, and watching YouTube videos. Although these are tremendous resources to stay informed, as demonstrated by the impact of the George Floyd video, true understanding requires a dedicated effort to educate oneself. Even the formal systems meant to educate usually present an inadequate presentation of our history. In school I learned black history from a perspective that was so watered down. I took pride that a black man invented the cotton gin. I actually thought the Brown vs. Board of Education-after initial resistance that required National Guard intervention-eliminated school segregation. I thought the Voting Rights Act was no longer necessary because I had no problems exercising my right to cast a private, independent ballot. My work within the NFB has taught me how to effectively advocate for the passage of civil rights legislation. Moreover, I have learned that passing legislation is not enough. The ongoing work of advocacy toward enforcement is essential, lest we regress to the system that we fought to change. I am extremely embarrassed about my lack of understanding of the systems and practices that exist and serve to limit opportunities for black people in this country. I actively work to cope with a significant amount of guilt related to my ignorance and constantly seek information to educate myself so that I can fight for the change that is necessary. In my recent recommitment to self-educate, I have turned to two books: White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide, written by Carol Anderson, and White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism, written by Robin DiAngelo, both also available on BARD. In White Rage, I read information about black history that shook me to my core and had never been shared with me in any of my history books. Moreover, the details provided about everything from school segregation to the Iran Contra scandal offered information that framed these in a completely new light. White Fragility was written by a white American author from a white point of view to address "the challenges of talking to white people about racism." I thought it would be helpful for me to take a look from this perspective, and it was more than helpful. It helped me in my quest to acquire the language to have meaningful conversations about racism by differentiating between the discrimination caused by prejudice, and the systemic racism resulting from racist policies and practices. I encourage everyone to read both books. However, if you identify as black or any other minority, I suggest that you start by reading White Rage. The information you gain will be helpful in maintaining your conviction that the struggle is real. If you identify as white, begin with White Fragility. I specifically suggest starting with chapter four, "How Does Race shape the Lives of White People." It begins with a quote from Ijeoma Oluo, "White people: I don't want you to understand me better, I want you to understand yourselves." I realize the flaw in executing a strategy that attempts to get white people to understand the lived experience of black people. It is similar to the challenge of getting the sighted to understand what it is like to live as a blind person. However, it is my experience that a better understanding of your ignorance helps you better understand the problem and will hopefully motivate you to become part of the solution. Many of my white brothers and sisters within my Federation family have reached out to express their support and understanding. I am blessed to have these relationships, and I hope and pledge to continue to build more allies to advocate for the systemic change that is necessary. The work we have done within the Federation to address diversity and inclusion is exemplary, and I feel it will continue to build awareness in a manner that empowers our blind black members and our allies to play an active role in this effort. My plan is to take the skills I have learned as a member of the National Federation of the Blind and use them to support the work of another organization focused on addressing systemic racism. I believe I have the capacity to work within both circles and hope to find concentric areas that leverage what I learn from one organization to strengthen the work I do for the other. The National Federation of the Blind fights tirelessly for the rights of blind people. Other disability organizations continue to encourage us to become immersed within a broader coalition of people with disabilities. We have specific needs that need to be addressed that are unique to blindness, like Braille, nonvisual access technology, and accessible instructional materials. Although we participate in advocacy efforts that help to meet our goals, we cannot afford to have our voices diluted in a sea of other voices seemingly advocating for the same things. We realize that blind lives matter and require specific intervention and action to eliminate the discrimination blind people face. This is also the case with black lives. The systemic racism that black people face requires specific intervention and action. #BlackLivesMatter is a movement that acknowledges that we cannot afford to build a larger coalition of "All Lives Matter" when we need to use our time and talent to add resources, develop specific strategies, policies, and legislation to address systemic racism. Reinforcing that #BlackLivesMatter will help you #LiveTheLifeYouWant. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Brian Miller] The Coronavirus Brings Pain to the Federation Family: Brian Miller Dies at Age Fifty-Two by Gary Wunder Dr. Brian Miller, a former chapter president, strong Federationist, world traveler, musician, and a wonderful man willing to help anyone he could, died on April 13, 2020, as a result of COVID-19. He took a trip to Jordan in mid-March and was forced to cut his trip short and return to the United States. When he developed symptoms, he first discounted them, but shortly thereafter he went to a doctor and was diagnosed. Initially he was told to go home and be on bed rest. When he did not improve, Brian was moved to the hospital. After several weeks that showed encouraging ups and discouraging downs, the world lost a really fantastic human being, and the only thing that we can say with certainty is that we are all better for having known and loved Brian Miller. So profound was his life that his death was covered in the Washington Post on April 14 under the headline" Brian Miller, whose blindness inspired a career helping disabled students, dies of COVID-19." The write-up was a wonderful tribute which included an interesting anecdote from Brian's mother. In the article she said that several weeks before Brian's graduation from high school, she got a call from a teacher saying that he was about to flunk a science course because he had not completed his work with the microscope and biology. One is left to infer that Brian did so well in other aspects of the class the teacher simply did not recognize he was blind and the foolishness of expecting that he directly use a microscope. One of Brian's goals was to visit five new countries each year. He equipped himself to make these visits by being fluent in four languages: English, Spanish, Russian, and German. As a report on National Public Radio noted, Brian's mother has been busy trying to figure out all the trips he had planned in order to cancel them and get back the money paid in advance. One of Brian's friends was our state president in Virginia, Tracy Soforenko. On learning of Brian's death, here is some of what he said to members: "Today we lost a true friend and inspiring leader in the National Federation of the Blind. This afternoon, after over two weeks in intensive care, Brian Miller passed away from COVID-19. Brian has been a role model and mentor to so many members of our organization, including myself. Many of the major recent accomplishments of the Virginia affiliate are built on insights from Brian including the Project RISE program, the expanded college scholarship program, the chapter leadership development program, the hosting of the 2018 National Federation of the Blind Convention, and the efforts to invigorate chapters with engaging new programming. Brian brought creativity, humor, and energy to all aspects of our work but also warmth and friendship to his interaction with everyone. Brian made me think creatively, read better books, plan better vacations, and believe in myself and what we could accomplish together. We are heartbroken by this news and hope we can be together soon to console each other. As memorial plans are determined, we will keep people posted." It is clear from all the posts on Facebook and the activity on our listservs that Brian was beloved in the Federation and in his family. But in addition to being an active Federationist, he was also well-integrated into his community. Consider this proclamation: P R O C L A M A T I O N WHEREAS, several recently published photographs portray Brian Miller, fifty-two, of Alexandria, Virginia, in many locations from across the world: sitting atop a camel in Egypt, on the waters of a peaceful river in Oman, the sidewalks of London, and the beaches of Normandy. In most of these photos, he is in casual travel garb, in front of spots of natural beauty or historical relevance. And in some of these pictures, he wears a tuxedo, the unofficial uniform of one of his many passions, a cappella chorus singing; and WHEREAS, Brian R. Miller, PhD, had just over a month ago returned to the United States from Jordan, one of sixty-five similar overseas trips he would take throughout his life. And all his friends knew Dr. Miller as an adventurer, but a prudent one, for he had recently written on his travel blog, "I'm pretty fearless, but not reckless. I'm a planner more than an improviser, but I am not a prisoner of my itinerary;" and WHEREAS, Brian was viewed as a fearless man, and one of assuring resolve. And it was this resolve that carried him through his full life and dozens of countries worldwide, going back to his San Diego childhood. Born August 13, 1967, in Michigan and raised in California, he was one of the first of a large national wave of blind students brought into the mainstream public schools student body among their sighted peers in the 1970s and 1980s; and WHEREAS, his commitment to education and knowledge compensated for the lack of resources for him and other visually disabled students during those times. Fluent in four languages, he earned a degree in Political Science from San Diego State University, and a master's and PhD in history from the University of Iowa; and WHEREAS, he settled in Alexandria in 2004, working for the U.S. Department of Education's Rehabilitation Services Administration. And in our City he was known for his generous volunteerism, serving as former Chair of the Commission on Persons with Disabilities, and for many years he was a member of the world-renowned men's a cappella chorus, the Alexandria Harmonizers; and WHEREAS, his travels with the Harmonizers, as well as his own, truly availed him to nuanced relationships as a performer, mentor, and friend, in Alexandria and the six continents he visited; and WHEREAS, this inspiring journey came to a close on April 13, 2020, when Brian died at fifty-two from complications stemming from the COVID-19 virus. "While losing Brian to this pandemic is devastating to so many communities of people around the world, there was no one more rich with life experiences and love from so many people," said friend and fellow Alexandria Harmonizer Joe Cerutti; and WHEREAS, Brian Miller will truly be missed, and for those who knew him here or far away, their lives were better just for knowing him. Brian Miller leaves behind his mother and stepfather, Jane and Patrick McGinnis; father and stepmother Richard and Helen Miller; sister and brother-in-law Cindy and Marty Wimer, significant other Masuma Ali, and several friends and colleagues; and WHEREAS, finally, and in his own understated and friendly style, he recently made note of his gratitude for his experiences and his abundant life, writing, "I've learned a few tricks over the years as a blind guy on the road." NOW, THEREFORE, I, JUSTIN M. WILSON, Mayor of the City of Alexandria, Virginia, and on behalf of the Alexandria City Council, do hereby recognize and offer appreciation for the well-lived life of a beloved Alexandrian: "BRIAN R. MILLER, PhD" In the City of Alexandria and I call this observance to the attention of all our citizens. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the City of Alexandria to be affixed this 23rd day of April, 2020, in tribute to a great citizen of our City, and of the world. MAYOR JUSTIN M. WILSON On behalf of the City Council of Alexandria, Virginia At the time of this writing, what COVID-19 is and how we should deal with it is the subject of a contentious debate. Some believe that the major concern of our population should be isolation until the virus is eradicated. On the other extreme are those who believe that the virus is a creation of the media, a hoax, a direct attack on our constitutional rights, and a way of destroying our economy. Perhaps Brian's own words will provide some perspective: "After more than a week of self-quarantining at home, and dealing with increasingly severe symptoms of COVID-19, yesterday I finally had to call the paramedics and have them take me to Alexandria Inova hospital where I am now checked-in, and I am under their care. I don't know yet if I actually have COVID-19, as the test results aren't back yet, but I don't have the flu, so it's very likely COVID-19. The protocols and procedures were airtight, and the staff here have been unfailingly helpful and professional and kind. I just want to let people know that this virus is a monster; don't think that it is like the flu or that symptoms are mild. This has easily been one of the worst weeks of my life, certainly health-wise. This is a brutal, brutal virus; do not be indifferent or casual." I can think of no better way to end this article than with a brief quotation from his friend Bonnie O'Day, who was asked to offer her memories at a board meeting of the Virginia Affiliate. Here is the way she concluded: "When Brian was hospitalized with the COVID-19 virus, his friends organized several conference calls so we could share our experiences and wish him well. There were over seventy people on these calls, from all walks of Brian's life. Each had a special memory or anecdote to share. Brian has been described as, "a witty extrovert with a powerful love for human connection and experiences." We are fortunate to have had him in our lives. His passing leaves a hole that we cannot possibly fill. Each of us has our own special memories of Brian, so let's take a moment of silence to reflect on the many gifts he has given us." In concluding this article, may I make a similar plea: That we take a moment to remember Brian, and then another minute to commit ourselves to making lives like the one Brian lived a possibility for all blind people. In this way we will offer to him the highest honor we can. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Sarah Patnaude] The Game of Risks by Sarah Patnaude From the Editor: Many who read this will remember Sarah Patnaude of Virginia as a two-time winner of a National Federation of the Blind scholarship, first winning in 2014 and becoming a tenBroek winner in 2018. She was an intern at our Jernigan Institute in 2014. She is currently the corresponding secretary for the Virginia Affiliate and second vice president of the Human Services Division. In addition, she does cosplay, short for costume play, where she makes her own costumes by hand. She also enjoys photography and painting. What a biography. One of the issues conscientious Federationists look at again and again is whether we are doing all we can do or whether we are settling, a word that has come to mean pretending that we don't want or need something because we fear getting it might be too hard. Sometimes we do not dare to risk, for our fear of failure is greater than our sense of hope and the belief we have in ourselves. Here is what Sarah has to say about her journey to believe in herself and go beyond the comfortable: Gathered around the dining room table, laughter and competitiveness fill the room. Boards, pieces, and cards take over the tables and floors. For the next few hours, the only person we could rely on was ourself. Every move you took had to be strategic. Growing up, family and community game nights were a Patnaude tradition. As a competitive individual, I found myself good at many games. However, there were a few games I just plain stunk at: one of which is a game called Risk. For those who have never played, Risk is a game where the purpose is none other than to take over the world. My favorite objective! There are two main strategies for this game: play the defense and only attack small countries or play the offense and take chances on attacking the larger countries. I typically chose the first strategy and only would attack countries I knew I could beat. However, that strategy always led to my demise. Although just a game, my strategy in life up until recently was a similar approach. Stick with the safety net and certainty and avoid risks and uncertainty. As a young kid, my life was full of uncertainty. We didn't know when or if my vision would worsen. Thus, my doctors, parents, and I took precautions to limit the risk of a detached retina. Those precautions consisted of limiting my ability to play on playgrounds, go on diving boards, play contact sports, go in bounce houses, enjoy rides at amusement parks, and any other activity that could cause my head to be jerked around, or cause too much pressure. We did everything we could to limit the risk of going totally blind. It came at a cost though: I was not able to fully live my childhood. The next few times in my life where I recall having to decide to take a risk or not was in academics. In the fifth grade I was presented with the opportunity to attend a gifted middle school. At that point I was faced with the decision to attend a school that was foreign to my family and more academically challenging or attend the school my siblings attended. For me this was a simple decision at that time in my life. Both of my siblings attended the local middle school, and it would be almost certain I would have at least a few teachers they had. Thus, I went with the safe decision: the one where my family was familiar with the faculty and one that would allow me to have the most "normal" childhood. Next was high school. This time I knew I wanted to attend a specialty center. Would I apply for the Governor's School, one of the most prestigious schools around, or would I attend the specialty center my sister attended? Once again I avoided the risk of rejection and applied for the school I knew I had the most chance of getting into and the one where my family was familiar with the faculty and administration. Since joining the Federation in 2010 at the age of sixteen, I knew I needed to attend a Federation training center to gain proficiency in blindness skills. However, like everything else, it involved risks. At first the risk involved college and whether my scholarship could wait a year. As someone who was very academically focused, did I really want to risk losing my scholarship or become even more indecisive about my course of study to gain blindness skills? I had after all excelled in high school without them. Then, the risk involved employment. Did I want to have a gap on my resum?? Entering my last year of graduate school though, I knew that I had put off training for far too long. I finally realized that the familiar was riskier than taking the risk. In May 2019 I started at the Louisiana Center for the Blind. Although I gained proficiency in blindness skills and strengthened my philosophy, my journey at LCB was more than just blindness. It was a journey involving slowing down, embracing uncertainty, giving myself permission to succeed, and yes, taking risks. I remember the days of creeping slowly to every curb, too afraid to overstep it. My travel instructor gave me the first of many risk-taking talks. He explained the difference between careless risk- taking and cautious risk-taking. In that instance, I had the knowledge to distinguish the sidewalk from the street, so it wasn't a careless risk to walk confidently to the curb. It was a risk that was backed up with knowledge I had and trust in my cane. In other words, I wasn't planning to attack a country with a big army with only two men. I was attacking a slightly larger country with sufficient men on my side-a cautious risk. Three months into my training, I was faced with another risk. This time it was in home management where I had to make my own recipe. To say I was a strict recipe adherer is an understatement. Before going to training, if the recipe called for one garlic clove, I would use one garlic clove even though I love garlic. If the recipe called for raisins and I didn't have raisins, well... I wasn't making that recipe. Therefore, my instructor telling me to make my own soup based on nothing except the knowledge I had and my taste buds was like telling me, someone who is afraid of heights, to go bungee jumping, which I would never do. Up until then I made some pretty good dishes. Nothing did I recall spitting out, and I was convinced that was because I had followed recipes. So why take the risk of making something worth throwing in the garbage now? Because, as much as I hate to admit it, without risks there is no reward. If I continued to follow recipes strictly, I would never have the opportunity to learn and grow or have the opportunity to make something great. Let me tell you, that loaded potato soup was probably the best thing I made while I was a student, and I get to claim it as my own. Life is full of risks. Some have greater consequences than others. There is no harm in having a safety net or a comfort zone. However, being unwilling to take risks at all can be just as harmful as taking careless risks. Without some risk-taking, one cannot embrace to the fullest extent what life has to offer, and there are limited opportunities to grow. Be willing to get uncomfortable: take the job, take the leadership role, try a new fundraising event, go get training. Whatever risks present themselves in your life or even in your chapter or affiliate, do not settle for the familiar because of fear of the unknown. You never know what success you may have or the growth that can occur because of your decision to not play it safe. There are hundreds of accomplishments I am proud of during my time at LCB, but what I am the proudest of is knowing without a doubt that, with the skills and knowledge I have gained and a little problem-solving, I can face uncertainty and take risks and do it with confidence. Because of that, I have a much better chance at conquering the world. ---------- Leave a Legacy For more than seventy-five years the National Federation of the Blind has worked to transform the dreams of hundreds of thousands of blind people into reality, and with your support we will continue to do so for decades to come. We sincerely hope you will plan to be a part of our enduring movement by adding the National Federation of the Blind as a partial beneficiary in your will. A gift to the National Federation of the Blind in your will is more than just a charitable, tax-deductible donation. It is a way to join in the work to help blind people live the lives they want that leaves a lasting imprint on the lives of thousands of blind children and adults. With your help, the NFB will continue to: . Give blind children the gift of literacy through Braille; . Promote the independent travel of the blind by providing free, long white canes to blind people in need; . Develop dynamic educational projects and programs that show blind youth that science and math are within their reach; . Deliver hundreds of accessible newspapers and magazines to provide blind people the essential information necessary to be actively involved in their communities; . Offer aids and appliances that help seniors losing vision maintain their independence; and . Fund scholarship programs so that blind people can achieve their dreams. Plan to Leave a Legacy Creating a will gives you the final say in what happens to your possessions and is the only way to be sure that your remaining assets are distributed according to your passions and beliefs. Many people fear creating a will or believe it's not necessary until they are much older. Others think that it's expensive and confusing. However, it is one of the most important things you will do, and with new online legal programs it is easier and cheaper than ever before. If you do decide to create or revise your will, consider the National Federation of the Blind as a partial beneficiary. Visit www.nfb.org/planned-giving or call 410-659-9314, extension 2422, for more information. Together with love, hope, determination, and your support, we will continue to transform dreams into reality. Invest in Opportunity The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back. A donation to the National Federation of the Blind allows you to invest in a movement that removes the fear from blindness. Your investment is your vote of confidence in the value and capacity of blind people and reflects the high expectations we have for all blind Americans, combating the low expectations that create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. In 2019 the NFB: . Distributed over seven thousand canes to blind people across the United States, empowering them to travel safely and independently throughout their communities. . Hosted forty-eight NFB BELL Academy programs, which served more than three hundred-and-fifty blind students throughout the United States. . Provided over one hundred thousand dollars in scholarships to blind students, making a post-secondary education affordable and attainable. . Delivered audio newspaper and magazine services to 118,900 subscribers, providing free access to over four hundred local, national, and international publications. . In the third year of the program, over three hundred fifty Braille- writing slates and styluses were given free of charge to blind users. Just imagine what we'll do next year, and, with your help, what can be accomplished for years to come. Below are just a few of the many diverse, tax-deductible ways you can lend your support to the National Federation of the Blind. Vehicle Donation Program The NFB now accepts donated vehicles, including cars, trucks, boats, motorcycles, or recreational vehicles. Just call 855-659-9314 toll-free, and a representative can make arrangements to pick up your donation-it doesn't have to be working. We can also answer any questions you have. General Donation General donations help support the ongoing programs of the NFB and the work to help blind people live the lives they want. Donate online with a credit card or through the mail with check or money order. Visit www.nfb.org/make-gift for more information. Bequests Even if you can't afford a gift right now, including the National Federation of the Blind in your will enables you to contribute by expressing your commitment to the organization and promises support for future generations of blind people across the country. Visit www.nfb.org/planned-giving or call 410-659-9314, extension 2422, for more information. Pre-Authorized Contribution Through the Pre-Authorized Contribution (PAC) program, supporters sustain the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind by making recurring monthly donations by direct withdraw of funds from a checking account or a charge to a credit card. To enroll, visit www.nfb.org/make- gift, and complete the Pre-Authorized Contribution form, and return it to the address listed on the form. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Justin Salisbury] Using Bullet Shell Casings as Cane Shaft Reinforcements by Justin Salisbury From the Editor: Justin is a frequent contributor to these pages, and in every article he demonstrates his passion for teaching blind people the way to be more independent. But here we see he also has a mechanical side and suggests ideas for some cane maintenance and repair. Here is what he says: In the process of learning cane travel, there are ever-expanding varieties of canes that students can use. Presently, when I teach Structured Discovery Cane Travel, I tend to recommend fiberglass or carbon fiber long white canes. There are varying design components of the different long white cane models. I am offering this article today to share a simple and common-sense technique for modifying the contemporary fiberglass long white cane for those who may find it useful. When I first began using a cane, I was still largely dependent on what residual vision I still had, but I eventually sought the kind of training that would change that. I did this after noticing in the National Federation of the Blind that there were a lot of people with less residual vision than I had who seemed to have their act together much better than I did. Almost all of them had attended a good residential training center, so I decided to do what had worked for them. During my training at the Louisiana Center for the Blind, I learned how to travel without depending on my residual vision. In my early days of cane use, I was not receiving as much tactile feedback through the nylon marshmallow tip as I now desire. In fact, I felt as if I was getting too much feedback because, as the marshmallow tip would wear a flat spot, it would catch in more and more sidewalk cracks. When I first began using a non-collapsible fiberglass cane with the tight rubber and metal tip, it seemed like I could feel everything in the road with that cane. I did not know exactly how to interpret it at first, but I came to really appreciate it. Different models of fiberglass and carbon fiber canes transmit different levels of feedback and offer different levels of flexibility. I have never found a collapsible cane of any material makeup that could flex or transmit vibrations as well as its non-collapsible counterpart. To my knowledge, every brand of fiberglass cane is hollow except for the old Rainshine canes. The hole at the bottom of the fiberglass cane shaft is often filled by a bolt, sometimes with a small washer to create desirable dimensions or a small metal piece that resembles a nail with no pointed tip and possibly a hemispherical head. This creates a harder and slightly larger surface so that the rubber part of the cane tip can pressure-fit over the tip of the shaft and yet be changed by hand by someone of average strength. Inevitably, sediment particles find their way between the rubber part of the cane tip and the fiberglass shaft of the cane. This allows the debris to rub between the rubber and fiberglass. Since the debris is sometimes harder than the fiberglass, it causes the fiberglass to erode or wear away. Once the rubber tip is removed, the cane shaft will appear to taper sharply inward, becoming narrower exactly where the tip was. This allows the tip to wobble and interferes with the information transmitted. One solution that some people have used is to cut the shaft of the cane, essentially making the cane shorter, and then gluing a small screw into the newly-created opening. If done repeatedly, this process will eventually need to be repeated until the cane becomes many inches shorter, since exposed fiberglass will continue to wear away. Another approach to fixing this problem is to attach a small bullet shell casing to the bottom of the shaft after the metal piece is removed or falls out on its own. Consistently, the factory adhesive used to attach this metal piece gives out within the first month of my use of a new cane, especially in wet seasonal weather. Thus, I have a relatively new cane shaft with an exposed hole at the bottom, prime for receiving a bullet shell casing. Right after I arrived in Ruston, Louisiana, for my graduate studies, I got a new cane. After a week, my tip fell out. Since my canes had only ever been repaired at training centers, I wondered what people around the country were doing. I called the NFB Independence Market, and the staff member who answered the phone told me that she just superglued hers back into her cane when it fell out. She wasn't using bullet shell casings, so I just figured it was like a secret handshake for LCB alumni. The secret is out, but I want it to be available to everyone. The casing should be attached so that the wide end is furthest away from the cane handle and flush with the bottom of the fiberglass cane shaft. It is ideal to use bullet shell casings that are as close to the size of the cane shaft as possible to make a snug fit. This can also be achieved by cutting and/or crimping the casing to fit more snugly. My current cane has a .38 Special bullet shell casing on it. Today, I put glue inside the casing and insert the cane shaft quickly so that it can set and harden. When choosing a type of glue, I encourage people to consider the strength and hardness of the glue. We want it to be strong enough to hold for a long time, even despite elements and the physical abuse of long-term travel. We want it to be hard enough so that it only absorbs a minimal amount of the vibrations that are supposed to travel from the metal cane tip all the way to the blind traveler's brain. I have become most interested in Gorilla Glue and Krazy Glue. I am told that Gorilla Glue is stronger, but Krazy Glue is harder. Bullet shell casing is made of a relatively soft metal, but it is still harder than the debris which generally erodes the cane shaft. This may be purely in my head, but I think the casing prevents the cane from bending quite as much as it could because it is splinting the very bottom of the cane, but the canes are long enough that they can flex with the rest of the shaft. Adding the bullet shell casing and anything else to help attach it can add a little more weight to the end of the cane. Since that weight is all the way out on the end of the cane, it can make the cane tip feel a little bit heavier. If you're wondering where I get the shell casings, I cannot simply go down to the corner store and buy them. To get the bullet shell casings, I ask around to find someone who owns guns and shoots them for a hobby. If I ever found myself in a situation where I could not easily find such a person, I would probably call some gun ranges and local firearm enthusiast organizations. Sometimes, people are willing to donate their bullet shell casings to the freedom of blind people. If this feature becomes a factory default design feature, it may improve the quality of the outcome beyond this aftermarket solution. One of my colleagues back in Hawaii, a bright rehabilitation counselor, proposed that the canes could be dipped in molten metal because some of these soft metals have lower melting points than fiberglass. It would be like fondue for your cane tip. Either way, this modification helps to preserve the tactile feedback of the fiberglass or carbon fiber long white cane. Some people try to make an elaborate science out of how blind people travel through space. It was once pretty bizarre to me, but I now teach this skill on a daily basis. I hope that readers will understand that it really is a common-sense skill set, not too different from swimming. Many good swimmers today were not taught by certified swim instructors. We simply had people who knew how to swim who showed us how to do it, too. Many good travelers can offer tips and tricks to other blind people, and it requires no certification. I like being certified to teach cane travel, and I like teaching it even more. If anyone wants to learn to use a cane, I am always happy to tell them about the benefits of attending a training center accredited by the National Blindness Professional Certification Board, but I also want them to understand that it's not going to be too difficult for them to learn. There are little, common-sense tips and tricks that we can use to modify our canes, which are very simple pieces of equipment. I am not the one who came up with this idea, but I am the one who took the time to write about it. If you want to try this on your cane, give it a shot. ---------- Showing Up with Vision Loss-Even When It's Hard by Maria Johnson From the Editor: Maria Johnson is a blogger who has created the blog Girl Gone Blind. She is the mother of two awesome children, and she found herself having to confront vision loss and legal blindness within seven months. Maria is also a group fitness instructor, blogger, podcaster, and speaker who lives in San Diego, California. In this blog post she is speaking to a friend who wants to know how to cope with vision loss. Although I wish she had suggested that her friend get involved with the National Federation of the Blind, I think her advice is much like that which we would give. Hiding is not the answer; self- isolation in the familiar is not the answer; begging off for social appointments is not the answer; simply staying in a state of feeling sorry for oneself is no answer. I hope you enjoy her writing as much as I do: When I'm asked to speak about how I pulled myself through the hard stuff after my vision loss, I tend to start flipping through my mental photo album: an album full of throwbacks, flashbacks, and emotions. It's a bit like Facebook Memories, with photos reminding us of the good, the bad, and the fun moments we had during a specific year. My album is spectacular, and it tells my story. Losing most of my vision at the age of fifty was NOT easy. It was hard sometimes. Even if I made this going blind thing look like no big deal-I was devastated by my diagnosis. I often felt debilitated by how hard it was to acknowledge, adjust, and accept this new way of "seeing" the world. However, there was one thing I did (and still do) consistently during that time. I chose to show up with vision loss every day-even when it got hard. In a constantly changing world, we can't rely on the perfect moment to unveil itself and wait for us to decide what to do. If opportunities, invitations, or events present themselves, we need to take advantage of them, or else they will pass us by-possibly leaving us with regrets, guilt, and a victim mentality. There were many, and I mean MANY, moments where I had to make the choice to show up or not. As my vision declined, the idea of going out to my daughter's high school swim meets, my son's college symphony performances, social events, Girls' Night Out, teach my group fitness classes, or attend a support group for the blind was...totally...overwhelming. A big part of me did not want to show up to anything. In my mind, staying at home was so much easier mentally and physically. Home was where I was safe and comfortable. Home was where I didn't have to figure out how to navigate and wade through the rough waters of the outside world with vision loss. Everything seemed so hard, and I was not having any of it. (Insert tantrum here.) Yet, a small part of me knew that I should show up to my new, unexpected, upside-down, and heavily scheduled life-and deal with the scary stuff. Well actually, showing up was not what I should do. Nope. Showing up was what I NEEDED to do! I needed to show up to my kid's sporting events and music performances. I needed to show up to teach my group fitness classes. I needed to show up to social events, happy hours, Bunco and Girls' Night Out with my BFFs. I needed to show up to find support and connection with others in the LHON [Leber's Hereditary Optic Neuropathy] and blind community. I needed to show up to learn how to do the everyday things I visually took for granted in the past. I needed to show up to figure out how to survive this overwhelmingness. And, If I kept choosing to show up, that meant I was not choosing to give up. But, truth be told, I wasn't always gung-ho about this "showing up" thing. What most people never knew was that I circled the drain many times. I was so mentally weak. I wanted all my torment and tears to disappear for good. And each time I felt this pain, a wee rational voice in my head would pop in and say "Stop!" A slam on the brakes kind of stop-keeping me from spiraling down the dark drain, again. And still, every day, I would ask the universe, "How the hell am I supposed to do this?" I was at a loss. I kicked. I screamed. I fell. I cried. I was afraid. I panicked. I fought. I got stuck. I grieved. I stumbled. I raged. I paused. I froze. I shook. I dug deep. I listened. I broke down. I grew. And I slowly began to show up-making my way through the muck and the misery-pulling myself through the hard stuff. I had more life to live, even if it was different from all that I knew. Okay, so what can I tell you about the process behind showing up with vision loss? A LOT! And all you people standing in the back, come up front. You'll want to hear this! Choose to show up Just show up. It's that easy, right?! Not really. Showing up with vision loss isn't always a piece of cake. Wait. What? Is there cake? I'll show up if there is cake! Choosing to show up is going to be uncomfortable and scary at times-- like being chased by a swarm of murder hornets scary! Yep. It just will. You may think, "Why should I choose to deal with discomfort instead of denial? Why should I choose the scary instead of the status quo?" The answer? Because that is what it takes to gain (and reinforce) the confidence and courage you may have lost when vision loss came into your life. Expect it to be hard Unexpectedly losing your vision later in life is a game changer, but not game over. However, don't plan for it to be an easy change. Expect the change to be hard, and when it is, do it anyway. This is where we need to get good at understanding our difficult emotions. Naturally, emotions like fear, discomfort, and angst, are ones everybody tries to avoid. We need to discover why these emotions bubble up when they do and learn how to sit with them. Feel them. Talk about them. Instead of resisting or stuffing them down with that "piece of cake" I mentioned earlier. Umm, I won't judge, I've done it too. Anyhoo...if we seek to understand our heavy emotions (not eat them), we can let them go. Letting go of what weighs us down will free us up to handle the next hard thing with strength and grace. Hold on to your "whys" If we know and hold onto our "whys," then we'll be more apt to show up, even when it's hard. My whys are my kids, my GGB [blog] goals, and my wildly "untamed" future, which includes cake. Hey, don't be all judgin' ME now, sweetheart! A girl needs her cake every now and then. These "whys" are more important than the pain of the past. Sometimes we need to step back and look at how and why we have made it this far-right to this very moment. Think about it. Pretty amazing, right? Coach Yourself Coach yourself with a pep talk, the same supportive pep talk we would give a dear friend if they were in our shoes. Something like, "I know you don't feel like it, but you're worth it. I know you're strong enough and brave enough to do this!" Take a breath, and repeat it if you need to. If we don't believe we can show up and do big things, who else will? When and where we show up with vision loss, or any other disability, matters. Because showing up means we're not giving up-even when it's hard. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Chris Danielsen] President Mark Riccobono Recognized with Baltimore Business Journal Leaders in Diversity Award for 2020 by Chris Danielsen From the Editor: Chris Danielsen is our highly talented director of public relations. In this brief article he recognizes a tribute given to a man who works so hard on our behalf. Here is what he says: Often we express tremendous gratitude for and to the people who come to serve as leaders in the National Federation of the Blind, but it is particularly gratifying when other organizations recognize the character, creativity, and commitment of the people we have elected. The most recent recognition of our President came from a respected weekly paper called the Baltimore Business Journal, affectionately known locally as the BBJ, which bestowed on him one of its 2020 Leaders in Diversity Awards. The recognition included a profile published in the newspaper and also means that President Riccobono will speak briefly at a virtual presentation to be held in September. The profile that appeared in the BBJ on June 5, 2020, was not the first time President Riccobono was featured in the publication. Our decision to take our 2020 convention virtual was covered by the BBJ in late April as well, and Joanna Sullivan, the paper's editor-in-chief who covered that news, also penned President Riccobono's award profile. Ms. Sullivan was certainly impressed that our President is only forty-three years of age, that he leads a civil rights organization of the blind, and that he is undaunted by the challenge of organizing a national convention that, because of the coronavirus, must be held virtually. Whenever one of us gets an award, that award not only symbolizes the work of the person getting it, but provides the National Federation of the Blind with an opportunity to spread the word about what we do, the obstacles we face, and the work we do to overcome them. As President Riccobono noted in the profile, "One of our challenges is to be recognized as valuable citizens who can contribute to the productivity of the nation and then to land ourselves jobs as part of America's workforce. We must be included in the diversity initiatives to which many companies claim to commit themselves, so in addition to removing barriers that stem from lack of access, the Federation's larger job is to change the attitude of society so that we are seen not as takers but as givers." President Riccobono also shares in the profile: "As a blind person, I understand at a very personal level the low expectations blind people face, the barriers that hold blind people back. I'm driven by the recognition on a daily basis of how much untapped potential there is about blind people. ... Blindness wasn't a barrier to my success. It was people's perceptions about my blindness." When asked why blind people are important, President Riccobono said, "Blind people and their talents aren't being fully used in society. They're not being allowed to participate fully. They're not being given the type of training and opportunities they need. You just have a lot of talent that is sidelined." When asked about a primary issue for blind people, President Riccobono identified one of the most critical issues facing us during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. "We're focusing on voting," he said. "A lot of states have paper or electronic ballots. That's hard for the blind person who doesn't have access to a computer. You don't have a way to fill it out. As for the paper, not everyone has someone they trust." When asked about other ways we are reacting to the pandemic and the problems it presents us, the President said: "I think this situation is going to challenge us to think differently. We're going to come up with some innovative ideas. In addition to the things that work, we are going to come up with things that are going to fail. ... We don't know the impact on our fundraising yet. That's kind of a wild card." When asked what he has learned about himself and the people he works with in this crisis, President Riccobono said, "I guess first and foremost, for me, I already knew it was important to have real personal interaction- the heart you put into the work that you do. To be mission-driven, you have to have your heart, not just your mind in it to protect the rights of blind people. I try to live that, and my colleagues bring it as well." ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Matt Hackert] Dolphin GuideConnect by Matt Hackert From the Editor: Matt is one of the new-comers to the staff, and his inquisitiveness and ability to communicate are a real plus for the Braille Monitor. A caller originally rang me to complain about the frustrations of using a computer but mentioned with some appreciation this software and asked if we might want to run a review. Matt readily agreed, and here is what he says: Introduction GuideConnect, from Dolphin Computer Access, is a self-contained, accessible productivity and entertainment suite for the blind. It is self- voiced and includes an email client, web browser, word processor, calendar, address book, and music player, along with other miscellaneous utilities. Its walled-garden, menu-driven design simplifies use and reduces the number of commands needed to achieve competency with a computer and stay connected with loved ones and the digital world. It runs on Windows computers and tablets, and there is a set-top box version which allows for use via television. GuideConnect is not available for iOS or Android devices. Additionally, there is a Dolphin Remote which works with both the computer or set-top version. Finally, in most instances, voice dictation is available for inputting text. GuideConnect is an overhaul of Dolphin Guide, which some readers may already be familiar with. GuideConnect has reduced the number of keystrokes needed and has removed some less-popular features and outdated technologies that the older Dolphin Guide included. In addition, GuideConnect has added some features, notably connectivity with Bookshare, NFB-NEWSLINE?, and the NLS Talking Book program. This article primarily focuses on the GuideConnect package. Another product worth mentioning offered by Dolphin Computer Access is GuideReader. Essentially, they removed the other utilities like the word processor and web browser and left just the books and newspapers to connect with NLS BARD, NFB-NEWSLINE?, and other libraries. While I did not download and test GuideReader, I feel it is safe to presume these functions work identically to how they work as part of GuideConnect. But GuideReader may be a more affordable option to someone not interested in all the other bells and whistles. One word of caution I feel should be made very clear: while GuideConnect is very easy to use and comes with a lot of features and tools, I cannot overstate the point that it should never be used as a precursor to learning a fully functional screen reader such as JAWS or NVDA. Unfortunately, this approach is frequently adopted in technology training for the blind, and it routinely sets students up for failure when they try to make the transition from Dolphin to running a computer without the "training wheels." There is very little common ground or transferrable knowledge, and the student might as well start from square one. That being said, it can be a very useful way for someone who has lost sight later in life to maintain connection with loved ones without the challenges inherent in learning a screen reader and all the intricacies of operating a computer. GuideConnect may also be an appropriate solution in certain instances where the student has a brain injury or other cognitive challenges. I feel it best to leave that determination to those who are professionals in access technology training, from the perspective of Structured Discovery, but certainly not used as a short-cut approach to make learning a screen reader easier. My Review What Comes "In the Box"? GuideConnect includes the following features: . An email client that can connect to most MIME and POP email services . A rich text word processor . A web browser . OCR (optical character recognition) capabilities . Specialized applets designed for connecting with online book and newspaper services including NFB-NEWSLINE?, Bookshare, and the National Library Service Talking Book program . Address book . Calendar . Notes . Entertainment application for internet radio, podcasts, and music playing . Tools including a calculator and dictionary, file management, backup and restore functions, and access to training and support Setup Installation of the program is fairly simple, although it may be a challenge for some that the application is targeting. Connecting to my Gmail account got a little tricky. Google alerts you to confirm you authorized a third-party application to connect to your account. Connecting my other accounts such as NLS BARD, Bookshare, and NFB-NEWSLINE? were as simple as just providing my login credentials. My impression from reading their support materials is that the expectation is a family member or friend will be called upon to do the initial setup for someone who wishes to use GuideConnect. Navigation Navigating through GuideConnect is simple and straightforward. One need only use the arrow keys and the F2 key, which accesses an "Actions" menu, akin to the common context menu many Windows users are familiar with. Most everything works as advertised, and other than typing information into text fields, you really can get around most things with nothing more than the four arrow keys and the F2 key. Additionally, most editing areas also allow for voice dictation. I do have to make note of one exception, that being the web browser. Now, I cannot fully blame the developers for this issue; as a former access technology instructor, I can state with some authority that learning web navigation with a screen reader is probably the most difficult of all fundamental computer skills to master. When a software developer tries to implement a scheme for web navigation with minimal commands and concepts to learn, (stripping down many of the parts of a full screen reader that a blind user relies on), the developer takes take away many of the enhancements that one learns over time which allows the blind user to become more efficient at using the internet. That being said, the browser built into GuideConnect is quite simple. It includes a "search this webpage" feature for finding text within the webpage you've loaded. It offers links lists and headings lists which you also find elsewhere. You can press the letter H or Shift + H to navigate on a page by heading. That's about it for the extent to which GuideConnect overlaps with other screen readers. When an edit field is in focus, it reads the label and tells you to select to enter text. Similar instructions are given when focus lands on check boxes, radio buttons, and other common form controls. But there is no analogue to JAWS' "Forms mode" or NVDA's "Object" and "Browse" modes. As an experiment, I tried to purchase a copy of Stephen King's The Shining on Amazon.com. Without many of the features in JAWS that improve usability of websites, I found it very tedious even finding my search results, and I felt I already had an advantage being familiar with its website, having used it with JAWS and NVDA in the past. Still though, perhaps for looking up recipes and reading news stories or blogs, it may be sufficient for some users. I tried shopping because I felt that may also be an activity many people using GuideConnect would appreciate having access to. On the other hand, one feature I feel worth mentioning as a positive is GuideConnect's interface with the National Library Service Talking Book Program. In particular, I appreciate the ability to listen to audiobooks from BARD directly on my computer. This is something that, to my knowledge, is not available any other way; you must download files and unzip them onto a flash drive, or otherwise transfer them to proprietary reading hardware like a Victor Stream. Software like BARDExpress and the Victor Companion streamline this process in some cases, but it still involves extra steps. With GuideConnect, you don't even have to add a book to your Wishlist first like you would do with the BARD Mobile iOS app. Customizability GuideConnect has a thorough settings menu giving the user robust control of many accessibility features and other configuration items. There are multiple voice options, controls over verbosity, and typing feedback. While you can select announcement of typed characters, words, or both, I was disappointed that you could not disable all typing feedback. Also, while you can adjust the speech rate, the fastest setting was still slower than I am accustomed to hearing from my screen reader. I can't say, however, how many other users might end up feeling that way as well. While I am completely blind and did not evaluate the low vision options, this section also included a wide variety of options to configure, including magnification, enlarged mouse pointers, and various color schemes. Conclusion While I was unable to experiment with setting up all of the various options, particularly OCR, voice dictation, and printing, I feel GuideConnect is a well-built product for a particular market. I have to reiterate that I would not recommend GuideConnect as a "bridge" to learning a full screen reader, and I feel it would be extremely limiting to use it in an employment capacity. But for individuals who have lost their sight later in life, perhaps after retirement, and do not have the patience required to learn computing nonvisually, this product is one that would work well. The initial installation and setup of accounts may require assistance, but if you don't have someone available to help with setting up the program, GuideConnect comes with telephone, email, and remote assistance. ---------- Recipes This month's recipes come from the NFB of Ohio. Sweet Potato Pie by Delcenia Brown Delcenia Brown is a member of the Cleveland chapter. She is also active in deaf-blind activities. She recently completed a Braille course that the Ohio affiliate taught in conjunction with the state rehabilitation agency. She proudly reports that she is now reading Braille books. Ingredients: 4 to 6 yams or sweet potatoes, depending on their size 2 eggs 1 cup sugar (I prefer Domino and add more to taste) 1 can Eagle brand sweetened condensed milk 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1 stick butter 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, or to taste 2 deep-dish pie crusts Method: Peel and cut up potatoes and cook covered in salted water until very tender. Drain and place in mixer bowl to cool a little. Before baking pies, lightly prick deep-dish crusts with a fork and place in a 350- degree oven for three to five minutes. Set aside. In mixing bowl mix cooked yams slowly. Add remaining ingredients. The order does not matter. Make sure the filling is not lumpy. When done mixing, pour mixture into deep pie crusts. Bake at 350 degrees for about one hour until filling is done and pie crust is brown. Lightly touch the center of the pie; it should feel firm, not wobbly, and a toothpick or knife will come out clean. ---------- Chicken Tortilla Soup by Debbie Baker Debbie Baker is president of the NFB of Springfield. She is also a retired teacher of blind children. She has taught in every BELL Academy Ohio has conducted. Ingredients: 4 large chicken breasts or 8 chicken thighs, browned and shredded 1 onion 2 cans cream of chicken soup 2 cans cream of mushroom soup 2 cans cream of celery soup 2 cans cheddar cheese soup 1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes 1 can Rotel tomatoes 1 cup salsa Chili powder, cayenne pepper, and black pepper to taste Chicken stock to thin the soup if desired Method: Combine and cook all ingredients in a covered six-quart soup pot or other vessel for one hour on high. Reduce heat to low and cook for two more hours. Top with one or more of the following: sour cream, pico de gallo, shredded cheddar, crunchy multi-colored tortilla strips, cilantro, or parsley. Add chicken broth during cooking if you wish to thin the soup. Serve with flour or corn tortillas. ---------- [PHOTO/CAPTION: Jordy Stringer] Eggplant Parmesan by Jordy Stringer Jordy Stringer is the executive director of the Southeastern Ohio Center for Independent Living. He is also an active Federationist. Ingredients: 2 tablespoons tomato paste 1 #2 can tomatoes 2 tablespoons olive oil Pinch salt 1 large eggplant ? cup olive oil Salt and pepper to taste 2 cups breadcrumbs ? cup grated parmesan cheese 1 tablespoon chopped parsley 2 cloves garlic, minced Pinch of salt and pepper ? pound mozzarella cheese Method: Blend the tomato paste with the canned tomatoes. Add two tablespoons olive oil and a pinch of salt and simmer in a saucepan for about thirty minutes. Peel and slice the eggplant crosswise into half-inch slices. Place in a bowl and cover with hot water. Let stand for about five minutes. Drain and dry with paper towels. Fry eggplant in half-cup of olive oil for about three minutes on each side or until soft and lightly browned. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Remove from pan. In a medium bowl mix together the breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, parsley, garlic, salt, and pepper. Place one layer of eggplant slices in the bottom of a greased baking dish. Sprinkle with breadcrumb mixture. Pour some of the tomato sauce over eggplant. Alternate these two layers until eggplant and tomato mixture are used. Top with thinly sliced or grated mozzarella. Bake for ten minutes in a 350-degree oven or until mozzarella turns slightly brown. Serve very hot. Makes four to six servings. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Richard Payne] Balsamic Herb-Grilled Chicken Breasts by Richard Payne Richard Payne is president of the NFB of Ohio. He lives in Dayton and is a member of the NFB of the Miami Valley. Ingredients: 4 skinless boned chicken breast halves 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil ? cup balsamic vinegar 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped 2 tablespoons garlic, minced 1 tablespoon dried basil 2 teaspoons dried oregano Method: In a bowl whisk together oil, vinegar, parsley, garlic, basil, and oregano. Place the chicken breasts in a Ziploc plastic bag. Pour marinade over chicken. Close bag and massage to coat meat evenly. Allow to rest for ten minutes or longer if you like. Cook on grill heated to 375 degrees. Cook, turning several times, till meat reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Meat will feel firm to the touch when done. Serves four. ---------- Blueberry Cream Muffins by Asia Quinones-Evans Asia is a member of the NFB of Lorain County and treasurer of the Ohio Association of Blind Students. Ingredients: 4 eggs 2 cups white sugar 1 cup vegetable oil 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking soda 2 cups sour cream 2 cups blueberries Method: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease twenty-four large muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners. In large bowl beat eggs, and gradually add sugar while beating. Continue beating while slowly pouring in oil. Stir in vanilla. In a separate bowl stir together flour, salt, and baking soda. Stir dry ingredients into egg mixture alternately with sour cream. Gently fold in blueberries. Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake in preheated oven for twenty minutes. Muffins are done when a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Eric Duffy] Tater Tot Casserole by Eric Duffy Eric Duffy was a tenBroek Fellow in the scholarship class of 2019 and is about to receive his master's degree in business administration. He also serves as the secretary of the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio. He served as director of access technology at the Jernigan Institute and, for four years, as president of the Ohio Affiliate. Here is what he says: We used this recipe in our 2019 Bell Academy. Not only did our students get to eat it, but they helped make it. They learned, they had fun, and everyone enjoyed it. Ingredients: 1 pound ground beef Pinch of salt and ground black pepper to taste 1 10.75-ounce can condensed cream of mushroom soup 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese 1 (16 ounce) package frozen tater tots Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook and stir ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat until no longer pink and completely browned, seven to ten minutes. Season with salt and black pepper. Stir cream of mushroom soup into the cooked ground beef; pour the mixture into a 9x13- inch baking dish. Arrange tater tots evenly over the ground beef mixture. Top with cheddar cheese. Bake until tater tots are golden brown and hot, thirty to forty-five minutes. ---------- 3-2-1 Cake by Barbara Shaidnagle Barbara Shaidnagle is an at-large member of Ohio, living in Massillon, Ohio. She is also a Circle of Honor member. BELL Academy volunteers may recognize this recipe from BELL activities. Ingredients: 1 box angel food cake mix 1 box any flavor cake mix 2 tablespoons water Method: In a Ziploc bag combine the two cake mixes together and mix well. To make each individual cake, take out three tablespoons of the cake mix combination and mix it with two tablespoons of water in a small microwave-safe container like a coffee mug. Microwave on high for one minute, and you have your own instant individual little cake. Keep remaining cake mixture stored in the Ziploc bag and use whenever you feel like enjoying a treat. You can top each cake with a dollop of fat-free whipped topping and/or some fresh fruit. Helpful Tips: This recipe is called 3-2-1 Cake because all you need to remember is "3 tablespoons mix, 2 tablespoons water, and 1 minute in the microwave." Try various flavors of cake mix like carrot, red velvet, pineapple, lemon, orange, etc. Just remember that one of the mixes has to be the angel food cake; the other is your choice. The flavor possibilities are endless. ---------- Pineapple Walnut Cake by Patricia McPherson From the Editor: Pat is a member of the Greater Akron chapter. Ingredients: 2 eggs 2 8-ounce cans Dole crushed pineapple, undrained 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 cups sugar 2 cups flour 2 teaspoons baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup chopped walnuts Method: In a large bowl combine and stir together the ingredients in order listed. Spray a 15-by-10-inch jelly roll pan with cooking spray. Spread batter evenly in pan. Bake at 350 degrees for fifteen to eighteen minutes. When cake is done, cool pan on wire rack. Ingredients for cream cheese icing: 8 ounces softened cream cheese 1 stick softened butter 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ? cup powdered sugar 1/3 cup walnuts, chopped Method: With mixer beat cream cheese. Gradually add butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Spread on cooled cake. Sprinkle nuts over surface. ---------- Monitor Miniatures News from the Federation Family Blind Pennsylvanians Win Victory on Absentee Voting A federal district judge has ordered the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to provide an accessible write-in ballot (AWIB) to blind Pennsylvania voters for the June 2 primary election. The ruling is a victory for Joseph Drenth, a blind Chalfont resident, who fears going to his local polling place because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Drenth's immune system is slightly compromised, and his wife and mother-in-law, with whom he lives, both have asthma and complicating factors. The Honorable Jennifer P. Wilson, district judge for the Federal District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, issued a temporary restraining order after a Wednesday hearing in the lawsuit that Mr. Drenth and the National Federation of the Blind of Pennsylvania (NFB-PA) filed last week. The court's order requires the state to provide blind voters with a list of the candidates on the ballot for their voting district along with an accessible electronic form on which they can type in their choices for each office. Blind Pennsylvania voters who wish to use the AWIB must request the accessible form by no later than 8:00 p.m. on Friday, May 29. Eligible voters must have applied for an absentee or mail-in ballot by the May 26, 2020, deadline and not yet have submitted a paper ballot. The AWIB must be submitted along with a declaration and a valid identification number. Voters must return their AWIB materials by first-class mail or hand- delivery to the County Board of Elector's office in the voter's jurisdiction by no later than 8:00 p.m. on June 2, 2020. The lawsuit, which will continue in order to resolve the question of accessible absentee and mail-in ballot solutions for elections later this year, alleges violations of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The plaintiffs were represented by Disability Rights Pennsylvania and Brown, Goldstein & Levy LLP. "Although this temporary solution is not ideal, we commend Judge Wilson for ruling expeditiously, for making it clear that commonwealth officials must respect the rights of blind voters, and for recognizing that the status quo was unacceptable," said Lynn Heitz, president of the National Federation of the Blind of Pennsylvania. "In light of this ruling and the judge's clear direction at the hearing, we hope that the Commonwealth will work quickly with us to identify and implement a fully ADA-compliant voting solution for future elections." National Federation of the Blind Sues Duke University: Lawsuit Alleges Discrimination Against Blind Students Raleigh, North Carolina (June 4, 2020): Duke University systematically discriminates against blind students and alumni in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act, according to a lawsuit filed today. The action, brought by the National Federation of the Blind and Duke MBA Mary Fernandez, alleges that Duke failed to ensure that blind students can interact with digital content and platforms and access course materials-including hard-copy Braille materials and hard-copy tactile graphics when requested and appropriate-on an equal basis with students without disabilities. According to the lawsuit, Plaintiff Mary Fernandez is a blind student who began the Duke Daytime MBA program in the fall of 2018. To read print, Ms. Fernandez uses screen access software, Job Access with Speech ("JAWS"), which vocalizes the text using synthesized speech or displays it on a connected device called a refreshable Braille display. For STEM subjects, Ms. Fernandez also uses hard-copy Braille and tactile graphics to better understand the complex concepts because refreshable Braille displays only display a single line of Braille cells at a time, and thus are not useful for complex equations, coordinate planes, diagrams, maps, and other graphics. Ms. Fernandez met with the Assistant Director of Student Life before she enrolled and was assured Duke would provide the accommodations she needed to have equal access to her education. From the start, however, Ms. Fernandez experienced barriers that permeated every aspect of her educational experience. When she applied for admission, she encountered an inaccessible web-based application. When she registered online for courses, she could not access the course descriptions. When she utilized the employer recruiting system, she could not set up her user profile and could not utilize any of the search functions. In addition, Duke failed to provide Ms. Fernandez with timely access to accessible course materials, including hard-copy Braille and tactile graphics when she requested them. As a result, Ms. Fernandez was continually forced to divert her time and attention away from her studies to advocate for equal access to her education. "Blind students must have access to course materials in accessible formats including Braille, along with equal access to digital platforms and content, at the same time as sighted students in order to have an equal opportunity to succeed," said Mark Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind. "This is not a new issue; it has been a focus of our advocacy for nearly two decades, and institutions of higher education have no excuse for not meeting this legal and moral obligation. The blind cannot and will not tolerate discrimination of this kind." "The failure to provide blind students with timely, accessible course materials and career services not only harms their educational experience, it puts their future career and economic self-sufficiency at risk," said Virginia Knowlton Marcus, chief executive officer of Disability Rights North Carolina. "Duke University, in particular, has previously been sued by Disability Rights NC regarding the inaccessibility of its course materials and has the responsibility to know better and do better." "I expected an institution with Duke's high standards and reputation to be able to meet my needs as a blind student and was assured that would happen," said Ms. Fernandez. "Instead, my time at Duke has been something of a nightmare. I hope the action I am now taking will improve things for future blind students who want to attend Duke." The plaintiffs are represented by the attorneys of Disability Rights NC and the law firm of Brown, Goldstein & Levy LLP. The NFB of Minnesota Turns One Hundred The NFB of Minnesota turns one hundred this year. To celebrate, an audio history of the accomplishments over that time has been put together. The audio is not currently available, but will be soon. The text version can be found at www.nfbmn.org/100 years. Blind Students and Advocates Resolve Dispute with College Board over AP Exams Students Will Receive Braille Exams, Tactile Graphics Baltimore, Maryland (May 29, 2020): Kaleigh Brendle, a blind advanced- placement (AP) high school student from New Jersey, and the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), the nation's leading advocate for the equal education of the blind, have resolved their dispute with the College Board over its administration of the advanced placement examinations to blind and deaf-blind students during the coronavirus pandemic. Ms. Brendle and the NFB filed complaints with the United States Department of Education and Department of Justice on behalf of themselves and four other named students, as well as the class of all other blind and deafblind students. The complaints alleged that the students' rights were violated when the College Board instituted a digital-only format for the exams because of the pandemic and did not provide hard-copy Braille tests and/or hard-copy tactile graphics to students who had requested and been granted those accommodations. The complaints have been withdrawn in light of today's resolution. Without admitting wrongdoing, the College Board has agreed to allow certain students to retake AP exams using hard-copy tactile graphics (including charts, coordinate planes, diagrams, maps, etc.) and to administer hard-copy Braille tests to students who were already approved for Braille and who request to take or retake their exams with hard-copy Braille. Students will be able to take the Braille tests by September 15, 2020. For students who retake exams with hard-copy tactile graphics or hard- copy Braille, any prior answers or test scores will be disregarded. The College Board will also provide a letter to affected high school seniors explaining the delay in testing and scoring so that these seniors can provide that information to institutions of higher education. In a separate letter not related to the complaints, the College Board has also agreed to consult with the National Federation of the Blind on procedures for administering the SAT and SAT subject tests to blind and deafblind students. "My fellow blind and deafblind AP scholars and I never sought confrontation, compensation, or publicity. We desired only to receive fair treatment and to be provided with the materials we require in order to succeed," said Kaleigh Brendle. "We raised our voices on behalf of those who could not, with the hope that every student who needed Braille would receive it. We are grateful to the College Board for listening to and understanding our concerns and working with us to institute change. Now, we can resume preparing for these influential exams and shaping our futures as empowered advocates of equality and opportunity." "It has been a privilege to work alongside these courageous students who raised their voices about the unfair treatment they received during an already stressful time," said Mark Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind. "This swift and equitable agreement exemplifies the power of collective action. We look forward to further cooperation and collaboration between the College Board and the organized blind movement to improve opportunities for all blind and deafblind scholars." Ms. Brendle and the National Federation of the Blind were represented by Sharon Krevor-Weisbaum and Kevin Docherty of Brown, Goldstein & Levy LLP. ---------- NFB Pledge I pledge to participate actively in the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind to achieve equality, opportunity, and security for the blind; to support the policies and programs of the Federation; and to abide by its constitution. From buhrow at lothlorien.nfbcal.org Sun Sep 6 08:24:55 2020 From: buhrow at lothlorien.nfbcal.org (Brian Buhrow) Date: Sun, 6 Sep 2020 08:24:55 -0700 Subject: [Brl-monitor] The Braille Monitor, August/September 2020 Message-ID: <202009061524.086FOtZR011387@nfbcal.org> BRAILLE MONITOR Vol. 63, No. 8 August/September 2020 Gary Wunder, Editor Distributed by email, in inkprint, in Braille, and on USB flash drive, by the NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND Mark Riccobono, President telephone: 410-659-9314 email address: nfb at nfb.org website address: http://www.nfb.org NFBnet.org: http://www.nfbnet.org NFB-NEWSLINE? information: 866-504-7300 Like us on Facebook: Facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind Follow us on Twitter: @NFB_Voice Watch and share our videos: YouTube.com/NationsBlind Letters to the President, address changes, subscription requests, and orders for NFB literature should be sent to the national office. Articles for the Monitor and letters to the editor may also be sent to the national office or may be emailed to gwunder at nfb.org. Monitor subscriptions cost the Federation about forty dollars per year. Members are invited, and nonmembers are requested, to cover the subscription cost. Donations should be made payable to National Federation of the Blind and sent to: National Federation of the Blind 200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place Baltimore, Maryland 21230-4998 THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND KNOWS THAT BLINDNESS IS NOT THE CHARACTERISTIC THAT DEFINES YOU OR YOUR FUTURE. EVERY DAY WE RAISE THE EXPECTATIONS OF BLIND PEOPLE, BECAUSE LOW EXPECTATIONS CREATE OBSTACLES BETWEEN BLIND PEOPLE AND OUR DREAMS. YOU CAN LIVE THE LIFE YOU WANT; BLINDNESS IS NOT WHAT HOLDS YOU BACK. THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND IS NOT AN ORGANIZATION SPEAKING FOR THE BLIND-IT IS THE BLIND SPEAKING FOR OURSELVES. ISSN 0006-8829 ? 2020 by the National Federation of the Blind Each issue is recorded on a thumb drive (also called a memory stick or USB flash drive). You can read this audio edition using a computer or a National Library Service digital player. The NLS machine has two slots-the familiar book-cartridge slot just above the retractable carrying handle and a second slot located on the right side near the headphone jack. This smaller slot is used to play thumb drives. Remove the protective rubber pad covering this slot and insert the thumb drive. It will insert only in one position. If you encounter resistance, flip the drive over and try again. (Note: If the cartridge slot is not empty when you insert the thumb drive, the digital player will ignore the thumb drive.) Once the thumb drive is inserted, the player buttons will function as usual for reading digital materials. If you remove the thumb drive to use the player for cartridges, when you insert it again, reading should resume at the point you stopped. You can transfer the recording of each issue from the thumb drive to your computer or preserve it on the thumb drive. However, because thumb drives can be used hundreds of times, we would appreciate their return in order to stretch our funding. Please use the return envelope enclosed with the drive when you return the device. Vol. 63, No. 8 August/September 2020 Contents Illustration: The BELL Academy Comes to Your Home The 2020 Convention Roundup by Gary Wunder The National Federation of the Blind 2020 Convention Principles of Engagement Presidential Report 2020 by Mark A. Riccobono Scholarship Thank You to Sponsors Scholarship Remarks from Our 2020 Finalists The 2020 Scholarship Presentation by Cayte Mendez Language, Action, and Destiny: The Lived Experience of the Organized Blind Movement by Mark A. Riccobono Ray Kurzweil Remarks The Presentation of the Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award Interview with Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi Authentic Intelligence: A Blind Researcher Bringing Wisdom to the Future of Technology Innovations by Cynthia L. Bennett Not Blind to Color in the Federation: A Panel on the Experience of Black and Blind in America by Ever Lee Hairston, Denice Brown, Ron Brown, Bobbi Pompei, and Tarik Williams Equal Justice under Law: A Blind Clerk Blazes a Trail behind the Scenes at the Supreme Court by Laura Wolk Our Roots: Advancing Human Rights and the Tradition of Serving Our Nation by Mariyam Cementwala Presenting the Distinguished Educator of Blind Children Award by Carla McQuillan Convention 2020 Resolutions: A Potpourri of Influences by Sharon Maneki 2020 Resolutions A Test of Strength and Equality: Blind Students Organized Against the College Board by Kaleigh Brendle Convention Miniatures [PHOTO/CAPTION: Jon Paul practices typing on a Braille writer with his fellow students via Zoom.] [PHOTO/CAPTION: Kingston smiles while checking on his germinating seeds project.] [PHOTO/CAPTION: Liz wears sleep shades during her cane walk lesson on Zoom.] [PHOTO/CAPTION: Mae smiles as she stands outside with her new white cane.] The BELL Academy Comes to Your Home For the last dozen years, the Federation has come to associate summer with teaching Braille to blind children through our Braille Enrichment through Literacy and Learning Academy (BELL). The key to BELL has been providing hands-on instruction, often one on one, for a two-week program. COVID-19 threatened this program and tradition, but when challenged, Federationists found creativity where others might have found crisis. We figured out how to teach Braille through classes made possible by the Internet and the connections it enabled. Like we normally do in person, the staff combined teaching and play, and several times each week were conferences between participants and the BELL teachers in their states. The work and the fun concluded with what we called a BELLebration on the evening of August 20, and everyone is looking forward to next year when we hope to all be together again. [PHOTO CAPTION: Gary Wunder] The 2020 Convention Roundup by Gary Wunder Eighty years ago sixteen people from seven states journeyed across the country to talk about their state organizations. Beyond that, they came to grapple with the growing role of the federal government in programs for the blind and the need to speak with one voice rather than many smaller voices to that ever-growing body that was coming to dominate programs of financial support and rehabilitation. The concept of blind people speaking for themselves and exercising influence was radical. As one agency director remarked about the thought of blind people exercising influence in the programs that served them: "It is like turning over the keys of the asylum to the inmates housed there." Many of the organizations created to help the blind rejected the idea that we could become a force for change. The things we wanted-to get an education, get a job, have a family, and play a meaningful role in our communities-that was clearly impossible. But when the blind came together to meet and share their stories nationally, they found that some of the things they dreamed about were actually reflected in the lives of people they had not known before. We wanted to be teachers, and when we searched the nation we found a teacher here and there. Some of us wanted to be college professors, and the man heading this new national organization was himself a professor. So those who were charged with seeing to the welfare for the blind gave up saying that what the blind wanted was impossible; instead they said it was virtually impossible. The goal of these blind radicals might ring true for a very few: the lucky, the talented, the intelligent, the very motivated, but the message of those whose job it was to be keepers of the blind said that we would forever be dependent and that we should be grateful that charities and government even gave us what little we got. Interestingly, eight decades later we found ourselves once again trying to figure out what was possible. We wanted to hold a national convention, but the coronavirus made travel far too risky, and the crowds our convention generates would make social distancing impossible. Should we cancel the convention? During a couple of lean years in World War II, this is what we had done, but we were not ready to cancel if there was an alternative. The task might seem virtually impossible, but this time the word virtual would serve rather than hamper us. We could meet through the miracle of modern telecommunications. We could propose policies, discuss them, and decide whether they should be the action plan for blind people in America. This we did through the organizing of the eightieth anniversary convention using the Zoom platform to conduct our business using audio and video. An application called AttendeeHub was useful in letting us visit the exhibit hall, read the agenda, mark items we wanted to attend, and attend that meeting by activating a link. Almost all of the meetings we would have had in person were held virtually, and the numbers who attended them were remarkable. Many of us found that we could easily move from meeting to meeting and actually learned more about the workings of groups, committees, and divisions than we would have at our traditional in-person event. So that we could cast votes with either a conventional telephone, a smartphone, or a computer, we purchased the services of Swift Polling by ExciteM. A week before the convention was to start, many of us met in our first large virtual gathering to participate in the Rookie Roundup. Though it is normally for first-time attendees, this Rookie Roundup was special, because all of us were attending our first virtual national convention, and being veterans did not mean that we would understand details about how to connect, how to move from meeting to meeting, and how to vote. Beginning with the Rookie Roundup and continuing throughout the convention, we made it clear that our code of conduct would be enforced as rigorously in the cloud as it is in person. We would use this opportunity to help grow our organization with continued emphasis on diversity and inclusion. In physical conventions, the times reflected in the agenda are understood to be the time zone in which we are meeting. With this virtual convention, we had to agree on what convention time would be. We decided that in all cases convention events would be referenced in eastern daylight time, and all who participated would quickly learn and make adjustments for their time zone. This took the ambiguity out of when events would be held, but scheduling was another matter. Could we really start the convention at 8 a.m. eastern time? If we did, it would be 2 a.m. in Hawaii, and many from California would still be waiting to be roused from bed by their alarm clocks. Registration was another process that had to undergo some change. In 2020 it was free, but there were no waiting lines and no differentiation between those who wished to register at the event and those who had saved money by pre-registering. Our cutoff for registration was June 15, but just as in our in-person events, we welcomed all to come and participate. Registration made one eligible for a door prize and eligible to vote. All of us were very proud when President Riccobono announced that we registered 7,252 members and that certain program items featured at the convention saw us exceed 8,200 participants. On Tuesday, July 14, we engaged in this great experiment to see whether all of the technology we were trying to harness could really let us meet and transact business. Our first victory was the opening of the presidential suite. Though we were a little light on food and drink, the hospitality was second to none. While some visited, others explored contemporary issues in rehabilitation and education, and, as they so often do, they furthered the process of influencing the programs designed to serve us. The mammoth retailer, Target, talked about its successes in making friendly webpages and applications so that blind people can enjoy browsing and shopping from the convenience of their homes. Shopping takes money, and most of us find that employment is the greatest source of that money. So it is that the National Federation of the Blind Employment Committee met to discuss getting, keeping, and advancing in the job. When most of us think of Microsoft, we think of the Windows operating system, and although Microsoft is working hard to make its operating system and all that runs on it accessible, it also has other projects. One of these is Seeing AI, and it offered a session on the product and recent improvements made to it. It has also developed and is continuing to refine a product called Microsoft Soundscape, which uses innovative audio-based technology to aid in mobility. Our friends at Vispero were also present to talk about three of its major products: JAWS for Windows, Fusion, and ZoomText. Google is best known for its powerful search engine, but it has made major investments in other software and hardware. In several sessions throughout the convention the company conveyed its commitment to accessibility in both its hardware and software and discussed improved automatic image descriptions that will be most helpful to blind people. Members who are American Arab, North African, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and Sikh met to discuss difficulties they face as blind people in the post- 9/11 America in which we live. JPMorgan Chase held an interactive discussion on digital accessibility and banking in the time of the coronavirus. In almost everything he writes or says, President Riccobono concludes by saying, "Let's go build the Federation!" The Membership Committee is a crucial component in coordinating our work to build, and all affiliate membership chairpersons and guests were warmly welcomed to the session. Living through this pandemic has created an urgent need to figure out how to do virtually what previously has been done physically. Accessible learning activities that are done virtually must be meaningful for blind people, so the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children division sponsored a workshop on this topic. Mujeres [Women] of the Federation was a group meeting featuring a bilingual celebration of blind Latinx excellence. The Braille Monitor understands that there were some rather moving speeches made in this group, and we hope they will find their way to the editor for inclusion later in the fall. HumanWare is always a prominent presenter, and this year it sponsored a number of sessions discussing new features in the BrailleNote, in the Victor Trek, and in its projects for low-vision users. Amazon came to tell us what is new in terms of accessibility including Fire TV, tablets, Prime, Video, Echo, and Kindle. Facebook hosted a presentation in which it talked about making its service more accessible and extending its efforts for accessibility throughout the industry. One of the most important services we provide is NFB-NEWSLINE?, and convention is always a good time to advertise it and provide some much- needed training given the number of access methods that now exist. The National Association of Guide Dog Users held two meetings at the convention, and we have every reason to believe that a report will be forthcoming to discuss the advocacy efforts of the division, its concern about training programs, and practical issues surrounding veterinarian care, exercise, and other issues important when having a healthy, happy guide dog. "Transforming Lives for Transgender People" gave members a chance to discuss shared experiences in accessing mental and medical health services, learning useful practices for interacting with healthcare professionals, advice about managing medications, and learning how to navigate daily social interactions. Once again we held a session entitled "SSI and SSDI 101: What You Need to Know." This session is always helpful for recipients and advocates. What's happening with the National Library Service is always important, and Director Karen Keninger was on hand to bring updates and answer questions. With significant elections soon at hand, the topic of electronic ballot delivery and how it works was a well-attended meeting, and so too was the meeting held on the following day to discuss how to privately and independently vote by mail. The need for creative and accessible solutions has always been important, but the need has increased significantly as a result of COVID-19. The National Association of Blind Students held its annual meeting, the advocacy and policy group did a recap of the Washington Seminar and provided a rundown of the priorities the Federation is pursuing legislatively. "Cultivating Asian/ Pacific Islander Identities" generated some wonderful presentations and discussion, as did "Black Leaders Advancing the Federation." "We're Blind, But Not Color-blind" was a topic presented by sociologist Angela Frederick, and what she discussed would appear in a slightly different form in one of the general sessions. The National Association of Blind Students hosted a session entitled "Oh Yes, I Made Mistakes-and Lived to Tell the Tale", a meeting focusing on learning the soft skills of socialization. This is just a sample of the activities that took place on seminar and division day. To truly understand the diversity of the people, professions, and interests represented at the convention, one must go right to the agenda. It can be found by searching the NFB website. The gavel for the board meeting fell promptly at 2 p.m., and all seventeen members were present. As usual, a substantial number of convention attendees also were in attendance, many regarding this as one of our formal convention sessions. The President began with a moment of silence recognizing those marchers in our movement who have passed in the last year. Sixty-six people were on his list, but our prayerful moment of remembrance extended to all who died between our last convention and the present one. Daniel Martinez was in charge of our Spanish translation initiative, and he reported that his twelve volunteers would significantly expand the sessions that were translated and had worked to see that our agenda was also available in Spanish. At the conclusion of Daniel's remarks, President Riccobono asked whether he would like to say the same thing in Spanish. Daniel gently assured him that his remarks had already been translated in real time. Quickly we established that spontaneous humor was not inhibited by our virtual convention or the Zoom platform. We then said the Pledge of Allegiance followed by the Federation pledge. This was followed by a recitation of members of the Board of Directors up for election and a list of those whose terms will expire next year. Those who were up for election in 2020 were: President Mark Riccobono, Maryland; First Vice President Pam Allen, Louisiana; Second Vice President Ron Brown, Indiana; Secretary James Gashel, Hawaii; Treasurer Jeannie Massay, Oklahoma; and board members Amy Buresh, Nebraska; Shawn Callaway, District of Columbia; John Fritz, Wisconsin; Carla McQuillan, Oregon; Amy Ruell, Massachusetts; and Adelmo Vigil, New Mexico. Holdover board positions are filled by Denise Avant, Illinois; Everette Bacon, Utah; Norma Crosby, Texas; Ever Lee Hairston, California; Terri Rupp, Nevada; and Joe Ruffalo, New Jersey. As the president of our convention host, Norma Crosby began by welcoming all of us virtually to Texas. She expressed regret at all of the things we could not do, one of the most important being the sharing of barbecue. But the essence of her message focused on what we could do and would do virtually. She encouraged us to be present for the opening session on Thursday and promised that the greeting from Texas would be all we expected from this grand state. President Riccobono explained that the convention sessions were being captioned and that those using the Zoom platform could take advantage of this service. A written transcript of what was being said could be viewed on screen or in Braille using a refreshable Braille display. The President took a moment to discuss our code of conduct and observed that we follow it not only for in-person meetings but for virtual meetings and on social media. Anyone who believes there has been a violation of the code should report it either by telephoning our Jernigan Institute and using extension 2475 or by emailing coc at nfb.org. Hand-in-hand with our insistence that people be treated with respect is our commitment to diversity and inclusion. We want to welcome all people who are blind or who are interested in our work. This means celebrating our differences as well as our similarities. It means fighting the age-old human urge to give in to tribalism, making a commitment to fight the desire to feel superior because of one's characteristics, and refusing to pretend superiority on the supposed inferiority of another. We will be conducting active programs to encourage diversity and inclusion, and this training will begin with our board of directors, our affiliate presidents, and our chapter presidents. Working with them and through them, the training will be available to every member of every chapter. We will all benefit by the sharing of the diversity we enjoy, and we should use the pages of our Braille Monitor to express this diversity and the challenges that blindness may pose. Shawn Callaway is the co-chair of our Diversity and Inclusion Committee. He talked about the progress made in the past year, meetings planned for the convention, and what he hopes to accomplish in the coming year. He made sure that the convention understood the crucial role that Rosy Carranza plays as his co-chair and acknowledged that the work of the committee is substantial enough that it requires the work of all who serve on it. Given that this convention was virtual, we had to deal with the changes that not meeting physically would require. We did this by creating a Principles of Engagement document. It will be found elsewhere in this issue. Since we would be voting electronically, two votes were scheduled for practice. Neither had anything to do with an official Federation vote. The first issue we were asked to decide was whether the sixty-game baseball season was a good idea or not. We could vote using a regular telephone and pressing one for yes or two for no, or we could use a smart device and text the words yes or no. Jeannie Massay is our Membership Committee co-chairperson and the treasurer of our national organization. She took the opportunity to invite those listening who may not be members to consider joining our movement. We need them, and she noted that this convention would give them a good opportunity to hear about what we do and decide whether they would like to join with us in this most noble of causes. She talked about the ongoing work of the Membership Committee, the calls where potential members can speak to leaders, and the efforts we are making to ensure that once a person is a member, he or she continues to be nurtured and encouraged to contribute energy and ideas to the process. Our next presenter was the much loved John Berggren. President Riccobono noted that it was John's birthday, and there is no doubt that the room would've been filled with song if we had been meeting in person. This gentle, firm, patient, and organized man has been in charge of convention organization and activities for a number of years, and as challenging as his work normally is, it was even more challenging for the 2020 Convention. He and his colleagues were responsible for learning about the capacity of Zoom, how to obtain different licenses for meetings that would range widely in their number of attendees, and then figuring out how to get most of us the training we would need to be active convention participants. John talked about the challenge of moving from a physical to a virtual convention. He and his team have configured Zoom rooms for more than two hundred meetings that will take place at the convention. We tested out and selected the most accessible meeting planner we could find, and though none was perfect, the one we selected did a good job in meeting our needs. The product is called AttendeeHub, and the company we hired will get a full report on how it can make its quality services even more accessible. The AttendeeHub had an agenda containing the time of every meeting, a link that would take you to the Zoom room, and a way to mark whether or not you wanted that meeting on your calendar of events to attend. If attendees weren't comfortable with this kind of convention agenda, it could be found on our website in EPUB, HTML, Microsoft Word, and even as a Braille- formatted file that could easily be embossed or used with a refreshable Braille display. John went over the high points of the agenda, cautioning all of us to remember that every time listed in the agenda was eastern daylight time or, as we came to call it, convention time. The convention was available on many platforms. We have already mentioned Zoom, but many joined us through ShoutCast, YouTube, and NFB- NEWSLINE?. We could even be heard using Alexa by enabling our special skill, and many people have observed that they liked this option because of the audio quality that has been designed into the Amazon home devices. Since a small part of John's usual report involves pointing out the guide dog relief areas, he said that they were in the same place that they were yesterday, and this is where they would continue to be found throughout the convention. President Riccobono quickly reviewed the number of people who registered for our convention, and that number was an impressive 7,252. It may be that some of the people in this count are not members, so we issue to them a cordial invitation to be a part of who we are and what we do. Meeting virtually required that we make some adjustments to our normal door prize system. Those winning a prize would receive it by mail from the Jernigan Institute. Each time we drew, we would select five people, and to ensure that they were in the convention session, we provided a code word to go along with their prize. Door prize winners could either raise their hand using the Zoom platform or could send an email to prize at nfb.org sending their first name, last name, state, and their special code word. We tried this first in the board meeting, and the first codeword was the last name of our founder and first president, tenBroek. As a final note about door prizes, they were handled by Diane McGeorge, who has been doing this since 1977, and Bennett Prows, who has been doing it since 2010. Even with a virtual convention, we managed to open the presidential suite. Members and nonmembers alike were encouraged to come by and enjoy the virtual hospitality. All throughout the board meeting and the convention, we were active on social media using the hashtag #NFB20. This was a wonderful opportunity for people to engage in discussions about what they had observed, what was currently happening, and what would happen in the not-so-distant future. Carla McQuillan was called on in her capacity as the chairperson of the Distinguished Educator of Blind Children Award. Her presentation and the one given by the winner will appear elsewhere in this issue. Divisions of the National Federation of the Blind play an important part in our work. The President asked that changes in division officers be sent to him immediately and that a report from each division was due by August 15. He also discussed the importance of committees in the work that we do. Committees are appointed by the President, and those who are interested in serving on them should write to the President at officeofthepresident at nfb.org. Last year at the convention we helped the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults celebrate its 100th anniversary. The Action Fund is a valued partner, and even in this time of the coronavirus, it continues to produce Braille books for blind children. This year it has distributed more than four thousand books. It also operates the Share Braille program, which lets those wanting hardcopy Braille have books chosen from the online library. We gratefully acknowledge the help of the Action Fund with our free white cane program, our program to give a slate and stylus to any blind person who wants one, and the calendars that the Action Fund provides free to anyone wanting a calendar in Braille. Our partner has taken up a program we once ran, that being Braille Readers Are Leaders, and we in turn help our partner by sponsoring an annual Braille book fair. Sandy Halverson is the chairperson of our rainy day fund. Interestingly, the fund's name is Shares Unlimited in the National Federation of the Blind, so its acronym is SUN. Currently forty-six states are giving to our fund that is to be used in times of dire financial need. Like every family with a rainy day fund, we hope we'll never need it, but we know that we must have it. One of our most successful fundraisers is our Preauthorized Contribution Program (PAC). For many years our effort to raise money has been chaired by Scott LaBarre. This year he introduced a co-chair, Ryan Strunk, the president of the National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota. Those who want to help the National Federation of the Blind financially give a monthly contribution, and this program is consistently one of the most successful we operate. A monthly contribution can be made from one's checking account, savings account, or credit card. Giving in this way is painless, and it provides the organization with a very predictable source of revenue. Without tools, a builder cannot build; without money, we don't have the tools to build. At the beginning of 2020 the program was generating $471,000. With the pandemic we have seen a drop, but it is not nearly as severe as we feared. Coming into the 2020 Convention the Preauthorized Contribution Program was at $466,000, a very modest drop given the economic consequences many of us have faced. Even so, we had a tremendous opportunity for PAC to expand, and the goal of our chairperson was to reach $500,000 by convention's end. Contributions can be initiated or increased by going to www.nfb.org/pac or by calling 877-NFB2PAC. On the numeric keypad that equates to 877-632-2722. Patti Chang is our director of outreach, and she coordinates a number of programs that are essential in bringing money to the organization. She began her presentation by thanking the wonderful people at UPS. Normally they provide us with hundreds of volunteer hours, but this year they couldn't do that in a virtual environment. What they were able to do was make a generous contribution to our convention, and for this we are most appreciative. Giving Tuesday was the best one-day giving event we have ever had, and again we are even more thankful given that this happened in the midst of the pandemic. Patti reminded us about our Vehicle Donation Program for getting rid of unwanted vehicles and of the GreenDrop program that takes gently used household items and turns them into funding for our programs. Patti concluded by talking about our Dream Makers Circle for those wishing to see to the future of blind people when they are no longer around to do it themselves. Signing up to provide a contribution on your death is easy, and you can talk with Patti and others about it by calling our Jernigan Institute and dialing extension 2422 or by writing Patti at pchang at nfb.org. Every year we help first-timers attend the national convention through our Jernigan Fund. Part of that convention experience is to be paired with mentors, and this year we had forty-two people who took advantage of the program. Meeting virtually means that there was no need for us to help with funding, but the mentoring continues to be invaluable. The scholarship class of 2020 was introduced, and each one was given about thirty seconds to introduce themselves to the board and others who were in the session. What they said can be found elsewhere in this issue. Kathryn Webster chairs the Jacobus tenBroek Memorial Fund. She reminded us that the Jacobus tenBroek Fund owns the building that houses the Jernigan Institute and other organizations that do work along with the National Federation of the Blind. Donations from chapters, affiliates, and individuals who are moved to do so are very much needed and appreciated. One of the agreements between state affiliates in the national body is that half of all bequests come to the national treasury. In this spirit, the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland has presented in the name of Carolyn Kutilek a check in the amount of $445,889. In this time when expenses are up and it is harder for donors, the value of this gift is extraordinary. Sheltered workshops in this country play games with the blind people who come to them. When it is to the advantage of the sheltered workshop, it calls itself a training center or a rehabilitation facility. When its major function is hiring blind people to fulfill contracts, it refers to itself as an employer. Eve Hill, a lawyer at Brown, Goldstein & Levy, took the stage to address some of the pressing legal issues in which we are involved, and she started with this very topic. Many workshops are taking advantage of the law that allows them to avoid providing unemployment compensation. This has been particularly problematic during the pandemic, and the Federation is attempting to do something about it. A resolution dealing with this issue can be found later in these pages. Many of the big box stores that want us to make purchases from them have a practice of hiring blind people and then immediately dismissing them using the unsafe nature of their warehouses and distribution centers for blind people as their excuse. Still other employees are dismissed when the employer realizes that screen reading technology must be employed in order for them to do the job. It is shameful that SourceAmerica is one such employer given that its sole mission is to create and contract for jobs on behalf of blind people. Many of the contracts SourceAmerica is getting are federal contracts, which makes it even more difficult to conceive of blind people being left out. What is interesting is that sometimes blind people lose jobs because of software upgrades by their employer. This is outrageous given that new software should be designed to comply with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act and technology standards that exist in the world. The proliferation of inaccessible websites also contributes to this problem since many jobs require proficiency with web applications that they may or may not have contracted for or support. Anyone who has suffered discrimination in any of these categories should contact Valerie Yingling at our national office using extension 2440. Eve concluded her report by briefly addressing the options available for blind people to vote. Absentee voting has always been an option for blind people in every state, but in far too many cases one cannot cast a vote privately and independently if voting absentee. This is an issue we must address, for it is every bit as important as being able to vote privately and independently on-site. Valerie Yingling addressed the group and started by discussing access to virtual healthcare and how frequently that access is not accessible for the blind. During this pandemic, we have seen our share of inaccessible information related to the COVID-19 outbreak and up-to-date information about how the virus is spreading. We continue to press for accessible kiosks and the self-checkout possibilities they enable. We will continue our work with Uber and Lyft, so please report incidents of ride denials or cleaning fees that drivers attempt to impose. Our work with Redbox continues, and our testing has been extended by three months because of the virus. Valerie encourages us to complete NFB's educational technology survey and unemployment benefits survey. Both are available on the NFB's legal webpage. The information we can provide is critical as we pursue equal access to education and employment and its related benefits. To wrap up the board meeting, President Riccobono introduced the chairperson of the board for any comments she might like to make. Pam Allen greeted all in attendance and suggested that there was one item that we needed to discuss. The President opined that we had finished everything on his agenda, but the chairman was insistent. What she wanted to talk about was the 2021 convention, and the great reveal was that it will be in New Orleans. Anyone wanting to hear the enthusiasm of the New Orleans sports personality known as the Cajun Cannon should review the convention highlights. Chairperson Allen made remarks that were perfect for closing the board meeting. She said: I am so grateful and so proud to be a member of the National Federation of the Blind. I want to thank our host affiliate in the great state of Texas, our incredibly dedicated affiliate leaders, our phenomenal team at our national center, and most importantly everyone who is taking part this week and contributing to our convention. The work that we are doing is life-changing, and it would not happen without your leadership and your example, President Riccobono. Thank you to you and to Melissa for inspiring all of us, always, to push the boundaries and work together to increase opportunities for blind people, anywhere and everywhere. Some people wondered if we would gather this year, and not only did we gather, but we set a record--the largest gathering of blind people in the world. That's the way we work in the National Federation of the Blind. Kudos to our members, and if you're not yet a member, we invite you to join our family. Roland and I are wishing everyone an incredible week. We can't wait to connect with all of you. Our whole Louisiana family can't wait to welcome you in person to New Orleans in 2021. Happy convention to all. Let's go build the National Federation of the Blind! President Riccobono had promised that we would have two opportunities to vote during the meeting. The question on the floor was whether we liked New Orleans as the location for our 2021 National Convention. The overwhelming vote reflected the excitement about our upcoming location, and with that, the board meeting was adjourned. There was work aplenty to do following the board meeting, and the Research and Development Committee discussed what the blind should do when we face products we are excluded from using and what we might develop to meet needs that have not otherwise been met by technology. Although the federal government has committed to making itself a model employer for blind people, there are many issues we face in working for it, and the Blind Federal Employment Committee addressed some of these. Dockless electric scooters provide another way for the public to travel, but more and more they are becoming a problem for blind travelers. The Committee on Automobile and Pedestrian Safety discussed this issue, and those who are interested in learning about the problem and the solutions we are proposing should contact chairperson Maurice Peret. On Thursday, July 16, activities began at 10 a.m. convention time with the meeting of the Committee for Advancement and Promotion of Braille. The Committee on Autonomous Vehicles and Innovations in Transportation set its hand to collecting information in emerging technology which may present opportunities for the blind to move around independently and ensuring that the NFB plays a prominent role in the future of transportation. Wells Fargo conducted a workshop to discuss financial resilience and managing one's finances during a crisis, and the Community Service Division encouraged convention attendees to learn how to become everyday heroes in their community without a cape. We reiterate that anyone wishing to learn more about the diversity and involvement of the National Federation of the Blind and all aspects of life should do their own review of the convention agenda, for this brief summary of activities between sessions in no way begins to encompass all that this organization is doing. An important touch to the convention experience was having Melissa Riccobono and Anil Lewis-our Nation's Blind Podcast personalities-do a session thirty minutes before every general session. These sessions attempted to bring some of the feeling of being at an in-person convention including background noise from previous conventions. These were informative and entertaining, and comments from social media were used to influence the conversation. While some content was planned, these were organic conversations based on what was happening in real time at the convention. Members of the board of directors participated in these warmup sessions, and Chris Danielsen was helpful in making it all happen, demonstrating why we are so fortunate to have him as our director of public relations. The first general session of the convention began at 6:30 p.m. with the falling of the gavel and an invocation by our devout Muslim brother Syed Rizvi. Syed is one of our major leaders in the student division, and his profound love of God, country, and his fellow Federationists is second to none. Norma Crosby took the floor to welcome all of us to our eightieth anniversary convention. It was supposed to be in Houston but turned out being everywhere. To begin the welcome, she introduced Mayor Sylvester Turner, who expressed his regret that we could not be in Houston but complimented us on getting together virtually to do the work that is so badly needed in our country. He is excited, as are we, that we will be going to Houston in 2023, and traveling to Texas already sounds mighty fine. Norma then introduced three dynamic members of the Texas affiliate: Kimberly Aguillard, Jose Marquez, and Adriana Mendez. Their remarks were quite inspirational. Then Astronaut Anna Fisher, the first mother in space, delivered her own message about the parallels between the National Federation of the Blind and our nation's desire to explore the boundaries of space. There is no way to capture in writing the enthusiasm of the Texas welcome we received, and those who want to share in the spirit all of us felt should go to https://www.nfb.org/images/nfb/audio/2020-convention- highlights/welcoming%20ceremonies%20from%20houston%20to%20everywhere.mp3 and enjoy this tremendous experience. Those who receive this magazine on a flash drive will find the ceremony as the last item. Vernon Humphrey is the president of our National Association of Blind Veterans. He said that in military service his mission was to safeguard and improve the lives of others. His mission and the mission of all of the veterans in the National Federation of the Blind remains the same. The convention heard directly from those who recorded a message and got it to President Humphrey, and he read from a list of equally deserving veterans who could not contribute a recording. Father John Sheehan serves as the chaplain for the National Association of Blind Veterans, and he made us all swell with pride by singing the National Anthem. President Humphrey concluded the ceremony with these words: "Just as we in the NFB could not give 100 percent without the support of family and friends, today we can achieve anything. As a proud member of the NFB and a proud veteran, I would like to thank you for your support. God bless America. Thank you, President Riccobono." After hearing from our PAC chairperson and taking a fit break, we moved to the roll call of states. All of those who answered the roll call expressed tremendous pride in their affiliates and the places from which they hail. We cannot cover all of the remarks made, but some states offered tidbits that must appear here: Arizona boasted 201 first-timers; Maryland boasted 593 in attendance, and 194 of those were new. When we reached the state of Illinois in the roll call, we had a surprise visit from Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky. She is the sponsor of our Greater Access and Independence through Nonvisual Access Technology (GAIN) Act, and in her brief remarks she made it clear that social justice means creating and marketing technology that is usable by blind people. She said that the disruption caused by COVID-19 has made progress on many pieces of legislation more difficult, but her commitment is unshakable, that she will get Republican and Democratic support, and this bill will become law. The NFB of Minnesota reminded us that it was celebrating its 100th year as an organization and suggested we visit its website to hear the tribute its members wrote and produced. Texas humbly announced that 482 people were proud, loud, and present. West Virginia is proud of the fact that it was able to bring about accessible online voting in the state, but at the time of the roll call there was no way to make the request for such an accommodation. At the end of the roll call, President Riccobono reported that all fifty-two affiliates were present, and so were 7,252 registrants. The Principles of Engagement read at the meeting of the Board of Directors was presented to the convention and was ratified. While the voting was taking place, President Riccobono took time to acknowledge and express appreciation to our convention sponsors. Those stepping forward to support our 2020 Convention are: Platinum sponsors: Google, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Microsoft Corporation, Oracle, UPS, Vanda Pharmaceuticals, and Vispero. Gold sponsors: Brown, Goldstein & Levy LLP, Target, and Waymo. Silver sponsors: Adobe, Amazon, AT&T, Facebook, Lyft, Market Development Group Inc., Pearson, and Sprint Accessibility. Bronze sponsors: ACT Inc., Aira, American Printing House, Charter Communications, Democracy Live, HumanWare, Learning Ally, Verizon Media, VitalSource Technologies, and Wells Fargo. White Cane sponsors: Duxbury Systems Inc, En-Vision America, Envision Inc, LCI, McGraw-Hill Education, Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP, C&P - Chris Park Design, Five Cedars Group Inc, and VotingWorks. When the vote was tallied, the convention approved the rules of engagement by an overwhelming margin. The President thanked members of the board for discussing, drafting, and putting forward the rules that the convention had just approved. President Riccobono reported that one of the resolutions read during the resolutions committee meeting was an old version. The new one was read, and the correct version was posted to our website. It, like all of the other resolutions, would be voted on during our Saturday session identified on the agenda. The first general session of the convention was adjourned, and perhaps for the first time in Federation history, many of us went directly to bed. At 1:30 p.m. on Friday the gavel dropped, a few door prizes were drawn, and David Stayer of Young Israel of Merrick, a modern orthodox synagogue, delivered the kind of invocation we have come to expect from him. Mark Riccobono delivered the much anticipated presidential report which will appear elsewhere in this issue. A few sentences that capture the theme of his report are: In the wake of a worldwide pandemic, economic collapse, and the social disruption driven by centuries of racial injustice, the blind have once again demonstrated the qualities that make success possible. We have strengthened connections among blind people and protected our fundamental right to live the lives we want. By focusing on connecting and protecting, we have sustained our ability to build our movement, and we have been building with the love, hope, and determination that makes us unstoppable! Although we gather together today from a distance, we remain undivided. We are the National Federation of the Blind! At the conclusion of his report, we were given a rendition of "Live the Life You Want" we had not heard before. It was beautiful, and what made it even better was that it was performed by a virtual choir comprised of eighty people. This meant that each person made a recording of the song from his or her homes, and all of these recordings were mixed and blended into one wonderful piece. It is worth going to the convention highlights page to hear this performance. It is a testament not only to the talent of the choir but to all of the people involved in gathering and putting together these diverse performers in one recording. The presentation that followed was very special indeed. Certainly it was one of the highlights of our convention. It was an interview President Riccobono conducted with the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. In the politically charged times in which we live, it is not surprising that some people wondered why she was featured so prominently on our agenda. Several answers come to mind, none of which are very complex. Very few organizations can draw the attention of the Speaker of the House, and very few organizations are able to draw on the knowledge of powerful people about the National Federation of the Blind. Speaker Pelosi demonstrated a good working knowledge of our current legislative activity as well as a good bit of our history. She was responsive to the questions that were asked and, unlike so many presenters, did not use the time we gave her simply to promote her own agenda, politically or otherwise. It should go without saying that we issued invitations to the President of the United States, the Vice President of the United States, Senator Mitch McConnell, and other ranking Republicans. Although only one Republican representative appeared on our agenda during the advocacy and policy report, Republicans have been very good about appearing on our agendas. Vice President Bush attended one of our rallies. High cabinet officials from both Republican and Democratic administrations have been featured not only in our agenda but in the pages of this magazine. Each and every political person who has appeared before us has been treated with courtesy and respect, and we take seriously our role as a people's movement, one which has members who feel great passion and concern on every issue in which it is conceivable that there can be government involvement. When we ask officials to talk, we give them titles that strongly suggest they address issues about blindness and the issues we support. The fact that they sometimes exercise their own autonomy and speak to other issues shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who watches the political talk shows in which every politician comes with talking points important to them. As you read Speaker Pelosi's remarks later in this issue, keep in mind how many times she references the Federation and observe that while she makes it quite clear that she is a Democrat and hopes that the Democrats will advance in the election, she also said that all of us should vote, regardless of our party affiliation. President Riccobono's interview with her will appear elsewhere in this magazine. The next presentation to keep the excitement flowing was "A Commitment to Progress through Accessibility: Answering the Call of the Nation's Blind to Provide Educational Products and Services." Its presenter was Tim Bozik, the president of Global Product & North America Courseware at Pearson; Hoboken, New Jersey. He began his presentation by commending the students who have been forced to deal with virtual education on platforms that have not always been conducive to learning. He said that Pearson has often had advances and setbacks and that the National Federation of the Blind has been in the forefront of offering criticism and assistance. The Federation has now been engaged as a formal consultant with the hope that this will result in better and more consistent accessibility to Pearson software. Pearson and the National Federation of the Blind will also participate in a mentoring program. A full report of the comments made by Tim Bozik will appear later in the fall. "A Test of Strength and Equality: Blind Students Organize against the College Board" was the next presentation, and its charismatic presenter was Kaleigh Brendle from Freehold, New Jersey. Kaleigh graduated from high school in 2020 and found that the advanced placement tests she wanted to take were not being made available in hard-copy Braille. She found this unacceptable, so she found and united others who were facing the same situation, got in contact with the National Federation of the Blind, and saw to it that the policy was reversed. Her comments will appear later in this issue. Our next presenter was Craig Meador, the president of the American Printing House for the Blind. The title of his presentation was, "From Chameleon to Mantis and Beyond: A Partnership of Shared Value with the Organized Blind Movement." He talked a bit about the history of APH, the culture that he found when he came, and the changes that he has pushed and that the staff has embraced. He said, We need to be intentional with our relationships. So again, what do I mean about that? When we partner and choose to partner with someone, our values and our interests must align. We must have shared common ground there. There must be shared values, because if you don't have that, you end up getting a very dysfunctional relationship, and the people that suffer from that are the people who are on the receiving end of that product or that service. If we've learned nothing else from COVID-19, and we've learned a lot, it's this: In this day and age, in the 21st century, especially in a time of a pandemic, or a time of inconvenience, you cannot go it alone. There is no room anymore for lone rangers, especially if you are a company charged with the idea of producing product. You need to find solid partners. Not only manufacturing partners, but you need to find like minds and like hearts that can help you carry out your mission. I'm happy to say that we have that partnership with the NFB. And we have been working that and cultivating a strong relationship with Mark and the team there. President Meador concluded his presentation by talking about two new refreshable Braille displays that the Printing House brought to market. One has been designed for students, and the other for adults. His presentation can be found in the convention highlights on our website, and anyone who has not listened to his presentation will benefit from the enthusiasm, commitment, and heartfelt love for what he does. Many who will read this are familiar with the name Cynthia Bennett. We are the beneficiaries of her choice to be involved in the organization, and she is the beneficiary of many who have helped mentor and encourage her. Her presentation to the 2020 Convention was "Authentic Intelligence: A Blind Researcher Bringing Wisdom to the Future of Technology Innovations." Her message was thought-provoking and somewhat disturbing. What she said will appear elsewhere in this issue. Tom Tiernan is the president and chief executive officer for Vispero. He believes that product development should stem from the needs that blind people have, that a significant number of his employees at all levels should be blind, and the products that his company sells should be ones that not only serve the consumer market but serve the people who make his company what it is. His remarks will appear in full in an upcoming issue. Suman Kanuganti was the founder of Aira and its chief executive officer. He has now moved on to other things, and he was called on to talk about "Starting Up with the Blind: Remarks from a Partner and an Introduction to Luther Primes." Suman has long been an advocate for artificial intelligence and harnessing it to enhance the information available to the human mind. He is now working on a system that uses artificial intelligence to help us retain memories that would otherwise be discarded as a result of the passage of time or our inability to recognize their importance when we undergo the experience that creates them. Those interested may go to the new company by writing to hello at luther.ai. The afternoon session was adjourned, but promptly at 6:30 p.m. the evening session began. Our first presenter was Congressman Dick Durbin of Illinois. In his presentation he evidenced a firm working knowledge of the National Federation of the Blind and its founder, Jacobus tenBroek. He talked about the need to advance the Accessible Technology Affordability Act and other legislation to improve opportunities for blind people. His remarks will appear in full later in the fall. Our next presenter is well known to Federationists. She is one of those courageous souls who works in the foreign service, exemplifies the highest values of the United States of America, and does all of this as a blind person. She is a dedicated member of the National Federation of the Blind, was a significant leader in our student division, and continues to represent Federation values in all that she does. Mariyam Cementwala's remarks will appear in full in this issue. This was definitely a convention of firsts. Our next presenter was the Librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden. The title of her presentation was "Using Knowledge to Inform, Inspire, and Engage: Perspectives on Equal Access from the Largest Library in The World." She spoke eloquently about the importance of libraries in our country and the role they play in the sharing of information so necessary to maintaining a functioning democracy. Her remarks will appear later in the fall. "Movie Enjoyment Made Easy: Innovations to Include All Subscribers at Netflix" was the title of our next presentation, and it was delivered by Greg Peters, the chief product officer at Netflix. We know of no television provider that has done more than Netflix not only to ensure that what it creates is audio described but also to ensure that what it runs from other sources also has the description we need. The presentation given by Greg Peters will appear later in the fall. In an evening filled with informative and inspirational speeches, it is hard to know how to introduce "Equal Justice Under Law: A Blind Clerk Blazes a Trail Behind the Scenes at the Supreme Court." This outstanding presentation was delivered by Laura Wolk who worked for the Honorable Clarence Thomas as a law clerk in 2019. Many will recognize Laura as a former scholarship winner, and there can be absolutely no question about the good we were able to do in helping Laura help herself. Laura's remarks will appear elsewhere in this issue, so get ready for a wonderful read. After all the impressive presentations that preceded it, we moved to a discussion of the Americans with Disabilities Act entitled "Leveraging the Power of the ADA to Secure Our Right to Live in the World for Thirty Years." The panel was chaired by Scott LaBarre, and its members included Immediate Past President Maurer, Daniel Goldstein, Eve Hill, and Tim Elder. In my time as a Federationist, I've seen a number of tremendous panels, but this presentation was second to none in discussing the opportunities presented by the ADA and the significant holes in it that make progress difficult, expensive, and risky. The discussion by this outstanding panel will appear later in the fall. "From the Heart to the Hand: A Blind Artist Advancing Touch for Over Forty Years" as we transitioned from law to art. Michael Naranjo is the talented artist who made this presentation. Michael was blinded during his service in Vietnam, but he learned that blindness would not keep him from pursuing his lifelong passion of being an artist. His remarks will appear sometime later in the fall. "Broadcasting the Authentic Perspective of Blindness: A Conversation with a Blind YouTuber Who is Advancing a Positive Image" was presented by Molly Burke, and her conversation partner was Mary Fernandez. The exchange was extremely interesting because it highlighted the tension between wanting to educate people about blindness while conveying the message that we are not all about blindness but about living in the world. This conversation will appear later in the fall. Our next formal session began at 1 p.m. on Saturday with an invocation provided by Tom Anderson who is the minister of music at the chapel at Lecompton Pentecostal Church in Kansas. He's also president of the NFB in Communities of Faith, a longtime member and leader in the National Federation of the Blind. On this day we acknowledged the passing of a great civil rights leader and a respected member of Congress, John Lewis. Congressman Lewis was a presenter at our first March for Independence held in 2007. We found a copy of his remarks in our outstanding archives, and we played his speech in honor for all he did for civil rights and for the man he was. The financial report was presented by the President. Every number that he read can be found on our website, but a fair summary is that we did quite well in 2019, with income exceeding expenses. In 2020, given the coronavirus, we have not done quite as well, but income and expenses are roughly equivalent. It is very difficult to know how we will fare as COVID- 19 continues to affect the income of so many in the nation. The good news is that people have continued to give generously to the support of our programs, and for this we are most grateful. We moved to reading and voting on resolutions as the next order of business. Anyone wanting to speak for or against a resolution was previously asked to submit an email explaining the number of the resolution to be addressed and whether the comments would be for or against the resolution. In cases where a resolution had an opponent, the resolution was read in its entirety. In cases where there was no opposition noted, the chairperson and her assistant would read only the resolves. The convention ratified this procedure with the vote, and we then moved to the process of considering twenty-nine resolutions. Twenty-eight of them were passed, and elsewhere in this issue will appear a report from the chairperson of the resolutions committee and a copy of all of the resolutions that were adopted. When our final session before the banquet convened, our first order of business was the election of officers and those board members whose term was expiring at the end of the convention. Pam Allen presented the report of the nominating committee, and it was accepted. After a day of voting on resolutions and other procedural matters, as we attempted to move to elections we experienced a glitch. Because our voting system was not operational, we shifted the agenda and moved to the panel that was to follow elections. Its title was "Not Blind to Color in the Federation: A Panel on the Experience of Black and Blind in America." The moderator was Ever Lee Hairston, and panelists serving with her were Denice Brown, Ron Brown, Bobbi Pompei, and Tarik Williams. There is no doubt that this was one of the most moving items on the agenda, and many who suggested they were tempted to take a break before elections and the banquet report that they were glad they didn't. These remarks, made by accomplished men and women who choose to give some of their time to the National Federation of the Blind, were a real wake-up call for those of us who would like to believe that colorblindness is gaining ground in the country or that it should be something we strive for in the Federation. The remarks made by this panel will appear elsewhere in this issue. The problem with the voting system being unresolved, we moved to elections and relied on delegates for the voting. Mark Riccobono of Maryland was nominated to be President, and he was elected unanimously. In accepting his position, he said: Thank you very much, Pam, and thank you to the Federation. It is a distinct honor to serve this organization. I think I said yesterday in the presidential report most of what I would say. The last year has tested the best of what the Federation is, what it puts into us, and what we do together. It's really truly an honor to serve with each and every one of you-the Federationists who really support what we do. I want to acknowledge my family, Melissa and our three kids. Our children usually win more door prizes than Melissa or I do. (Laughter) They [the family] are a tremendous source of inspiration and motivation as are all of the great colleagues we have in the Federation. It's truly an honor among other things that we have people in this organization who are doing incredible work behind the scenes at every moment to make sure our movement is the strongest it can be. Thank you all for the honor of continuing to serve, and I will continue to give everything that I have, including being open to the difficult questions and exploring them in a way that continues to improve what I do. I will lead with humility to recognize that we all can do better, including this organization, and it starts with me as your President. So thank you very much. Pam Allen from Louisiana was nominated to be our first vice president, and she was elected unanimously. She said: Thank you, President Riccobono and all my Federation family. I'm very humbled and very grateful to serve as your first vice president. I'm so thankful for your trust and your faith and the fact that every day, together in the National Federation of the Blind, I am constantly pushed out of my comfort zone. Michelle Obama said, "You may not always have a comfortable life, and you will not always be able to solve the world's problems at once. But don't underestimate the importance you can have, because history has shown us that courage can be contagious, and hope can take on a life of its own." For eighty years the National Federation of the Blind has challenged us as blind people and worked to change society at large to view blindness in a completely different way. We have taken this call to action with hope, courage, strength, and tenacity. We are not afraid to take risks or stand up against social injustice. The NFB is made up of people with diverse backgrounds and with many different life experiences. Together we share our life-changing message of empowerment and love for all blind people. I also want to take a moment to thank my husband, with whom the work that I do wouldn't be possible, and all of you who have been so loving and supportive and so committed to the work that we do together. I look forward to learning and growing and serving and leading as we continue to build the National Federation of the Blind. Thank you. [Cheering and applause] Ron Brown, who hails from Indiana, was nominated to fill the position of second vice president and was elected unanimously. He said, Mr. President, and my Federation family: It is indeed an honor and a privilege to serve on this dream team of leadership. This team of leaders has given me and my family an opportunity to pave the way for other leaders coming the same way that we have come. Mr. President, I also am honored and privileged to serve on the executive team--one of the first African-American males to do so. It just goes to show you that Martin Luther King was right. If you cannot fly, then walk. If you cannot walk, then run. If you cannot run, then crawl. But keep moving forward. I thank you for your leadership and moving our organization forward. A true leader is a leader that doesn't create followers. A true leader is a leader that creates more leaders. I thank you so for your leadership. I thank you for the opportunity to serve in this organization. This is truly a dream team of leaders. I also want to say thank you for sharing the reflections of John Lewis's life today. It was truly inspirational to celebrate our eightieth anniversary and to celebrate his eighty years here on this earth. Thank you, sir. [Cheering and applause] James Gashel from Hawaii was nominated to be the organization's corporate secretary. His nomination was seconded, and he was elected unanimously. He said that in his fifty-five years of work with the National Federation of the Blind, one of the most significant things he ever did was vote for President Riccobono. In all of the work he has done from staff member to consultant to holding elective office, nothing is more meaningful to him than the trust that is shown through his election. He made a solemn vow to continue doing whatever he can to advance the cause of the organization and thanked all of those who honored him with this position. Jeannie Massay from Oklahoma was nominated to fill the position of treasurer. Her nomination was seconded, and she was voted in unanimously. In her acceptance she talked about the honor in serving with President Riccobono and the rest of the fine men and women who make up the board of the National Federation of the Blind. She drew a beautiful parallel between two quotations-one by Theodore Roosevelt about the man in the arena, and the other by John Lewis about getting into good trouble. It was clear from her remarks that she will be the woman in the arena, and when she finds it, she will be in the vanguard of those getting into good trouble. Amy Buresh of Nebraska was nominated to serve on the board, and she was elected unanimously. Giving what was unquestionably the shortest acceptance speech of the convention, she said, "Thank you, everybody. Jeannie, you're not alone in those goosebumps. They happen every year without fail. Lead bravely. Do that, and the future is yours. God bless you, God bless the Federation, and thank you." The next person to be nominated and elected unanimously to the board was Shawn Callaway who hails from the District of Columbia. One of the major roles he plays nationally is chairing our diversity and inclusion committee. In his acceptance speech he observed that some believe the emphasis on diversity and inclusion to be divisive. He does not. He asked us all to remember how important it is to find in the Federation people like ourselves and how off-putting it can be to feel unwelcome. He concluded his remarks by saying, "So again to all of you, I thank you for this opportunity, and I just say, let's hold arms, lock arms, march, and let's build the Federation. Thank you all so much." John Fritz of Wisconsin was nominated and unanimously elected to the board of directors. In his acceptance he thanked his fellow Federationists for teaching him and for entrusting him with the responsibility of carrying forward the programs of the Federation. He also gave special thanks to his family for making it possible for him to do the work that he does. Carla McQuillan from Oregon was unanimously elected to the board, and in her acceptance speech she acknowledged being moved by the comments of those elected before her and said that the late Steve Benson once observed that the question wasn't whether Carla was going to cry but win. She concluded her remarks by saying, "I appreciate your faith and confidence in me. I will do my very best to meet your expectations and hopefully exceed them. I love the diversity of this organization, and I love the support that I've received from all of my Federation family. Thank you so much. And I appreciate this honor more than you can know." Amy Ruell of Massachusetts was the next member to be nominated by the committee, and she was elected unanimously. In accepting the position she said: Thank you, everyone. I always do cry whenever this happens. I've been struck this year, and particularly at this convention, about how far reaching this organization is, about the efforts under Mark Riccobono's leadership that we have made to become more inclusive and more diverse, and about the infinite capacity that we have as an organization to reach out to many, many people who are just learning to know us. I have been struck and humbled by the opportunity to meet some of the people for whom this is their first convention-some of the people who may have ventured perhaps a little warily into our midst. I want to pledge not only to work with my fellow board members and the national office, but also to embrace those people who may not understand everything about us yet, who may have questions and worries, and who may wonder whether they fit into our movement. I want to be a voice for them as well. I appreciate and am humbled by this opportunity. I want to thank my husband Jim, without whom my work for the Federation would not be possible. And I want to pledge that I will do everything I can to move this organization forward. Thank you. [Applause] Adelmo Vigil was unanimously elected to the board. He thanked his affiliate for supporting him in the work he does as a national board member, and he gave special thanks to his wife whose generous spirit is such a critical part of what he does in the Federation. He concluded his remarks by saying, "I love and appreciate each one of you today, and I thank you for your confidence in me. And I pledge to continue to build and to change what it means to be blind. Let's go build the Federation!" Because of unanticipated logistical problems, two items from the agenda were not covered. Luckily they have been recorded and will be printed later in the fall. The first was the traditional advocacy and policy report. After the drawing of door prizes and a one-minute video from Conchita Hernandez Legorreta, the session was adjourned, and all were welcomed to the banquet soon to come. Anil Lewis was our master of ceremonies for the banquet. First Vice President Pam Allen was prepared to take on this responsibility, but a death of a loved one meant that we do what families do-we improvised and reacted with the love characteristic of our Federation. Anil handled this job with his characteristic charisma, warmth, and humor. He began by recognizing Ever Lee Hairston for the invocation. After thanking God for all the many blessings we enjoy, we also expressed our thanks to the generous donors who make our scholarship program possible, and this appreciation can be found elsewhere in this issue. After the video, the banquet audience was treated once again to the miracle of a virtual choir singing the song "Make Them Hear You." Because of shelter in place and social distancing, most of us enjoyed the banquet from our homes. But some were fortunate enough to be able to observe social distancing and still get together in small groups. Throughout the banquet we heard from meetings held at BLIND Incorporated, the Louisiana Center for the Blind, from our members in Utah, and, of course, from some members of our host affiliate in Texas. Vispero gave several prizes for those visiting its booth, and after acknowledging those products and the people who got them, we next moved to the Give Twenty Campaign and the convention memory minute chaired by Tracy Soforenko. The banquet was treated to the three top videos, and these can be heard by going to the convention highlights section of our webpage where the audio of the banquet can be found. Before chairman Soforenko gave up the floor, he announced that the winner of a trip to the 2021 National Convention is Ed McDonald. He will receive round-trip airfare for two, as well as a check for $1,000. The banquet is the place where we review our progress in trying to get new people to join our Preauthorized Contribution Program and, to get those already giving to up their pledge. This year, even in the time of the pandemic, 367 people accepted the challenge of further helping our organization. Of these, 230 are new contributors to the program. If we maintain the numbers that we have coming out of this convention, our annual PAC giving will be $523,334! This is amazing, and we thank everyone who helps make our program the success that it is. After introducing the virtual head table, the master of ceremonies invited President Riccobono to deliver the National Federation of the Blind's annual banquet speech. In his remarks, the President made clear the importance of the words we use, the way they shape what we believe, and the way our beliefs lead to the actions we take. President Riccobono's address will appear elsewhere in this issue. At the conclusion of the speech we were treated to an encore performance of our virtual choir, the song they sang being "This Is Me." Ray Kurzweil is a futurist and inventor, and he has been a part of the National Federation of the Blind since he came in contact with us when the Kurzweil reading machine was in its infancy. Just how meaningful his contribution has been to changing the world for the better can easily be overlooked, but the introduction he received from Anil Lewis helped put in perspective how much hope Ray Kurzweil has brought to blind people. His remarks and the remarks of Mr. Lewis will appear later in the fall. James Gashel is the chairman of the Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award Committee, and he had the pleasure of announcing to two delighted winners that they each would receive a substantial amount of money. The remarks of Mr. Gashel and the winners of the Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award will appear elsewhere in this issue. Nearing the end of our 2020 banquet, the name of Rod Holloway was drawn. The prize he won was $2,100. The Texas affiliate arrived at that number by following the tradition of offering in dollars the year of the presentation and then by adding the years that the National Federation of the Blind has been in existence. So that we could verify Ron was in attendance, he was asked to call a special number. Just when we concluded that he was not in attendance and called the name of Jennifer Stevens, the phone rang, and there was Rod. His excitement at being a winner was evident to all of us, and we promised Jennifer that there would be an alternate prize for her. Our master of ceremonies handed the gavel to President Riccobono, and with his request that we all cheer and let our neighbors know they are living next to blind people, the convention was adjourned. Eighty years is considered a long life for a human being, but not so for an organization such as the National Federation of the Blind. At eighty we are strong, creative, flexible, and focused on the future. There are challenges aplenty to overcome to see that blind people have all the rights and benefits of American citizenship, but this convention gave us every reason to believe that we are in a position to identify, address, and overcome any obstacle that stands between us and our dreams. When we work together, there is nothing that is impossible or even virtually impossible. ---------- National Federation of the Blind 2020 Convention Principles of Engagement From the Editor: Given we would not meet physically but virtually, the National Federation of the Blind Board of Directors and the 2020 National Convention adopted these policies. These principles of engagement were adopted by the National Federation of the Blind Board of Directors on Thursday, June 25, 2020, for recommendation to the national convention. The convention ratified them on Tuesday, July 14. Nothing in these rules of engagement is intended to change Article V, Section A of the Federation's constitution. The convention remains "the supreme authority of the Federation. It is the legislature of the Federation. As such, it has final authority with respect to all issues of policy. Delegates and members in attendance may participate in all convention discussions as a matter of right. Any member of the Federation may make or second motions [and] propose nominations." These procedures simply implement the method for following the constitution in an electronic convention. The principles and procedures below are intended to provide clarity and advance notice on how the convention will be managed in 2020. This document will be read at the NFB board meeting on July 15 and then a second time on July 16 after the roll call of states. The intention is for it to be voted on the evening of July 16. Those eligible to vote on this proposal will be any enrolled voter present and voting at the session on July 16 as described below. A subcommittee of the board of directors comprising those who are not standing for election this year shall deal with questions and issues of credentials for voting. The subcommittee will include Denise Avant, Illinois; Everette Bacon, Utah; Norma Crosby, Texas; Ever Lee Hairston, California; Joe Ruffalo, New Jersey; and Terri Rupp, Nevada. Everette Bacon shall chair the subcommittee. Voting 1. Every member in good standing who registered for the convention by June 15, 2020, will be offered an opportunity to enroll in the NFB20 voting system. All voters must be enrolled by July 12, 2020, at 12:00 p.m. eastern time. 2. All individuals who are members, are registered for the convention, and who opt into the voter enrollment by the specified time, will constitute the pool of convention voters. 3. All voting will be done via phone. 4. Any matter must receive 51 percent support of the votes cast by the convention voters present and voting in order to be affirmed. 5. Present and voting will mean the subset of convention voters who actually cast a vote on a given question. Thus, voters who are indifferent to a matter cannot block its consideration by the convention by choosing not to cast a vote. 6. All votes will be allocated two minutes for vote time. 7. After two minutes, if the outcome to the question under consideration is unclear, the chair will poll the delegates by voice vote for a definitive outcome. 8. If voting indicates 75 percent support for or against a question prior to the two-minute period elapsing, the chair may elect to move to the next order of business. 9. An opportunity to practice voting will be offered in the convention on a question that has no impact on the policy of the organization. Motions and Nominations from the Floor 1. Only delegates will be able to make motions, second motions, and nominate candidates from the floor during the convention. 2. Should a member of a delegation wish to make a motion or nominate a member for election by the convention, their delegate must bring it forward on their behalf. 3. A member may petition another delegate to support their motion especially if the delegate from their own state will not support the motion. Resolutions 1. Resolutions to be presented to the convention must proceed through the Resolutions Committee process as usual. 2. Resolutions being recommended to the convention by the committee will be posted to the web at http://www.nfb.org/resolutions by 8:00 p.m. eastern or three hours after the committee meeting (whichever is later) on July 15, 2020. 3. Affiliate delegations will be encouraged to discuss resolutions during their state caucus on July 17. 4. Those wishing to speak for or against a resolution on the floor of the convention must submit their interest in doing so by sending an email to resolutions at nfb.org by 5:30 p.m. eastern on July 17. The email must contain the individual's full name, state affiliate, number of the resolution they wish to discuss, whether they are for or against the resolution, and a phone number where they can best be reached in case there is an issue with the Zoom platform. 5. Reminders will be given at each of the general sessions prior to the deadline regarding the above process. 6. In determining the amount of debate a resolution requires, the chair may use the Zoom polling option to get a sense of the crowd, ask the delegates for their feeling on cutting off debate, or engage some other strategy outside of the voting system to gauge the sense of the convention. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Mark A. Riccobono] Presidential Report 2020 by Mark A. Riccobono During the past year, the organized blind movement has grown by every measure of success. But progress itself is not a certainty. Our success comes from the real efforts each of us contributes. Blind people from every community in this nation, from diverse backgrounds and with varying perspectives, have continued to march forward together to build a world where we can participate fully in all aspects of life without being limited or defined by our blindness. We, the blind, have directed our own actions, crafted the programs needed to fulfill our dreams, and strengthened the bonds with our partners. Over the past six months, we have faced some of the most adverse external barriers to building our organization since the early years of our movement. At that time, our new organization overcame the resource constraints of World War II in order to build. This time, our movement has faced the challenges of COVID-19 with determination and demonstrated the depth of its strength, innovation, and heart. In the wake of a worldwide pandemic, economic collapse, and social disruption driven by centuries of racial injustice, the blind have once again demonstrated the qualities that make success possible. We have strengthened connections among blind people and protected our fundamental right to live the lives we want. By focusing on connecting and protecting, we have sustained our ability to build our movement, and we have been building with the love, hope, and determination that makes us unstoppable. Although we gather together today from a distance, we remain undivided. We are the National Federation of the Blind. Protecting the right of blind Americans to vote privately and independently in elections remains an important priority. There has never been a time when blind Americans have had equal access to the complete range of voting options in a manner that protects the privacy, independence, and accuracy of our voting choices. But over our eighty-year history, we have pushed ever closer to equality. In September 2019, as part of our extensive outreach and advocacy efforts consistent with the Help America Vote Act, we sent a letter to secretaries of state outlining their responsibility to ensure equal access to voting for the blind. Our objective was that states would plan for equal access for blind people across the range of voting options in time for the 2020 elections. Most states ignored our advice, and when the coronavirus pandemic pushed states to quickly shift to all mail-in elections, they simply made no plans to include the blind. In Michigan, just days before the May 5 primary, we secured an interim settlement requiring the state to provide voters with disabilities an accessible version of the ballot used by overseas and military voters. In addition, we secured a consent decree requiring the state to set up a remote, accessible vote-by-mail system in time for its August election and all future elections. We continue to monitor to ensure appropriate enforcement is executed in a timely fashion. In Pennsylvania, we secured a last-minute court hearing before the June 2 primary election. The state proposed, and the judge accepted, an interim solution of using the federal write-in ballot. This accessible electronic ballot permits a voter to type in their candidate selections from a list provided by the state. While the interim solution was better than an inaccessible piece of paper for voting in the primary election, we are not prepared to accept this second-class system in the future. Our litigation in Pennsylvania continues to seek equal treatment in November and all future elections. In New York, we joined with others to prevent the use of inaccessible absentee ballots for the June 23 primary and special elections. This case builds upon our February 2019 court-ordered settlement agreement that ensures private and independent voter registration through a fully accessible website. We reached an interim agreement to provide accessibility for the June 23 election, and we continue to negotiate for a permanent, remote, accessible vote-by-mail system in time for the November elections. Public officials responsible for managing elections in many other states claim they cannot implement accessible voting unless action by the state legislature is taken. We are supporting our affiliates in Arizona, Delaware, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Texas, Virginia, and all the other places where excuses are being used to deny our access to the vote. Let us just clear it up right here and now: Compliance with federal election law and the Americans with Disabilities Act is not optional. States are bound to provide equal access in federal elections regardless of the desires or politics of the local legislatures. We will strengthen and expand the gains made in the Help America Vote Act whenever Congress advances new voting reforms, and we will continue to offer our expertise to the states. We will continue to charge aggressively forward to a time when the blind have equal access to all of the voting options for federal elections, and we will not stop until we also secure the same access in local and state elections. We continue to set the pace for protecting and expanding the rights of blind people through federal and state legislatures and government agencies. During our 2020 Washington Seminar we advanced seven bills in the United States Congress that were a direct result of the Federation's priorities. In addition, we have been actively working on influencing bills related to voting, access to rideshare services, website accessibility, and other important policy areas. As Congress has considered laws to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, advancement of our own policy proposals, as well as our feedback on the proposals of others, has helped protect blind people in this difficult time. Beyond Washington, DC, our expertise has been critical in helping blind people navigate everything from the changing rules related to securing economic impact payments, to overcoming the inability to access drive-up COVID-19 testing facilities. We continue to track and respond to a broad range of government regulatory issues such as access to air travel, audio description, and the Public Charge rule. We also continue to lead the way on defining equal access to fully autonomous vehicles. On February 11, 2020, a hearing on this topic was held in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce. The primary testimony on access to autonomous vehicles for people with disabilities was presented by the President of the National Federation of the Blind. A full report on our advocacy and policy work during the past year will be featured later in this convention. We seek to protect the rights of blind people to participate in the full range of positions in integrated competitive-employment settings. Specialized programs for the blind often tell us they are at a great disadvantage due to the structure of federal regulations related to integrated competitive employment. Yet these same agencies are pleased to benefit from exemptions in the law. While many blindness agencies no longer utilize the exemption permitting them to pay less than the minimum wage, they continue to block unemployment payments to their blind workers when layoffs occur. One example is Shirley Colbert, a member of the National Federation of the Blind of Louisiana. She was laid off from her position as a laser operator at the Louisiana Association for the Blind. She rightfully thought she would be eligible for unemployment benefits but was denied due to another exemption in the law. Agencies providing both training and employment to people with disabilities can avoid paying unemployment taxes on the wages earned by their disabled workers by claiming them as rehabilitation clients. We commend Ms. Colbert for exposing this unfair exemption, and we will continue to fight this harmful practice in any agency for the blind that continues to claim it is a competitive employer but labels blind people as clients in order to avoid paying unemployment taxes. If you are a blind person who has faced this unfair treatment in the past year, we need to hear from you. We will not quit until we protect the right to equal compensation and benefits for blind workers. Agencies for the blind are not the only employers systemically holding blind people back. Joe Orozco is an active member of our Virginia affiliate. He serves as an intelligence analyst for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Since he began working for the FBI in 2012, Joe has regularly worked within his chain of command to advocate for the use of accessible technology within the agency. However, the FBI continues to use inaccessible software programs that prevent blind employees from fully contributing their talents and gaining new work assignments to advance their careers. Similar artificial barriers are encountered by blind employees in every agency of the federal government. The use of inaccessible information technology violates Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. It is rare for an agency to meaningfully enforce the requirements even when violations are well documented and submitted as formal complaints to agency leaders. We have had enough of the discrimination. We have supported bringing Joe's complaint to federal court. We seek to protect the right of blind federal employees to hold indifferent federal agencies accountable for Section 508 violations and have those rights enforced by the court. Frequently the discrimination we encounter is employers protecting us from the danger they perceive to be inherent in blindness. In 2004, Alina Sorling was hired as a food service technician by Mercy Medical Center of Redding, California. In 2014, a serious illness left her in a prolonged coma that caused her blindness. Mercy promised Alina that her job would be available to her when she was ready to return to work. After receiving blindness skills training, she asked for her job back. Mercy responded by terminating her employment in 2015, claiming that it would be too dangerous for her to work in the hospital's cafeteria. Fortunately, Alina found protection against the employer with the National Federation of the Blind. We helped her file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which investigated the case and determined that there was probable cause to believe that Mercy had violated the law. The EEOC took the extremely rare step of filing an enforcement action in the United States District Court against Dignity Health, which owns Mercy. We joined in that action to represent Alina. In September 2019, Judge Charles Breyer entered a consent decree that ordered Dignity to cease discriminating against persons with disabilities, to implement proper reasonable accommodations practices, and to provide training on the Americans with Disabilities Act to all employees, with extra requirements for management staff. Among the specific provisions of the order, the company official who fired Alina was required to undergo immersion-to-blindness training to understand the techniques blind people use. For Alina's lost wages, emotional distress, and attorney fees, Dignity paid her $570,000. Alina's dignity was restored when the judge gave no mercy to her employer, and we have again affirmed the right of blind people to be protected from the harmful effects of low expectations. Low expectations bring the continued lack of innovation and persistent discrimination of Amazon to mind. FaShandra Howard, Rosa Negrete, Tony Lane, and Luz Avalas are members of the Federation from the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. All four of them applied to work in Amazon warehouse fulfillment and sortation facilities, and they disclosed their blindness during the orientation and application process. Amazon hired each of them, and each was met with discrimination during their first day at the warehouse. Amazon refuses to make its warehouse scanning and inventory technology accessible so that blind people can work in a variety of positions. In some cases, Amazon goes so far as to restrict blind people from working in its facilities at all, claiming unfounded safety concerns. Just weeks ago we assisted in filing charges with the EEOC. Our goal is to advance a class of blind employees who are being denied job opportunities at Amazon facilities. We want to hear from any other blind people who have had similar experiences with Amazon. COVID-19 has given a new importance to work-from-home jobs, but this has long been a concern for us. One example is our work with Ronit Mazzoni, a member of our Silicon Valley chapter in California. After nearly ten years of experience as a licensed genetic counselor, her skill set is highly sought by employers like Myriad Genetics. This company provides tele- healthcare services to patients across the country using genetic counselors who work remotely from home. Ronit applied to Myriad and successfully navigated a series of interviews. The company said it really wanted to hire Ronit based on her qualifications, but no offer would be extended because she needed screen-reading software and accessible, electronic information technology to be successful. With assistance from the National Federation of the Blind, Ronit filed a lawsuit in federal court and settled the case earlier this year. We have recovered the cost of our assistance in the case, and Ronit is now employed by another tele-genetics company, working remotely with accessible software configurations. We are actively pursuing the discriminatory practices of other employers, and we will continue to protect blind people from being shut out of the full range of work-from- home employment opportunities. Another aspect of our work is protecting the personal information of blind people by ensuring that communications are available in multiple forms including Braille, and that technologies like check-in kiosks are fully accessible. One recent example is the settlement of our 2017 case against the Social Security Administration (SSA) challenging its implementation of inaccessible visitor-intake processing kiosks. Under the settlement, SSA agreed to deploy Section 508-compliant kiosks in its field offices and to make best efforts to add keypads to existing kiosks. Another persistent barrier imposed by the Social Security Administration has been the requirement to complete inaccessible paper forms and include a wet-ink signature. The COVID-19 pandemic forced this issue by presenting blind people with a choice: risk exposure to the virus by seeking assistance completing the paper forms or forgo the benefits and services that have been developed to support living independently. In response to our federal complaint and request for preliminary injunction on behalf of blind applicants and beneficiaries, the agency changed some of its policies for the COVID-19 pandemic period to allow online applications where paper had been required and to forgo certain reviews and accept certain forms differently to avoid the need for wet-ink signatures. The lawsuit continues regarding the permanent solutions. Another example is a suit we filed shortly after last year's convention. Blind people want to work and, although we complain about it as much as anyone else, we want to pay our fair share of taxes. However, we are not willing to go through the extra expense of figuring out what our inaccessible notifications from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tell us we owe. The government must provide equal access, and we filed against the IRS to stop their persistent failure to do so. Our structured negotiations with the IRS have resulted in an agreement signed just days before this convention. Under our agreement, the agency will develop a system enabling blind people to request ongoing receipt of IRS notifications in accessible formats, which include Braille, electronic, and large print. We will continue to aggressively protect equal access to all forms of private information that blind people have for too long been forced to expose to others. Education is an important area of our work to protect the equal participation of the blind. For over a decade, we have been advocating that colleges and universities take affirmative steps to only implement educational technologies that are fully accessible. Had institutions of higher education paid attention, they would not have struggled to provide equal access to the blind when they rapidly shifted to online environments as a result of COVID-19. The Federation, on the other hand, was well prepared to support students and families in the rapid shift to online learning. We quickly launched our #AccessibleNow efforts, including monitoring educational accessibility challenges and providing advocacy resources like our self-advocacy in higher education toolkit. Despite the resources we make freely available, the universities continue to put barriers in the way of blind students. One example is Federation member Mary Fernandez who graduated this spring from Duke University with a master's degree in business administration despite the university's efforts to make it as difficult as possible for her to complete her studies. We assisted Mary in filing suit against the university for its failure to provide her with timely access to Braille, electronic, and tactile materials during her MBA program. We once again call on institutions of higher education to protect the rights of blind students under the Americans with Disabilities Act and stop the unequal treatment. We would hope that Duke is the last of these cases that we are required to take to court, but we are prepared to challenge other universities that continue violating the law. High school students take Advanced Placement courses with the hope of being able to score high enough on tests to receive college credit in certain subjects. The Advance Placement tests are administered by the College Board. For years, we have tried to work collaboratively with them to improve the process for accessible testing and to raise expectations, with modest success. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, we learned about the board's plans to shift to online testing, and we offered feedback, especially as it related to hardcopy Braille and tactile graphics. Even if the online testing platform was fully accessible, certain subjects like calculus and biology would be extremely difficult to manage with speech or a one-line Braille display. The College Board ignored our advice and did not even plan to offer hardcopy Braille during the initial testing period. Prior to the testing week, Kaleigh Brendle, a seventeen-year-old, blind, high school junior from New Jersey decided that unequal treatment was not acceptable even in a pandemic. She posted a video on social media highlighting the unequal treatment by the College Board and inviting other blind students to join with her. When we learned about Kaleigh's work to organize blind students, we offered to add the power of the National Federation of the Blind to her efforts. The NFB and Kaleigh quickly filed civil rights complaints with the Departments of Education and Justice, and our legal counsel reached out to the College Board. After a period of negotiation, with Kaleigh taking the lead for blind high school students around the country, we reached a settlement with the College Board that provides for blind students to have an equal opportunity for retesting, including the availability of hardcopy Braille and tactile graphics. Among other provisions, the College Board will also provide a letter to affected high school seniors so they can provide their universities with justification for their delayed test scores. Sometimes students fight to get out of testing. These blind students fought to get into testing, and all they wanted was to use Braille-the method of communication that would best facilitate their ability to read and respond to the test content. Our strong work to protect and expand the rights of blind people is essential for our full participation in society. However, our efforts to connect blind people through a network of resources is critical to our living the lives we want. Shortly after last year's convention we launched a new series of regular Membership Open Houses where we invite blind people to come learn about our organization. Many times people think they know who we are from what others have told them, and frequently their understanding is inaccurate. Our open houses allow us an opportunity to engage directly with those who have not yet joined to discuss their perceptions and what they are seeking. This is just one of the many tools we have tried during the past year to engage and onboard new members. Since our last convention we onboarded 475 members through our new-member process. Each of these individuals was mailed a membership certificate in Braille and print and a membership coin. They were also provided with information to connect with others in the organization. Welcome to all of our new members and first timers at this convention and thank you to our affiliates that have made this a priority. Our new-member efforts have been led by our Virginia, New Jersey, and Ohio affiliates, which brought in the most new members during the past year. We recognized that the COVID-19 pandemic was a time for us to continue growing together as a movement. Knowing that accurate, accessible information is critical, we made COVID-19 resources easily discoverable on our NFB-NEWSLINE? service. While six of our state affiliates do not have local sponsorship of, and therefore access to, NFB-NEWSLINE, in March we made the service available in these locations at our expense, in order to ensure that every blind person in this country had access to breaking news. In this case, the information could mean the difference between life and death. To maintain the connections within our organization despite social distancing, we quickly made Zoom licenses and resources available to all of our affiliates and national divisions at no charge. We assisted in collecting and disseminating information about virtual Federation events across the country. During the height of the nation's shutdown, a blind person could connect with more than fifty Federation events in a week without even considering local chapter meetings, open state affiliate calls, and other local outreach efforts. We held yoga classes, philosophy discussions, technology trainings, talent shows, happy hours, and dozens of other enrichment gatherings leveraging the talented membership of our movement. All of these gatherings we offered at no charge to participants. These events demonstrated the power and love of our network. Our challenge now is to develop the systems for extending our virtual presence and integrating it with our in-person meetings, as that becomes possible in local communities, with the goal of continuing to build our movement. Regardless of state borders or method of participation, we recognize we are all one movement. When COVID-19 caused the shutdown of schools, blind students were forgotten. But our talented Federation educators stepped up their efforts to connect families with resources and blind youth with successful mentors. Our distance education program included offering nine weeks of interactive Zoom lessons, posting twenty-five videos equaling nearly six hours of content, and sharing nearly thirty text-based activities from our early childhood newsletter. The videos ranged from blind people reading Braille books out loud to making scented playdough and learning basic indoor cane travel techniques. This is in addition to the individual consultation with families and educators that resulted from these offerings. Thanks to Carlton Walker, president of our National Organization of Parents of Blind Children; Eric Guillory, president of our division for Professionals in Blindness Education; Emily Gibbs, who oversees educational programming in our Texas affiliate; and Krystal Guillory and Kristen Sims from Louisiana, who are experts in turning our philosophy into action for families. These volunteers worked closely with Federation staff to develop these unanticipated quality resources ensuring that our blind youth were not forgotten. These resources remain available for free, and we expect to offer additional lessons in the fall of this year. The summer of 2019 was our twelfth straight expanding literacy through our NFB Braille Enrichment for Literacy and Learning? (BELL) Academies where we offer two weeks of hands-on learning. In 2019 we operated the program in twenty-six states delivering Braille education, nonvisual technique training, and a real connection to blind mentors to 279 blind youth. When COVID-19 threatened our ability to execute our traditional program in 2020, we chose not to shut down but to take the opportunity to extend our program into an area we had not yet explored. The NFB BELL In-Home Edition was launched only six weeks before the first session started on June 1. Registered families were sent a box with seven pounds of accessible materials for Braille education in the home, as well as an appropriately sized NFB straight cane. During the two-week program, families could join a daily lesson as well as a social hour to connect families together. Blind mentors from our local affiliates provided support, assisted with reinforcing new concepts, and connected families with other resources throughout the Federation. A customized session was offered in Spanish to provide an authentic environment to families for whom English is their second language. By the end of this summer, we will have delivered the NFB BELL In-Home Edition to 280 blind students ranging in age from four to twelve. Families from all the sessions will come together for a BELL-ringing ceremony in August. This new approach to our Braille enrichment efforts, including the additional costs associated with moving to this model, would not have been practical without the continued financial support of our partners at the Wells Fargo Foundation and the generous financial and volunteer support of many of our state affiliates. We are eager to again ring the bell in person with students across the country, but we can all be proud that our Braille enrichment efforts have reached a new height by connecting the Federation directly into the homes of these future leaders when they most needed us. Through our Jernigan Institute in Baltimore, we pursue the development and coordination of programs, training, and research that advance our movement. This work helps us connect our expertise to others, but it also facilitates strong connections between blind people. Over the past year, the NFB Career Mentoring Program has provided pre-employment transition services and mentoring to eighty-two transition-age youth from Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Virginia. Through our ten Career Quest retreats we have facilitated career exploration, work-based learning experiences, tours of college campuses, exposure to job-readiness skills, use of nonvisual techniques for independence, and development of self- advocacy. We are expanding this work to the online environment and expect to add the state of Illinois to our circle of mentoring later this summer. Connecting blind students to high-quality opportunities to pursue science, technology, engineering, art, and math continues to be a priority of our movement. We are coming to the close of the third year of our five- year National Science Foundation-funded project focused on the development of spatial skills and challenging blind youth with opportunities to exercise those skills through engineering activities. In order to continue advancing our objectives within the constraints of the COVID-19 pandemic, we developed NFB Engineering Quotient (EQ) Online. Over a period of six weeks, including this convention, blind students who previously participated in our programs are offered an opportunity to reconnect, discover new mentors, and continue developing their technical knowledge, spatial reasoning, and other skills essential for success as a blind person. The program includes synchronous online group events focused on apprenticing students into our community of practice and hands-on STEM activities that can be completed as the student has time. Program activities were selected based upon the self-directed preferences of the students and include engineering challenges, tactile puzzles, and drawing activities. To facilitate the hands-on activities, we shipped each student a twenty-three-pound box containing tactile measuring tools (such as Braille calipers, a click rule, and tactile protractor); tactile drawing boards; and building materials. Through our Center of Excellence in Nonvisual Access (CENA) initiative we coordinate technical expertise based on our authentic experience. This expertise breaks down artificial barriers in society and creates meaningful connections for our partners who seek to synergize with our movement. Some examples of our efforts this year include work with Disney+ on accessibility; Pearson on tactile graphics; and with VW, Ford, Waymo, the Federal Transit Administration, and a number of universities on autonomous vehicle research efforts. We maintained productive relationships with Apple, Google, HumanWare, Microsoft, and Vispero while strengthening our work with other partners such as the American Printing House for the Blind and GoodMaps. We have continued to work with Target and D2L as Strategic Nonvisual Access Partners (SNAP). Through our SNAP program we formalize a working relationship and assist our partners in finding innovative ways to extend their accessibility work. We continue to build our partnerships by advancing our Accessibility Switchboard and accessibility community of practice. For us, accessibility is not a business model, it is a tool to facilitate the full participation of the blind in society, and we want everyone to have the tools to advance our mission. Last October, we connected non-blind people to our mission in a fun and competitive way. Through a partnership with Mattel toys, we collaborated in the launch of UNO? Braille. UNO is one of the most popular family games in the world. UNO Braille consists of 112 cards, with each card featuring Braille and the logo of the National Federation of the Blind. The game packaging included the words "UNO Braille" and "National Federation of the Blind" in Braille as well as our logo on multiple sides of the box. More importantly, it was sold in Target stores across the country at the same price as other versions of the popular game. UNO Braille continues to be available on the store shelves. We intend to pursue more efforts to get Braille onto consumer packaging, to assist the industry in establishing best practices for access to products like gift cards, and to create more meaningful connections through our partnerships. By the way, our relationship with Mattel continues, and you can expect other interesting announcements in the near future. These are only a handful of the highlights and a small sampling of the people impacted by our work together. These accomplishments are because of you. Each and every active member of this movement makes the difference in what we do. You have stepped up this year in a way that demonstrates to the world that our movement is exactly what we need in good times and bad to ensure that blind people have equality, opportunity, and security. You have dedicated extra dollars, more time, and a large measure of love to our work together. The results are found in this report, but more importantly in the thousands of individual stories we do not have time to tell today. Thank you to the members of the National Federation of the Blind for turning one of our most challenging years into our strongest building year ever. We know there are more blind people who have not found us or have not decided to join our movement for one reason or another. Some of them are participating in our convention for the first time this year. If that is you, we extend our hand and welcome you to our family. We need you. We need your diversity, your perspectives, and your talents. We also know from our experience that you will get a lot, more than you can imagine today, from being part of our Federation family. We also know that some of you joining us for the first time this year are members of another organization. The American Council of the Blind was established by a small group of individuals who left our movement nearly sixty years ago. For a long time the Council opposed nearly every priority we undertook. Today, its scope is significantly smaller than ours, and it does not often openly attack our efforts. Last summer I invited the Council's newly-elected president to meet, and, in that conversation, I invited him to consider holding the Council's annual meeting in conjunction with one of the Federation's future conventions. This is not our first time extending this offer and, as in the past, we still await a response. Despite the silence, we welcome those Council members who have come on their own to closely examine the Federation's work. If you like what you find, we invite you to join our mission, take our pledge, and walk confidently with us into the future we are building for all blind people. If you decide this space is not for you, we want you to know that the Federation family will still be actively working hard to ensure that you too can live the life you want. To all those who find hope, energy, love, and strength in this Federation: join us, pledge to participate actively in our efforts, and receive the title that we proudly share: member, National Federation of the Blind. Our value proposition to society is that we bring the lived experience of blind people to the front of society's consciousness. During the past few years we have been making a concentrated effort to fulfill our promise that we represent all blind people regardless of their race, creed, color, religion, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, national origin, citizenship, marital status, age, genetic information, disability, or any other characteristic or intersectionality of characteristics. In doing so, we recognize that the words are not enough. Words need to be followed by actions, and our Committee on Diversity and Inclusion has been guiding our actions in this area. This spring, we were shocked by the video of the killing of George Floyd approximately three miles southeast of BLIND, Incorporated, our training center in Minnesota. That moment caused us to examine our actions within this movement and whether we have done what was needed to fulfil the promise we make to each other in our organizational code of conduct. On June 2, we released a statement of solidarity, and we committed that we would take positive steps to ensure our organization is free of racism. Some people tell us we are lucky as blind people because we do not see skin color. We know that this is simply another ableist misconception about blind people. As blind people we are shaped by the society around us as much as our non-blind friends. We have made the commitment to work harder at exposing and shattering the misunderstandings we have related to the other characteristics found in our movement. In many ways, it was easy for us to say Black Lives Matter; now we need to plan and execute the actions that will make a difference within and outside our organization. We are all stronger when we make the commitment to explore this honest reflection within ourselves, and our movement will be better when we use the learning to create more space for those who perceived that this organization did not represent them. We will continue to seek innovative ways to bring all blind people together, to connect a larger, more diverse audience to our movement, and to grow the connections in person and online. My Federation family, I am truly prouder of what we have done in the past year than I have ever been at any of the previous twenty-four conventions I have attended. How our movement has responded in the past year gives me deep strength and boundless hope for what we will do together in the future. It continues to be my deepest honor to serve as your President. Answering to you and carrying out your priorities is the most challenging and joyous undertaking of my life. In the past year, the challenges were ones I never imagined. Yet you gave me everything we needed to push through. You invested in me. You trained me. You challenged me to test the limits for us as blind people by encouraging me to dare to do so within myself. You have loved and trusted me enough to give to me and to accept what I have been blessed to give back. A year ago I would have told you I had no idea how we would do what we have done this year, but the truth is you prepared me long ago for these moments. I carry the understanding that we are in this together-you have my back, and I have yours. The wise counsel and unwavering support that you have given to me combined with your extraordinary efforts makes it possible to lead. The love that you share with me and my family makes it possible to live the life we want. I again pledge to you my dedication, energy, imagination, and heart in advancing the mission of our movement. I will never ask of you anything that I am not prepared to do myself. I am prepared to serve in this office as long as you call upon me to do so. I will continue to march shoulder to shoulder with you until I have nothing left to give. I will never run out of gratitude for all that you have given to me, and I will continue to work tirelessly to pay the value of the Federation family forward to a new generation of leaders. Fellow Federationists, this is my report for 2020. This is the continued progress we make in protecting. This is the unshakeable bond of faith we share in connecting. This is how we transform dreams into reality despite unexpected challenges. This is our love, hope, and determination in the National Federation of the Blind. ---------- Scholarship Thank You to Sponsors The National Federation of the Blind scholarship program is the largest of its kind for blind students in the United States. Each year we award more than $120,000 in cash and prizes. We would like to recognize the generous partners who contribute to our scholarships and those who add cash and prizes to help make this such a dynamic program. Some scholarships are supported by the Lillian S. Edelstein Trust. All scholarships that are awarded to blind women and are not otherwise endowed are made possible by a generous bequest from the estate of Dorothy R. Olson. Some NFB scholarships are made possible in part through the support of the Jesse and Hertha Adams Charitable Trust. Through the trust, Jesse and Hertha Adams wanted to help people with disabilities lead productive and meaningful lives. Thank you to the partners who add cash and prizes to each of our winners' packages: The Kurzweil Foundation and Ray Kurzweil add $1,000 to each recipient's award and provide each finalist with a commemorative plaque in both print and Braille. Ray Kurzweil is a long-time friend of the Federation and deserves our special recognition. Google Inc. adds another $1,000 to each winner's scholarship. Google also provides each recipient with an Acer Chromebook. Independence Science is proud to award each winner a $1,500 gift certificate to be redeemed toward the purchase of a new Sci- Voice talking LabQuest, version 2. Vispero will award each winner with a five-year home software license for their choice of either JAWS screen reading software or ZoomText magnifier with speech. Winners also enjoy the gift of a KNFB Reader, courtesy of the National Federation of the Blind. Thank you to these contributors for helping to fund our twenty-two $3,000 scholarships: The E. U. and Gene Parker Scholarship honors two longtime leaders of the National Federation of the Blind whose participation stood for strong principles and strong support of the Federation's work. The Charles and Betty Allen Scholarship is funded by Betty Allen. This scholarship is given by a longtime leader in the National Federation of the Blind of Kentucky. Betty and her late husband Charles began this scholarship prior to his passing to support young people in attaining higher education. Charlie, who was extremely successful, left school at an early age to care for his family but retained a strong belief in education. The Adrienne Asch Memorial Scholarship is given in loving memory of Dr. Adrienne Asch, a consummate scholar and a longtime member of our Scholarship Committee. The Edith R. and Alvin J. Domroe Foundation supports college scholarships and has funded its scholarship to encourage academic excellence. One Charles and Melba T. Owen Memorial Scholarship is funded in the amount of $3,000. The NFB STEM Scholarship is jointly supported by the Science and Engineering and Computer Science Divisions and is awarded to a student studying in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, or a related field. Members of these divisions wish to encourage the success of blind STEM students in their chosen field of study. Anonymous contributors-you know who you are-and we thank you very much. Our gratitude goes out to the collective membership of the NFB for funding many National Federation of the Blind scholarships. This year, one of our NFB scholarships will be dedicated to Federationists impacted by, and first responders coping with, COVID-19. Also this year we will present four awards in the amount of $5,000 each. The first of these is funded by the collective membership of the National Federation of the Blind. The Pearson award is funded by Pearson Education and is given to a student who plans a career in education. For Pearson, learning is a never-ending road of discovery. The Mimi and Marvin Sandler award is funded by longtime friends of the Federation. Marvin Sandler served as president of Independent Living Aids for more than thirty years. He and his wife wish to further academic excellence by sponsoring this award. The JAWS for Windows Scholarship is funded by the developers of the JAWS screen reader, Vispero. JAWS, Job Access with Speech, has been committed to expanding the opportunities of education and employment for the blind with both speech and Braille since the late 1980s. In establishing this award Vispero said, "On behalf of all the individuals responsible for the development and support of this product over the years, we are honored to establish this scholarship for students recognized by the Federation." We have two $8,000 scholarships, both donated by Oracle. Thank you, Oracle. The first is the Oracle Scholarship for Excellence in Computer Science. Oracle seeks to hire the best and brightest talent to build its products. It recognizes the significant impact that its products and technologies can have on people with disabilities. This scholarship is for a student in the field of computer science, computer engineering, user experience, or a related field. The second is the Oracle Scholarship for Excellence in a STEM Field. This scholarship awards academic excellence and leadership in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics. Oracle wishes to promote excellence and funds this scholarship based on Oracle's understanding of its impact on disabled employees and customers throughout the globe. Our $10,000 scholarship is another Charles and Melva T. Owen Memorial Scholarship. First established by Charles Owen in loving memory of his blind wife, this award is now endowed to honor the memory of both. In founding the scholarship, Charles Owen wrote: "There shall be no limitation as to field of study, except that it shall be directed toward attaining financial independence." Finally, we have our most prestigious scholarship, the Kenneth Jernigan Scholarship for $12,000. This scholarship is given yearly by the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults, a nonprofit organization that works to create publications and assists blind people. Kenneth Jernigan is viewed in our field as the most important figure in the twentieth century in the lives of blind people. The Action Fund wishes to keep the understandings he brought to the field alive and well throughout the twenty-first century and has endowed this scholarship dedicated to his memory and to the continuation of the work he began. Each of our thirty scholarships rewards academic excellence and promotes leadership in the blindness community. They are all made possible by the generous contributions of many individuals and partners. Our winners are living the lives they want, and we sincerely thank all of you. You help make dreams come true! ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: The Scholarship Class of 2020: (from top left) Alek Wolfe, Bri Broadwater, Brian Mucyo, Chris Bove, Marissa Nissley, Griffin Miller, Deiascha Britte Bancayanvega, Rob Blachowicz, Emily Keihl, Matthew Duffell- Hoffman, Logan Stenzel, Elaine Hardin, Precious Perez, Kevin Darcy, Sara Luna, Kaitlin Hippe, Mick Carey, Brayan Zamarripa, Jillian Skye Milton, Marie Villaneda, Moreblessings Chikavanga, Paxton Franke, Nick Spohn, Josh Loebner, Natalie Charbonneau, and Danielle Schultz.] Scholarship Remarks from Our 2020 Finalists From the Editor: President Riccobono introduced our scholarship committee chairperson in this way: "This is the moment in the board meeting where we come to the presentation of our scholarship program. Our scholarship program is premier in terms of acknowledging the hard work of blind students across the country. Our scholarship chair has been juggling a lot of new things in the last few months doing a great job shepherding all the committee members and going through the process of dealing with the hundreds of applications we get in a very competitive program. Here to present our 2020 scholarship finalists from the great State of New York, is Cayte Mendez." Cayte Mendez: Thank you, President Riccobono. Good afternoon. It's a privilege to be here with all of you this afternoon. As you know our scholarship program is one of the ways our organization makes an investment in its future and in the future of blind people across the nation. Every year we give more than $120,000 in cash and prizes to thirty blind students from across the country who have demonstrated excellence in both their academic pursuits and their community involvement and leadership. Like so many this year, I've been missing the opportunity to connect in person with my fellow Federationists. But the thing I've been missing the absolute most has been the chance to spend lots of in-person time with this amazing group of thirty scholarship finalists. I've had the opportunity to get to know them thus far over a series of Zoom calls, and they are truly an impressive and diverse group of leaders and scholars. Their enthusiasm for the scholarship process and to achieve their own goals and aspirations is evident, even through the virtual medium, and it's my honor to introduce them to you this afternoon. So I'm going to introduce each finalist in alphabetical order by name, of course, and then I'm going to say two states. The first state will be their home state. That's the state either where they spend the most time or where they consider home, and the second will be their school state where they're going to be attending college in the fall. I'm also going to share briefly their vocational goals, and each student will introduce themselves. Throughout the presentation I'm going to share some fun facts about this scholarship class. They're a great group of finalists. Since we are urged strongly to keep things moving, without further ado, it's my privilege to present the NFB scholarship class of 2020. Deiascha-Britte Bancayanvega, Rhode Island, California. She will be entering the field of healthcare: I would like to recognize the San Diego chapter and the National Federation of the Blind for their love and support. I am halfway in my medical education as a blind individual. My goal is to promote healthcare inclusion for the visually impaired patients and also for visually impaired healthcare workers who truly want to help yet accessibility is not fully granted. Now I speak for those who have an interest in medicine. I believe in your potential, and we all can partake in the creation of an inclusive healthcare system that welcomes everyone. Rob Blachowicz, Arkansas, Arkansas. Rob is getting a degree in counseling: Scholars are not just academics. It is very important to note that scholars also volunteer and commit our time to helping people with technology and Braille. I have also given my time to food banks and homeless shelters. With that being said though, school counseling and a scholar is not just about volunteering, academics, and advocacy. It's also about teaching skills. One of the most important skills we can teach is teamwork, because together we can achieve our dreams. Chris Bove, Rhode Island, Rhode Island. Chris will be pursuing a career in public service: Hello everyone. Before I start I would just like to thank you all for the opportunity to be here today. I have been working toward a career in public service for about five years now. In high school I served as a member of the Rhode Island Board of Education and as an intern in the office of Governor Gina Raimondo. At the University of Rhode Island, I serve as a committee chair on the student senate and as a member of the board of trustees. I am also an extremely active member of the Rhode Island affiliate of the NFB, and I serve as a member of the legislative team. My dream in life is to serve in government and provide a voice for people like us who have long been overlooked. This investment in my future will help get me one step closer to making that dream a reality. Thank you. Bri Broadwater, Maryland, New Jersey. Bri will be seeking a career as a psychologist: I have been of the mindset that your life is your own, and you do with it what you choose. So that's what I do. I'm a base and tumbler on my school's cheer team, I'm an amateur baker, and I really enjoy rock climbing and hiking. I've had so many people help me during this time, so I want to help other people through volunteering with special education, helping out in my community, mentoring other blind students like myself, and now pursuing a career in psychology. I want to give back to the world like the world has given to me. Sean Carlson, Oregon, Oregon. Sean is looking forward to a career in rehab, specifically as a teacher of blind students: Greetings. It's an honor to have been selected as a national scholarship finalist. When I joined the NFB in January 2019, I was simply seeking connection with other blind individuals like myself. What I found was a movement of successful and inspirational people doing so much good in the blind movement that I wanted to join in. I'm currently president of the Oregon student division, and the vice president of the Portland Central Chapter. After hearing about the 70 percent unemployment or underemployment of us in the blind community, I decided to switch my college major. I decided to pursue degrees which would enable me to lead and inspire others to show them that blindness is not an obstacle to becoming a successful person and leading a dignified, independent life. Thank you. Natalie Charbonneau, Oregon, Oregon. Natalie is going into animal genetics and conservation: I'm stepping off the path of societal expectations that I've been traveling to pursue a career in conservation and animal genetics. My ultimate goal is to work at a university conducting research and teaching, allowing me to apply skills from my previous career path combined with my passion for animals and conservation, to actively model and continue advocating for true inclusivity and access in higher education. Moreblessings Chikavanga, Texas, Texas. Moreblessings is looking forward to a career in law: Hello. A little bit about myself. I enjoy being an engaged citizen. I love helping people as the president of the local Leo's Club. In my high school I enjoyed volunteering by fundraising for a local children's home. I graduated from LCB in 2018, where I became more confident and met a lot of great role models. To give back to my blind community, I have worked as a buddy counselor last summer and have been participating in the Texas Affiliate since. I have a passion in diversity and inclusion, and I love advocacy work. With that being said, this summer I have had an opportunity to work at the Iowa Department for the Blind as a summer youth counselor, where I work with students with multiple disabilities teaching cane travel and technology to enforce independence and self-advocacy. I'm honored to be one of the 2020 finalists. Cayte: This next finalist is one of the five finalists whose birthdays are in April. Apparently April is a really good month for having a birthday if you want to be a 2020 scholarship finalist. Kevin Darcy, Colorado, Colorado. Kevin is looking forward to a career as a professor of anthropology: The life I want is to be an anthropologist. When I was told that blind people can't become anthropologists, I didn't let blindness hold me back. When I was told that blind people shouldn't do research in developing areas of the world, blindness didn't hold me back. I refused to become society's image of a blind person. Even so, I recognized that my identity as a white male comes with privileges and access to opportunities and resources that other blind people may not have. One of my professional goals is to shape public policy to increase access and opportunities for other blind students, and I've begun doing that through my work at CU Boulder. Matthew Duffell-Hoffman, South Carolina, South Carolina. Matthew is looking forward to a career in electrical engineering: Hello everyone. A little about me: I am an athlete. In high school I was captain of both the wrestling team and the crosscountry team, and I now do jujitsu. I have volunteered at the NFB Bell Academy and at the NFB of SC's Rocky Bottom Children's Camp for the Blind. I'm currently working at our program called Summer Teen. My career aspiration is to be an entrepreneur and start a business converting ordinary cars into accessible self-driving cars, which comes from my personal desire to own a self-driving Dodge Viper. Paxton Franke, North Dakota, North Dakota. Paxton will be getting his degree in biology and heading into a career in forensic pathology: I am at my very nature a curious person. I am passionate about my curiosity through the study of chemistry and physics. There is no better feeling for me than spending twenty minutes on a chemistry problem and finally understanding one of the mechanisms that make up this beautiful world. I want to further my understanding through the practice of forensic pathology and not only sustain my curiosity but contribute to a future that I would be happy to be a part of. Elaine Hardin, Georgia, California. Elaine will be pursuing a degree in higher education with the goal of working in higher ed student affairs: Hi everyone. It's an honor to be here. I just graduated from Vanderbilt University, where I studied special education, taught and mentored in public schools as a student teacher, and served in several leadership positions. These experiences made me aware of inequities in education, and I'm dedicated to making a difference. This summer I'm beginning a one-year master's program in student affairs administration at UCLA. In my career I hope to have a big impact on the lives of students and on equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility in higher education. Kat Hippe, Wisconsin, Michigan. Kat will be pursuing a career in languages and special education: I just want to say thank you so much for this opportunity. It means a lot to me. I will be pursuing special education in foreign languages because I believe in advocating for other students who are underrepresented. In other countries they don't have as many opportunities as we do. So by getting a certification in foreign languages and special education, I can hopefully go over and represent the children who cannot be represented as well because I believe that everyone deserves a chance to live life to the fullest. Thank you. Emily Kiehl, Ohio, Ohio. Emily will be pursuing a career in technology and business: Outside my information technology classes, I play tuba, oboe, and saxophone in several bands at the University of Cincinnati. I'm also a software developer who has gone to hack-a-thons across the country and presented at the world's largest consumer electronics show. I got involved with the NFB after having a blast volunteering at the BELL camp last summer. Now I'm on the board of the Ohio Association of Blind Students. Thank you so much for this opportunity. Josh Loebner, Tennessee, South Carolina. Josh will be pursuing his PhD in rhetoric and communications with the goal of working in advertising and as a professor: The NFB scholarship allows me to continue my PhD advancing research and advocacy for disability in advertising. I serve on the Mosaic Council, the ad industry's premier think tank for diversity and inclusion, and mentor disabled students interested in pursuing careers in advertising, media, and entertainment. While positive strides have been made, more needs to be done to include people with disabilities. My career goal is to develop the first textbook and college course dedicated to teaching advertising and disability inclusion. Advertising is powerful. So is the the disability community. Sara Luna, Illinois, Illinois. Sara is entering a career in museum accessibility: I would wager that most of you in attendance have visited a history museum at some point. Perhaps like me you were disappointed by the overwhelmingly visual experience. The intent of museums is to preserve history and educate the public. Personally studying history has vastly increased my understanding and appreciation of my African-American and Mexican heritage. Therefore, I intend to work to help make museums a more accessible space so that everyone may learn from these incredible institutions. Thank you. Victor Marques, Michigan, Michigan. Victor will be entering a career in vision rehab therapy: I would like to thank the committee for the opportunity to be a finalist this year. I'm a graduate student at Western Michigan University. If everything goes well in April, I will graduate summa cum laude with my master's degree. I am a professional musician. I am heavily involved with Toastmasters International, and I also work as a patient services coordinator at a free health clinic where I help patients overcome barriers to accessing healthcare. My main goal as a rehabilitation professional is to provide quality comprehensive services so that my consumers can live the lives that they choose without limits. Thank you. Griffin Miller, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania. Griffin intends to pursue a career as an actuary: Hello, I'm Griffin. I'm pursuing a career as an actuary. I've always been interested in math since I was young and always been in advanced math classes for my age. I actually took algebra one in third grade. In addition to that, I have been interested in technology for the blind. There's another blind student at my school who I help with technology, and I also participate in the choir. Jillian Milton, New Jersey, Pennsylvania. Jillian will be pursuing a career in product development: Hi. As a legally blind student I am proud to have graduated twelfth in a class of about four hundred students. I became the first student in the nation to test with dual screens on multiple standardized tests. For the past four years I have participated in competitive sports like marching band and track that helped break barriers for other students with disabilities. I was an elected officer in the music and science honor societies. My volunteerism includes kayaking and open water swims and the BELL camp. In college I would like to study engineering or computer science to create technology products that are accessible for all. Brian Mucyo, Arizona, New York. Brian will be entering a career in human rights law: I would like to start off by thanking the committee for this great opportunity to be a finalist this year. I just graduated from Grand Canyon University with an honors bachelor's in finance and economics. I was actually also named the top student for our college of business, so once our graduation is rescheduled, I'll be giving the commencement speech. Among other things in the past year I have been serving on the student board of the Arizona affiliate and on the board of the Guide Dogs for the Blind chapter in Phoenix. I am currently working with a business consulting firm, where we're actively working to help businesses navigate and survive this pandemic. In the fall I start my new chapter going to law school, where I hope to gain more experience and resources to be an even better advocate. Cayte: Our scholarship class this year spans exactly three decades. Our youngest scholarship finalist is the next one I'm going to introduce. She is still seventeen and will be turning eighteen at the end of this month. Our most senior finalist is forty-seven, so just exactly thirty years between. Marissa Nissley, New Jersey, District of Columbia. Marissa will be getting a degree in economics and entering a career in law: Hello everyone. Throughout high school I served as captain of my school's mock trial team, and for the first time this year our team placed third in the state. I served as vice president of my local DECA chapter, where I not only competed in business role-play events but also organized community fundraisers for several charities. Next year I plan to attend Georgetown University and major in economics with the goal of attending law school after undergrad. Thank you, and I'm honored to be an NFB scholarship finalist. Sherry Pablo, California, California. Sherry will be pursuing a career in health policy and management: Ten years ago I unexpectedly lost my sight after graduating from college. My journey since then has included teaching myself how to read Braille, volunteering with seniors, providing health education to youth in a clinic, and most recently leading a team in a statewide program addressing the opioid epidemic. With a master's in public health from UC Berkeley, I plan to improve accessibility and promote equity within healthcare systems and in health policy. Thank you so much for this opportunity and investment in my future. Cayte: Our next finalist is a tenBroek Fellow. The tenBroek fellowships are awarded to scholarship finalists who have previously won a National Federation of the Blind scholarship, and they are named after the first president of the NFB, Dr. Jacobus tenBroek. So let me introduce you to Precious Perez. Precious Perez, Massachusetts, Massachusetts. Precious will be entering a career in music education: Hi everyone. This is an honor, so thank you to the scholarship committee. I'm a vocalist, songwriter, and music educator. I'm a first generation college student, a Puerto Rican woman with anxiety from a low income family. I'm the first blind student to study music education at Berkeley and the first blind student to study abroad at a Valencia [College] campus. My goal is to break down barriers for blind educators and performers to lead by example in the mainstream setting. I represent multiple communities, so I will strive to teach my students beauty and diversity. Music is unity; education is power, and I will use both to abolish blindness stereotypes. Thank you. Teresita Rios, California, Indiana. Teresita will be pursuing a career in law: I was born in Mexico and moved to the US at the age of eleven. I would not be as academically inclined if not for my parents. In high school through mock trial I fell in love with the founding documents of this nation. Throughout college I volunteered and interned in different legal resource centers which cemented my interest in the law. Graduating cum laude with honors from UCL, today I am thrilled to say that I am attending law school in the fall, and in three years I will be better equipped to at least in part pay my parents for their countless sacrifices and have a deeper understanding of the US Constitution. Thank you so very much for helping me achieve my dream. Thank you. Cayte: So before we introduce this next scholarship finalist, I would just like to say that our class is representative of twenty-six states. Some folks represent two states because of their home state and their school state. This next finalist will be representing one state and that is the state of Nebraska. Dannielle Schutz, Nebraska, Nebraska. Danielle will be pursuing a degree in biological systems engineering and will be pursuing a career in medical research: I have received many academic and athletic awards throughout my high school career. I have shown goats and pigs for eleven years through 4H and FFA. At the University of Nebraska, I plan to study biological systems engineering. As a medical scientist I plan to research genetic eye disorders. I was born with a rare form of Stargardt disease. My doctors inspired me to follow a path that would combine my love of science with my desire to improve the lives of others. Nick Spohn, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania. Nick will be pursuing a career in mechanical engineering: I became visually impaired right before my ninth grade school year. I have led others by example through my hard work and dedication. I was one of the students involved in advocating for the college board to administer proper accommodations during this year's AP exams. Everyone should have an equal opportunity when it comes to education. My career goal is to become a mechanical engineer and make an impact on society. Logan Stenzel, Minnesota, Minnesota. Logan will be entering the field of finance and technology entrepreneurship: Mixing technical and communication skills is essential to life as a blind person. Being able to come up with clever solutions to access issues is essential to success as a blind person and for the entire blind community. As a high school debater, I utilized these skills to achieve competitive success, unanimously winning the Minnesota state debate championship while advocating for more inclusive practices in debate. I'm grateful for the NFB scholarship for allowing me to continue this work into college. Marie Villaneda, Indiana, Indiana. Marie will be pursuing a career as an orientation and mobility instructor: As we all know, it is very important for blind youth to connect with and learn from blind adults. This is one driving factor in my passion to address the shortage of blind orientation and mobility instructors. I worked for four years with youth at the Indiana School for the Blind, and I have been involved with the NFB since 2017 through conventions and Washington Seminar. I look forward to a continued engagement with the Federation and sincerely appreciate the investment in my future. Shane Wegner, Minnesota, Minnesota. Shane will be undertaking a career in corporate law: What could be more exciting than a career in corporate law? Yeah, I've never heard anybody say that. No. It's not exciting. But you want to know what it is: how corporate America views diversity and inclusion. Has anyone noticed what group of people are not represented? Well, it's you and me, people with a disability. That bothers me. I want that to change. That is why I am excited about corporate law. I want to drive that change for people like us. Thank you to the scholarship committee and the board of directors for giving me this opportunity. Alek Wolfe, Vermont, Vermont. Alek will be pursuing a career in broadcasting: Hi, thank you for this incredible honor. A very important quote that my basketball coach told me when I first got into radio was, "You live and you learn." Through my time in radio I've gotten the opportunity to give back to my community, a very important part of that being a community garden and being able to broadcast on live radio a soccer tournament in honor of a resident who had passed away from a car accident. Since then I have been able to give to many charities in her name and through radio. With this scholarship I hope to continue the work through radio and give back to the community, and I want to thank the committee for letting me be here and continue my work in giving back to the community. Brayan Zamarripa, Oklahoma, Oklahoma. Brayan will be entering the field of media production and accessibility: Hello everybody. Thank you for giving me this opportunity. I am primarily a musician. I play guitar, violin, and a bit of voice too. I compose in many different genres and do a little bit of production as well. I also do testing for music software and accessibility in order to provide access for all who use it. Outside of music I am the secretary for my state NFB affiliate, and I also serve on committees in my local chapter. I love studying languages. I speak four of them. And I'm really looking forward to getting to know everyone. Cayte Mendez: Mr. President, this concludes the presentation of the 2020 scholarship class. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Cayte Mendez] The 2020 Scholarship Presentation by Cayte Mendez From the Editor: These remarks were made by Chairperson Mendez to honor the thirty recipients of the National Federation of the Blind's annual scholarships: For the past few years, it's been my privilege to stand at the podium on banquet night and celebrate the tremendous achievements of our NFB scholars. Each year the thirty students selected by the community impress us all with their drive and the desire to live their best lives and to improve the lives of others. Throughout the convention the members of the organization get to know them through their public presentations at NABS, the board meeting, and through interacting with them in the hallways and during meetings. From year to year our scholarship winners are stars of the convention experience. It's been my privilege for the last few years to introduce them to all of you. This spring, even before the official decision was made to take the convention virtual, President Riccobono, the committee, and I had already begun thinking about how we could make sure our 2020 scholarship finalists could be guaranteed the best convention experience possible under the unique and challenging conditions in which we all suddenly found ourselves. We made it a priority to ensure that each of the thirty scholarship finalists would have the most impactful, engaging, and interactive experience we could create as they got to know the committee and the Federation through the various convention events and their surrounding networking and social opportunities. We knew that the true gift of the NFB scholarship program is the Federation itself, above and beyond the dollar amounts, and we were determined to ensure that the 2020 finalists would get to experience everything that our organization has to offer. I'm so pleased to tell you all that this amazing group of finalists has dived into our remote convention experience with the kind of gusto and enthusiasm that I've always admired in our scholarship winners. They've immersed themselves deeply into our convention activities throughout the past week and have shared their questions and feedback with their mentors via Zoom, text, WhatsApp, email, and a few good old-fashioned phone calls. They've stayed connected to the committee, to one another, and forged new friendships and contacts throughout these past five days. Despite the time differences and the long hours behind devices, they've carried on the perennial scholarship tradition of twenty-hour-plus days with very little sleep as they have soaked up Federation philosophy, community, and activism. To you guys, the scholarship class of 2020, we've all been delighted to get to know you. You've impressed me, the committee, and the membership of the organization with your tremendous stories of struggle and success, your passion for diversity and inclusion, and your commitment to advancing the future of others as well as achieving your own lofty goals. I am really sorry to see that our time together is drawing to a close. However, this just means that we'll have more things to learn about one another and to share with one another when we do finally get a chance to meet in person. Back in May we announced that travel and public health restrictions permitting, there will be an in-person event for all the 2020 scholarship finalists in February 2021. That will be taking place in Baltimore. The details for this event are still in the works, but we know how important it is for the members of each scholarship class to develop in-person connections with one another, with their mentors on the committee, as well as with other Federation members and leaders. The money that you guys will all win as scholarship finalists will eventually be spent. But the relationships that you'll build with one another and with the members of the Federation as a part of your scholarship process will last for a lifetime. And to give you an example, I'm still friends with my scholarship roommate, and that was nineteen years ago! So right now, our in-person event is scheduled for the weekend of February 4, 2021. Please save that date. Dr. Kurzweil, that might be a lovely time to do that handshake that you were lamenting having missed this evening. As you all know, each year our thirty NFB scholarships range in value from $3,000 to $12,000. These scholarships are also augmented by additional grants and prizes so that at a minimum each winner leaves our convention with $5,000 plus gifts including a beautiful plaque from Dr. Kurzweil and the Kurzweil Foundation and a Chromebook from Google. In the video we aired earlier this evening, we thanked our generous donors and partners for their support. But I'm going to take this opportunity to say one more time: thank you. Thank you so much. Your support helps make it possible for these future leaders and scholars to achieve their dreams and to live the life they want. So, sincerely, from all of us, thank you. Traditionally the determination of which of the thirty finalists will receive the eight scholarships with base values exceeding $3,000 has been made on the final night of convention after a week where the finalists get to know the scholarship committee and the committee members get to know each of the finalists. This year, given the challenges and potential inequities of adhering to our usual protocol, the decision was made to award our scholarships a little differently. In May we announced that each finalist who participated fully in the remote convention will be receiving a $3,000 scholarship plus all the additional cash and prizes. The determination of which finalist would be awarded the eight amounts exceeding $3,000, including our prestigious Kenneth Jernigan Memorial scholarship, will be made at the in-person event in February, where, again, public health and travel permitting, the committee and other Federation members in attendance will be able to get to know each of these inspiring scholars without the barriers of screens and headphones and weird internet stuff. So, in closing this evening I have the honor to introduce one more time in full the scholarship class of 2020. Now, usually at this point when I start reading names, I'd have to tell you please hold your applause and please wait to cheer. But this year because you're all in webinar mode, I definitely encourage you to cheer, hoot, holler, scream, yell, and carry on as loud as you please while I read the names of our fabulous 2020 scholarship winners. I'll read everybody's name, first name, last name, home state, school state, and vocational goal. Deiascha-Britte Bancayanvega, Rhode Island, California, healthcare inclusion. Rob Blachowicz, Arkansas, Arkansas, counseling. Chris Bove, Rhode Island, Rhode Island, public service. Bri Broadwater, Maryland, New Jersey, psychology. Sean Carlson, Oregon, Oregon, teacher of blind students. Natalie Charbonneau, Oregon, Oregon, animal genetics and conservation. Moreblessings Chikavanga, Texas, Texas, law and policy. Kevin Darcy, Colorado, Colorado, professor of anthropology. Matthew Duffell-Hoffman, South Carolina, South Carolina, electrical engineer. Paxton Franke, North Dakota, North Dakota, forensic pathology. Elaine Hardin, Georgia, California, higher education student administration. Kat Hippe, Wisconsin, Michigan, linguistics and special education. Emily Kiehl, Ohio, Ohio, technology and business. Josh Loebner, Tennessee, South Carolina, advertising and academic faculty. Sara Luna, Illinois, Illinois, museum accessibility. Victor Marques, Michigan, Michigan, rehabilitation. Griffin Miller, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, actuary. Jillian Milton, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, software product development. Brian Mucyo, Arizona, New York, human rights law. Marissa Nissley, New Jersey, District of Columbia, law. Sherry Pablo, California, California, health policy and management. Precious Perez, a tenBroek Fellow, congratulations Precious on your second NFB scholarship, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, music education. Teresita Rios, California, Indiana, law. Dannielle Schutz, Nebraska, Nebraska, biomedical research. Nick Spohn, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, mechanical engineer. Logan Stenzel, Minnesota, Minnesota, finance and entrepreneurship. Marie Villaneda, Indiana, Indiana, orientation mobility instructor. Shane Wegner, Minnesota, Minnesota, corporate law. Alek Wolfe, Vermont, Vermont, broadcasting. Brayan Zamarripa, Oklahoma, Oklahoma, media production accessibility. Folks, I hope you're still cheering and making a ton of noise, banging your cups and plates and cutlery-whatever you have-in celebration of the scholarship class of 2020. See you all in February. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Mark A. Riccobono] Language, Action, and Destiny: The Lived Experience of the Organized Blind Movement by Mark A. Riccobono Tonight we connect through words. A word is a single, distinct, meaningful element of speech or writing. When used alone or in abundance, words form the expression of ideas and emotions. Whether spoken or written, words create vibrations that influence the very reality that surrounds us. Those vibrations transmit ideas, evoke emotions, influence thought patterns, and encourage action. Words are, therefore, the connection between thought and action. The vibrational qualities transmitted through words depend on their combination, their familiarity, and the means of delivery. The influence of words is amplified or diminished based upon the action or inaction that results. Over time, the meaning of words change and gain power from the underlying beliefs. English poet Lord Byron wrote, "But words are things, and a small drop of ink, falling like dew, upon a thought, produces that which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think." The writer and businesswoman Ingrid Bengis reflected, "For me, words are a form of action, capable of influencing change. Their articulation represents a complete, lived experience." The thirteenth century Persian poet Rumi once said, "Raise your words, not your voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder." Humanitarian Mother Teresa expressed that "Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless." While drafting the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Franklin observed that "Words may show a man's wit, but actions his meaning." Eight decades ago the first convention of the National Federation of the Blind was held in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. At the banquet of that constitutional convention, the Federation's first President, Dr. Jacobus tenBroek, made an address to the relatively small assembly. He closed his remarks with these simple yet powerful words, "It is necessary for the blind to organize themselves and their ideas upon a national basis, so that blind men the nation over may live in physical comfort, social dignity, and spiritual self-respect." While today we choose different words, the society around us is changing at an accelerating pace, and our movement is exponentially more complex. The core belief shared by Dr. tenBroek nearly eighty years ago continues to be the motivation for us to come together at this banquet-that being the value of self-directed action by the blind. We gather together this evening in a manner that alters the familiar patterns, but with the same love, hope, and determination that has always called us to join together. Regardless of the unknowns that lay ahead, we come to the close of our eighth decade with the certainty that we have sustained a movement that stands as the single most important force for the blind anywhere in the world. We come together to recommit ourselves to our movement, to feel the heartbeat of our organization, and to gather the strength required to build our future. We are blind people connected from every corner of this great nation. We are blind people of different backgrounds, perspectives, and intersectionalities. We are blind people who recognize the power of unified action and concentrated energy. We are blind people who benefit from eight decades of hard work and sacrifice by departed generations of our movement. We are blind people committed to the value of giving back, to the opportunities that come from building together, to the strength found in welcoming new members, and to the urgency of resisting all efforts that threaten our progress. We are the National Federation of the Blind. Mahatma Gandhi is credited with observing that "Your beliefs become your thoughts. Your thoughts become your words. Your words become your actions. Your actions become your habits. Your habits become your values. Your values become your destiny." In the National Federation of the Blind, we have developed a distinct pattern of belief about blindness based upon our authentic lived experience being blind. We refer to this pattern of belief as Federation philosophy. As we put the philosophy into action, add new diverse perspectives, and influence the society around us, our understanding becomes even more meaningful. Our philosophy is further enhanced when we align our words and our actions to be consistent with our pattern of beliefs. We have consistently found that organizing ourselves and our ideas-as we have done using the Federation philosophy-is the most effective means for us to make steady progress toward our goal of integrating the blind into society on terms of equality. In contrast, we sometimes hear from administrators, counselors, teachers, and other individuals working in the blindness field that they do not adhere to a philosophy about blindness. We are told that they prefer not to "pick a side," but rather "pick and choose from many different sources." What do they mean when they use these words? The philosophy of the National Federation of the Blind has been shaped, over eighty years, by the lived experience of hundreds of thousands of diverse blind individuals. To be clear, when we say blind (a word we believe has power), we mean a functional definition that includes individuals with varying degrees of blindness. When a blindness professional says they cannot adopt the Federation philosophy, they are actually rejecting a shared understanding rooted in the lived experience of blind people. These professionals have a set of beliefs centered not on the experience of the blind, but rather on a belief that the non-blind experience is normal and that the essential element in that normality is eyesight. This is the vision-centered philosophy. That philosophy frequently underlies the words and actions of many non-blind individuals, who cannot have the lived experience of being blind, as well as blind individuals who have internalized the myth that vision is a requirement for success. We can get an understanding of people's underlying beliefs from the words they use. Last fall, Pam Allen, first-vice president of the National Federation of the Blind, was at a large gathering of leaders in the blindness field. During a session about the branding of agencies for the blind, the facilitator asked a serious question, "Should we continue to use the B word?" The tone of the question implied that blind is a four-letter word. As executive director of the Louisiana Center for the Blind, Pam was the only blind person in the room who oversaw an agency directed by a board of blind individuals and offering services built upon the Federation philosophy. When no one else spoke up, Pam confidently explained that use of the word "blind" is not merely appropriate, it is essential to reflecting the belief that it is respectable to live and compete on terms of equality as a blind person. However, she was met with strong resistance and little support from the assembled crowd of agency administrators. This was not a philosophical discussion to explore the value of the word "blind" or shifting its meaning among the general public. This was a discussion about effectively marketing agencies serving the blind and enhancing their brand by excluding the B word. If Pam was not in that room or did not speak up, the assembled crowd would have once again affirmed its belief that vision is to be advanced while blind is to be avoided. In contrast, the Library of Congress program for providing accessible reading materials to the blind has recently considered operational changes resulting from the United States ratification of the Marrakesh Treaty. Refreshing the brand, including the name, of the program was under review. Removing "blind" from the program's name was discussed, but the library leadership effectively articulated the significance of the word and the importance of the underlying belief in blind people-the library's primary audience. Why did the national library, unlike some other agencies in the blindness field, remain committed to using the B word? The National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled is led by a blind woman, Karen Keninger, who believes deeply in the capacity and value of blind people. The library, like our movement, recognizes that the word "blind" is a positive attribute. As a class of blind people, all of us face artificial barriers and low expectations in society. Whether poor color contrast or unlabeled interactive controls, the failure to incorporate accessibility into web development affects all of us. When seeking employment, we are all held back by the low expectations. When seeking to vote in elections, we get equal access when we demonstrate that all of us have been disenfranchised from our rights. We use the word "blind" because we reject the outdated notion that blindness is a tragedy that limits the possibilities. For us, the word "blind" has power and meaning. For those who are vision centered, "blind" evokes fear and uncertainty. Language reflects belief, and we will not sell out our beliefs. We, the blind, follow our words with the action of living the lives we want. The result of our persistent and collective action is our shattering of the old meaning of blind and creating a new, stronger, authentic meaning. In contrast, many professionals in the field emphasize words that center on vision. Behind their words are beliefs that hold us back. Some professionals truly believe that the words simply do not matter. Other professionals sincerely believe that, for the sake of their clients, they must only use the politically correct words. We reject these harmful assertions because we know that words do matter, that words are driven by beliefs, and that words create vibrations that lead to actions that will either help or hurt our march to freedom. Now is the time for a revolution of words in the field of blindness. Now is the time for the blind to advance our language of freedom. Consider the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AERBVI). The association describes itself as "a professional membership organization dedicated exclusively to professionals who provide services to persons with vision loss." While we do not protest the existence of a membership organization for professionals in the field, we do denounce their continued use of language centered on vision that emphasizes their separation from the pattern of thought found in the organized blind movement. AERBVI's website features a page promoting opportunities to work in the field that is prominently titled, "Become a Vision Professional." From first impression, the association makes it clear how they would like us to think about the field-vision is at the center. Listen for yourself; here is the opening paragraph from that page: "Vision professionals have the opportunity to make positive changes in another person's life. There is a variety of professions in the vision community, a number of different types of working environments and employment options. Vision professionals work with public or private organizations, with children and adults, and with educational, medical, and rehabilitation professionals." The page highlights career options such as teacher of students with visual impairments, which the professionals often shorten to simply vision teacher, or vision rehabilitation therapist, which, according to the page, is the modern term for rehabilitation teacher. What beliefs underlie the titles of vision teachers and vision therapists? The language of seeing used by AERBVI exemplifies a fundamental disconnect among some professionals in the field of blindness that continues to hold us back as blind people. It is a systemic problem that stretches back before the founding of the National Federation of the Blind. It is a bias that pushed our earliest leaders to establish this movement in 1940. The vision-centered philosophy and its language of seeing perpetuate the false notion that blind people need to be counseled by therapists to operate in a visual world-with all of the limitations that are assumed to be inherent in not being able to see. From this has come the actions of building a professional system that trains vision professionals to help those with visual impairments to make optimal gains based first and foremost upon eyesight. Yet we continue to be told that the words do not matter and that the differences in perspective are in the past. We, the blind, know that the words do matter, and we intend to follow our language of freedom with actions to make change. Tonight, we call on all professionals in the field to change their language to reflect the beliefs we want to find in our field. We encourage you to join with the leadership of our divisions for rehabilitation professionals and blindness education professionals in using the language of freedom cultivated by the organized blind movement. We are not impaired. We do not require therapy for our eyes. We appreciate that not all blindness is the same, but our experience tells us that all people living with blindness, as we say blind people, face the same set of low expectations in society that require action. Make a conscious decision to use our language of freedom, because it will cause you to evaluate your own beliefs. This consciousness will allow you to continue the process of cultivating your philosophy about blindness centered on the lived experience of the blind rather than on the hierarchy of seeing. If you undertake this exploration of understanding within the organized blind movement, we know you will be better able to make the positive changes in the world we sincerely believe you seek. Change starts with each of us and, as blind people, we can best influence the professionals and the general public when we consistently use the language of freedom that reflects our shared beliefs. We cannot afford to acquiesce to the words that society feels more comfortable wrapping us in. We should not give into the notion that words do not matter. I frequently overhear blind people reflecting the language of seeing that is used in society rather than what is authentic to us. Braille and print materials can be just that, rather than special and normal. How many times have you been asked if you want the regular (meaning print) menu or the special copy? Did you reply with the language of seeing or the language of freedom? How many times have you heard blind people refer to the "vision teachers"? When I have inquired of my blind friends why they use this term, they sometimes tell me that they are following the lead of the professionals. Yet those same blind individuals are frustrated with the low expectations for blind people within the education system especially when it comes to Braille literacy. If we are to secure the future we want, we must recommit to our language of freedom. In 1993 we passed a resolution at our convention rejecting politically correct language about blindness that declared, "We believe that it is respectable to be blind, and although we have no particular pride in the fact of our blindness, neither do we have any shame in it. To the extent that euphemisms are used to convey any other concept or image, we deplore such use." At the time, nearly everyone in the disability community criticized us for this position. We have consistently maintained the language of freedom aligned with our high expectations based upon our shared beliefs. Fast forward to today where the disability community has widely adopted our perspective, which is broadly referred to as identity- first language. I raise this not to demonstrate that we were right but rather to point out that we now need to push harder. It is not enough for the professionals in our own field to say, "We will call you blind if you prefer that." We need them to have a real understanding of why it is important. That starts with using our language of freedom rather than settling for what the non-blind population requires. We continue to strengthen our own understanding when we are intentional about the words we choose. When I was still relatively new to the Federation philosophy, I heard someone use the term "human guide." At the time, I only classified guides as being of two varieties: dog guides and sighted guides. The term human guide forced me to examine my underlying beliefs and their consistency with our shared philosophy. As a blind person, I have guided many people, both blind and sighted, and vision was not required nor used in my guiding. I had the realization that my classifications were rooted in vision-centered philosophy, not from my authentic experience as a blind person. Once my consciousness was raised, I started using words that strengthened and reflected our shared beliefs. However, we should be careful not to settle for simply using and hearing the right words. Consistent beliefs and actions are also critical to achieving our destiny. Learning to speak the language of freedom for the blind is not enough. Ultimately, if beliefs are not consistent with the words, the action or the lack of action will expose the truth. Many agencies for the blind use words like independence, self-sufficiency, and live life to the fullest. Yet their actions prevent blind people from achieving that reality. Consider the fact that the National Federation of the Blind has largely eliminated the practice of paying subminimum wages to blind people in programs at agencies for the blind. After decades of resistance, the agencies enjoy telling us they no longer use the 14(c) exemption under the Fair Labor Standards Act. However, do those same agencies provide blind workers with pay comparable to non-blind individuals performing the same job, with unemployment payments when layoffs occur, and with training leading to opportunities for upward mobility within the organization? How often are those same agencies giving their blind employees pay stubs, health and safety materials, and organizational communications in a fully accessible format? Do they offer accessible websites, provide accessible descriptions of their photos in social media, and refuse to purchase technologies if they are not accessible to blind people? For most agencies, we know that the answers to these questions, and others we might consider posing, reflect low expectations inconsistent with the encouraging words they use. In fact, those nice words are used to court donors who are given to believe there is real action behind the words. We also know that the answers are inconsistent with the understanding of blindness we have in the National Federation of the Blind. One of the significant factors contributing to actions rooted in low expectations is the lack of blind board members and blind executives at agencies for the blind. While non-blind executives can internalize the understanding of blindness that we share in this movement, the fact remains that the severe lack of adequate representation by blind people in leadership positions directly results in little accountability and big inconsistency in the beliefs, words, and actions of agencies for the blind. Take, for example, Bryan Bashin, a blind person who serves as chief executive officer for the San Francisco LightHouse for the Blind. A long- time member of our movement, Bryan spoke to our convention last year about his efforts to bring greater authenticity to the work of his agency. Bryan and I frequently discuss the challenges of attempting to work with agencies and executives whose actions perpetuate low expectations. Maybe you can relate to one of the many stories Bryan has shared with me. A couple of years ago at a meeting of blindness agency directors, Bryan was the only blind person in a group of leaders who ventured out to share dinner together. During their walk to the restaurant, it started to rain, and Bryan, being an experienced traveler, began to put on his raincoat. A non- blind agency director rushed over and, without warning, began helping Bryan. This act of public service included grabbing the strings to the hood of the coat and tightening them to make sure the hood would not come loose. In Bryan's own words to me, "You know, as executives we're prepared for million-dollar budget fights, HR issues, and last-minute press coverage. But nothing prepares one for the shocking realization that a CEO colleague thought you needed help tying up your jacket hood, far less the unanticipated personal invasion of 'helping' by touching one's clothing without even asking. The profound symbolism of the do-good CEO being so oblivious of the paternalism inherent in his unbidden help-this symbolizes the work we have to do with agencies so removed from the people they serve that they don't even think about the infantilizing nature of their actions." In the moment, had Bryan too forcefully rebelled against this inappropriate action, he would have certainly been labelled as having an attitude or more likely as being "one of those militants." More astonishing is the fact that none of the other non-blind agency executives said a word about the inappropriateness of the incident. Possibly they did not even find anything wrong with the situation. Change starts with each of us here tonight. As blind people, we can best raise the expectations of the agencies and the general public when we consciously use the language of freedom that reflects our shared beliefs and when we follow those words with consistent actions. The stronger the relationship of our beliefs, words, and actions, the greater the influence of the vibrations we create in society and the more powerful our habits and values. When we then unify our individual contributions into a movement of collective action, we determine the shape of our own destiny. When blind youth come to our Federation educational programs, they often use the right words. They tell us that they can do anything, and they want equal treatment. However, when asked how they do certain things, we frequently find that no action follows the words. As a result, we have built our Federation programs to focus on opportunities for blind people to perform the actions themselves, consistent with the beliefs and words we share. Before I met the National Federation of the Blind, I too said the words but did not perform the actions. I was incapable of acting because, deep down, the beliefs I held were not ones of equality and opportunity, but rather disparity and anonymity. Finding blind mentors in the National Federation of the Blind, receiving guidance in evaluating my own beliefs, and being challenged to take action made all the difference. They taught me that I could direct my own future, and they shared with me everything they knew about living life as a blind person. I found that my destiny was rooted in, and being constrained by, my own misconceptions about blindness. My Federation family illuminated for me that belief alone is not enough. Words give power to the beliefs, and actions create the realization of those beliefs. At the same time, when we act on our words, we strengthen our beliefs. Yet I did not truly understand the power of self-directing the connections between beliefs, words, and actions until I committed to contributing to the work of the National Federation of the Blind. Only when I began freely sharing my understanding with other blind people and participating actively in our shared mission did I truly develop the habits and values required to fulfil my destiny or, to put it in the words of today's Federation, to live the life I want. What Dr. tenBroek understood during his time as our first leader; what Kenneth Jernigan, our second great President, demonstrated by building effective programs; what Dr. Marc Maurer, our longest serving President, taught us to feel in our hearts; and what we have confirmed through our coming together year after year is when the beliefs, words, and actions of many are synthesized and applied in the same direction, the vibrations are unstoppable. With eighty years of experience, we now have no doubt that the community of action we have built in this movement is the most powerful force for raising expectations for the blind. We also know that we will only maintain that power if we continue to apply our hearts, minds, voices, and hands to the actions that will advance our organization. This will require each of us individually to consciously align our beliefs, words, and actions. It will also require us to recommit ourselves to the bond of faith we share in working together toward our destiny. We cannot wait for the vision therapists to do it for us. We cannot expect others to define our future. We cannot settle for only the right words. We must demand action, and it starts with each of us in this movement. Let us recommit ourselves to the actions that are consistent with our beliefs and words. It is not enough to say we want respect in society. We must take the actions that demonstrate respect for others. We must take up our responsibilities as well as expect our equal rights. It is not enough to say we want full participation. We must take the actions to demonstrate how the artificial barriers in society hold us back. We must teach the corporations building inaccessible technology how to change their ways. We must hold accountable agencies for the blind where the words sound right but the beliefs and actions are wrong. We must not settle for the progress we have made but rather continue to expand the opportunities for full participation in society. It is not enough to say we have the courage to go the rest of the way on our road to freedom. We must stand in the face of adversity, make sacrifices, and support our Federation family members who put themselves on the line as examples to gain equality for all. It is not enough to say we value collective action. We must continue to welcome all blind people into our movement, teach them our shared understanding, and synthesize their perspectives into our philosophy and work. We must seek new ways to expand the active participation of a diverse range of blind people in our movement. We must do so without leaving any blind person behind. It is not enough to say we value democracy. We must actively train leaders who are prepared to carry out the expectations of our shared code of conduct and to represent the expressed will of our members. We must continue our commitment to explore challenging questions and turn those discussions into actions for change within and outside our movement. We must continue to elect a diverse set of blind people to lead this organization who reflect our values, and we must find ways to get blind people who share our philosophy elected to public offices. We must take the actions necessary to require agencies for the blind to be guided by substantive feedback from blind people in their governance structures, and we should discourage support for agencies where their words are not consistent with their beliefs and actions. It is not enough to say we are a Federation family and that we put love into our movement. Our actions must continue to demonstrate the belief behind the words. This movement has become known for its generosity, its warmth, and its ability to change lives through personal connections. That is because we have not just used the words family and love; we have followed them with meaningful actions. During this past year, we have experienced the best of what we mean when we use the words family and love. We have thrown open the doors of this movement; we have reached out to and supported blind people who most needed assistance during a worldwide pandemic; we have responded with force where our rights have been ignored; we have responded with love and solidarity to blind people who face systemic injustice because of their intersecting characteristics; we have dedicated hundreds of extra hours and thousands of unexpected dollars; and we have innovated new programs to address the most urgent needs. Some may say we did these things because the times demanded it. The members of the Federation know the truth. We did these things and more because we believe in blind people, we believe that blindness is not the characteristic that determines our future, we say what we believe, and we know that the words mean nothing without action. We remain fully committed to taking all of the bold actions required to go the rest of the way to freedom. The actions of this Federation are fueled by love, and love is the faith in each other that drives the actions that will fulfill our destiny. While we cannot all be in the same place at the same time to celebrate our progress, we feel the love, hope, and determination that comes from what we share in this movement. More than words, we share the actions of freedom. More than words, we share the actions of equality. More than words, we share the actions of independence. More than words, we share the bond of family. More than words, we share the determination to go the rest of the way to our destiny. My Federation family, in eighty years we have come further than our founding members could have imagined, and we are not yet done. At the beginning, all we had were the words to express our hopes and dreams. Today, we have the beliefs, the words, and the actions required to go all the way to our destiny. The vision-centered philosophy cannot stop us. The blindness agencies with the nice marketing materials reflecting the wrong beliefs and actions cannot stop us. The governments and corporations that expect us to wait for accessibility cannot stop us. The critics who fail to believe in our authentic understanding of blindness cannot stop us. Nothing will stop us as long as we continue to take ownership for speaking and acting for ourselves. Nothing will stop us as long as we continue to hold tight to the bond of faith we share. Nothing will stop us as long as we commit ourselves to the habits and values required to fulfill our destiny. We are the blind, unified in action, connected by our love for each other, and motivated by the future we intend to build. While we may temporarily be distanced from each other, we will never be divided. Let us believe as one movement. Let us speak with one voice. Let us act with one heart. Let us go build the National Federation of the Blind. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Ray Kurzweil] Ray Kurzweil Remarks ANIL LEWIS: It's my honor, as we've made it a tradition, to introduce our next speaker, Ray Kurzweil. And Ray Kurzweil is one of the leading inventors and thinkers and futurists with a track record of over thirty years of accurate predictions. I could continue to read the description that they give, but again, I'm the emcee, so I get to take a point of personal privilege. I served as the scholarship chair back in 2008, 2009, and 2010. I actually had the opportunity to meet Dr. Kurzweil, and it's one of those moments in your life you always remember. And in this stage I am now, I will be sure to reflect on the great appreciation for the work of all the people that have come before me. I would be remiss if I didn't take this opportunity to do this. When I lost my sight in 1989, I was working at the Decatur Savings and Loan and going to school at the time. It happened so quickly, it was RP, that over the weekend I could no longer read the computer screen. So I was unemployed. But I remember when I was signing the final papers in my HR office at the federal savings and loan, I remember I was leaving, and one of the ladies who worked in HR, Beverly, took me across the hall and introduced me to one of the McCurdys, who owned the bank. The gentleman had lost his sight. And he showed me one of the first Kurzweil reading machines. I sat there and watched that device turn that print into speech. And I had hope. Dr. Kurzweil, I thank you for that. So whatever comments he'd like to offer, I yield the podium to Dr. Ray Kurzweil. RAY KURZWEIL: Thanks. That's a wonderful introduction. President Riccobono's beautiful and powerful speech using a set of words that he defined, helps us to define blindness. In recent years, I've been asked to speak after the President has shared his vision. This happened with Dr. Maurer and with President Riccobono. I appreciate this opportunity. But it's also a burden. We're greatly moved by the President's vision of what we have accomplished and the goals ahead. It's very hard to add to what President Riccobono has said, to celebrate progress, to feel what he called the love, hope, and determination that comes from what we share in this movement. Mark Riccobono began talking about the power of words. His words bring us together tonight. I've spent decades studying words myself, actually fifty years, and I'm doing that now at Google, and it was our reading machine that we developed together, that speaks written words, that brought us together almost half a century ago. He spoke about a movement that has become known for its generosity, its warmth, and its ability to change lives through personal connections. So I thought about that. I first met this movement forty-five years ago, in 1975. At that time I had a crude working model of a reading machine. But it did not have an effective means of the user controlling how it would work. We also needed funds to finish its development. So I went around and met with all of the organizations that had an involvement with blindness that President Riccobono has talked about. Of course without the perspective that I now have. Well, everyone was very nice, but they had no idea of how a user could control a machine. They also had no ability for us to fund the next part of our work. That is, until I met with the head of government relations of the National Federation of the Blind, Jim Gashel. After I described how the machine worked, he was impressed, but he said, let me introduce you to the head of our organization, Dr. Kenneth Jernigan. So I met with Dr. Jernigan and from the very beginning, it was very clear to me that here was a seminal leader who led its organization and the public for equal rights in the same way that Martin Luther King had done, had fought for people based on their ability to create and to overcome the prejudices against blind people that literally went back millennia. Subsequent to that meeting, I met all these amazingly capable people, all of whom came from Iowa. Apparently they had all been trained to think for themselves and apply creative problem-solving abilities by Dr. Jernigan when he headed up the Iowa Rehabilitation Center. Dr. Jernigan said to me that the best way to figure out how a blind person can operate the machine would be to have blind people figure this out. Now, that made sense to me. So we agreed on a program that would have blind engineers work with us on all aspects of the machine. We would fund this with a program run by the National Federation of the Blind and funded by foundations. I remember lots of late nights with Jim Gashel in his Washington office creating these foundation proposals. I think Jim Gashel will remember those late nights as well. Well, the entire project worked beautifully. We got five foundations to sponsor it. The NFB appointed eight blind scientists, led by Michael Hingson. People remember this story because Hingson became one of the heroes of the 9/11/2001 story. He was at the top of the World Trade Center that had not been destroyed by the airplane. And you couldn't see anything because the air was impossible to see through. But that didn't affect Mike Hingson and his dog, who led people down eighty stories and out of the building just before the building was brought down. We're back to the reading machine. The intricate design of the reading machine user control became famous. For example, if you hit a key twice it would describe what it does. That's a great idea for user controls today, as I have no idea what most of them do. Jim Gashel and I introduced the machine on January 13, 1976, at a press conference. This might be before many of your times, but I remember this date because this was the only date that Walter Cronkite, the famous anchorman, did not read his signature sign- off himself. The reading machine read "And that's the way it was" on January 13, 1976. I actually ran into Cronkite years later in a restaurant in Martha's Vineyard, and he acknowledged that that was the only time he did not read the signoff himself. This began what is now a forty-five-year relationship between the National Federation of the Blind and myself. What began as a $20,000 device affordable only by libraries and schools became a few thousand-dollar device that individuals could afford, to now where it's a free app on an iPhone or Android phone. But it's also meant a program for me that taught me about the power of imagination, provided that you have the experience. And for blindness skills and programs, there's no substitute for the experience that the National Federation of the Blind can provide. This is why the Kurzweil reading machine was a success. Unlike major leaders, Dr. Jernigan actually provided for his own next generation through mentoring Dr. Marc Maurer. I remember that happening. And Maurer led the National Federation of the Blind through its next major growth period. In a similar fashion, Mark Riccobono is now inspiring new members using the credibility that Dr. Jernigan and Dr. Maurer were able to bring. I've been going to the annual convention of the National Federation of the Blind since 1975. This is the first virtual one, and nobody here remembers the last time this was required, unless you're over one hundred and remember the 1918 flu! I don't think we had virtual video conferences back then, or even the telephone. Well, I very much look forward to our first convention when this pandemic is conquered. I've had the pleasure of shaking the hands of each National Federation of the Blind scholarship winner. This is the first time that a virtual handshake will have to do. For now. Hopefully I will meet you and congratulate you in person in the future. But you are the winners that will lead this organization into the future, to a period where we will have new technologies that you will help create. As just one example, these future capabilities will describe not only words, but everything that is in front of you as well as behind you, so everyone will actually want to use it. It will also describe everything in the room you are in, the next room, or the next building. It will have all those directions of how to get anywhere in the world. We have some portions of this working, but it will require further work inspired by the National Federation of the Blind to prove these capabilities. I very much look forward to the next forty-five years of leadership from the National Federation of the Blind. I very much intend to be part of that. And hopefully no more pandemics. Thank you very much. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: James Gashel] [PHOTO CAPTION: Marilee Talkington] [PHOTO CAPTION: The GLAS staff: Kate Meredith, Deb Kaelbli, Adam McCulloch, Ranger and Winter (the two dogs).] The Presentation of the Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman, and just responding to my friend Ray, oh, my goodness, you take me back, many, many, many years. But Ray, we're going to live long enough to live forever! So I don't think this is a problem. Now, I do remember working on these grants, and I would sleep in the office chair while you slept on the couch, but we got the work done. We funded the Kurzweil reading machine, and really the rest is history. Well, now down to the Bolotin awards, which is what I'm really here to present. President Riccobono and my Federation family, thank you very much as we say here in Hawaii, thank you my Federation ohana everywhere. Jacob Bolotin was a blind guy. He would tell you that. He wanted you to know that. He grew up blind and graduated from the Illinois School for the Blind. He lived in Chicago. Whether he could have done so or not, he never tried to pass himself off as anything other than blind. He did a lot of things in his short life, thirty-six years from 1888 to 1924. But unflagging determination to break the mold of low expectations of what blind people could be and become in his time tells Bolotin's story more than anything else. At age twenty-five, he became a medical doctor. He specialized in diseases of the heart and lungs. You know, this is what we say when we-what we mean when we say you can live the life you want. Bolotin was a member of our Federation family before the Federation itself. I like to think of it that way. His story has been told by his niece, Rosalind Perlman, in a biography called The Blind Doctor: The Jacob Bolotin Story. You need to read this book. You can get it from Amazon in print, or if you want to pay a lot you can also get it on audio CD. Or you can get it from the Library of Congress books for the blind and print disabled program. Our annual Bolotin awards keep his memory alive. And they also support worthy efforts to break the mold of low expectations of what blind people can be and become. Now, this is the thirteenth year for these awards made possible by the NFB with help from the Santa Barbara Foundation and the Alfred and Rosalind Perlman Trust. To date, we've presented $680,000 to sixty-four recipients. Two new winners are being honored this year. The awards include a cash prize for each recipient and an engraved commemorative plaque with a medallion appropriately configured as you'll see to recognize the award's significance. Now, here is the text on the plaque. Presented to-then the name of the organization-by the National Federation of the Blind and the Santa Barbara Foundation July 2020. The medallion, suspended above the plaque, has the NFB logo on the obverse side with these inscribed words: "The Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award, celebrating achievement, creating opportunity." The reverse side of the medallion has Dr. Bolotin's bust with these inscribed words: "Dr. Jacob Bolotin, 1888-1924. Celebrating his life, the Alfred and Rosalind Perlman Trust." (Video.) Ladies and gentlemen, the National Federation of the Blind is proud to introduce the 2020 recipients of the Dr. Jacob Bolotin awards. Our winners have broken down barriers faced by blind people in innovative ways, changed negative perception of blindness and blind people, and pushed past existing boundaries to inspire blind people to achieve new heights. The winners are: Geneva Lake Astrophysics and STEAM Education for its innovative work to make astrophysics and astronomy data accessible to the blind. Here's president and education director, Kate Meredith: We had multiple projects where students were able to enjoy, discover, and understand astronomy. We provided that with lots of different kinds of tactiles. But when it comes to capturing your own image from a telescope and getting the image back, astronomical images are just numbers on a spreadsheet. That's all it is. And what we do as sighted people, since we love the beautiful images, we create visuals out of those numbers. But astronomy is not inherently anymore a visual science. It might have been one hundred years ago when everyone had to look through a telescope and draw what they saw. But now scientists take the numbers and they create ways to interact with the numbers. What we wanted to do with the data processing software is that, no matter what your visual acuity is, you can load an image into the software and analyze it, measure the brightness of objects and compare how it changes over time, calculate a position of the object in the sky, and see how maybe an asteroid moved. We wanted those tools to be accessible so that a person, regardless of their visual ability, could capture their own data, load it into the software, choose which data they wanted to analyze, acquire those data, and analyze themselves without the help of a sighted peer. It is one thing to be given a National Science Foundation Award to do something no one else has done before. But to be recognized by a leading organization who represents the people you're trying to work with and serve means everything. To be acknowledged means we've done our homework, done our due diligence, and worked hard to do it right. And to get that vote of approval means more to me than anything you can actually possibly imagine. It is that important to us. Marilee Talkington, actor and executive director of Access Acting Academy. Marilee Talkington: Access Acting Academy was to fulfill a couple things: one to actually train actors to go out on audition so I basically get to say, you can't use the excuse anymore that we're not trained, we're not out there. Sorry. That's not the excuse you get to use anymore. And two, to actually develop a totally inclusive pedagogy of actor training that is fully accessible for blind and low vision actors, which is what we did. That in itself, the evolution of training that has been offered for decades. Some of it even centuries, some of this is centuries old training, so that we can access this work, was a profound experience for me. I learned a ton. I think ultimately the academy was a place for blind and low vision actors to learn but also to teach where we need to grow as blind and low vision leaders. When I got the call from you that I was to receive this award, I looked it up, and I started to cry. It's a profound privilege to receive it. Deeply honored by it! To be associated with these incredible pioneers, it's also validating, because I've been working so hard for so long in this sphere, a lot of times alone. So to be recognized in that way feels really amazing. I'm very grateful for it. Deeply. And when I saw that there was a cash element, and I was like, I could get a few thousand dollars! All of a sudden I was like, this is the sign that I needed to dive back into Access Acting Academy. In the past week, I have spoken with four other blind and low vision teachers. We're ready now, I'm ready now, to create an entire virtual studio through Access Acting Academy. I'm actually going to launch it at the awards ceremony for this award. We'll open up classes for the fall. It will be totally virtual. There will be acting classes, embodiment classes, voice classes, movement theater classes, hopefully Shakespeare classes. Because it's time that the reach just keeps going out in the world. I want to service as many people as we possibly can. It's not only to cultivate the next generation of blind and low vision actors but the next generation of blind and low vision leaders. Ladies and gentlemen, these winners will each receive a trophy and a monetary prize to advance their work to help blind people live the lives we want. Now the National Federation of the Blind proudly presents them with their 2020 Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards. (end of video.) JAMES GASHEL: Okay, guys, these are our two winners. What an outstanding class of programs, of unflagging determination to break the mold of low expectations of what blind people can be and become. As I like to say, keeping the Jacob Bolotin's legacy alive. Now, what you don't know, and what they don't know, is what is the amount of the cash prize each one of them is going to receive? But I do know. Our first winner is Geneva Lake Astrophysics and STEAM Education for its groundbreaking work to create opportunities for the blind in astronomy as education and career objectives. Now, who would have thought? Blind people becoming experts in viewing the planets, the stars, and beyond! Kate Meredith and her team at Geneva Lake Astrophysics and STEAM Education believe in blind people, just like Jacob Bolotin believed that blind people can achieve in medicine, and he became a medical doctor. Congratulations Kate Meredith, who is president and head of the team at Geneva Lake Astrophysics and STEAM Education. She's here tonight to accept the Jacob Bolotin award to that organization in the amount of $25,000. Here's Kate Meredith. KATE MEREDITH: Okay! Thank you so much. And you promised me ten extra seconds to jump up and down for absolute joy. We are here. And I'm here with staff members, Adam and Stephanie. Those of you using screen readers may already know of us as GLASE Education, but we are Geneva Lake Astrophysics and STEAM Education. At GLASE, we collaborate with blind and sighted members of the scientific community to dismantle barriers, increase accessibility in STEM, and blaze new trails in order for everyone to participate equally in every aspect of science, rather than passively participate in what others create on their behalf. GLASE allows anyone, regardless of vision, to explore the universe to the limits of their own imagination rather than those imposed on them by others' lack of imagination. There are so many people to thank for how far we've come as an organization. If it were not for the dedication of Vivian Hetty, we would not have taken those first steps to partner with the Wisconsin School for the Blind over twenty years ago. Without two consecutive awards from the National Science Foundation, we would not have trod the difficult path from 3D models and inaccessible curricula to confronting the challenges of creating accessible image processing software. This process is essential for independent scientific exploration of the universe by those who are blind or visually impaired. From the beginning, NFB members have guided what we have become as a community. Our deepest thanks to Jeremiah Beasley, David Hyde, Katie Watson Corbitt for their steadfast support of us over the years. We thank Williams Bay Lions Club without whose contribution we would not have been able to host blind astronomers at Yerkes Observatory and GLASE. A special thanks to blind astronomer Dr. Nic Bonne for his unwavering dedication and the center for cosmology in Portsmouth, U.K. for allowing his extended stays with us to be part of his actual workload. A personal thanks to Chris Matthews, Alex Trob, Tia Berts, who agreed to be a part of the NSF grant to develop accessible tools for astronomy. They represent the blind community with creativity, patience, and truly untold perseverance. Lastly, we want to thank you. We want you to be proud with us for all of our future work. Your recognition today lets us know that we're on the right track. Thank you so much from myself, Adam and Deb and Chris who are all here tonight from Wisconsin. We wish we were in Hawaii, but thank you. JAMES GASHEL: Thank you, Kate. Incidentally, if you were wondering as I was wondering what in the world STEAM means in the name of this organization, I can now tell you. This is an acronym for science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics. I know you knew that already, but I didn't. Now I do. Also know that the NFB has had a STEM2U program. After tonight, I'm thinking that after tonight that ought to become a STEAM2U program. Now, our second winner is Marilee Talkington. She's being recognized for her personal initiative and her creativity in forming Access Acting Academy for low vision adults and kids. This is the first of its kind venture, which Marilee was inspired to undertake based on interest shown by people within our Performing Arts Division. Marilee has said about this academy so well, "Actor training of this caliber and level of accessibility has never been available before. Now is the time when profoundly rich and untapped talent should be cultivated, collaborated with, celebrated, and realized." You know, these are the profound words of what it means to have unflagging determination, to break the mold of low expectations of what blind people can be and become, keeping the legacy of Jacob Bolotin alive. That's what you're doing, Marilee. Congratulations for your leadership, your belief in yourself, and your belief in other blind people. Now, Marilee Talkington is with us tonight to receive her personal Dr. Jacob Bolotin award in the amount of $25,000. Here's Marilee Talkington. MARILEE TALKINGTON: Oh, my God! Oh, my God. Oh, my God! I'm-wow. I'm a little overwhelmed by that. I did not-oh, my goodness gracious. I had a speech. That might get thrown out. Wow. Okay. Okay. Focus. Here we go. I'm a performer. I'm a professional performer and speaker. Let me get focused here. I am so honored and privileged to be receiving this and to be associated with such incredible pioneers like Kate Meredith and her team and everybody else that is doing work to actually raise the bar, because it has been so low! In the entertainment industry, the bar literally doesn't exist. We've been invisible this whole time. So to be recognized for the work that I'm doing not only as an individual artist for twenty-five years but also to be recognized doing the work for Access Acting Academy is incredible. I want to say, this is what I want to say, because when you called me to let me know about this award, a fire lit inside me, because I've been suffering from the pandemic blues, just like everybody else. And what the fire said, because it spoke to me, it said, it's time. It's time now, and the vision has to get bigger. And now you have to go because more people need this. So in the past month I have constructed an entire faculty that will be serving adults, teens, and kids on a virtual platform. This will be the first-ever professional actor's academy for blind/low vision folks. And there's also going to be a leadership track as well so people not in the arts industry can come and study and find the ownership of their authentic power and voices. So if you go to www.accessacting.com, you'll find everything on there. We're going to launch officially in August. And I am so, so grateful for this honor and this award. And the money, what can I say? I'm a starving artist. This helps. So thank you so much. I can't wait to do more work together with you so we can keep going forward into the entertainment industry and crush it! The revolution has begun! Thank you. JAMES GASHEL: Thank you, Marilee. That's what it's all about. Now, to all of you, please visit our Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award page at www.nfb.org. You'll be able to find out more about these winners, and you can get the full length of their interviews too. Thank you to Ron Brown, Mary Ellen Jernigan, Everette Bacon, and Marc Maurer for all their hard work and enlightened experience in helping to select these award winners again this year. Mr. Chairman, this concludes my report and the presentation of the Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards for 2020. Aloha. ---------- Interview with Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi MARK RICCOBONO: I am proud to welcome to our stage today the fifty-second Speaker of the House of Representatives and the first woman to ever serve in that position. For thirty-one years, Speaker Pelosi has represented San Francisco, California's 12th district in Congress. She has a tremendous record of accomplishment as an elected official that we really just don't have adequate time to cover here today because we want to hear from her directly. I do want to note that she comes from a very strong family tradition of public service. Her late father served as mayor right here in Baltimore for twelve years after representing the city for five terms in Congress. Her brother also served as mayor in Baltimore. It's my great honor to introduce to the largest convention of the National Federation of the Blind ever, Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Madam Speaker, it's great to be with you. To begin, can you please tell us, you have a flag pin with the phrase "one country, one destiny." Could you tell us a little bit about the history of that phrase and its meaning today? NANCY PELOSI: Thank you very much, Mark, Mr. President. It's an honor to be with the National Federation of the Blind, a force for good, working to ensure that all can live the life you want. Thank you for your beautiful message about connecting and protecting. Thank you for your kind introduction. It's a joy to be with Tim Elder, president of the National Federation of the Blind of California, born and raised in Baltimore, now representing San Francisco. And Frank Griffy, my dear friend who is a friend-I don't see him that he doesn't talk about the National Federation of the Blind. I'm honored to be with you. Yes, I do wear this pin. And it says "one country, one destiny." That's what we all have to think in terms of. How we are a nation of people together, "from many, one." From many, one-E pluribus unum. Now this message, "one country, one destiny"-those very words were sewn into the jacket, the overcoat that Abraham Lincoln wore. And, of course, he had it that sad fateful night. So his message that was close to him, close to his heart at the end of his life and part of who he was his entire life, is a message that we should always remember: that we are one country, and we have one destiny. And we have to go down that path together. Especially true now as we face the COVID-19 crisis and other injustices to race and health and environment and financial security. We must keep remembering, one country, one destiny. As policymakers, if we keep that as the focus, we'll do better. That means we must put aside bias, act on facts, starting right now with the HEROES Act [Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions] that has so much in it for everyone in our country, the George Floyd Justice Act in Policing, and so many other pieces of legislation of inclusion. One country, one destiny. MARK RICCOBONO: Nice. I love the message, and I think it rings with the beliefs of the National Federation of the Blind. Another belief of our organization is that it's critical that blind people have equal access to the full set of options that all other voters have. The vote should be private, independent, and include a means of verifying voting choices once selected. We do appreciate the voting provisions that are included in the HEROES Act. I wonder if you could talk to us a little bit about your priorities for including equal access provisions in future legislation that might be considered regarding voting. NANCY PELOSI: Well, I thank you. We have learned so much from you over the years about accessibility to the ballot in a fair and private way, so thank you to the National Federation of the Blind for your guidance, your relentless and persistent advocacy, which has made everything better, but we still need to do more. COVID-19 has pointed out how critical it is that every voter has options for how to cast a ballot in a safe and accessible manner. Voters should not have to choose between their health and their vote. That's why we included in the HEROES Act $3.6 billion specifically to help states prepare for the upcoming election. States must be ready to ensure that not only in-person voting options are safe and accessible for voters and poll workers but must implement vote by mail. The HEROES Act included a minimum of fifteen days. We think if you have more time, that is better for everybody, certainly for those who may be new to a particular polling place and have issues with the vote. So in-person voting. The HEROES Act includes a minimum of fifteen days of early voting as well as nationwide no-excuse absentee ballot. In other words, you don't have to say, I can't vote, come in, so I need a ballot because...No. If you qualify to vote and are a registered voter, you should be able to vote, as well as use no-excuse prepaid, so postage free, so that the ballot can be returned. We want to support all of the above approaches, a ballot that works for every voter no matter how they cast their ballot. Now, other ways more generally that can be helpful, and that we look to you for guidance on this, is something that I know we share in common is our support for the Access Technology Affordability Act in the next COVID- 19 relief program. That's something that we all want to have. We have resistance by some-and I won't be political, but some in the Congress have resisted inclusion of individual refundable credits in relief packages to date; however, we intend to push hard for inclusion in the final package. If they do show willingness to include refundable credits, ATAA is a strong candidate for inclusion. Now, I answered-I went to two places on that. But the accessible electronic options that might be there for you in Pennsylvania, I know were a step forward but not good enough. And I commend you for the actions that you have taken, that you're taking all over the country in different states, challenges that need to be in the state legislatures. It shouldn't have to be. It should be a national expectation that the right to vote would be respected and that means removing all obstacles of participation. But you have pointed out some very specific ways-some barriers that we all should be fighting against. So I thank you for that. And again, when you make your agreements or compromises leading up to one election, it doesn't mean that becomes the best possible way for the future. It means we're all moving forward together. So I thank you for your leadership-for making America more American by making our voting process more democratic and more accessible. MARK RICCOBONO: Thank you, Madam Speaker. We appreciate your acknowledgment of the expertise of the Federation, and we stand ready to work with everybody on voting accessibility. It does feel like we're pursuing equal access very aggressively in almost every state right now, so that's where the inclusion of these provisions at the federal level come in-we hope they will truly protect us as a fundamental right. And we think that we have a great opportunity to give blind people equal access to the range of voting, so we appreciate your support on that. I do appreciate you mentioning the Access Technology Affordability Act and your willingness to consider it in future relief for COVID-19. We are pretty proud of this bill, like other legislation that we advance. We recognize that blindness is not a partisan issue, and we're pretty proud of that fact that, despite the reluctance often to have refundable tax credits, ATAA by itself has great bipartisan support, significant bipartisan support, and we appreciate your supporting it as well. NANCY PELOSI: It has bipartisan support because of your advocacy. So I thank you for that, because it's good for the country, and it's good for you. But it also gives us a better chance of passing it. Richie Neil, the chair of ways and means, and Mike Thompson of the revenue committee, have this as a strong priority. But we want it to be bipartisan. It should be. The refundability issue is necessary, and again, it will happen. We just want it to happen sooner. MARK RICCOBONO: We agree with that 100 percent. The sooner the better. We appreciate the support. Could you talk to us just a minute more broadly about equal access and your support for protecting the rights of blind people? You know, we believe in the National Federation of the Blind that blindness should not define a person or their future in that what really stands between blind people and our dreams are the low expectations and artificial barriers that others put in our way. We see a lot of significant opportunities for the Congress to protect our rights, especially by making sure that we're not introducing and passing legislation that, for example, puts in place technologies that are not accessible to blind people, which is really one of the things that we face in education-inaccessible technology, which stops us from being able to participate fully. Could you talk a little bit about your support for eliminating the artificial barriers in society? NANCY PELOSI: Well, I appreciate that question. And in doing so, I thank you for raising the awareness of so many people who might not be aware. Without knowledge, people may be thinking they're going the right direction, but in fact, every new opportunity can be a new challenge for more progress. So know your power in this. Know that good things will not happen without your guidance in all of it. In terms of my involvement, I was here for the passage of the ADA, the high priority for our office, for me personally, and when I became Speaker, one of the manifestations of that priority was that in the chambers of Congress, if you were physically disabled and couldn't climb the steps, you could not preside as a Speaker of the House. So right around the time of one of the anniversaries of the ADA, when we were going off for like summer or Christmas or something, we had architects come in, change the construction of the podium where the Speaker presides and the clerks record and the rest, so that now a person in a wheelchair can access and then be taken up to preside. It's made a big difference. James Langevin was the first person with a physical disability, challenged in terms of mounting the podium, to preside in over the two-hundred-year history of our country. Then Tammy Duckworth and others have as well. The idea is that we respect people. We honor people for what they can do rather than judge them for what they cannot. Because cannot is just a physical barrier of some kind. And it challenges us all when we make these changes, especially seeing that they are changes for the positive. And in order for that to happen, you all, the National Federation of the Blind, etc., have to be on the ground floor of that decision making. It's not like, oh, here it is, oh, too bad we didn't know, maybe next time. No. Again, know your power. In my own office, our chief counsel-and that is a very high position in the Speaker's office-our chief counsel has been there for years when I was Speaker before and still now. And he is hearing impaired. He's deaf, and he has every technology, every opportunity to participate. We don't even think of him as hearing impaired or deaf or whatever the term that he prefers, or that you prefer for him in this conversation. He's remarkable, and he's brilliant, and his brilliance is not deterred by any obstacle in terms of hearing. So we're very, very proud of the fact that he is a senior member of the Speaker's staff and of the Congress of the United States. But it is amazing that so many things happen because people just don't know. And that's why when you're going around to these states and talking to these secretaries of state and other states to say, "Maybe you didn't realize it, but this is why this is problematic for us." You make such a tremendous, tremendous difference. You give people a path. You show them the way to do it in a way that removes obstacles of participation. As a matter of fact, in our democracy, whether we're secretary of state, community activist, legislator, or whatever, removing obstacles of participation to voting or to anything is what our country should be about. So thank you for challenging us, but understand how welcome that challenge is. MARK RICCOBONO: I appreciate that and your support for the Americans with Disabilities Act. You know, our organization-this being just on the doorstep of the thirtieth anniversary-we have really been advancing the notion that the Americans with Disabilities Act has to apply to the digital environment, which of course not too many people were thinking about in 1990. And we appreciate your support for helping make that a reality, not just in the physical facilities but in the digital assets of our nation, which of course are becoming an increasingly important part of our economy and the work that we do. Before we run out of time, I want to make sure that we give you an opportunity. You know, this is an important election year. All election years are important. But with everything else happening right now, there's a lot of focus on this being a very significant election cycle. As an organization, our job as I've said is to make sure that blindness is considered by everybody regardless of their political background. But I wondered what you would say to blind Americans about the importance of just getting out and participating in the American democracy this fall. NANCY PELOSI: Well, I appreciate that opportunity. Before I do, Mr. President, though, may I just congratulate you on your upcoming anniversary of the National Federation of the Blind. When you think all the way back to that post World War II era, think of the courage of those people. I mean, you're courageous, right? But think of the courage they had to say, "We're going to make a difference, and we're going to do it by bringing people together, one nation, one destiny, one friend, many friends, bringing people together." So always recognizing the great work that you're doing, we just have to think of the courage of the people who started all of this and whose shoulders you stand on and the difference they have made over time. But as you indicated, with technology being in a hurry and moving so quickly, who could have ever anticipated some of the change that could be so rapid. So good for you for being on the ground floor and recognizing that and seeing what opportunities are there and leapfroging over any incremental notion that something could be a little bit better. Just leapfrog over that whole thing. Where you want to be-let's back up from there and make that happen. So with elections, they have ramifications. And whoever you vote for, Democrat or Republican or whatever, make sure that those people understand that public policy makes a difference in your personal lives. Whether it's how people are educated, how they are employed and how their employment is respected and valued, and how there isn't a difference in terms of unemployment insurance. I was reading some of the examples that you had about unemployment insurance not being fully respected here or there. So you have the need for unemployment insurance. Look, I'm a Democrat. I want a Democratic president, Senate, and House because we believe in the people. We want to have budgets that members of Congress vote on and presidents acknowledge to be for the people so that their resources are there. Investments in education and challenges that you face bring a bonus back to the American people. It's for the people, not just the people who might be directly involved in terms of the blind, but if the blind are helped, it's for everyone. So again, in my most nonpartisan way, I would say, whoever you vote for, make sure you have their commitment to you, to the opportunity that you present, to the beautiful value that you add to our country. And remembering that, at any given time, the challenge could affect any one of us. So while we're concerned about everyone in our nation, we want to be sure that we can understand. A friend of mine once had a disability just for a period of time, and he said, "If I hadn't had that disability, I would never have had a full appreciation of what other people go through." For example, the subject of time. It might take me a shorter period of time to do something than it might take somebody else. I have to recognize that. So whether it's time or transportation or whatever it happens to be, education or employment, advancement, politics-and aren't we excited about the candidate in Washington state running for lieutenant governor there? He said he went from Braille to Yale. MARK RICCOBONO: We need more blind people to be elected to office. NANCY PELOSI: That's right! That's right! So again, make sure people know your story, and make sure you know your power. And again, take some responsibility by deciding to run for office yourselves, because, again, being present at the table, as Mr. President, you can tell us, you have been there, Mark. You're a leader. And that leadership is required in your organization, of course, the National Federation of the Blind, but also for our country. There's nobody like each and every one of you. You bring a unique set of talents and experience and the rest. And that uniqueness and that authenticity is so valued, and at the table of decision making, the diversity that that recognizes is invaluable. So I'm going to encourage you all to run for office soon but also to vote in this next election and make sure that whoever you vote for cares about what you care about, knows about what the opportunities are, and is willing to make them a priority. God has truly blessed America in so many ways. One country, one destiny. Let's all work to move toward that one way or another-whatever the party, whatever the challenge. MARK RICCOBONO: Madam Speaker, I really appreciate your words, your support for both the history and the future of the National Federation of the Blind. We want to extend our appreciation to you for the courage that you have, both continuing the tradition in your family for public service, which we know public service takes grit and commitment. You've got to stand and take the incoming fire day after day, which you do. It does take courage. But also the great line of public service that you represent, and we appreciate you trying to pass that forward to our members by encouraging us to go out and be not just part of the voting electorate but of the elected officials to run this nation. So thank you. Thank you for serving also in this time when our nation is facing really unprecedented circumstances. It's not the first time for you. Your first time around you had some pretty unusual things to deal with too. So we appreciate what you're doing and trying to keep our country moving forward. And we look forward to your support for the National Federation of the Blind in the future. God bless you. NANCY PELOSI: Thank you. God bless you as well. ---------- Authentic Intelligence: A Blind Researcher Bringing Wisdom to the Future of Technology Innovations by Cynthia L. Bennett From the Editor: Many who believe we need to be saved from our blindness or the more difficult consequences of it first suggest that we need vision. When this is understood to be impossible, artificial intelligence is offered as the next best thing. It will liberate by freeing us from the necessity of asking other people things that we cannot see. Coupled with a camera, it will tell us what we could otherwise see for ourselves. But as Cynthia Bennett tells us, there are pitfalls that exist as we begin to journey into the ever-widening use of artificial intelligence. Sometimes it is because the artificial intelligence is modeled on our own biases and prejudices. Sometimes it is because the artificial intelligence lacks the experience to understand what we think it does, meaning it generates its own biases. Still we give great weight to it in the privacy we sacrifice and the decisions we let it make about us. Here is a most provocative presentation delivered by our friend and fellow Federationist, Cynthia Bennett: Thank you, President Riccobono, for inviting me to address the convention. I'll start with some access notes1. I tweeted a text transcript of this speech from my account on Twitter @clb5590 using our hashtag #NFB20. There are a lot of linked resources in that transcript, so I encourage you to check it out. And I'll provide a visual description. I'm a blind white woman with dark blond hair worn down. It's not completely visible on video, but I'm wearing a navy blue shirt that says, "Access is Love." Finally, my virtual background is a view of my resident city, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Specifically, it shows downtown where the Monongahela, Allegheny, and Ohio rivers meet. Today I am going to be talking about some of the things I've been thinking about over the past couple of years and specifically at Carnegie Mellon. Professionally, I am a researcher. An important evaluation of a researcher's work occurs through a process called peer review. During peer review, researchers submit work for publication. People who are deemed to be peers or colleagues with relevant expertise are then recruited to evaluate the work by drawing out its strengths and requesting improvements. But I've been submitting publications for eight years, and I have never been reviewed by my peers. Sure, reviewers may have degrees, but the vast majority of them are not blind like me. So I invite you, my blind peer reviewers, to join in using my aforementioned Twitter handle, @clb5590 and our hashtag #NFB20 to share your feedback on what I have to say. During this talk I'll argue that blind people should be organizing for the ethical study, deployment, and yes, sometimes withholding, of artificial intelligence that analyzes humans and our data and which shares particular information or makes decisions based on that analysis. To make this argument, I will first offer some definitions and examples. Second, I will share some biases and consequences of AI that have already proved harmful. Finally, I will offer some suggestions for moving forward. Before we dive in, I'll recognize some leaders in AI bias research who have scaffolded my education in this area, and many are black women scholars. They include Ruha Benjamin, Simone Browne, Joy Buolamwini, Timnit Gebru, Safiya Umoja Noble2, Morgan Scheuerman, and Meredith Whittaker. Artificial intelligence or AI is a branch of computer science focusing on mimicking "cognitive" functions we often associate with human intelligence like "learning" and "problem solving." A key term in computer science is the word algorithm. Algorithms are sets of instructions that dictate how computer programs will work. Traditionally humans write and update algorithms. But one type, called machine-learning algorithms, learn and change based on data provided to them. As machine learning algorithms are exposed to data, they recognize patterns, classify those patterns, and make predictions based on these classifications. And as machine learning algorithms are exposed to more data, what counts as a pattern, and what happens when a pattern is recognized will change. For example, as your search engine learns data from you, possibly in the form of what types of search results you open and what types of search results you ignore, machine learning algorithms will make predictions about which types of search results you may open in the future, and rank those search results higher on the list. Many blind people, including me, benefit from machine learning, and that's why I'm talking about it. For example, machine learning may help us do things nonvisually a little bit easier, like frame scenes in our camera's viewfinder, discern identically-shaped objects from one another, and learn what is shown in photos. Now that I've provided some definitions and examples, I'll move on to contextualize my argument for why blind people should be organizing for the ethical study, deployment, and yes, sometimes withholding, of AI that analyzes humans and our data and which shares particular information or makes decisions based on that analysis. AI impacts everyone. So why is this issue important for blind people to care about uniquely? I will offer two reasons: First, blind people, particularly those living at intersections of systematic marginalization including our blind members who are black indigenous people of color, are disproportionately negatively impacted by some applications of AI. I will offer some examples. Some of these examples have been retracted and are no longer in use. But as we know that updates may make accessible technology inaccessible again just because some mistakes are now in the past, does not mean they won't happen again. These are just a few recent examples. You can search AI bias and discrimination to learn more. First example: Hiring software uses machine learning to judge whether someone should be called in for an interview. In one now retracted instance, women applicants were ranked lower. We know that because of systematic discrimination of blind people we do not always take traditional paths to employment that would come to be recognized as patterns by machine learning algorithms that would then be classified as qualified. A lot of us might not fit those patterns, so we would be classified as unqualified. Second example: A new AI system very recently claimed it could reconstruct sharper images of people's faces from blurry images, but it "reconstructed" a blurry but recognizable image of Barack Obama into an unrecognizable image of a man with much lighter skin. And finally, Robert Williams, a Black, Detroit, Michigan, resident, was recently wrongfully arrested when AI incorrectly labeled him a suspect. These instances may seem like one-off mistakes. But the scholars I mentioned earlier teach us that extreme cases of consequential classification by machine learning are often highlights of deeper systemic patterns. For example, unjust surveillance and the classification of Black people is not new but has a long history of being encoded into laws and human behaviors. If automatic, AI is built and maintained by humans, and it tends to replicate and amplify existing bias and discrimination which most impact our members living at intersections of marginalization. My second reason for why blind people should care about AI and bias is that stories of our access barriers motivate its innovation. While our narratives are powerful, my research has unpacked the ways our stories have been misused to promote development that may not actually reflect what blind people want. Given AI's biased track record, we should be very concerned as blind people about how our stories are used to promote it. So how should we move forward? We will all be able to engage in different ways. I'll begin with some general advice that has helped me. I agree with recent calls to educate ourselves about injustice, and as President Riccobono mentioned earlier, I hope that part of this learning turns inward so that we better learn about ourselves. If we learn new things while failing to connect them to our own lives and use of technology, we risk believing we are not responsible and therefore not responsible to act. On this topic specifically, as we educate ourselves, we might ask ourselves questions including: Why haven't I learned about the potential harms of AI when it has been promoted to me as a tool to increase access? Why do I think that it's okay for access technology to work for some of our members and maybe not work well for others? In what ways have I been asked to put aside parts of my identity in order to promote access for blind people? I am still processing these questions myself, and they are helping me to recognize how I have power, including power to share my lived experiences and power to listen and act given I'm an accessibility researcher who's able to work in this field. These recognitions are a first step to direct what types of action I, and hopefully you, can do. Specifically, at an organizational level we can craft resolutions that not only concern our direct user experiences in technology but concern how our data should be used, whether and how it can be used with machine learning algorithms. Those of us with powers to research, design, and deploy technologies need to follow up on our commitments to diversity and inclusion by widening how we collect feedback. Feedback must come from blind people with a variety of life experiences, and we should build in research methods and activities which allow us to work through potential harms this technology might cause so we aren't just presenting them with potential positives. Individually, I want you to tell your story, and tell it directly, not filter it through someone else. Great outlets to share them include the Braille Monitor, the Disability Visibility podcast, or your personal blog. There isn't a lot of documentation of the impacts of AI on people with disabilities. This is a very missing part of the conversation that we need in AI fairness right now. We need more stories of blind people and the impacts, both positive and negative, and how AI impacts not only you as a blind person but you as a whole person and the various identities that make you who you are. Finally, we might think about promoting automation that turns the gaze away from humans and classifying us and our data. A lot of AI is implemented to increase access to visual information because that information wasn't accessible in the first place; it was remediated. How can we think about using machine learning or automation to instead make the processes of our disability from the start a little bit easier and to educate the humans who are a part of these workflows? These are just a few starting points. I realize this talk is sharp and critical. But I know that blind people are well-positioned for this work. We constantly repurpose things from their intended use and invent new objects and processes to make our lives easier. And crucially, we are great at sharing this genius with our blind family. For example, highlights of my quarantine include learning electronics circuitry and soldering from The Blind Arduino Project led by people including, Josh Miele and our own Chancey Fleet from the NFB of New York. And I've been learning origami from NFB of California's Lisamaria Martinez. I know we can apply this creativity, laden with our persistent hope for better futures and the connections that we make along the way, to develop more equitable applications for AI and accessibility. This is already happening. Visual interpreting services are giving users more control over how sessions are recorded, and companies are developing AI for accessibility solutions that do as much computation on people's local devices as possible to minimize the amount of data you have to share. So let's stay the course with reminders to ourselves and others that we have a lot to offer to this challenge, and change is possible. To close, writing this presentation was difficult. Being blind and working with engineers makes positioning myself a challenge sometimes. I'm supposed to love technological innovation. Yet my life experiences of being incorrectly classified and discriminated against keep me cautious, as I have demonstrated today. As such, I sought feedback on this presentation from people like Chancey Fleet, and my colleagues Sarah Fox, and Daniela Rosner, and thanks to J.J. Meddaugh for picking my intro music, because I had no idea what to pick. Finally, thank you, everyone, for receiving my message and for composing my first accurately-named blind peer review. I'll meet you on Twitter for continued discussions. Thank you. Notes: 1. I have learned to preface presentations with access notes and visual descriptions from disability justice activism. One great way to get introduced is by watching the documentary on Netflix, Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution about disability rights history in the US. Register for Crip Camp: The Official Virtual Experience! for a weekly lesson on contemporary disability activism, occurring through August 30, 2020. 2. Safiya Noble's book, Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism, is available on BARD. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Ever Lee Hairston] [PHOTO CAPTION: Denice Brown] [PHOTO CAPTION: Ron Brown] [PHOTO CAPTION: Tarik Williams] Not Blind to Color in the Federation: A Panel on the Experience of Black and Blind in America by Ever Lee Hairston, Denice Brown, Ron Brown, Bobbi Pompei, and Tarik Williams From the Editor: At this time in the history of our country, we are forced to confront some very painful truths. The treatment we receive as Americans is not always just, and a significant factor in the way we are treated depends on the color of our skin. Not only is this true in our country, but sometimes it is true in this Federation we share. This panel, which appeared on the agenda late on Saturday afternoon, was one of the most moving events of the convention. Its members came from diverse parts of the country, and every one of them holds leadership positions in the organization from service as a national officer, service on our national board, and service as a chapter president. Here is what the panel said to an audience dedicated to diversity, inclusion, and the promise to be an organization for all blind people. President Riccobono starts by saying: This is a panel that I'm very excited about, and I'm glad that they have agreed to participate with us. We've been having the discussion about what we can do within our organization to combat racism and to make sure that we create an environment where we're able to discuss the intersectionality of various characteristics that we have as blind people. One of the myths I referred to in the presidential report is that because you're blind, you don't see skin color and therefore don't carry the same bias as everybody else. We know the truth is that's not true. That's just another ableist misconception about our capacity and our participation in society. We hope that this is just one piece of an ongoing conversation we're having within our organization. Here to moderate the panel and to guide the discussion is a board member of the National Federation of the Blind. She has a long, distinguished history in our organization, including winning our highest award. You heard her on a fit break earlier. From California, here is Ever Lee Hairston! EVER LEE HAIRSTON: Good afternoon, everyone, and good evening to some of you. This is a sad day for me in some respects because of the death of Congressman Lewis. I marched with him fifty-seven years ago. We were marching then for the things that he talked about. And I remember that John Lewis stood on the front of the line many times, and he was beaten, and he had his skull cracked, walking in the protest lines. So let us focus now on the topic of today, not blind to color in the Federation: black and blind experiences in America and in the National Federation of the Blind. Our perspective on diversity should be clear: we may have different religions; we may have different languages; we may have different colored skin; but we all belong to one human race. It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences. We believe getting to know others is a true way to connect. Unfortunately, some people are not willing to change their beliefs or their attitudes about someone not like themselves. One of my most profound experiences in the Federation is one I think is necessary to share. Several years ago, I was asked to be the national representative at one of our state conventions. As a national representative, normally I would fly from California to that state on a Thursday evening. So that's what I did. When I arrived at the hotel and checked into my room, I received a text message from the state president asking me to meet them in the lobby. I was so excited for being in a state that I had never visited, anxious to meet in person the president. So I left my hotel room, went to the elevator bank, and stood waiting for the elevator. Then I heard three ladies walk up. I heard the cane, and I was excited. I said, wow, they must be Federationists. So I said, "Good evening, ladies." No response. "Good evening, ladies." No response. I felt, well, they're chatting. I don't think they're deaf. Then the elevator stopped on our floor, and I got on. Still trying to be polite and cordial, I said, "Ladies, are you coming on?" One lady replied, "I don't know who you are, but I'm not getting on that elevator with you." And she called me the N word. Shocked and in disbelief, I knew at that moment that I was there on a mission. I had a purpose to fulfill. I was there to inform, to inspire, to motivate, and to serve. I knew that I could not stoop to her level. But the one thing that helped me was thinking of a quote, and the author is Lao Tzu, a mystic philosopher of ancient China, best known as the author of Tao Te Ching (The Way and Its Power). It goes like this: "Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny." That gave me the courage that I needed to move on and not be distracted by the negativity that I had just endured. So I would like to have the members of this panel today share some of their black and blind experiences. First on the panel today we have Ron Brown. Most of you know he serves as second vice president of the National Federation of the Blind. He is married to Jean Brown. They have been married for thirty-three years. He is also president of our Indiana affiliate, and he has been a member of the Federation for forty years. We have leaders on this panel. Our second panelist is Denice Brown. Denice hails from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and serves on the board of NFB of Pennsylvania. She is a retired teacher. She taught elementary school in the city of Philadelphia. Denice is also the president of the greater Philadelphia Chapter, where she has been the president of that chapter for seventeen years. Next we have Bobbi Pompey. Bobbi comes from my home state, which is the Tar Heels of North Carolina. Bobbi is an adjunct professor at San Francisco State University. She serves as the chairperson of the scholarship program in the National Federation of the Blind of California, where she lives now, and she works for the San Francisco LightHouse. Last but not least we have Tarik Williams. Tarik is from Arizona, but he hails from Pennsylvania. Tarik serves on the board of directors of the Arizona affiliate. He works for the rehabilitation office there. We're now going to hear from our panelists in that order. Ron, take it away. RON BROWN: Thank you, Ever. Greetings to my Federation family. I want to take a few minutes and talk to you all about growing up as an African- American young man in my community. A lot of you all know about "the Talk," and the Talk in the African-American community is this: I was just learning to drive, and my father and mom told me, "Ron, we want to have a talk with you about driving and about how you live your life." It kind of took me by surprise, so I said, "Okay." I started to have this conversation with my father, and he said "You're old enough now to drive, and I want you to understand a couple of things. One thing is this: When you're driving, you may get pulled over by the police. And if you do, I want you to keep your hands on top of the steering wheel. I also want you, if they ask for your license, to say okay, and you let them know that you are reaching for your license." I thought this was kind of a peculiar conversation at the time. I said, "Why would they pull me over, dad? I'm just driving. I didn't do anything wrong!" My father told me that "You need to make sure your hands are where they can see them, and let them know that you're reaching for your license. Because this talk will help keep you safe. It will keep you secure, and it will get you home alive. I filed this information away, and I thought about it that day. Wow, I can just get pulled over just because I'm black? As time progressed, I lost my vision, and I started to teach orientation and mobility for the blind. I went and got a master's degree out of Louisiana Tech University, and I was teaching cane travel in a little small town in an Indiana community. As I was teaching this young white girl, we were walking, and someone said to me, "Hey, you, come here. Show me your license." I never thought I would have to bring back up the Talk, because I had filed it away in my mind-but it all came rushing back to me. And this police officer said to me, "I want to see your license." I said to him, "So, officer, what did I do wrong?" He said to me, "We got a report that a black man was following a white girl." Now I said to the officer, "So what is my crime? I'm teaching her how to get from her home and navigate to the bus stop." I said, "What is my crime?" This officer didn't answer, so I answered for him. "So my crime is walking while black?" He still didn't answer, so I chalked it up as ignorance and let it go. About two weeks later, I was in the same community surrounded by four police cars this time! And the officers again said to me "Let us see your license. Let us see your ID." And I said, again, teaching the same little white girl in the same community: "Officers, what did I do wrong?" And they didn't answer. Then one of them said, "We got a complaint that a black man was following a white girl." And I said again, "So my crime is walking while black?" They didn't answer. You see the talk I want to have with my Federation family today is that people say, "We don't see color, though." But you know, guys, I want you to see my color. I want you to know that I'm an African-American male. I want you to know that I'm blind, but just like my blindness, you should not let my blackness define who I am as a person. I am a black male who happens to be blind. These officers didn't see my cane, nor did they see anything else. They didn't even see her cane. They just saw an African- American male following a white girl. So I say to you all, and I'll wrap it up, that I want you to see that I am a black, African-American male; but my blackness does not define me, nor does my blindness. I want you to celebrate our differences, celebrate our diversity. Thank you. EVER LEE HAIRSTON: Denice, you're up. DENICE BROWN: Good evening, my Federation family. Before losing my vision as a black woman, I saw racism in a couple of ways. Sometimes it would hit you right in the face. For example, when going to a very high-end fashion store in Philadelphia, I'm in there looking through the clothing because I'm preparing to go to a special event on an upcoming weekend. I'm just looking, and I hear a salesperson walking toward me. In my mind I'm thinking she's getting ready to say, "Can I help you?" But when she walked up to me, she said, "We don't do layaway here." That took me aback for a moment. I don't have the length of time to give you the answer that I gave to that salesperson. I've also experienced racism sort of territorially, I'll call it. For a short period of time, I lived in a suburb of Philadelphia, and in that particular suburb where I was living, it happened to be about 99 percent white. I was starting to look for a teaching position at that time. I had one, but I was looking for something better. So I had sent out applications all around the state. I got a phone call from a school district saying that they saw my resum?, they knew I had just graduated from college six months earlier, and they wanted me to come in because they thought I had everything that they needed. There was a second-grade opening, and I would fit well in that position. They wanted to know how soon I could get down to the office to have an interview. So I made my appointment, and I spoke to the same person that I spoke to on the phone. We had a great conversation. Then I had to go to the superintendent, who was doing the hiring. Well, when I walked in the door of the superintendent's office, I barely got to sit down, and he told me that I would not be able to get that job because I had just gotten out of school. I said, "Well, someone told me the same thing about my being fresh out of school. They said you knew that I had just gotten out of school and that I would be good for the job for that very reason." He said, "Well, there was a mistake." Well, I understood what that meant. My address-he saw it, and probably my name, too. It isn't very ethnic; they probably thought I was a white individual. So obviously I did not get that job. When I came to the Federation, I was forty-two years old. I was a seasoned adult but not seasoned in the Federation. I quickly became president of my chapter, and of course, not knowing the full philosophy of the Federation and knowing that I had to learn things, I started seeking out individuals who had been in leadership so that I could learn. I had twenty years of education under my belt as a teacher, and I wanted to do other things. I wanted to be involved with other committees. With my education background, I thought I'd be a good candidate for one of the committees, the scholarship committee in Pennsylvania. But I was not able to get on that committee, and I thought, well, okay, as time goes on, maybe I'll have a chance. Again, I built my chapter, and membership kept going up. I continued to attend state and national conventions, Washington Seminar, volunteering at possibility fairs, reading speeches from banquets. Youth Slam came up. I decided that I should be a volunteer. It made a lot of sense to me. No one told me to become a volunteer. I knew this was something I should do so I could learn and get more involved. Somewhere along the line in meeting people around the NFB, I heard about something called a leadership seminar, which takes place at our national headquarters. I inquired about possibly being able to go to one of these seminars. But at that time, I was told that I wasn't really possessing the leadership qualities in order to go to one of these. But I kept on doing, and I kept on participating and getting involved in whatever I could with the NFB. In 2009 I got a phone call shortly after our convention in Detroit, and it was inviting me to the leadership seminar for that year. I was ecstatic. I knew that somebody felt my worth, somebody knew I had potential, somebody knew that I had value. So I want to thank that person, or thank those people. Because the things that I learned at the leadership seminar-I will never lose them-they are highly cherished. What I want to say to some of my Federation friends is that I have listened to some of you who feel that you are stuck in certain positions; that you haven't had the chance to get the responsibility that you would like to have. I would like to say to you, just keep looking forward. Keep looking forward. Think of the NFB as the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Because you will get your chance as long as you keep the NFB as the key. I cannot tell you the great things that I see in this organization. The Diversity and Inclusion Committee is doing a great job. Again, I want to say that this organization is not only changing what it means to be blind, but it is changing what it means to be black and blind. Thank you. EVER LEE HAIRSTON: Thank you, Denice. Let's hear from Bobbi Pompey. BOBBI POMPEI: Hello everybody. I'd like to start by saying thank you. Ever Lee, Ron, Denice, and Tarik for agreeing to be on this panel and to share these stories that are painful and vulnerable. I'd like to thank my Federation family and people who are tuning in from anywhere and everywhere during this virtual convention. Let's talk about sound. We use sound constantly, especially as blind people, from the voices of our screen readers to the different taps of our cane tips, even to the gavel that we've come to know and symbolize as the beginning of these general sessions. I guess we can now add in the spinning of the membership coin. All of these sounds are based on perception. For example, we're all familiar with the phrase, "If it quacks like a duck, it must be a duck." But what if it's not? Keep that in mind. Specifically, today, I'd like to talk about one specific sound, and that sound is my voice-yes, this voice that you are hearing right now. Picture this: Bobbi, the young and beautiful (small giggle), less than two years into the Federation and running for a presidential office. I'm at this convention, bright-eyed, eager, and I am putting in the work, and I'm also working the room! Or as boring people say, "networking." As part of this networking, I was introduced to one particular NFB leader, but it wasn't the first time I'd been introduced to an NFB leader. I'd like to go back a little further to my first Washington Seminar. I was invited to attend a dinner where we'd be meeting another Federation leader at this dinner. On the way to the dinner, the people that I was going with stopped in the hallway and pulled me over to the side. They go, "Bobbi, I mean, it doesn't matter, and we don't know how to ask you this, but-are you black? I mean, we know you go to a historically black college, but we're just not sure because of how you talk. Now let me go back to my election and my presidential bid. Over the convention, I'm getting closer and closer to this leader; we're going to dinners; we're really socializing together, getting comfortable with one another. And when comfortable, well, a leopard will show its spots. And I'm starting to pick up on some subtle clues, and it's hard to put my finger on it, but my spotting senses for racism are tingling. And somehow, when I'm not around, they find out that I'm black. Put a pin in that story again, but we'll be back. Last year someone else got comfortable with me. This time it was a man who was black and blind. He pulled me to the side-that must be the way to do these kind of things-and goes, "Bobbi, I love your voice because you don't sound like you're from the hood." He had the NERVE to think that was a compliment. That is NOT a compliment. That, my friends, is a microaggression. So in closing, I'll finish the story about the election. If you recall, my secret is out, and this leader knows that I'm black. It's the time of the election, and I walk in confident, okay? I'm excited. I'm thrilled to be presented with this opportunity to be president in this organization that I'm just beginning to love. And I notice we have a really large turnout. So I'm happily welcoming all of these unfamiliar faces. We vote, and I lose. I later found out that this leader had paid the dues of these unfamiliar faces. These people had not been dues-paying members before. But he had them come to the meeting and paid their dues so they'd be eligible to vote-just so they could vote against me-because he did not want a black person to be president. Race is perceived in so many ways. These blind people use their sense of sound, and they use a stereotype based on what it means to "sound black." President Riccobono, I'd like to thank you for putting together this panel and thus confirming the fact that within this organization, racism must be addressed, acknowledged, and ultimately rectified. Because I cannot live the life that I want until Black Lives Matter. Thank you, and rest in peace to John Lewis. EVER LEE HAIRSTON: Thank you, Bobbi; and next, Tarik, you are up. TARIK WILLIAMS: Hello, my Federation family. Once again, I want to thank you guys for listening and for this opportunity. I want to start with having you guys visualize a little bit of a picture that I think about often as I work in SAAVI Services for the Blind as an orientation and mobility instructor and student services coordinator. I think about the first time I ever wore sleep shades at the Louisiana Center for the Blind. I remember getting my shades and thinking about how people were interacting and saying "on your right" or "on your left" and how they were able to just move throughout the center so efficiently. So feeling as uncomfortable as I did, I still wanted to be able to do that, even though I hadn't had any lessons yet. I had gotten my shades, and I started walking in the hallway, already late to my first class. I heard some people in front of me. As I was walking, I said "on your right" and continued walking. I thought their course was changing, so I said "on your right" and continued walking. At first I wasn't hearing much more, so maybe they had heard or maybe not. I thought maybe they didn't hear me, so I said "on your right" again, a little bit louder, but their course had not changed, and we collided. I tell you this story to say that black people, for so many years- before the Federation, during the Federation, and now-we're oppressed, but the course of action hasn't changed. So again we're oppressed, and the situation hasn't changed. So we say it again, and then there's a collision. This collision is happening in so many different situations in our world today. We think about all the different things that are going on in the world, and I get the question, "Tarik, well, don't you think that we've come a long way in terms of slavery and everything like that?" And to be honest, I'll say, "Yeah, sure, but it's incomplete." Now, we are still fighting some of the same battles today that we fought not so many generations ago-we think about Ruby Bridges, the first black individual to ever go to a white school, and she's only sixty-five years old. So put that into perspective. Obviously black people are in schools with white people, but there are some battles we're still fighting today that happened back then and some new ones now. When I think about the word I use to tell people about our progress, the word is incomplete, and the work that's yet to be done, I think about the term microaggression. Bobbi brought up the term. Microaggression is intentional or unintentional discrimination. It may be subtle or not so subtle. It is normally experienced by a marginalized group. Even though it might be subtle and may not mean much, I do want to be clear that ignorance is not bliss. Because microaggressions cause pain. If you're not accepting the sound of my voice or you're not accepting my blackness, that hurts. When you say, "Tarik, you don't sound black. Let me touch your hair to see if you are telling the truth," that hurts. Why would I lie about being black? Why would anyone question me? When you say, "Tarik, you sound a little white, so even though you're black, you're definitely white on the inside, and you're an "Oreo." That's painful. Are you saying it's better to be white and trying to compliment me? It is painful when you say, "Tarik, you sound a little too ghetto in this situation." What does that mean-what is wrong with my sound? Did I ask how I should sound or criticize you about the way you sound? I think it's important to know that all of us need to be accepted. I want to come across to you, my Federation family, as a Black, blind individual, proud of who I am. I'll be honest. There was a time when I was not proud of my blindness at all, and the Federation helped me overcome that. With that being said, it's important to know that these traits don't define me as a person. But they are important to me because they make up the person I am, and I have come to be proud of who I am. I want us to get beyond microaggression and other forms of discrimination. I want our Federation and our society to be a place where I can be comfortable and not feel like I have to put on a mask. I want to leave everybody with this quotation from Langston Hughes, who wrote a poem in which he says: "Let America be again. The land that must be. That hasn't been yet. The land where every individual is free." Thank you. EVER LEE HAIRSTON: Thank you, Tarik. As we continue to evolve in our quest for equality and opportunity, we hope this has been an education for you. We hope we have raised your consciousness regarding racism. I hope this information that you have heard today will propel you to make changes in your attitude, in your ability to accept and celebrate the differences in America and in the National Federation of the Blind. Together with love, hope, and determination, we transform dreams into reality. So let's try a new perspective on diversity. We are all one in the Federation. I want to let you know that we certainly believe in our grand personality, inspiration, innovation, powerful and inviting. We invite you to get to know us as we make a commitment to know each of you. We love you, and God bless you. Thank you. ---------- Equal Justice Under Law: A Blind Clerk Blazes a Trail behind the Scenes at the Supreme Court by Laura Wolk From the Editor: Here is what President Riccobono said in introducing a truly stellar presentation: "Our next presenter is the first of our Notre Dame graduates on the agenda! This item is "Equal Justice Under Law: A Blind Clerk Blazes a Trail behind the Scenes at the Supreme Court." I'm pretty excited about having her with us today-that she was able to carve out time to be with us. This is an individual who you can really say grew up in the Federation in Pennsylvania. Her dad actually started our parent's division in Pennsylvania. I already told you she was educated; she has a law degree from Notre Dame, juris doctor summa cum laude, and she went to Swarthmore where she got a BA in psychology. She has been serving as a law clerk to the Honorable Clarence Thomas, and she has been an active member of our National Association of Blind Lawyers, including successfully advocating and leading the way to make sure some of the technology companies make sure their tools work effectively for blind lawyers. I am proud to introduce Laura Wolk." Thank you so much, President Riccobono. Good evening, everyone. It is such an honor to be with you tonight. As President Riccobono mentioned, I went to my first state affiliate convention when I was very, very young. It's been a while since I've been to one, a national convention in person. So it's really an honor for me to be here presenting this evening. As President Riccobono mentioned, I just last week finished up a year clerking for Justice Clarence Thomas at the Supreme Court of the United States. I hope in hearing that sentence you know it was an extraordinary year for me. It was a transformative year for me personally and professionally-I mean in every aspect of my life, including what it means for me to be a blind person in the United States. I'd like to just give a little sense of what it means to be a law clerk, for those who might not be familiar with what that job entails, and then talk a bit about two main takeaways that I took from the job that I think are broadly applicable to everyone who is currently involved in the National Federation of the Blind. So each justice-there are nine justices on the Supreme Court-each justice has four clerks assigned to him or her, and each clerkship lasts one year. So you spend a year of your life working very, very intimately with a justice. Your job duties break down into two main categories: you assist the justice preparing for oral argument, and then you also assist even with the drafting of the opinions that ultimately become the decisions of the Supreme Court. Sometimes that means you assist the justice with preparing an opinion for the majority of justices on the court or the entire court, and other times it means that you prepare or you assist with drafting an opinion for a smaller number of members or even for the justice writing only for himself or herself. So it is an incredible experience. It is a great responsibility, and there is a lot of trust reposed in a law clerk. You have to be 150 percent there every day, every hour of every day. Because without the assistance of the law clerks, the Supreme Court just cannot function. Beyond the access and the amazing mentorship and lifelong relationship that you create with your justice, being a law clerk is so extraordinary because you also get to interact with the other eight justices on the Supreme Court. You also get to interact with all of the clerks from the other chambers. There's about thirty-nine of us this past term. You get to work with these bright lawyers, these young minds who are going to go out and do great things in the legal field, whether they go to firms or back to the government. You just get to spend a year learning from them, debating with them, sometimes very heatedly arguing with them. You just get a front row seat for an entire year into the inner workings of this very important institution to our government that so many people and even very few lawyers will ever get to witness. So I will say from the moment I walked in the door on my first day to last Friday, when I sort of tearfully pulled myself out of the building for the last time, it felt very surreal. Every day felt surreal to me that I was there, that my workplace was the Supreme Court of the United States. The conversations that I got to have, the people that I came to call friends-this was an experience that I will keep with me for the rest of my life. I don't think that my approach to the job is very uncommon. I think if you approach it right, and I think that many of my co-clerks and other clerks do approach the job with a sense of humility and understanding of the responsibility that has been given to you. But I would be lying if I didn't acknowledge that I also felt a particular responsibility and a particular honor to be asked to serve in that position as a blind person. Because it is the case that it is increasingly difficult to succeed in the higher echelons of our career paths, and I felt like I was being asked to do something very good, not just for myself but the entire movement of the organized blind: that I could spend a year with the eight other justices and hopefully show them that blindness is not an impediment; that I could spend the year talking about accessibility and talking about the need for young people coming up into the institutions to know about accessibility and to realize the massive gap between what a blind person can do if they're given all the tools and resources and what a blind person is ALLOWED to do by virtue of the various obstacles put into our path that we have no control over and have to constantly fight against. When I say I carry that responsibility with me, I don't mean that to imply any negative connotation. It felt like an honor to me that I would be asked to do that and to participate in the long line of work that the NFB has done for the past eighty years to even make this opportunity possible for me. So, from those experiences, I've done a lot of reflecting this year- a lot of reflecting on what this experience has meant to me personally and professionally, but also the takeaways, as I mentioned earlier, that can be broadly applied to all people in the NFB and all of your friends who might not yet be part of the NFB. There are two takeaways I would like to share with you this evening. The first is that, as I sort of alluded to a moment ago, I firmly believe that this opportunity would not have been possible for me if I was not a member of many communities. I think it is absolutely imperative that we as blind people include ourselves in as many communities as possible in society. Faith-based communities, civic engagement communities, sports, whatever it is that makes you feel alive and makes you feel like you are flourishing and what truly interests you about life. We need to be including ourselves and integrating ourselves into those communities. I think a lot of times there is this understanding that we focus on where the barriers are, and we say, you know, there's barriers to education, so we have to talk to the educators. There are barriers to employment. We have to talk to the employers. We have to talk to the developers. And that is very true, very necessary, very, very important hard work that is being done. But the fact remains that educators do not spend 100 percent of their time educating, and web developers do not spend 100 percent of their time web developing. They are human beings, and they are going out into communities, and they are living their lives in robust and rich ways. The more blind people that are out there that they can encounter in any capacity whatsoever, that makes a huge difference. By all of us doing that, we just increase the odds that the next time someone is hiring, let's say they even casually mention it at a dinner party, that someone is going to say, yeah, I know a blind person, like, that candidate is competent. This person, just because they're blind, doesn't mean they can't do the job or play the sport or take the leadership role or go to Harvard Law School, as we heard earlier this evening. So I just really encourage anyone who's out there listening tonight-if there ever has been something you wanted to try, that you have been holding yourself back for fear of what it would be like to try to get into that community, I really encourage you to do that. I have experienced this because of the pandemic in a very concrete and tangible way this year. I will give you one example. I am a runner, and I use running not only as a way to stay physically active, but also for benefits to my mental health. It also helps me to clear my head and to process ideas and arguments that I'm actually stuck on when I'm thinking about a legal argument. When the pandemic struck, all of that was stripped away from me immediately. I could tell almost instantly that it was impacting my work because this was a way that I handle stress, and I was in a very stressful job. So I wrote to my friends in my running communities (some of them have blindness-related aspects and many do not), and I asked for help. The next thing I knew, friends came to my aid and provided me with a bike and a trainer so that I could continue to exercise in my apartment and stay focused. So never did I think that when I started running, and when I first took myself out of my comfort zone to show up at running events and ask sighted people if they would run with me, that it would ever impact me professionally, that it would ever affect my career development. But I also never could have imagined that my year on the Supreme Court would include a pandemic and going remote and being in quarantine. So the benefit of that community that I never expected to show up and help me in this once-in-a- lifetime opportunity really pulled through for me. The second takeaway that I want to share with you all, and again, if you are a lifelong Federationist, this is not going to be terribly groundbreaking, but I think it bears emphasizing as many times as necessary, and that is this: In order to be successful as a blind person in the United States in 2020, we have to be comfortable being uncomfortable. Okay? President Riccobono mentioned my clerkship on the Supreme Court. But I had two previous one-year clerkships before them, and I also spent a year at a firm. I've had four jobs in four years, and all four of those places had never hired a blind person or had not hired them in an appreciably long enough time that things had changed. So four times I had to go through the process of teaching an entire institution how to make things accessible for me. It is VERY, very difficult sometimes, disheartening sometimes. Even when you have amazing support, it can be really disheartening. But if you've ever been to a training center and held a chainsaw, (which I loved that code word), if you've ever walked with a cane for the first time, if you've ever confronted the fear of pulling a stroller or a shopping cart behind you, all of these things teach us that we have to learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable. Because the more comfortable we get having difficult conversations, the more we gain control over the conversations. The more we get comfortable talking to a supervisor and remaining calm when things get heated and stressful, the more we have the power; we regain the power to direct the conversation back to us and our needs instead of what other people tell us our needs are or what might work better than what we're proposing. It not only benefits us, but the fact is this: Ideally, we would be living in a world where universal design is the norm, where things are designed as accessible from the ground up, where there's no discrimination, there's no stigma, there's no bigotry. We've made immense progress, but that's not where we are, and that's not where we'll be tomorrow. So we're faced with a choice. What do we do with those circumstances? And if we learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable, instead of becoming angry or frustrated or disheartened, if we embrace that, then what you develop in yourself are the qualities of a leader. You develop grit. You're adaptable. You're resilient. You're smart. You're flexible. You're creative. You're all of the things that a company needs today. You are all the things that a family needs, that a community group needs. These are the qualities of a good leader. So if we collectively embrace that, we'll not only be making our own lives better as individual blind people, but we will be making the lives of every other blind person in the country better. Because all of our successes are connected. And I just want to close with that. Because as President Riccobono said, I have grown up in the Federation, and I am aware, thankfully aware, of the history that has come before me and the very hard work that our leaders have done. I am very grateful for that work, and I know that this opportunity I have just had, which is an extraordinary one, would not be possible without that. The way that I've explained it to some people is that I feel like in each of our lives, when our role is to work to break down accessibility barriers, even if we don't make it perfect, you were placing one more step on top of a flight of stairs so that when I came along, even though it was still a very steep climb, I didn't have to jump from the bottom directly to the top. I could climb. I'm very, very appreciative for all of that, and I can only hope that through this past year and the other work that I've done so far in my career, that I have also added a step for the next person. I look forward very much to seeing what comes next for us in the years to come. Thank you. ---------- You Can Make a Difference Blind children, students, and adults are making powerful strides in education and leadership every day across the United States. For more than eighty years, the National Federation of the Blind has worked to transform the dreams of hundreds of thousands of blind people into reality. With support from individuals like you, we continue to provide powerful programs and critical resources for decades to come. We sincerely hope you will plan to be a part of our enduring movement by including the National Federation of the Blind in your charitable giving and in your estate planning. It is easier than you think. With your help, the NFB will continue to: . Give blind children the gift of literacy through Braille. . Promote independent travel by providing free, long white canes to blind people in need. . Develop dynamic educational projects and programs to show blind youth that science and math careers are within their reach. . Deliver hundreds of accessible newspapers and magazines to provide blind people the essential information necessary to be actively involved in their communities. . Offer aids and appliances that help seniors losing vision maintain their independence. Plan to Leave a Legacy The National Federation of the Blind legacy society, our Dream Makers Circle, honors and recognizes the generosity and vision of members and special friends of the National Federation of the Blind who have chosen to leave a legacy through a will or other planned giving option. You can join the Dream Makers Circle in a myriad of ways: Fixed Sum of Assets You can specify that a fixed sum of your assets or property goes to the National Federation of the Blind in your will, trust, pension, IRA, life insurance policy, brokerage account, or other accounts. Percentage of Assets You can specify that a percentage of your assets or property goes to the National Federation of the Blind in your will, trust, pension, IRA, life insurance policy, brokerage account, or other accounts. Payable on Death (POD) Account You can name the National Federation of the Blind as the beneficiary on a Payable on Death (POD) account through your bank. You can turn any checking or savings account into a POD account. This is one of the simplest ways to leave a legacy. The account is totally in your control during your lifetime, and you can change the beneficiary or percentage at any time with ease. Will or Trust If you do decide to create or revise your will, consider the National Federation of the Blind as a partial beneficiary. Visit our Planned Giving webpage at https://www.nfb.org/get- involved/ways-give/planned-giving or call 410-659-9314, extension 2422, for more information. Together with love, hope, determination, and your support, we will continue to transform dreams into reality. Ways to Contribute Now Since the start of 2019, the NFB: . Distributed over eight thousand canes to blind people across the United States, empowering them to travel safely and independently throughout their communities. . Delivered audio newspaper and magazine services to 124,022 subscribers, providing free access to over five hundred local, national, and international publications. . Gave over nine hundred Braille-writing slates and styluses free of charge to blind users. . Transformed our Braille Enrichment for Literacy and Learning? (BELL) Academies into in-home editions offered to blind youth throughout the United States. Just imagine what we'll do next year, and, with your help, what can be accomplished for years to come. Below are just a few of the many diverse, tax-deductible ways you can lend your support to the National Federation of the Blind: Vehicle Donation Program The NFB accepts donated vehicles, including cars, trucks, boats, motorcycles, or recreational vehicles. Just call 855-659-9314 toll-free, and a representative can make arrangements to pick up your donation. We can also answer any questions you have. General Donation General donations help support the ongoing programs of the NFB and the work to help blind people live the lives they want. You can call 410-659-9314 and elect option 4 to donate by phone. Donate online with a credit card or through the mail with check or money order. Visit our Ways to Give webpage at https://nfb.org/get-involved/ways-give for more information. Pre-Authorized Contribution Through the Pre-Authorized Contribution (PAC) program, supporters sustain the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind by making recurring monthly donations by direct withdrawal of funds from a checking account or a charge to a credit card. To enroll, call 410-659-9314, extension 2213, or fill out our PAC Donation Form online at https://www.nfb.org/pac. If you have questions about giving, please send an email to outreach at nfb.org or call 410-659-9314, extension 2422. ---------- Our Roots: Advancing Human Rights and the Tradition of Serving Our Nation by Mariyam Cementwala From the Editor: President Riccobono introduced our next presenter with these words: "Our speaker is a policy advisor in the United States Department of State's Office of International Religious Freedom. She has many distinctions, including having worked for Senator Durbin. She advances religious freedom in United States government foreign policy, working at the intersection of promoting religious freedom and conflict prevention, including countering violent extremism. She speaks four South Asian languages as well as Arabic, and she has a wealth of experience in several international contexts. Again, there's a lot we could say about her. If you have been around the Federation for a while, you have probably met her before. She is a lawyer by training who has received her JD from the University of California at Berkeley in 2007. She, among other achievements, is the first blind Muslim American woman to receive the prestigious George J. Mitchell Scholarship. She has been one of our national scholarship winners, which you know is a distinction, and she served for a time at various levels of our student division. I'm really pleased to introduce to our podium--literally to our podium because she's in the building, so I'm grabbing the NFB mask to put on-here is Mariyam Cementwala!" Thank you, Mark, and thank you, Senator Durbin, for your kind words, and to your staff, particularly your Chief Counsel Joe Zogby, who gave a young blind lawyer a chance to enter the field of government affairs a decade ago. I've been honored and privileged to work for two incredible public servants, Senator Durbin, and the person who leads the US Department of State's Office of International Religious Freedom, where I work now and which we'll talk about a bit later. If you pluck up a shrub, a plant, even a full-grown tree and try to replant it somewhere else without its roots, that shrub, plant, or tree will not survive. It will wither. It will die. But if you pull up even a budding plant or shrub-let alone a tree or even its branch-by its roots and take them along, then replant it anywhere else, that shrub will blossom and bloom. That tree will bear fruit. It will thrive. Now, I didn't come here to talk about botany, but we're not that different from plants in this way-like them, we too need our roots to survive, to thrive. So what are our roots? Let me come back to this question. On a sunny morning in early 2012, I hailed a taxi outside my apartment building to go to work, expecting an ordinary 20-minute drive. I was an officer in the Political Section at the US Embassy, and I explained to the driver that, when he approached the American Embassy, he should pull up at the first guard entrance rather than the second one. In conversation, I discovered that the driver was Pakistani, spoke Urdu, and was unusually curious. We began with a game I would often play with expat taxi drivers. They'd ask in Hindi, Urdu, or Arabic, "So where are you from?" And I'd ask them to tell me where they thought I was from, believing that the obvious clue was that they were dropping me off at the staff entrance of the American Embassy. This particular driver became exasperated with the game- naming every country in South Asia, proceeding to Iran and the "stans," and finally bellowing: "Why don't you just tell me where you're from?" So I asked: "Where am I going?" He said, "The American Embassy, but I thought that's because you need a visa." "No," I explained, "I asked you to stop at the first entrance-the staff entrance-not the visa entrance." "Oh," he said, "but that's because I figured you didn't know which entrance because you're blind." I chuckled and said "Yes, I'm blind, and I'm also American, and I work there." "You work there? They let you work there? But how...? I mean, you're Muslim, and you wear a hijab, and you're ... blind!" He was incredulous, like he was looking at a ghost. I replied, "Yes, I work there, and they don't let me work there-they want me to work there, they need me to work there because I help make their understanding of foreign cultures, foreign peoples, and foreign policy better." At that moment, I didn't quite realize the magnitude of his incredulity and of my immense privilege. I didn't realize how much I just took for granted in my daily life. What this taxi driver was questioning in 2012 was what the National Federation of the Blind's founder and first president, Jacobus tenBroek, had written about in the California Law Review in 1966: "Whether and how we, as blind people, as people with human differences, abilities and disabilities, have "the [human] right to live in the world;" the right to work in it and to influence the course of human destiny rather than allowing charitable actors to influence ours as wards of others. Don't we deserve the right to belong in the world and out of it; the right to privacy; the right to enjoy full and equal access to the modes of transportation, communication, information, and public accommodation; and the right to contribute as full and equal citizens to our communities and our countries?" My conversation with the taxi driver triggered my memories of teaching a course on the blind civil rights movement at UC Berkeley in 2002, where tenBroek had once taught as a law professor, and from where he had founded this organization that celebrates its eightieth birthday this year. It also triggered my memory of the gentleman I met at the 2002 NFB convention and an unfinished story that I had always wanted to hear. For those of you who never met him or only knew of him through his obituary and writings, let me share our collective story, and with it, the story of this organization's role in changing our nation's diplomatic history. Avraham Rabby, known to his friends as Rami, was going off to the American Embassy in New Delhi to serve our country as a diplomat managing public affairs-our outward messaging, public outreach, and programming within India. I'm of Indian descent and speak several South Asian languages. So on one of those typical convention evenings, when groups huddle in conversations in corners of hotel lobbies or hotel rooms, Rami peppered me in his distinctive British accent with questions I was completely ill- equipped to answer about the host country where he would soon be posted. His job traveling all around the world, living in and learning about different cultures and places, and building or strengthening relationships with foreign governments and peoples on behalf of the United States sounded intriguing and even glamorous to a twenty-something who had studied international relations and just completed her bachelor's in political science. That night, Rami planted a seed in my mind, but I was destined for law school and a lifetime's practice of law, or so I thought... The story Rami didn't tell me that evening and that I subsequently spent some time researching was how, despite graduating with degrees from Oxford University and the University of Chicago and speaking several languages fluently, he had struggled-back in the 1980s-to join the US Department of State's Foreign Service and how the National Federation of the Blind had given him the support and stood with him in the fight to open the doors of the diplomatic corps for aspiring diplomats with disabilities. Even though he had passed the written and oral assessments, some leaders in our government, including the then-Director General of the Foreign Service George Vest, questioned whether he could understand and interpret the nuances of diplomatic negotiations, such as body language and facial expression, without sight. Could he protect classified information and reside safely in foreign countries where he would be asked to serve? But Rami, who had grown up as a leader in the National Federation of the Blind working with Dr. Kenneth Jernigan to organize the Illinois affiliate and fight for civil rights and equal employment opportunities, refused to go away or back down, be bought off by a financial settlement, or cower even before the United States Congress, which held hearings in 1989 on his ability to serve as a foreign service officer. Confident in his own skills and abilities, Rami stridently made the case that "No international treaty has ever been decided on the basis of a wink or a nod!" He and leaders and members of this organization, many of whom worked with him to convince state department bureaucrats and piled into the halls of Congress to support his bid to join our country's diplomatic corps, changed the department's policy through concerted collective action, never caving to complacency with the world as it is. Over thirty years ago, they pushed the department to take a case-by-case approach to allow individuals with disabilities to serve in the United States Foreign Service. Today people like me are the beneficiaries of those important advances in our country's quest for human rights. So I come back to the question: What are our roots? Our roots can be found in our history, in our philosophical and attitudinal architecture, in our faith and values that keep us grounded, and in the people who remind us of and help reinforce those values in our lives. Like Rami, I grew up in the blind civil rights movement and am glad that I developed some of my leadership skills and policy chops there- organizing state student division events, advocating for myself and others to have the right to make our own choices about the rehabilitation programs we attended, and even walking out in protest from a camp with fellow blind colleagues because the camp's administrators decided to segregate blind camp counselors from sighted camp counselors so as not to influence young blind campers to think it was okay to be "too independent!" If you haven't read Dr. tenBroek's parable of the organization of the bald "malcontents" or "pariahs" in his 1956 banquet address, "Within the Grace of God," now's a good time to catch up on it. The stuff of the late 90s and early 2000s wasn't all that different from 1956, I discovered, and perhaps we've still got a way to go now. One of the turning points in my life was choosing to go to the Louisiana Center for the Blind and fighting with California's Department of Rehabilitation to get there. Unfortunately, this remains an age-old struggle. After getting through layers of bureaucracy, I finally told the district administrator that he could deny me the right to exercise my choice, and if he did, I would appeal; or he could grant my request-but either way, I was going. He decided that he wouldn't bother denying my request. In my teens and twenties, I was learning how to be a "malcontent" or "pariah" well-from people like Joanne and Harold Wilson, Rosy Carranza, and Nathanael Wales, people who knew me before I was a diplomat, who keep me grounded, and who still shape and enrich my life today-along with that guy who told me to go to the center in the first place (on our first date, no less!), my husband Ali, known to many as "Chris" Foster. Ladies, if your guy tells you to go to a training center, he's a keeper! The lessons I learned about life, attitudes about blindness and disability, travel, people, and yes, even home economics are priceless gems I carry with me all around the world. When Joanne Wilson, the Louisiana Center's founder and first director (and the epitome of a great leader in my view, and someone I'm very grateful to call a mentor) visited me at one of my former posts, I proudly showed her my Freedom Bell and the five-tier spinning carousel bookcase I haul all around the globe from post to post. These stand as daily reminders of my philosophical foundation and roots- that blindness can be reduced to a characteristic, not a handicap, with the right tools, training, opportunity, and attitude; that we can and must compete on terms of equality; and that, if needed, I can use a radial arm saw and table saw again! Rami began his diplomatic career in 1990. After law school and law firm practice, among other advocacy jobs, I started my diplomatic career in March 2011-long after he had already retired! People had all kinds of questions for him then. What about now? Well, as one of my local staff members got really comfortable with me, she piped up memorably one day as we rode up in the Embassy elevator: "Mariyam, you know how you said it was okay to ask you anything about your blindness; well, I have a question... How do you know when you get your period?" ... to which I answered: "Well, how do you know when you get yours?!" During one of my early tours, I arrived at a charity reception on behalf of the Embassy, and a bunch of women suddenly encircled me! "We want to hear your story! We want to know how you got here!" I was confused. "Here? In a car..." "No, how did you get here-to this country!?" "On an airplane..." "No, no!...to this country, representing the American Embassy and the American government! We want to know everything! You are so amazing!" When I returned from this reception, I shared the exchange with my then-deputy chief of mission, who channeled Michael Bailiff when he advised, "It could be worse if they thought you weren't amazing! If you're going to have extremes, you may as well have their positive impression. And use it to build the connections and trust. Use it to your advantage." So I did. Candidly, my disability has been a huge advantage in building relationships of trust with contacts and working on sensitive issues of human rights and religious freedom, because one of my perceived vulnerabilities is on display for all to see. Seeing that I have a vulnerability makes others more comfortable to open up-which is critical because I learned early in my diplomatic career that the currency of diplomacy is reliable and accurate information. I've used what others in society might continue to perceive as a vulnerability as an advantage in every posting. For instance, in one of my recent tours I was given an incredible opportunity and an impossible task-I had eighteen hours (as I was packing out of my post) to get in a car and go to a far-flung region of the country in which I was posted, then organize meetings there, return two days later, and produce a draft cable about the political landscape and people's attitudes. I knew no one there but had a strong network of people with disabilities in the capital city I knew, so I contacted a couple of its leaders-both blind-and asked them to help me organize meetings with their professional and social networks. They didn't just help me because I am an American diplomat; they helped me because we had built a relationship driven by our commonalities of human difference, and in my success was their support and their success! Today, in my current posting, I work in the State Department's Office of International Religious Freedom under the leadership of Ambassador-at- Large Sam Brownback, who has a legacy of championing the rights of persons with disabilities in his distinguished political career. Supported by him and office leadership, I again brought my disability experience to bear in recognizing a policy gap and working to address it. Our office works to promote and protect the right of religious freedom of people around the globe, including minorities. But when houses of worship are inaccessible, when faith leaders organizing religious pilgrimages gently turn people with disabilities away, when faith leaders preach that albinism or other physical disabilities are results of witchcraft and evil, when virtual worship services and activities are not on accessible platforms, persons with disabilities are once again left behind in exercising their fundamental freedom of religion or belief, from participating in community with others, and from enjoying freedom from stigma and their "right to live in the world." I'm blessed to come from a faith community in which my spiritual guide, and before him, his father, have been incredible pillars of strength, support, open-mindedness, and inclusion. When there were plenty of naysayers, they have been my champions, never limiting me on account of disability. But every community of faith has those not so enlightened. Once someone who clearly disregards the concept of reasonable accommodation said to me that I use my blindness like a "sympathy card." Ironically I was on a religious pilgrimage abroad without family or personal assistance and was essentially requesting to be close up, to touch and be touched, since I don't experience by sight like others. Another time, when I was being guided amidst a throbbing crowd to the sacred black stone at the Kaaba, someone taunted loudly from behind: "If she's blind, why is she even here? Why are you bringing her!" disregarding that, as a human being and a Muslim, I have the same right, obligation, or desire as anyone else would to kiss the sacred black stone known as the Hajr-e-Aswad. You can't expect everyone to be enlightened, wise, or inclusive. But when people try to shun, exclude, or belittle you, don't recoil or allow yourself to be distanced from your community and your faith. Confront ignorance, indifference, and injustice by calling it out because, if you don't, you enable its perpetuation not only toward you but countless others who may not have your strength or conviction. My experiences have inspired me to work with colleagues from our Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor as well as our Agency for International Development to launch the disability and FORB (freedom of religion and belief) interagency working group last October. Our purpose is not only to identify the challenges to religious freedom persons with disabilities face but also find the champions of inclusion among faith leaders to derive the best practices for community inclusion. Faith leaders play key roles as social and political influencers, and engaging them on disability rights is something we hadn't done before as a concerted part of our foreign policy. What's more, we realized that they could have a tangible impact on service delivery and challenging stereotypes about a disabled person's quality of life during the COVID-19 crisis. So on July 1, we launched a global social media campaign called "Every Life Is Worthy." It will continue until the ADA's thirtieth anniversary and will conclude with a virtual roundtable to which I hope you will tune in! You can learn more about how I do my job, the working group, and the Office of International Religious Freedom during tomorrow's breakout session at 11:30 a.m. But for those who won't be up quite that early, what I hope you'll remember is that your perceived vulnerability is not a disadvantage at all. It's just part of your humanity, as it's part of mine. It has made me a sharper, smarter diplomat who is more rooted in and committed to the principles of human dignity, respect for human difference, human rights, and equal justice. My own background in advocating for the rights of myself and others- at Washington Seminars decades ago and elsewhere-has instilled in me as a diplomat the important recognition of civil society's value in formulating good policy. Without organizations like the National Federation of the Blind who speak loudly as constituents for themselves, ready for a fight, ready to go to the barricades, can you even imagine what policies and laws would look like for persons with disabilities-not just in the United States but the world over? Our thinking and approach don't just matter at home- they have a global impact. Advancing human rights-not charity but opportunity, not compassion but understanding, not tolerance but respect and acceptance, not dependency but independence, not exclusion but equality-is in this organization's DNA. That's in your roots. So as the leaders and members of this organization look ahead on this eightieth birthday to your next eighty years, I leave you with a challenge. In 1997, toward the sunset of his life, Kenneth Jernigan harkened that "The day after civil rights is fast approaching." Sitting then in the audience as a young scholarship winner, I thought like many that we had almost arrived! It was imminent. We wouldn't need to raise voices and signs in protest. The days of confrontation were our past-our future would be communication and public education. But according to Cornell University's disability statistics research, between 1997 and 2017 the employment rate for persons with disabilities (or those identifying as having a work limitation) between the ages of 18 and 64 had risen by less than 12 percent, from 25.5 percent to 37 percent. And 63 percent are still unemployed. In twenty years the rate among this group that lived below the poverty line had only dropped by 1.8 percent. Here's another snapshot: Looking at the picture just three years ago in 2017, 34.5 percent of non-disabled Americans between the ages of twenty- one and sixty-four had obtained a bachelor's degree or higher education, as compared to just 14.8 percent of Americans with disabilities in the same age range. Looking at this yet another way, ask yourself how many blind people you know who work exclusively in the field of blindness or disability, even disability law, because they were pushed to do so to get a secure job. What I have learned from my experiences, and in reflecting back on Rami's, is that there's no doubt that progress toward integration has been paved-with this organization playing a crucial role. But perhaps as we had optimistically hoped in 1997, we haven't quite arrived at that day after civil rights. Hindsight is always 20/20! While it is acceptable, even normal, for civil society organizations to build up communication and public education campaigns to become the recognized expert conveners instead of the outsiders, confrontation remains a necessary tool to combat covert and overt discrimination. The shape of injustice may have changed, but the root of injustice has not. It still stems from willful or uncorrected ignorance, a belief in the superiority of ability and the inferiority of disability, and unequal access or none at all. Today, the fights are different. There is access to the buildings perhaps, but not to the technology that helps run them. There is access to millions of books and newspapers, but not equal access to the tangible information and technology that can help persons with disabilities get jobs and keep them. There's even the legal concept of reasonable accommodation, but the sighted, non-disabled implementers-in their infinite wisdom and years of experience with disability and blindness-are more than happy to set the policy on what is an effective reasonable accommodation, like how and when to use readers, if you just keep your head down, quietly do your job, and let them push you around. As Dr. Martin Luther King said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." So the challenge is how and when to speak up, how to confront while convening, how to harness collective action once again and fight complacency, and when necessary, how to get back on the barricades and not back down. But being on the front lines of the barricades is part of the roots of this organization; Rami Rabby never backed down, and he taught me by example never to do so either. These are my roots, and they are yours. When I move around the world, I thrive because these foundational lessons are always with me. No matter where I go, as long as I have my roots, I know my spirit won't wither, it won't die. No matter where you go, now and over the next eighty years, or eight hundred, hold on to your roots (as Rami Rabby did, as Jerry Whittle did, as Brian Miller did), and you too will continue to thrive. God bless you, and God bless the United States of America! Thank you. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Carla McQuillan] Presenting the Distinguished Educator of Blind Children Award by Carla McQuillan From the Editor: Carla is the chairperson of our National Federation of the Blind Distinguished Educator of Blind Children Award Committee. Here is the presentation she gave at the meeting of the national board on Wednesday, July 15: CARLA MCQUILLAN: I would like to start by thanking the members of the committee: Michelle Chacon, Emily Gibbs, Eric Guillory, and Dan Wenzel. Thank you very much for going through the applications and making the tough decisions. In the National Federation of the Blind we understand that a solid, quality education in early childhood is critical for the success of our blind children. Since 1988 we have been giving the Distinguished Educator of Blind Children Award to those educators who distinguish themselves in the field by going above and beyond the expectations of their job description. This year our recipient has not only been in the field of education of blind children for over twenty years, but her volunteer work in her community (in the state of Texas) has been inspirational, to say the least. She has worked with children, their families, seniors, and in our BELL Academy in Texas as a volunteer for many years now. Let me tell you what this individual will receive. She will be speaking to the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children at this convention. She will receive a check in the amount of $1,000, and she will receive a plaque. The plaque reads as follows: The National Federation of the Blind honors Graciela L. Olivo for her skills in teaching Braille and other techniques of blindness, for devoting graciously extra time to her students to meet their needs, and for empowering her students to perform beyond their expectations. You champion our movement, you strengthen our hopes, and you share our dreams. July 15th, 2020 Graciela, would you like to say a few words to the convention because you certainly tell your story better than I? GRACIELA: I would like to extend a grateful and heartfelt thanks to the following persons for choosing me as this year's National Federation of the Blind distinguished educator of blind children: Mr. Mark Riccobono, Mrs. Carla McQuillan, Mrs. Carlton Anne Cook Walker, Ms. Kimberly Banks, Mrs. Norma Crosby, and Ms. Liz Wisecarver who nominated me for this position, Mr. Daniel Martinez who was my former student and who initiated this nomination, and to our local NFB chapter here in the Rio Grande Valley for all of its support. I want to give thanks to God for giving me this ability and who made it possible for me to serve those students whom He has placed in my path to teach. Thanks to all of you for thinking so highly of me. I'm humbled and honored to be a part of NFB and for this prestigious award, as well as for the opportunity to serve others through the National Federation of the Blind. I only ask that I may be permitted to continue working with the blind and visually impaired for many more years to come and that I make you proud. May God bless you. Mrs. Carlton Anne Cook Walker asked me what the title of my speech would be, and I said, "Virtual Reality Versus Reality." How is that, you say? Well, I never thought of teaching blind or visually impaired students. As a matter of fact I was teaching home economics food service skills to middle school students when I was approached about a blind student requesting to be in my class. "What? No, way! I don't know anything about working with blind students. I'm not trained to work with blind students." God has other plans. This blind student's VI teacher told me she had every right to be in my class and that I had the responsibility as a vocational teacher to teach her, just as I was teaching all the other students in that class. Well, by the time the conversation was over, we were both a mess. She walked out of my classroom crying, and I walked over to the principal's office crying my eyes out, telling him there was no way this was ever going to happen and that I would rather quit than do this. He calmed me down and he said, "Let's talk tomorrow." When I came in the next day, before me as I signed in, there was a poster that read: "University of Texas teachers of the blind will be coming down to the Region One Education Service Center and will be offering classes for educators to become certified teachers of the blind and visually impaired." This made me really angry, and I tore it off the wall. I took it in to the principal, and I told him, "You did this on purpose!" He told me that he hadn't seen it, but maybe it was a sign from a higher power. He said, "Maybe we need to work on this, and you and I can do this together?" By that afternoon he had gotten the information he needed, and this was the beginning of my entry into the world of VI. The information stated that I would need to go to Edinburg, which is a city about forty- five minutes away, to take classes every other weekend starting Friday noon and ending Sunday late afternoons. This meant cutting out of my classes and getting a substitute-all too much for me to handle-but my principal made all the arrangements for me to go out and not stress too much. This also meant that I would be traveling back and forth, which meant gas money. Times were hard then, and money was tight in my family. It was suggested that we make arrangements to stay at a nearby hotel to avoid so much traveling. Again, more money. But soon the university paid for everything, including books and registration, all at no cost to us. Things started falling into place, and I really couldn't believe it. After all my course work was done, I got a call from the special education department in my school district saying they were in need of my VI services. At that time I reluctantly left home economics. But in hindsight I've never looked back as this was definitely my calling. Now I know that you do what the Lord has planned for you, not what you want. This is reality. Thank you for this recognition, and I look forward to continuing my journey in helping the lives of the blind and visually impaired in my community and in other communities that I might be able to help out. Thank you very much. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Sharon Maneki] Convention 2020 Resolutions: A Potpourri of Influences by Sharon Maneki From the Editor: Sharon Maneki has been the resolutions chairperson since 1999. The part of the job the public sees is hard enough: publicly chairing a large committee, seeing that everyone who should gets recognized, and on resolutions day reading at least half of the resolutions that come to the floor. But there is so much more to this job that Sharon will never tell you. Resolutions start as ideas, and if they are to go anywhere, they need to be loved and nurtured. So too do the people who submit them. Once they get presented to the committee, it has a number of changes that it may or may not wish to make prior to convention day. This is where Sharon the diplomat steps in. When the gavel falls on the last convention session, Chairperson Maneki's work isn't over. She makes sure that all the changes adopted get put in. Then she sits down to write the article you are about to read, and this is the twenty-first she has written. Each year the convention resolutions process follows a similar pattern. Yet each year's experience is unique because of influencing factors. This year there were a variety of influences. What were the influences that made the 2020 resolutions process and content unique? THE VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE As usual the Resolutions Committee met on the second day of the convention, which this year was July 15. The committee was large and as is customary consisted of Federation leaders from throughout the country. Once again I was honored to chair the committee and was ably assisted by Patricia Miller, who served as secretary to the committee. The Resolutions Committee met on a Zoom webinar platform. Since we could not vote by voice, the process was more cumbersome, which made the meeting longer than expected. In true Federation spirit, we persevered and considered twenty-nine resolutions. Joe Miller, Chris Danielsen, Sophia Connell, and Ronza Othman served as Zoom maestros, and their assistance was invaluable. The convention considered the twenty-nine resolutions later than normal, on the last day of general session, as the convention was shortened by a day due to the use of virtual platforms. The mood of the convention on the last day of general session was more somber than usual because of the death of US Congressman John R. Lewis, a renowned civil rights leader from the 1960s, who had served as the conscience of Congress since 1987. President Riccobono began the July 18 general session by playing Congressman Lewis's remarks when he joined us at the 2007 Convention in Atlanta. Congressman Lewis was a Federationist at heart. He, too, believed in standing up to make "good trouble" to achieve equality. Jonathan Capehart's article "John Lewis Practiced What He Preached and We Are a Better Nation for It" from the Washington Post dated July 19, stated the following: "In my last interview with Lewis last month, I asked him what advice he had for this generation of marchers, who will invariably face setbacks. 'You must be able and prepared to give until you cannot give any more,' he said. 'We must use our time and our space on this little planet that we call Earth to make a lasting contribution, to leave it a little better than we found it.'" Good advice indeed! The afternoon moved quickly as we considered each resolution. Each individual who had enrolled in the voting system in advance was able to cast his or her vote for each resolution by text or phone. This voting system took a little more time than the conventional voice vote that we would have used if we had met in person. However, we enjoyed the fit breaks and listening to Federation folksongs as we waited for everyone to complete their vote. We heard favorites such as "Braille is Beautiful," "Tap That," and "Live the Life You Want." Members who wished to speak in favor or against a resolution on the convention floor had to sign up in advance due to the virtual nature of the convention. This need for planning did not stifle debate. Even though we met virtually, the convention exercised its will as the supreme authority by passing only twenty-eight of the twenty-nine resolutions that it considered. The convention killed resolution 2020-19 which criticized media coverage of the problems faced by voters with disabilities. This resolution failed in part because voters felt that it did not contain enough examples of media bias. Maura Loberg, a recent graduate of the Colorado Center for the Blind who also serves as president of the Nebraska Association of Blind Students, proposed this resolution. The virtual nature of the convention did not cause members to shy away from proposing resolutions. Having twenty-nine resolutions for the committee and the convention to consider was not a record, but it definitely was a high number. The last time that we handled twenty-nine resolutions was in 2015. Let us turn to an examination of the factors that influenced the content of our 2020 resolutions. THE CORONAVIRUS INFLUENCE Since the world is in the middle of a pandemic, it is not surprising that approximately one-third of the resolutions passed by the convention were influenced by COVID-19. While the issues of these resolutions are very familiar to us, they came to the forefront of widespread conversation because of the pandemic. The convention passed three resolutions concerning education. Schools and colleges closed in March 2020 to prevent the spread of the virus and moved to online learning. It was more important than ever for parents to be able to communicate with teachers. Blind parents need the same opportunity that sighted parents have to be involved in their child's education. Melissa Riccobono is First Lady of the Federation and is a member of the board of directors of both the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children and the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland. As a parent of three children, it was most appropriate for her to propose resolution 2020-02. In this resolution, we "demand all companies responsible for the development of parent-school communication apps ensure that their products are accessible to blind parents, teachers, and school administrators." Another blind parent, Terri Rupp, who also serves as president of the NFB of Nevada, sponsored resolution 2020-15. Phone apps are being developed to encourage the practice of reading. These apps are especially useful because people had to stay at home during COVID-19. By using these apps, teachers and parents can easily track the reading progress of young children. Children have thousands of books to choose from, and they like using the phone. In resolution 2020-15, "We demand that the creators of educational apps make them fully accessible to ensure all blind students, parents, and teachers can have the ability to read any book available using a Braille display." Due to COVID-19-related school building closures, the College Board shifted the administration of its Advanced Placement (AP) tests to a virtual format. The College Board cancelled accommodations for blind students, such as the provisions of hardcopy Braille and tactile graphics. High school students, led by Kaleigh Brendle, sought the help of the NFB to stop this discriminatory action. Kaleigh, a rising high school senior from New Jersey, proposed resolution 2020-17. The resolution reads in part: "...that this organization demand that all high-stakes testing entities, including College Board, implement plans for the provision of hard-copy Braille and tactile graphics for any test administration, in conformance with Title III of the ADA, regardless of whether testing occurs in person or virtually." The convention passed three resolutions concerning accessibility that also related to COVID-19. Because of COVID-19 and the need to stay home, more people were using virtual conferencing platforms for work, school, church, and other activities. Justin Young, president of the New York Association of Blind Students, introduced resolution 2020-06. In this resolution we "urge all conferencing vendors to continue to improve nonvisual access to their platforms and to collaborate with the National Federation of the Blind to find new and innovative solutions to barriers that exist now or may arise in the future." There were three proponents of resolution 2020-07: Amy Baron, John TeBockhorst, and Jessica Beecham. Amy and John are active members in the Minnesota affiliate. Jessica Beecham will be familiar to Federationists as the leader of the fit breaks that occur during general sessions. Jessica serves as president of the Sports and Recreation Division of the NFB and as first vice president of the Colorado affiliate. She won a national scholarship in 2011. Many fitness facilities have been closed because of COVID-19. This trend has led to the growth of the digital fitness industry. Resolution 2020-07 reads in part: "this organization urges wellness and fitness industry leaders including Weight Watchers, Beachbody, Aaptiv, Fitbit, and others to collaborate with the National Federation of the Blind to make their programs, services, websites, and apps nonvisually accessible, and to work with the National Federation of the Blind regarding customer service training." The inequity faced by blind persons because of lack of access constitutes a health emergency. In this resolution we also call upon "national health care organizations and advocates, such as the American Medical Association, to join their voices with ours to raise awareness about this unjust healthcare inequity." Access to information has always been a problem for blind people. It is more important than ever that we have access to news because of the need to know about changing government regulations and statistics about the spread of COVID-19. As the proponent of resolution 2020-08, Virgil Stinnett, president of the NFB of Hawaii, explained that too many websites provide information by using maps, graphs, and charts with no verbal description of their content. In this resolution, "We call upon the Federal Communications Commission to consider expanding requirements for media access, particularly in the area of broadcast and cable television, with the goal of making news and information more accessible to the blind and deafblind communities." Blind people, along with the rest of the public, are facing economic hardships during COVID-19. The convention passed three resolutions to improve economic security for blind persons. Blind individuals who work for the Louisiana Association for the Blind Inc. could not collect unemployment during COVID-19 because state and federal law permits sheltered workshops to exclude wages paid to blind employees in the calculation of unemployment benefits. Consequently, sighted workers, who performed the same tasks as blind workers, obtained unemployment benefits, but blind workers did not. We were surprised to learn of this loophole in state and federal law. Long- time Federationist Shirley Colbert, who has worked at the Louisiana Association for the Blind for approximately twenty years, sponsored resolution 2020-04. Shirley explained that, despite her many years of service and her ability to function as a laser machine operator for the past six years, she is still considered a client. The resolution reads in part, "that this organization condemn and deplore sheltered workshop employers, such as Louisiana Association for the Blind Inc. and others, who refuse to provide unemployment benefits to blind employees solely on the basis of blindness and call upon these employers to cease and desist this discriminatory practice." You can be sure that, because of Shirley and other sheltered workshop blind employees, as well as resolution 2020-04, we will work with Congress and state legislatures to repeal these discriminatory wage laws. Emily Schlenker, president of the South Central Chapter of the NFB of Kansas, proposed resolution 2020-09. To sustain themselves, many blind people are applying for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits because of COVID-19. If an individual is determined eligible for SSDI, he or she must wait an additional five months before receiving any benefits. SSDI beneficiaries are eligible for Medicare insurance after they have received benefits for twenty-four months. These waiting periods are especially burdensome to beneficiaries during COVID-19. In resolution 2020- 09, we urge Congress to temporarily eliminate these waiting periods for eligible SSDI recipients. As a result of COVID-19, many entrepreneurs in the Randolph-Sheppard program had to close their businesses because many government employees were working from home. Nicky Gacos and Ed Birmingham-president and first vice president of the National Association of Blind Merchants, respectively- sponsored resolution 2020-29. The US House of Representatives included $20,000,000 in a budget bill to provide relief to blind vendors negatively affected by this pandemic. In this resolution the NFB urges the US Senate to provide the same funding in their budget bill. Resolution 2020-23, sponsored by deputy director of the Jernigan Institute Lou Ann Blake, is the last resolution under what can be classified as COVID-19. In the spring of 2020, more local, state, and federal elections were conducted by using vote-by-mail to protect the health of both poll workers and voters. The US Congress must update the Help America Vote Act to cover all types of elections, not just federal elections, as well as vote-by-mail. Resolution 2020-23 reads in part: ...this organization demands that Congress provide funding to the EAC (Election Assistance Commission) for grants to develop technology that will enable electronically delivered ballots to be returned electronically in a secure manner, that will enable blind voters independently to verify their printed ballots, and to develop technology that will tabulate ballots printed from home or office printers in a manner that preserves the secrecy of the ballot. THE INFLUENCE OF CORE FEDERATION GOALS Since its inception, the National Federation of the Blind continues to strive to improve programs and services for the blind. We also create new, innovative programs. The convention passed two resolutions offering challenges to agencies serving the blind and six resolutions urging the US Congress to take actions that will improve the lives of blind people. Longtime Federationist Bryan Bashin is the chief executive officer at the San Francisco LightHouse for the Blind. When Bryan addressed the national convention in 2019, his mantra was "Nothing without us." This captures the spirit of resolution 2020-05, which Bryan sponsored this year. The resolution reads in part, "that this organization calls upon private agencies for the blind to adopt the formal goal of committing to a governing structure with numeric parity between blind and sighted directors and managers, which will ensure partnership with the blind who have dedicated their lives to improvement of blindness services nationally." By formally adopting a pledge, these private agencies will demonstrate their commitment to involvement by the blind in management, governance, etc. Resolution 2020-12 was also directed at agencies serving the blind. In this resolution we urge "all providers of services for the blind to incorporate diversity and inclusion principles and policies in their employment practices and service delivery." Justin Salisbury, a frequent contributor to the Braille Monitor, who serves as second vice president of the National Association of Blind Students and won a national scholarship in 2011, sponsored this resolution. The lives of blind people will definitely be improved when the US Congress heeds the next six resolutions that the convention passed. The first action we are asking Congress to take is to enact the Access Technology Affordability Act immediately. This legislation is outlined in resolution 2020-01, which "provides a solution that empowers blind people to procure these items for themselves by creating a refundable tax credit in the amount of $2,000 to be used over a three-year period." Derique Simon won a national scholarship in 2019. He is the president of the South Carolina Association of Blind Students and is a member of the affiliate board of directors. He was the sponsor of this resolution. Nina Marranca, a college student herself who recently graduated from the Louisiana Center for the Blind and is also the secretary and treasurer of the New York Association of Blind Students, proposed resolution 2020-03. We have worked on the Accessible Instructional Materials in Higher Education Act for many years. In this resolution we thank the many members of Congress for their leadership in promoting this legislation. In this resolution we also demand that "colleges and universities make accessibility a top priority for their virtual and face-to-face campus communities." We look forward to the passage of this legislation soon. Jen Spears, the friendly voice who answers the phone at the Colorado Center for the Blind, described the aggravating problems that too many blind people face when Social Security alleges that they owe money due to overpayments. She sponsored resolution 2020-13. In this resolution, we urge "the United States Congress to amend the Social Security Act to specify that recovery of an overpayment for any month that is more than twelve months in the past is against equity and good conscience and must be waived unless the recipient is at fault in causing the overpayment." Seniors losing vision will be cheering when Congress implements resolution 2020-16. In this resolution we urge "Congress to substantially increase funding for the Independent Living Services for Older Individuals Who Are Blind program, so that older individuals who are blind can get the training and technology needed to live with complete independence, social integration, individual productivity, and personal dignity." Rachel Grider sponsored this resolution. Rachel is president of the Central Valley Chapter of the NFB of California and a member of the Affiliate Board of Directors. She won a National Scholarship in 2012 and also serves as vice president of the California Association of Guide Dog Users and the secretary of the California Organization of Parents of Blind Children. Long-time Federationist and avid Braille reader James Konechne sponsored resolution 2020-21. Congratulations to James, who, at the time of the convention, was president of the NFB of South Dakota for less than a month! The National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled plans to move its headquarters closer to its parent organization, the Library of Congress. This move will definitely improve the visibility of this important program. In resolution 2020-21, we urge Congress to approve the necessary funds so that this move can take place as soon as possible. Lizzy Mohammad Park is an active Federationist who serves as vice president of the Performing Arts Division. She won a national scholarship in 2014. Lizzy sponsored resolution 2020-27, which commemorates the thirtieth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. In this resolution we call upon "Congress and the United States Department of Justice to maintain the integrity and intent of the ADA and to update regulations on a timely basis so that they reflect the manner in which members of the general public live their lives, including in the areas of web accessibility." Eliminating barriers to employment is another long-term goal of the Federation. FaShandra Howard, treasurer of the Englewood chapter of the NFB of California, passionately described the need for resolution 2020-11. She previously worked for Amazon at a warehouse in San Bernardino. Amazon chose to terminate her rather than to provide reasonable accommodations to allow her to perform the essential functions of the job. Resolution 2020-11 reads in part, "that this organization hereby condemn and deplore Amazon's pattern of discrimination against blind employees and job seekers in violation of federal and state law." THE EVER-INCREASING INFLUENCE OF TECHNOLOGY It is not surprising that the convention passed a multitude of resolutions about the effect of the lack of access to various technologies. What is striking about the next eight resolutions that I will discuss is the breadth and variety of accessibility issues described in them. We have raised our expectations with regard to access over the years. We are no longer willing to allow various industries to ignore our needs. Derrick Day will be a freshman at Westminster High School in Westminster, Maryland, in the fall of 2020. When he was in the seventh grade, he joined a robotics team to compete in the FIRST LEGO League (FLL) challenge competition. The students were to program an autonomous robot to perform certain tasks. The team faced various accessibility issues because neither the programming software nor the interface to the controller were accessible using screen readers. Since Derick and his teammates are members of the National Federation of the Blind, they were not willing to accept these limitations. Derick sponsored resolution 2020-10, which reads in part: that this organization strongly urge the FIRST LEGO League to engage with the National Federation of the Blind, LEGO MINDSTORMS competition teams having blind persons as members, and others interested in providing an accessible LEGO MINDSTORMS experience to develop and implement full nonvisual accessibility for the LEGO MINDSTORMS programming software, LEGO EV3 Intelligent Brick and all future control brick user interfaces, and any related software or hardware necessary to program and operate LEGO MINDSTORMS robots. Resolution 2020-18 is another example of our unwillingness to be left behind in access to information. Charles Vanek is a senior director of engineering in the communications industry. He has also been a brokerage and retirement account investor for twenty years. Charles has found frustrations in this field, so he decided to write this resolution. In resolution 2020-18, we demand "that mutual fund, brokerage, and rating services build their online and mobile applications in a manner that allows blind users to access the same information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same services offered to other users with the same privacy, independence, and substantially equivalent ease of use." The International Association of Accessibility Professionals [IAAP] offers various exams which lead to certification as web accessibility specialists and other types of certification to help business professionals advance in their career. Darrell Hilliker recently took an IAAP exam which led him to propose resolution 2020-20. IAAP allows sighted people to take tests at testing centers but does not give blind people that option and does not force the testing centers that it contracts with to do the same. In this resolution we demand that IAAP develop robust accessibility policies and procedures that will eliminate the barriers faced by blind people. IAAP must also make sure that all centers that it may contract with follow the same robust accessibility practices. In proposing this resolution, Darrell was continuing his practice of promoting accessibility wherever he can. He is a long-time Federationist, and he and his wife, Allison, publish the Blind Access Journal blog and podcast. Scott LaBarre, president of the National Association of Blind Lawyers and president of the NFB of Colorado, proposed resolution 2020-24. For many years we have been working with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to implement the Marrakesh treaty. The purpose of this treaty is to provide greater access to published works for print-disabled individuals. In resolution 2020-24, we urge WIPO to continue to rapidly expand its Global Book Service and to establish one global search site so that blind persons here and throughout the world can quickly and efficiently search for accessible titles and download them directly and immediately. Cricket Bidleman and Paul Sandoval brought a very interesting resolution to the committee and convention. Cricket is president of the California Association of Blind Students, and she won a national scholarship in 2017. Paul is a technology trainer and is the president of the Wild West Chapter of the NFB of Colorado. The gist of resolution 2020- 26 is to make sure that the accessibility needs of blind citizens are incorporated when building the structures and services in smart cities. A smart city "uses information and communication technologies (ICT) to collect data from citizens, devices, buildings, and assets to improve city services and the lives of the citizens and businesses that inhabit the city." Curtis Willoughby is a licensed ham radio operator. He helped to start the NFB Amateur Radio Division and served as its president for approximately twenty years. The American Radio Relay League is the preeminent organization of amateur radio operators in the US. Resolution 2020-28, which Curtis sponsored, reads in part, "that this organization demand that the American Radio Relay League immediately adopt policies and procedures to ensure that all present and future digital content be published in an accessible format on all of its platforms." The last three resolutions that I will discuss in this article deal with audio description. The energetic new president of the NFB of North Dakota, Jesse Shirek, sponsored resolution 2020-14. In this resolution, we demand that "YouTube develop the capability for producers to upload videos with incorporated audio description tracks that can be independently activated by the user if desired, eliminating the need for producers who wish to include AD for blind viewers to upload two separate versions of their content." As the sponsors of resolution 2020-22, Kelly Cussack and Samantha Flax described the wonderful experiences they have had because of the policies that Netflix has of making its films and other digital content available with audio description. Kelly is a recent graduate of the Colorado Center for the Blind and will be on her way to college this fall. Samantha is president of the Minnesota Association of Blind Students and is the social media coordinator for the Minnesota affiliate. In this resolution, we commend Netflix for its extraordinary commitment to "full and equal access to its programming and services for its blind customers." By contrast, in resolution 2020-25, we strongly admonish HBO for its failure to provide audio-described content for its blind customers. HBO offers content from other companies but does not even bother to use their existing audio description! Last year President Riccobono wrote a letter to HBO and enclosed a resolution about its audio description failures, but HBO never responded. Jordan Moon, first vice president of the NFB of Arizona, sponsored this resolution. He lamented that, as a blind person, he pays the same subscription price that persons without disabilities pay but receives an inferior service. CONCLUSION As you can see, the 2020 resolutions were varied and timely. Having a virtual convention did not stifle debate, and everyone was able to cast their vote on each resolution. The influences of COVID-19, core Federation goals, and technology shaped the content of the resolutions this year. This article is merely an introductory discussion of the resolutions considered by the 2020 Convention. The complete text of each resolution is reprinted below. Readers should analyze the text of each resolution to fully understand our policies on these subjects. These resolutions will affect our activities for the coming year and beyond. ---------- 2020 Resolutions Resolution 2020-01 Regarding the Access Technology Affordability Act WHEREAS, blind people use access technology tools such as screen readers, refreshable Braille displays, and embossers to participate in school, succeed in careers, and live independently; and WHEREAS, public and private entities that are responsible for providing these tools struggle to meet the current demand of blind people, which results in prolonged delays in the delivery of necessary technology to the blind; and WHEREAS, access technology is highly specialized technology designed and manufactured for a relatively small population, leading to the high cost of these tools; and WHEREAS, according to the 2017 American Community Survey, 69.5 percent of Americans who report having a "visual disability" are unemployed or underemployed and do not have the financial resources needed to purchase these tools; and WHEREAS, even more blind Americans have lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, blind children and blind college students are learning online from home, and many states are enforcing stay-at-home orders; and WHEREAS, access technology could help blind citizens look for new jobs, keep up with their coursework, or find out which local businesses are open and safe for them to visit; and WHEREAS, on March 14, 2019, Senators Boozman and Cardin introduced S. 815, and on April 4, 2019, Representatives Thompson and Kelly introduced H.R. 2086, the Access Technology Affordability Act; and WHEREAS, this legislation provides a solution that empowers blind people to procure these items for themselves by creating a refundable tax credit in the amount of $2,000 to be used over a three-year period: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this eighteenth day of July, 2020, that this organization commend Senators Boozman and Cardin, and Representatives Thompson and Kelly for introducing the Access Technology Affordability Act; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization strongly urge the United States Congress to enact the Access Technology Affordability Act immediately. Resolution 2020-02 Regarding the Accessibility of Apps used by Schools for Parent-School Communication WHEREAS, children who have parents who are involved in their schools and communicate with their teachers regularly are more likely to succeed educationally; and WHEREAS, blind parents need equal access to the various communications sent home from their children's schools in order to be as active in the education of their children as sighted parents; and WHEREAS, schools are often turning to various apps, such as ParentSquare, to provide instant and simple communication between parents, teachers, and school administrators; and WHEREAS, ParentSquare has proven to have a level of accessibility that allows blind parents to keep up with school-wide and classroom events, sign up for parent-teacher conferences, volunteer in the classroom or school, communicate with other parents, and privately message teachers or groups of teachers in order to share accomplishments or discuss concerns; and WHEREAS, other apps have not proven to have this level of accessibility, thereby denying blind parents the right to easily obtain relevant information about classroom and school events and communicate with other parents and teachers in the same way as sighted parents: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this eighteenth day of July, 2020, that this organization commend ParentSquare for its work to make its app accessible; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization demand all companies responsible for the development of parent-school communication apps ensure their products are accessible to blind parents, teachers, and school administrators. Resolution 2020-03 Regarding the Accessible Instructional Materials in Higher Education (AIM HIGH) Act WHEREAS, technology has revolutionized access to information, course materials, interaction with administration, and other facets of student life in higher education; and WHEREAS, Titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act prohibit colleges and universities from discriminating against persons with disabilities and mandate equal access to educational opportunities; and WHEREAS, many postsecondary institutions are failing to comply with these mandates as they apply in the digital world, routinely developing, procuring, or deploying inaccessible technology, which results in unequal access to academic opportunities and denial of full and equal participation for blind students; and WHEREAS, solutions exist to make technology accessible to blind students and faculty members, but such solutions must be prioritized in the higher education market and beyond; and WHEREAS, on December 5, 2019, Congressman Roe of Tennessee and Congressman Courtney of Connecticut introduced H.R. 5312, the Accessible Instructional Materials in Higher Education (AIM HIGH) Act; and WHEREAS, on December 18, 2019, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, along with Senator Ernst of Iowa, Senator Bennet of Colorado, Senator Sullivan of Alaska, and Senator Tester of Montana introduced companion legislation, S. 3095; and WHEREAS, this legislation establishes a commission to evaluate existing accessibility standards and to develop guidelines that technology procurement officers and other postsecondary personnel can adopt in order to expand the circle of participation and include blind and print-disabled students in the 21st century interactive classroom: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this eighteenth day of July, 2020, that we demand colleges and universities make accessibility a top priority for their virtual and face- to-face campus communities; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Federation of the Blind commend Congressmen Roe and Courtney, as well as Senators Warren, Bennet, Ernst, Sullivan, and Tester for their leadership on this crucial initiative in the 116th Congress; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization commend the American Council on Education, the Association of American Publishers, and the Software Information and Industry Association for working with the National Federation of the Blind and for supporting the swift passage of the AIM HIGH Act in the 116th Congress. Resolution 2020-04 Regarding Repeal of Discriminatory Legislation Concerning Unemployment for Blind Workers WHEREAS, blind people are and can be productive employees, with all of the talent and capacity possessed by other employees across the range of employment in the United States; and WHEREAS, the amount of unemployment benefits, if any, that a person is entitled to if laid off depends on the applicant's earnings in the months before being laid off (known as the "base period"); and WHEREAS, Section 3309 of the Federal Unemployment Tax Act, 26 U.S.C. ? 3309(b)(4), declares that wages paid to blind employees in sheltered workshops may be excluded from benefits under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act; and WHEREAS, this provision discriminates against blind employees on the basis of blindness; and WHEREAS, blind people employed in workshops perform the same work as their sighted colleagues and rely on their earned income just as do their sighted colleagues; and WHEREAS, blind employees at workshops are laid off during times of slack employment to the same degree as other employees and have the same need for unemployment compensation to pay for rent, food, utilities, and other obligations; and WHEREAS, many states have adopted laws that exclude from unemployment calculation wages earned by blind individuals employed in workshops; and WHEREAS, the effect of implementing these laws is to deny unemployment benefits to blind people working in sheltered workshops in states that implement these laws; and WHEREAS, Louisiana Association for the Blind Inc. has decided, in accordance with state and federal laws, that it will not include wages paid to blind employees in its calculation of unemployment benefits: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this eighteenth day of July, 2020, that this organization condemn and deplore sheltered workshop employers, such as Louisiana Association for the Blind Inc. and others, who refuse to provide unemployment benefits to blind employees solely on the basis of blindness and call upon these employers to cease and desist this discriminatory practice; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization call upon the United States Congress to repeal the discriminatory provision of the Federal Unemployment Tax Act that authorizes the exclusion of wages paid to blind employees from unemployment benefits; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization call upon the legislature of each state that has authorized exclusion of wages paid to blind employees from unemployment tax benefits to repeal this discriminatory provision. Resolution 2020-05 Regarding Blind Leadership at Private Agencies for the Blind WHEREAS, over 200 private agencies in the US have been created to serve the blind; and WHEREAS, an essential part of the governing structure of an agency for the blind is to include the processes, policies, and procedures that will ensure that the agency for the blind administration is responsive to the interests, needs, and aspirations of its constituency; and WHEREAS, the most authentic representatives of the constituency of agencies that serve the blind are blind people who have the lived experience of blindness and have shown the commitment to engage in self-organization and who are willing to be partners, directors, or managers of agencies for the blind and advisors to them: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this eighteenth day of July, 2020, that this organization call upon private agencies for the blind to adopt the formal goal of committing to a governing structure with numeric parity between blind and sighted directors and managers, which will ensure partnership with the blind who have dedicated their lives to improvement of blindness services nationally; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we call upon and invite all United States blindness private agencies formally to adopt the following Blindness Parity Pledge, to wit: Our agency, the [NAME OF ORGANIZATION], was created and exists to help blind people. We believe that those in whose name we serve should be represented in parity in the governing board of directors and agency management. This parity will result in blind people having a significant contribution to help guide the services our agency provides and guiding the most effective ways to give it. Therefore, we pledge ourselves to the values and commitments that follow: We are managed by executives who are compensated for their work, and those executives, in turn, are managed by a board of directors. We believe that blind people must be a part of any blind agency's management team at both of these levels. While setting any particular percentage may appear to be arbitrary, we know that without a number it is impossible to measure whether we are meeting our goal of significant involvement. We therefore pledge that this agency will assure, in five years or less, that at least half of our management team be composed of people who are blind. We further pledge that within the same five-year period that our organization will commit that a minimum of 50 percent of its governing Board of Directors be composed of people who are blind. To underscore the importance of parity representing those we serve, we pledge to amend our bylaws to ensure that the parity, once achieved, will continue as a hallmark and point of pride in our agency in perpetuity. We believe there is no better way to demonstrate our commitment to the constituency we serve than to have blind people contributing by being part of our management. Our agency's current operation and its goals for the future must be informed by those we serve, and we must, in appearance and in fact, be guided by blind people's experience and aspirations at every level. The effect of blind inclusion and parity will ultimately help our agency address the accessibility needs of those we serve. They will help ensure that every document we create will be accessible. With our full community engaged, we will strive to see that our presence on the World Wide Web is exemplary and demonstrates that websites can be both visually attractive and completely usable with screen reading technology. Furthermore, our commitment to accessibility will extend far beyond the written word. When we produce charts, graphs, and documents with pictures, we will use state- of-the-art technology to make these accessible for the blind. We value the feedback and active participation of blind people in the development and implementation of the services we provide. In addition to reaching parity on our board and management team, we pledge also to create a working committee of the consumers we serve to meet regularly throughout the year and advise on best practices in our programs and services. The members of this independent advisory committee and the chairperson of the committee will be chosen by the consumers themselves and meet at least quarterly with senior management to build an agency which will continue to grow in responsive, relevant, and blind-positive ways. Resolution 2020-06 Regarding Access to Virtual Conferencing Solutions WHEREAS, companies are increasingly hosting meetings and events online and schools are conducting more classes virtually; and WHEREAS, COVID-19 has dramatically increased the use of virtual events by all organizations; and WHEREAS, virtual conferencing software provides features including audio and video sharing, sharing of a user's screen, text chat, and more; and WHEREAS, virtual conferencing software is commonly used to conduct many internal and external activities for organizations including team meetings, company presentations, webinars, product demonstrations, trainings, and classes; and WHEREAS, the nonvisual accessibility of virtual-conferencing solutions varies widely, with some programs not announcing chat and screen share activity and others having problems with user interfaces; and WHEREAS, even the most accessible solutions have not found ways to make features such as screen- and document-sharing and interactive features, such as remote control and whiteboards, fully accessible; and WHEREAS, Zoom conferencing is one of the most nonvisually accessible solutions available, with its variety of keyboard shortcuts, straightforward and accessible interface, and variety of announcements for screen reader users; and WHEREAS, Zoom has been responsive to the needs of blind and low-vision users and continues to work to improve the nonvisual accessibility of its product: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this eighteenth day of July, 2020, that this organization commend Zoom Video Conferencing for its leading work on nonvisual access to conferencing solutions; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization urge all conferencing vendors to continue to improve nonvisual access to their platforms and to collaborate with the National Federation of the Blind to find new and innovative solutions to barriers that exist now or may arise in the future. Resolution 2020-07 Regarding Equal Access to Digital Fitness Programming and Supplementary Material WHEREAS, regular physical activity, healthy eating, and quality sleep are key factors in maintaining good health and reducing the risk of obesity; and WHEREAS, blind people are twice as likely as our sighted peers to experience obesity and significantly more likely to lead a sedentary lifestyle, leading to increased risk of type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke, sleep apnea, osteoarthritis, depression, and certain site- specific cancers; and WHEREAS, many of these risk factors-including obesity, heart disease, and type II diabetes-are likely to increase the severity of COVID-19, potentially resulting in hospitalization or even death; and WHEREAS, most people have the option of using quality fitness applications and websites to access exercise programs and diet plans, as well as to track various health and wellness information in order to achieve and maintain good health; and WHEREAS, Gallup's 2019 Health and Healthcare survey reports that more than 1/3 of Americans currently use a fitness application or wearable fitness technology to track their fitness, food intake, sleep, steps, stress, or other health-related factors; and WHEREAS, the temporary, and in some cases permanent, closure of fitness facilities across the United States due to COVID-19 has accelerated the demand for and growth of the digital fitness industry; and WHEREAS, many fitness applications, websites, videos, tutorials, pictorial representations, recipes, brochures, and other materials are inaccessible to blind people, making it increasingly difficult for blind people to manage our health effectively; and WHEREAS, customer support is inconsistent at best and rarely offers alternatives that allow blind people equal access to fitness tracking, programming, and supplementary items; and WHEREAS, digital accessibility guidelines and best practices in video description and web and application accessibility exist to enable these companies to make their digital content and supplementary items accessible without causing an undue financial burden; and WHEREAS, in light of the risks associated with neglecting to manage our health, the inability to fully access features of major fitness companies including Weight Watchers, Beachbody, Aaptiv, Fitbit, and many others, constitutes a public health emergency and an inequity that is not addressed by the medical community: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this eighteenth day of July, 2020, that this organization urge wellness and fitness industry leaders including Weight Watchers, Beachbody, Aaptiv, Fitbit, and others to collaborate with the National Federation of the Blind to make their programs, services, websites, and apps nonvisually accessible, and to work with the National Federation of the Blind regarding sensitivity training for blind customers; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we strongly urge the United States Office of Personnel Management, Medicare, other health insurance companies, vocational rehabilitation agencies, and others who contract with third- party providers of health and wellness content to stop procuring health and wellness products and services that are inaccessible to blind people; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization call upon national health care organizations and advocates, such as the American Medical Association, to join their voices with ours to raise awareness about this unjust health care inequity. Resolution 2020-08 Regarding Equal Access to News And Information WHEREAS, equal access to current news and information is critically important for everyone in the twenty-first century, and this is no less true for the blind; and WHEREAS, the current COVID-19 pandemic has only increased and accentuated the urgent need for equal access to timely and accessible information; and WHEREAS, the pandemic has also acutely demonstrated the need for accessible infographics, tables, charts, and other image-based or graphical formats in the presentation of news and information; and WHEREAS, inaccessibility is a problem across news and media platforms: for example, many news websites and apps contain significant accessibility barriers; streaming services have widely varying degrees of accessibility; and television newscasts do not include any audio description, not even to identify speakers and interviewees, which could easily be accomplished using available text-to-speech technology; and WHEREAS, while federal regulations have done much good by establishing a system for the uniform provision of emergency weather information to the blind over broadcast television channels, consideration of further measures to increase the accessibility of news and current information is warranted, including to expand access for deafblind consumers; and WHEREAS, the vast majority of news and other mass media in the United States is produced, controlled, and/or distributed by a relatively small number of large media conglomerates owning multiple media outlets (e.g., National Amusements, Disney, News Corp., Time Warner, Comcast, Bloomberg, Fox, Sony, Hearst, Scripps, Sinclair), each of which owns properties across multiple platforms and each of which has the resources to develop and implement a comprehensive accessibility policy across its outlet; and WHEREAS, leaders in the news and mass media industries, by implementing well-thought-out accessibility policies and practices, would set an example for the many independent and startup mass media companies now proliferating: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this eighteenth day of July, 2020, that this organization call upon all major media companies in the United States to develop and implement cross-platform accessibility strategies including web and mobile app accessibility, audio description, and other components designed to make news and information fully and equally accessible to blind and deafblind consumers; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we call upon the Federal Communications Commission to consider expanding requirements for media access, particularly in the area of broadcast and cable television, with the goal of making news and information more accessible to the blind and deafblind communities. Resolution 2020-09 Regarding the Temporary Elimination of Waiting Periods for Social Security Disability Insurance Benefits and Medicare Insurance WHEREAS, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused many Americans to lose their jobs, including blind people; and WHEREAS, blind Americans who have lost their jobs can be expected to apply for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Medicare benefits; and WHEREAS, once a claimant has been determined eligible, a waiting period of five months must be observed prior to receiving SSDI payments, and a waiting period of twenty-four months must be observed before a claimant can receive Medicare insurance; and WHEREAS, Congress, in legislation intended to ease the financial burden of the COVID-19 pandemic on all Americans, neglected to address these overly burdensome waiting periods: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this eighteenth day of July, 2020, that this organization urge Congress to temporarily waive these waiting periods during this pandemic so that blind Americans can receive SSDI and Medicare benefits immediately after they are deemed eligible. Resolution 2020-10 Regarding the Accessibility of LEGO? MINDSTORMS? Robots and LEGO MINDSTORMS Challenges WHEREAS, FIRST? (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is an international youth organization that operates the FIRST Robotics Competition and other FIRST LEGO League Challenges; and WHEREAS, in 1998 the founder of FIRST and the owner of the LEGO Group joined forces to create FIRST LEGO League (FLL), which challenges kids to think like scientists and engineers to solve real-world problems while learning how to build and program autonomous robots; and WHEREAS, one of the core principles espoused by FLL for its competitions is that of inclusion: "we respect each other and embrace our differences"; and WHEREAS, a desire to explore the subjects of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) is not limited to sighted students; and WHEREAS, presently, neither the software provided by FLL for programming nor the interface to the MINDSTORMS robot controller includes any accessibility features or support for third-party screen-reader access technologies; and WHEREAS, a team working with Dr. Andreas Stefik from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, has developed an alternative firmware which enables the Quorum programming language to run on the LEGO EV3 Intelligent Brick (the brain of the robot), providing an accessible path for blind students to participate in FLL challenges; and WHEREAS, this firmware requires approximately fifteen seconds to load before the MINDSTORMS robot can begin executing instructions, and the native LEGO MINDSTORMS firmware requires no appreciable boot time; and WHEREAS, without allowances for the extra boot time that the alternative firmware requires, teams of blind students who must use screen readers are unfairly penalized for using a tool necessary for them to program their robot; and WHEREAS, blind students are further penalized because they are required to execute their missions on a mat that has no tactile cues; and WHEREAS, for many years, FLL executives have been informed of these problems by accessibility experts and leaders and coaches from teams of blind students, but have failed to eliminate the barriers faced by blind participants; and WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind is the largest consumer organization of blind people in the nation, which, for eighty years, has worked to increase educational opportunities and access to STEM subjects and careers: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this eighteenth day of July, 2020, that this organization strongly urge the FIRST LEGO League to engage with the National Federation of the Blind, LEGO MINDSTORMS competition teams having blind persons as members, and others interested in providing an accessible LEGO MINDSTORMS experience to develop and implement full nonvisual accessibility for the LEGO MINDSTORMS programming software, LEGO EV3 Intelligent Brick and all future control brick user interfaces, and any related software or hardware necessary to program and operate LEGO MINDSTORMS robots; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization strongly encourage FLL, until such time as the LEGO MINDSTORMS software and control hardware is fully accessible to all, to allow any team that so chooses the opportunity to use the Quorum programming language and alternative firmware so as not to create a segregated environment for teams where blind students participate; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization demand that FLL restructure its rules to eliminate time penalties, to ensure that all documentation is provided in formats that are accessible to blind participants and coaches, and to develop tactile representations of the mats used for executing robotic challenges during competitions. Resolution 2020-11 Regarding Amazon Employment Practices WHEREAS, Amazon promotes itself as building an inclusive culture for employees with disabilities, in part, through the establishment of its Global Accessibility Awareness Month and Amazon People with Disabilities affinity group; and WHEREAS, employment with Amazon is highly desirable in that Amazon offers industry-leading benefits, including comprehensive healthcare, retirement savings plans, tuition reimbursement, and more; and WHEREAS, Amazon maintains a practice of refusing to accommodate blind employees in entry level positions by prohibiting the use of screen access software in workstations, refusing to modify job assignments, and failing to install tactile safety features in warehouse settings; and WHEREAS, Amazon has established a pattern of shifting these blind employees to leave-without-pay status or terminating them, rather than providing necessary accommodations; and WHEREAS, Amazon could provide these accommodations, modifications, and safety features without significant difficulty or expense given Amazon's financial and technological resources; and WHEREAS, Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits employers from denying employment opportunities to individuals with disabilities when that denial is based on the need to provide reasonable accommodations; and WHEREAS, Title I of the ADA obligates employers to engage in an interactive process when reviewing accommodation requests; and WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind has advocated strongly on behalf of blind employees by filing suit and supporting administrative complaints against Amazon for its disparate treatment of blind workers and job applicants: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this eighteenth day of July, 2020, that this organization hereby condemn and deplore Amazon's pattern of discrimination against blind employees and job seekers in violation of federal and state law; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization demand Amazon promptly implement processes for reviewing and approving reasonable accommodations and modifications for blind employees, including the use of third-party screen access software at workstations, approval of reasonable assignment modifications, and implementation of nonvisual safety precautions in warehouse settings; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization demand Amazon immediately cease placing blind employees on leave without pay while Amazon engages in a reasonable accommodation review process. Resolution 2020-12 Regarding Urging All Agencies Serving the Blind to Implement Diversity and Inclusion Principles WHEREAS, employers that incorporate diversity and inclusion principles and policies implement positive initiatives, policies, and practices to eliminate the disadvantages some people experience due to systemic discrimination which influences recruitment, hiring, retention, and advancement in the workplace; and WHEREAS, agencies that incorporate diversity and inclusion principles and whose leadership and staff come from demographic backgrounds representative of the people they serve are more effective in relating to their clientele and operating in non-discriminatory ways than agencies that have not adopted diversity and inclusion policies; and WHEREAS, the United States has a long history of discrimination based on demographic factors such as race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disability, and other factors, which can affect the provision of blindness-related services, such as vocational rehabilitation; and WHEREAS, blind people can be restricted from reaching their full potential when they experience discrimination in their quest for the blindness- related services that are designed to elevate them above low expectations and societal attitudes; and WHEREAS, some agencies serving the blind do not currently incorporate diversity and inclusion principles and policies into their recruitment, hiring, retention, and advancement approaches; and WHEREAS, agencies that do not implement diversity and inclusion principles and policies often do not have a workforce and management team that is diverse, inclusive, or demographically similar to the clientele served by these agencies; and WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind works actively to promote diversity and inclusion while raising the expectations of blind people: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this eighteenth day of July, 2020, that this organization urge all providers of services for the blind to incorporate diversity and inclusion principles and policies in their employment practices and service delivery; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization commend all providers of services for the blind that have already embraced diversity and inclusion principles and policies in employment practices and service delivery. Resolution 2020-13 Regarding Limitations on Allegations of Overpayment by the Social Security Administration WHEREAS, blind Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients are often notified of alleged overpayments made to them by the Social Security Administration; and WHEREAS, the law allows the Social Security Administration to seek recovery of alleged overpayments without regard to whether an individual is or is not currently receiving benefits and without regard to when in the past the alleged overpayment supposedly occurred, leading to overpayment allegations that are more than twenty or thirty years in the past; and WHEREAS, this situation leaves both current and former Social Security and SSI recipients at permanent risk of having to defend themselves against attempted recovery of alleged overpayments, which often amount to tens of thousands of dollars; and WHEREAS, it is unconscionable that the Social Security Administration is allowed to pursue overpayment allegations against recipients at any time, past or present, while at the same time holding recipients to timely filing of reports to document earnings and continued entitlement to benefits; and WHEREAS, requiring alleged overpayments to be returned years after the proceeds have typically been spent on day-to-day living expenses such as food, clothing, and shelter is unjust and can result in extreme financial hardship: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this eighteenth day of July, 2020, that this organization urge the United States Congress to amend the Social Security Act to specify that recovery of an overpayment for any month that is more than twelve months in the past is against equity and good conscience and must be waived unless the recipient is at fault in causing the overpayment. Resolution 2020-14 Regarding Audio Description on YouTube WHEREAS, YouTube, a product of Google, is the most popular platform for the hosting of internet videos created by members of the public; and WHEREAS, YouTube hosts millions of videos from all over the world, and more are uploaded every day; and WHEREAS, YouTube collaborated with the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute to create YouDescribe, a separate website and app that allows volunteers to produce audio description (AD) for YouTube videos and hosts the described versions of the videos; and WHEREAS, other than the YouDescribe project, YouTube has made no real effort to incorporate AD into its own platform or to acquire or license AD for the programs hosted on its premium YouTube TV service; and WHEREAS, specifically, even if a video producer chooses to include AD for their video, the AD track cannot be incorporated into the uploaded video for optional access by users through a toggle button, as can closed captions, and instead the producer must upload an entirely separate version of the video that includes the audio description; and WHEREAS, Vimeo and other popular video-upload services also do not have an option for producers to include integrated AD with their content: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in convention assembled this eighteenth day of July, 2020, that this organization demand YouTube develop the capability for producers to upload videos with incorporated AD tracks that can be independently activated by the user if desired, eliminating the need for producers who wish to include AD for blind viewers to upload two separate versions of their content; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization demand YouTube TV incorporate AD into its offerings to the maximum extent feasible; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we call upon Vimeo and other video hosting services to incorporate the ability to accept AD into their services as well. Resolution 2020-15 Regarding Braille Access to Educational Apps Which Promote Reading for Blind Students, Parents, and Teachers WHEREAS, literacy is a crucial skill for all in order to fully succeed in education and adult life; and WHEREAS, for blind children, true literacy means becoming proficient in reading and writing the Braille code; and WHEREAS, blind children are at an automatic disadvantage when compared to their sighted peers, as print for sighted children is pervasive in the environment, and Braille is not; and WHEREAS, children master reading best when they practice early and often, and they will be much more likely and willing to practice if they have a variety of books at, or just above, their current reading level to choose from; and WHEREAS, more and more apps such as Epic! and Raz-Kids are being developed to provide thousands of books electronically, particularly for children pre- K through second grade, so they can practice reading, and so teachers and parents can track their reading progress; and WHEREAS, these apps are being used in millions of classrooms and homes across the country; and WHEREAS, most do not offer the ability for a blind student to read any of their titles using a Braille display, and although some offer an audio option, listening to a book without the ability to follow along in Braille the way their sighted peers can in print is not a true literacy experience for a child who is blind; and WHEREAS, parents and teachers who are blind would also benefit in countless ways if they had the ability to interact with these apps using a Braille display: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this eighteenth day of July, 2020, that we demand the creators of educational apps make them fully accessible to ensure all blind students, parents, and teachers can have the ability to read any book available using a Braille display; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization urge these developers to call upon the expertise of blind students, parents, and teachers in the National Federation of the Blind while making these changes in order to create apps which will truly reflect the needs and authentic experiences of blind people. Resolution 2020-16 Regarding an Increase in Funding for the Independent Living Services for Older Individuals Who Are Blind Program Through the Rehabilitation Services Administration WHEREAS, Independent Living Services for Older Individuals Who Are Blind (OIB) is a program funded through the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) that provides training and accessible technology for individuals fifty-five years or older who are blind, to increase their ability to live independently and care for their individual needs; and WHEREAS, for the past three fiscal years the OIB program has been awarded $33,317,000 each year; and WHEREAS, the American Community Survey estimated that in 2018 there were 4,584,000 blind people who were fifty-five or older and, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), this number should increase rapidly due to diabetes and other chronic diseases that cause blindness; and WHEREAS, with $33,317,000 awarded to the OIB program each of the past three years to serve an eligible population of approximately 4,584,000 individuals (approximately $7.27 per eligible individual), this funding is woefully inadequate; and WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines one's abilities, and, given the proper technology and training, blind people can live the lives they want; and WHEREAS, in order for blind people to fully participate in their communities, they must have access to technology such as screen readers, smart phones, and Braille notetakers and training to use them, as well as training in orientation and mobility and independent living skills; and WHEREAS, the limited funding for the OIB program is far from adequate to cover the cost of such access technology, which often ranges from $1,000 to $6,000, as well as quality training to meet the needs of the individual: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this eighteenth day of July, 2020, that this organization urge Congress to substantially increase funding for the Independent Living Services for Older Individuals Who Are Blind program, so that older individuals who are blind can get the training and technology needed to live with complete independence, social integration, individual productivity, and personal dignity. Resolution 2020-17 Regarding College Board Advanced Placement Exams WHEREAS, College Board's Advanced Placement (AP) exams are high-stakes tests through which students can demonstrate subject mastery and use their test scores to fulfill college credits; and WHEREAS, College Board's AP exams are historically administered within high schools; and WHEREAS, due to COVID-19-related school building closures, College Board shifted its AP test administration to a virtual format; and WHEREAS, blind students who had previously been approved by College Board to receive hard-copy Braille and tactile graphics as test accommodations were told that these accommodations would no longer be available for the Spring 2020 AP administration; and WHEREAS, Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits testing entities from discriminating against individuals with disabilities and stipulates that tests must be delivered in a manner that measures an individual's mastery of the subject matter, as opposed to reflecting his or her disability; and WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind and five high school students filed complaints with the United States Departments of Education and Justice regarding College Board's refusal to provide hard-copy Braille and tactile graphics; and WHEREAS, College Board subsequently agreed to make hard-copy Braille and tactile graphics available for blind students who had previously been approved for these accommodations for AP tests, should the students request them again; and WHEREAS, College Board announced its intention by letter to the National Federation of the Blind to consult with the Federation on ways to make a digital SAT accessible to blind students should the test be administered digitally in Fall 2020: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this eighteenth day of July, 2020, that this organization hereby commend the College Board for revising its interim COVID-19 AP testing procedures to reincorporate delivery of hard-copy Braille and tactile graphics and for committing to consult with the National Federation of the Blind on delivery of such accommodations for a possible 2020 digital SAT administration; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization demand that all high-stakes testing entities, including College Board, implement plans for the provision of hard-copy Braille and tactile graphics for any test administration, in conformance with Title III of the ADA, regardless of whether testing occurs in person or virtually. Resolution 2020-18 Regarding Accessibility of Mutual Fund, Brokerage, and Rating Services Websites and Apps WHEREAS, most investment platforms for mutual fund and brokerage services do not offer blind investors all of the information contained in infographics, charts, or graphs in accessible formats; and WHEREAS, popular investment rating websites and apps that are used to make critical investment decisions frequently contain inaccessible infographics, charts, and graphs; and WHEREAS, monthly, quarterly, or annual financial statements may be provided on these websites and apps as inaccessible PDFs or other electronic formats; and WHEREAS, blind investors should be able to make well informed investment decisions and updates to their accounts in a timely manner without the loss of privacy resulting from assistance needed to work around inaccessible content; and WHEREAS, blind investors should have all the benefits of data available to other investors on platforms or on investing websites to manage their wealth: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this eighteenth day of July, 2020, that this organization demand mutual fund, brokerage, and rating services build their online and mobile applications in a manner that allows blind users to access the same information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same services offered to other users with the same privacy, independence, and substantially equivalent ease of use. Resolution 2020-20 Regarding the Discriminatory Testing Practices and Policies of the International Association of Accessibility Professionals WHEREAS, the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP) is a not-for-profit membership organization based in Atlanta, Georgia; and WHEREAS, the members of the IAAP are individuals and organizations that are focused on accessibility or are in the process of building their accessibility skills and strategies; and WHEREAS, the IAAP's "Vision of Universal Design" states that "implementing Universal Design principles takes everybody into account and leads to fully inclusive and sustainable digital and built environments"; and WHEREAS, the IAAP claims to be a space where "accessibility professionals from around the world come together to define, promote, and improve the accessibility profession through networking, education, and certification"; and WHEREAS, the IAAP offers the Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC), the Web Accessibility Specialist (WAS), and other professional certification exams to facilitate credentialing in the accessibility industry; and WHEREAS, the IAAP offers the most widely recognized and accepted credentialing exams in the industry; and WHEREAS, the IAAP offers its tests at specialized testing centers, as well as at professional conferences such as CSUN, and most recently online at home because of COVID-19; and WHEREAS, the IAAP discriminates against blind test-takers because it does not offer blind test-takers the same access to these multiple testing options as it does to sighted test-takers; and WHEREAS, the IAAP contracts with Kryterion Global Testing Solutions (KGTS) to provide the testing centers, and these testing centers refuse to make reasonable modifications to allow their services to be accessible to blind test-takers; and WHEREAS, for instance, KGTS uses biometric eye scanners for identification as a requirement to access online testing, a function which most blind people cannot perform; and WHEREAS, KGTS frequently refuses to work with blind test-takers and simply refers the individual to the IAAP; and WHEREAS, instead of forcing KGTS to accommodate blind test-takers, the IAAP requires the blind test-takers to sit for a privately proctored exam and to employ their own proctors, at their own expense; and WHEREAS, to no avail, blind test-takers have challenged the IAAP's discriminatory testing policies by filing complaints explaining these issues: Now, therefore BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this eighteenth day of July, 2020, that this organization demand the IAAP develop robust accessibility policies and procedures that will eliminate the barriers faced by blind people to truly meet its stated goal of full inclusion; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization insist that the IAAP promptly end its relationship with Kryterion Global Testing Solutions unless KGTS adopts and publicly posts a robust accessibility policy, including use of accessible testing centers and accessible testing practices. Resolution 2020-21 Regarding the Relocation of the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled WHEREAS, since 1931, the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS), a program of the Library of Congress, has provided quality reading materials to the blind, thereby increasing knowledge, opportunity, and the ability to live the lives we want; and WHEREAS, because of the responsiveness to feedback from blind patrons, the quality of service provided by the NLS has made it widely recognized as the most successful library program for the blind in the world; and WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind has a long and mutually beneficial relationship with the NLS that has resulted in the expansion of the library's programs to include children, the inclusion of music materials, the transition to digital technology, and advocating for the distribution of refreshable Braille displays; and WHEREAS, the operations of this national treasure of equality and accessible information have been relegated to a rented building miles away from the center of our nation's capital where all of our most important federal buildings are located and far from the Library of Congress, which manages the program; and WHEREAS, a new location at 501 First Street SE, Washington, DC, has been identified for relocating the NLS to property already owned by the federal government and within a few city blocks of the main Library of Congress building; and WHEREAS, placing NLS on this property would highlight the nation's commitment to equal access for all citizens, create greater awareness resulting from greater public exposure, be more easily accessed using public transportation, improve the storage and security of library holdings, increase the ability for elected officials to benefit from the expertise of the NLS to better communicate with constituents, and more effectively utilize the specialized knowledge base of the staff at the National Library Service: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this eighteenth day of July, 2020, that this organization urge the United States Congress to appropriate the necessary funds to move the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled to the property at 501 First Street SE, Washington, DC, and that the design and execution of this construction project begin as soon as possible. Resolution 2020-22 Regarding Netflix WHEREAS, Netflix is a subscription streaming service that hosts movies, television programs, and other video content; and WHEREAS, content available on Netflix includes an ever-increasing number of popular and/or critically acclaimed films and programs specifically created for the service, such as the TV shows Stranger Things, Orange Is the New Black, and the Oscar-winning film, The Irishman; and WHEREAS, since 2016 Netflix has incorporated audio description (AD) into all of its original programming, and the vast majority of new programming released by Netflix since that time has included AD at the time of its release to the general public; and WHEREAS, while the incorporation of AD was spurred by a settlement agreement, there can be no question that Netflix has gone above and beyond that agreement in making accessible content available; and WHEREAS, for example, Netflix not only includes AD for its original programming, but has taken care to acquire or license AD for programs that it gets from other producers and providers, including acquiring AD produced for foreign markets when necessary, and in some cases has commissioned AD for popular programs not produced by Netflix, such as Mad Men and Breaking Bad, when AD was otherwise unavailable; and WHEREAS, Netflix has continuously engaged with the National Federation of the Blind to seek feedback on the quality and availability of AD on the platform, as well as the accessibility of its website and apps and possible other improvements to the service that may increase its usefulness to blind customers: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in convention assembled this eighteenth day of July, 2020, that this organization strongly commend Netflix for its extraordinary commitment to full and equal access to its programming and services for its blind customers; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we urge Netflix to continue to work with the National Federation of the Blind to improve the overall value and quality of its service to blind consumers. Resolution 2020-23 Regarding Strengthening the Help America Vote Act of 2002 WHEREAS, the ability to cast a secret ballot independently is a cornerstone of our democracy that enables citizens to vote their consciences without fear; and WHEREAS, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act requires that voters with disabilities be afforded an opportunity to exercise the right to vote that is equivalent to the opportunity afforded to voters without disabilities; and WHEREAS, the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) currently applies only to federal elections and to voting systems found in the polling place; and WHEREAS, the use of vote-by-mail and absentee voting to conduct local, state, and federal elections has increased substantially due to the COVID- 19 pandemic; and WHEREAS, data collected by the United States Elections Assistance Commission (EAC) show that the percentage of ballots cast by mail and absentee voting has steadily increased nationwide from twelve percent in 2004 to twenty-four percent in 2016; and WHEREAS, while the accessible electronic ballot delivery systems currently available enable blind, low-vision, and deafblind voters to mark their ballots privately and independently using computers and access technology, the printed paper ballot that most jurisdictions require the voter to mail in requires the voter to have access to a printer and frequently cannot be verified by the blind voter because optical character recognition (OCR) does not recognize a filled-in bubble; and WHEREAS, the ballots marked using an electronic ballot delivery system and printed on a home or office printer cannot be inserted into currently available tabulators to be counted, and the votes contained on these ballots must be manually transferred to ballot-stock ballots and then visually inspected for accuracy; and WHEREAS, because of security concerns, most jurisdictions do not permit the acceptance of ballots that are delivered electronically to be returned electronically or via email; and WHEREAS, there is currently no federal certification process or federal guidelines to guarantee the accessibility, usability, and security of electronic ballot delivery systems as currently exists for in-person voting systems under HAVA: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this eighteenth day of July, 2020, that this organization demand Congress amend HAVA to require that there be at least one accessible ballot- marking system in each polling place for all local and state elections in addition to all federal elections; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization demand Congress amend HAVA to include vote-by-mail and absentee voting and to require that an accessible electronic ballot-delivery system be available to voters with disabilities for all local, state, and federal elections; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization demand Congress amend HAVA to provide the authority and funding to the EAC necessary to develop and implement federal guidelines to ensure the accessibility, usability, and security of electronic ballot-delivery systems, and to develop a certification program to certify systems that meet these guidelines; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization demand Congress provide funding to the EAC for grants to develop technology that will enable electronically delivered ballots to be returned electronically in a secure manner, that will enable blind voters independently to verify their printed ballots, and to develop technology that will tabulate ballots printed from home or office printers in a manner that preserves the secrecy of the ballot. Resolution 2020-24 Regarding the World Intellectual Property Organization and the Accessible Books Consortium WHEREAS, the member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) adopted the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons who are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled (Marrakesh Treaty) in June 2013 to create exceptions and limitations to copyright law permitting the copying of published works into accessible formats and to allow the sharing of accessible copies across international borders; and WHEREAS, there are currently 67 parties to the Treaty covering 94 countries including the United States; and WHEREAS, WIPO created the Accessible Books Consortium (ABC) in June 2014 to help implement the Marrakesh Treaty through establishing the accessible Global Book Service, building capacity to produce accessible books in developing and least developed countries, and to promote inclusive publishing throughout the world; and WHEREAS, the Global Book Service now has 71 participating libraries for the blind and print disabled, with 634,000 accessible titles available through the Service; and WHEREAS, WIPO is dramatically expanding the capacity of the Global Book Service by migrating its collection to the Cloud and developing an application to allow consumers of ABC's partner libraries to search for and download books; and WHEREAS, ABC is also leading the effort to establish a global, federated, online search, whereby the blind and print disabled will be able to search for accessible works from the widest number of sources, leading to the ability of eligible blind and print-disabled persons to find accessible books immediately; and WHEREAS, Dr. Francis Gurry has served as Director General of WIPO since 2008; and WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind awarded Dr. Gurry its Global Literacy Award in 2018 in recognition of his outstanding leadership, which played a key role adopting the Marrakesh Treaty and establishing ABC, and for his commitment to recognizing and securing the right of the blind to access information; and WHEREAS, Dr. Gurry's term as Director General comes to a close on September 30, 2020: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this eighteenth Day of July, 2020, that we applaud WIPO for its commitment to implementing the Marrakesh Treaty worldwide; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization urge WIPO to continue rapidly expanding its Global Book Service and establishing a federated search site so that blind persons here and throughout the world can quickly and efficiently search for accessible titles and download them directly and immediately; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we commend Dr. Francis Gurry for his committed leadership in putting accessible books into the hands of the blind, congratulate him on completing his term as Director General of WIPO, and wish him well for the future. Resolution 2020-25 Regarding HBO, HBO Max, and Audio Description WHEREAS, HBO, operated by Home Box Office, Inc., a subsidiary of AT&T's Warner Media, is a package of premium cable channels that air commercial- free, uncensored content including movies, comedy specials, concerts, documentaries, sporting events, and original scripted television series; and WHEREAS, HBO has now launched HBO Max, a stand-alone streaming service, which according to its website includes "all of HBO together with even more of your favorite series and blockbuster movies, plus new and exclusive Max originals for everyone in your family"; and WHEREAS, over the past two decades the original programming produced by and for HBO has been among the most critically acclaimed, culturally significant, and popular television programming available, including shows such as The Sopranos, The Wire, Game of Thrones, True Detective, Veep, and Westworld; and WHEREAS, neither HBO nor HBO Max offer audio description (AD) for any of their programming, even though AD has often been produced for said programming for airing in foreign markets like the United Kingdom; and WHEREAS, HBO Max includes many movies (e.g., Wonder Woman and other DC Universe franchise films) and television shows (e.g. Friends, The Big Bang Theory) for which AD has been produced, either domestically or for foreign markets, but the service does not include the existing AD for these movies or programs either; and WHEREAS, the service also includes content from TNT and TBS, cable networks that regularly air audio-described programming, but the AD for their programs is not included as part of the service; and WHEREAS, last year the national convention of this organization unanimously passed Resolution 2019-21 demanding that HBO add AD for existing programming and produce AD for new original programming, and subsequently President Riccobono wrote a letter to HBO expressing this demand and including the resolution, but no response has been received from any representative of HBO or its parent companies; and WHEREAS, HBO has provided no indication to the National Federation of the Blind that any plans are in the works for any of HBO's services to include AD; and WHEREAS, in failing to provide AD on any of its platforms, HBO has not only failed to respond to the needs of blind Americans but, with respect to HBO Max, has also failed to follow the lead of other streaming services such as Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime, Hulu, CBS All Access, Watch ABC, and more; and WHEREAS, the lack of audio description on both HBO and HBO Max continues to mean that blind subscribers, while paying the same subscription fees for access to HBO and/or HBO Max as subscribers without disabilities, do not have equal access to its programming; and WHEREAS, to add insult to injury, the HBO Max app for iOS devices is completely inaccessible: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this eighteenth day of July, 2020, that this organization condemn and deplore the failure of HBO, Warner Media, and AT&T to provide audio description for programming on the HBO channels and/or HBO Max or to engage with us on this topic; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization demand HBO begin serious discussions with the National Federation of the Blind with the goal of producing a plan to include AD on HBO and HBO Max to the maximum extent feasible, including, but not limited to, acquiring and/or applying existing AD tracks available for the TV programs and movies that these services carry and for which AD has already been produced, as well as contracting for AD to be produced for all new programming currently being planned or in production; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization call upon all other major streaming services that currently do not carry audio description to make plans to include it in their offerings. Resolution 2020-26 Regarding Smart City Technology WHEREAS, a smart city is an urban area that uses information and communication technologies (ICT) to collect data from citizens, devices, buildings, and assets to improve city services and the lives of the citizens and businesses that inhabit the city; and WHEREAS, the key technology behind a smart city is an intelligent network of connected devices and machines known as the Internet of Things (IoT), which enables these "things" to connect and exchange data using wireless technology and the cloud; and WHEREAS, this sharing of information helps citizens, municipalities, and enterprises improve the quality of a city's infrastructure and services and enhances citizen decision-making and welfare by, among other things, monitoring and managing traffic and transportation systems, power plants, utilities, water supply networks, waste management, crime detection information systems, schools, libraries, hospitals, and other community services; and WHEREAS, the top ten United States cities already engaged in the exploration and integration of Smart City technology are New York, New York; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Columbus, Ohio; LaGrange, Georgia; Fresno, California; San Francisco, California; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Louisville, Kentucky; Austin, Texas; and Boulder, Colorado; and WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind is committed to ensuring the rights of blind people to live, work, and play in our local communities; and WHEREAS, the integration of innovative accessible technologies within emerging Smart Cities offers an opportunity for blind people to have equal access to essential information and resources; and WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind effectively partners with many ICT developers, including developers of innovative wayfinding technology, to create a variety of tools, technologies, and strategies that allow blind people to access information to, among other things, facilitate safe and independent travel; and WHEREAS, many city planners and developers without knowledge of these innovative tools and technologies often introduce features deemed to offer greater accessibility that instead create segregated experiences for blind people and people with other disabilities, such as restrictive truncated dome pathways or ramps located in the rear of buildings; and WHEREAS, the same technologies being used by the sighted can be developed to be used nonvisually by the blind with little or no additional cost when accessibility is taken into consideration during the design phase, and the resulting technology often enhances the ability for the sighted to obtain access to valuable information; and WHEREAS, the integration of accessibility features into wayfinding technology can be accomplished in a manner that is both aesthetically pleasing and functional through approaches such as the use of different textures for walking surfaces and the use of green space and ornamentation offering tactile and audio cues for blind people to travel safely and independently without creating a separate environment or requiring separate maintenance: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this eighteenth day of July, 2020, that this organization call on developers of the technology being replaced in our cities or being used in the new development of infrastructure and community services to consult with the National Federation of the Blind to ensure the accessibility, appropriate implementation, and proper installation of such Smart City technology into public spaces; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Federation of the Blind urge city planners and city developers to consult with members of the National Federation of the Blind during the process of developing and planning implementation of new Smart City technologies concerning the accessibility, appropriateness, and utility of the proposed technologies, including wayfinding technologies. Resolution 2020-27 Regarding the Americans with Disabilities Act at Thirty WHEREAS, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) is the result of years of advocacy by individuals and organizations, including the National Federation of the Blind, which make up the United States disability rights movement; and WHEREAS, the ADA is a comprehensive civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability in all areas of public life and guarantees people with disabilities equal access to employment, state and local governments, and places of public accommodation; and WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind has helped to create high- impact change and build legal precedence under the ADA that further advance the rights of all individuals with disabilities; and WHEREAS, there are employers, state and local governments, and places of public accommodation that have yet to comply with the ADA to the detriment of the blind and other people with disabilities; and WHEREAS, a small group of plaintiffs and attorneys have exploited the ADA's private right of action by filing rapid-succession lawsuits and entering into confidential settlement agreements that limit systemic change prompting some elected officials to propose, and in some cases enact, harmful limitations to the ADA's scope; and WHEREAS, critical guidance regarding web accessibility for public entities and places of public accommodation remains notably absent from the ADA's regulations: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this eighteenth day of July, 2020, that this organization, in acknowledgement and honor of the thirtieth anniversary of the ADA, call upon Congress and the United States Department of Justice to maintain the integrity and intent of the ADA and to update regulations on a timely basis so that they reflect the manner in which members of the general public live their lives, including in the areas of web accessibility; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we demand employers, state and local governments, and places of public accommodation that do not yet comply with the ADA take immediate action to implement policies and procedures that align with the ADA's requirements, and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we urge all disability rights lawyers, plaintiffs, and advocates to use the ADA, not for short-term personal and financial gain, but rather for pursuing systemic change that further expands the rights of people with disabilities and their integration into all aspects of daily life. Resolution 2020-28 Regarding the Accessibility of American Radio Relay League's Digital Content WHEREAS, the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) is the preeminent organization of amateur radio operators in the United States; and WHEREAS, the ARRL has avoided making its principal magazine, QST, available to its blind members because the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS), a program of the Library of Congress, has published this magazine in an accessible format; and WHEREAS, this practice continued even though the ARRL has been publishing QST on the web for several years; and WHEREAS, the NLS version of QST is not as timely as the ARRL's web version and does not contain all of the information that the web version contains, which places blind ham radio operators at a disadvantage; and WHEREAS, since nonvisually accessible publishing software exists, the National Federation of the Blind's Amateur Radio Division has approached several of the ARRL's directors and vice directors requesting that the web edition of QST be published with nonvisually accessible software, but thus far has been met with avoidance, stalling tactics, and referrals to staff, and therefore no action has been taken to date; and WHEREAS, this year the ARRL published three more of its magazines on the web, still in an inaccessible format, released nonvisually accessible apps, while proclaiming that all its members can read and use all four of its magazines on the web or on the app: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this eighteenth day of July, 2020, that this organization condemn and deplore the discriminatory behavior of ARRL toward its blind members by refusing to provide accessible digital content; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization demand that ARRL immediately adopt policies and procedures to ensure that all present and future digital content be published in an accessible format on all of its platforms. Resolution 2020-29 Regarding Emergency COVID-19 Relief Funding for Blind Randolph-Sheppard Entrepreneurs WHEREAS, the Randolph-Sheppard Act affords over 1,800 blind entrepreneurs the opportunity to manage and operate vending facilities in government buildings; and, WHEREAS, the vast majority of these businesses were shut down or had sales drastically reduced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; and, WHEREAS, the United States House of Representatives included $20,000,000 in the Fiscal Year 2021 Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Funding Bill to provide relief to the Randolph-Sheppard entrepreneurs negatively affected by the pandemic; and, WHEREAS, the United States Senate has not yet included this one-time appropriation in its version of the bill: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this eighteenth day of July, 2020, that this organization thank and commend Representative Nita Lowey, Chair of the House Committee on Appropriations, and Representative Rosa DeLauro, Chair of the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, for including this funding for Randolph-Sheppard entrepreneurs; and, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Federation of the Blind urge the United States Senate to include this same funding in its Fiscal Year 2021 Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Funding Bill. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Kaleigh Brendle] A Test of Strength and Equality: Blind Students Organized against the College Board by Kaleigh Brendle From the Editor: Kaleigh is a rising high school senior. College is expensive and time-consuming. One way to make the experience less so is to take advanced placement tests to show that there are college courses one does not need to take. When accommodations to provide the Advanced Placement test were going to be suspended with COVID-19 given as the reason, Kaleigh, then a junior in high school, said no and started organizing and complaining. Here is what she says: Good afternoon. Before I begin, I would just like to express what a true honor it is to be able to speak to all of you today. My name is Kaleigh Brendle. I am seventeen years old, and I'm a rising senior in the Scholar Center for the Humanities Program housed at Howell High School. Since birth, I've possessed a condition called Lebers Congenital Amaurosis, which left me visually impaired. As many of you know, living with blindness can be a challenge, but it is that which challenges us that strengthens our resolve and solidifies our courage. Keeping with that philosophy, I strive to challenge myself in all aspects of my life, including, most notably, the classroom. Since third grade my curriculum has consisted of rigorous courses. As I grew older, the level of classes I could take grew more strenuous, and in high school the option arose for me to participate in courses classified as "AP" or Advanced Placement. Advanced Placement courses are essentially collegiate classes that high school students across the world are eligible to enroll in. If a student performs well on the final exam at the end of an AP course, they may be eligible to receive college credit, making the exams important for both academic and fiscal reasons, as AP courses are more cost-effective than regular college classes. The curricula and final exams for these courses are created and administered by an organization called the College Board. This organization also presides over various other influential standardized tests, including the SAT. This past year, I opted to take four AP courses. I submitted my accommodation plan, in which I requested that my exams be provided in hard- copy Braille. For such visual courses as AP Biology, that also meant that any diagrams or graphics would be tactually produced for me. I requested the common accommodation of "Breaks as Needed," to prevent such factors as eyestrain or finger fatigue from interfering in my performance. I was granted all of these accommodations. Since accommodation plans apply to all College Board exams, I encountered no difficulties with the SAT when I took it this past December; I was provided with everything I needed. Thus, I expected the AP exams to be no different. Then the pandemic struck, and everything began to take an unexpected turn. The College Board announced that it was shortening and digitizing its exams with no intent to provide blind and deaf-blind students with Braille. Its solution for those exams inclusive of graphics was something called Alternative Text, which screen-reading software will read if it is coded into an image. However, large blocks of text are not a substitute for the spatial information contained within a graph. Moreover, the Alt-text is not visually accessible, so if VoiceOver or JAWS were to malfunction, a parent or teacher of the visually impaired would be unable to assist by reading the description. College Board's website informed me that 65 percent of my AP Biology exam score would be dependent upon my ability to successfully interpret and analyze a single graphic. If this were a lab, whose data was expressed in an XY-coordinate plane with multiple lines for the experimental and control groups or other experimental variants, I would not be able to feel and explore the graph and derive the information I need through touch, as any other student would through sight. Executives suggested that blind and deaf-blind students use our Braille displays, but these devices are extremely expensive, and they only display a fraction of a sentence at a time. So for those English-heavy exams where students need to quickly navigate between lengthy passages, this would prove insufficient. I also desired to see what would happen if my technology were to glitch. As Dr. Natalie Shaheen expertly phrased it, "Blind students have more opportunities for our devices to glitch, possessing two additional variables pertaining to our assistive technology." In speaking with a representative, I learned that any time it took me to resolve an issue with my technology would count against me in terms of my exam completion time. If I had an hour to complete an exam and assistive technological glitches ate up forty-five minutes, I would have fifteen minutes to test. I could, of course, request a makeup, but if my devices were to glitch during that makeup, I would have no more opportunities to test. The suggestion that I received from both that representative and multiple College Board executives was, "Use a device with less problems." No one can forsee when technology will malfunction; I found that suggestion absurd and slightly offensive. At this point I desired to see if any other blind students I knew were experiencing this. I released a video to social media in which I explained the problem, and it currently possesses almost 90,000 views. TVIs, parents, media reporters, and students began contacting me. Some students were unaware that this was even a problem. Some had figured it out but, like me, they were unsure if anyone else was enduring this. Many felt alone and exhausted from constantly fighting for their needs to be met, so I orchestrated a Zoom call for just students, where we could all express our feelings. It was a powerful experience for all of us. Nicolas Spohn, a student on that call with mechanical engineering aspirations, who would go on to join our eventual complaint, stated the following when recollecting about that call: "I alone could not stand up to the discrimination from the College Board. It was great to know that other blind students also believe that our accommodations should not be reduced or eliminated during this pandemic." At the same time, I was contacting the US Department of Education Office for Civil Rights and preparing to file a class complaint. I also reached out to Valerie Yingling, the legal program coordinator of the National Federation of the Blind, for assistance. I began working closely with her and with Sharon Krevor-Weisbaum, a managing partner of the Brown, Goldstein & Levy law firm. With the experience of both of these individuals and my knowledge of the situation, we began assembling the documentation necessary to file a class complaint. Four other students, Christopher Abel, Ryan Menter, Nicolas Spohn, and Mitchell Smedley signed on as complainants. "The Americans with Disabilities Act was created with the intent of providing students with an equal opportunity on standardized and AP exams," asserted Ryan Menter, one of the aforementioned complainants intent on pursuing a children's rights advocacy career. He added, "Without accommodations, students with disabilities would be at a severe disadvantage to their nondisabled counterparts, and the entirety of their educational future could be jeopardized. Filing a complaint against the College Board was the last thing we wanted to do, but advocating for our rights and the rights of other disabled students who needed a voice in this fight was a necessity." And he's exactly right. Even after we filed, we still did everything in our power to compromise. As the complaint was submitted, I worked with Chris Danielsen, the public relations director of the NFB, to draft a press release. The day after we filed, the press release circulated far and wide, and reporters began to pick up the story, including individuals from major media outlets such as Fox News and the New York Times. That very same day we cross-filed with the US Department of Justice. I spent the next three weeks on the phone with attorneys, executives, governmental officials, and the media. As someone who desires to become a disability rights attorney (and later run for office thanks to the Speaker [Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke previously at this convention]), I was and am extremely grateful for the experience; however, I spent so much time attempting to ensure the accessibility of my exams that I hardly had time to study for them. Regardless, if I couldn't access them, studying would not help, so I did everything I could to resolve the issue. I came in contact with the CEO of a Braille transcription company, who expressed that if the College Board could provide the exams, his staff would produce the Braille. But the College Board wouldn't. Apparently, what it was concerned about was security. It was fearful of us cheating. The NFB and I shared the many solutions it could implement to ensure that that wouldn't happen, but it would not listen. Finally, the College Board agreed to meet with us over Zoom to discuss the situation. I received the honor of representing the students involved, and I became part of an incredible team. This team consisted of Dr. Shaheen; technology specialist Matt Hackert; Valerie Yingling; Sharon Krevor-Weisbaum; Kevin Docherty, an esteemed disability rights advocate associated with Brown, Goldstein & Levy; and President Mark Riccobono, who allocated his support for our cause and expressed an earnest desire to assist us in any way he could. We spent hours discussing with College Board's accessibility executives, and after two days they finally heard us. They listened to us, and they were ready to create an agreement. The first call I made following this amazing breakthrough was directly to the students. Throughout the entire process, I always kept the students informed, hosting recap calls every step of the way. The relief and joy on that call was unlike anything I had ever experienced. Christopher Abel, another plaintiff whose passions lie in finance, had this to say about that incredible announcement: "I was not surprised to hear the great news of our success. I knew we had a fantastic team of students and NFB leadership, and we were only seeking equal accommodations for blind students. Given the solutions our team had provided College Board, it was simply much easier for them to fullfill our needs than to fight to exclude us. I was certainly relieved to learn that our battle had finally reached its conclusion. I was proud to work with and get to know so many intelligent blind students and advocates." In the following days, we solidified our agreement, and I again collaborated with Mr. Danielsen to create a press release. According to our agreement, which you can read on NFB's website, any student, regardless of whether they had already taken their exams with College Board's improper accommodations, would be eligible to receive a hard-copy Braille exam in September. On May 29, we withdrew our complaints, the press release was issued, and the College Board began to fulfill its agreement. I sincerely wish that the situation had not climbed to the zenith that it had, but all of us students were lucky to have one another and the NFB to guide us through that turbulent time. Now other students will also be able to utilize this experience as an example of the type of self- advocacy they can exemplify if they strive to do so. This is an assertion that complainant Mitchell Smedley, a future broadcast journalist, firmly believes: "It doesn't stop with College Board. Blind people will face challenges and inequalities at virtually every turn." He added, "Don't sit idly by." And I agree. Every voice is powerful, and no one should be afraid to raise theirs in the name of equality and opportunity. I want to thank President Riccobono and the National Federation of the Blind for permitting me to share this story with you. I ask you to remember that if ever an accommodation that you require is being denied or revoked, fight for what you know you need. This May I showed that I am not blind to injustice. If the situation arises for you, I encourage you to do the same. Thank you. ---------- Convention Miniatures Division Reports The Writers Division The Writers Division held its seminar on Tuesday, July 14, in which writing styles and what makes them different were covered. Also covered were some ways to improve writing such as the old one, reading, and asking questions in dialog to move forward. We also discussed the general progress of a writer's journey from learning to write to publishing and holding a book in your hand. Our division meeting on Thursday featured two presentations: one from Anthony Candella on Bookshare and his road to publishing, and one from the division president, Shelley Alongi, on self-publishing, the state of self- publishing, and the general inaccessibility of websites. One of our goals for 2021 is to start a discovery phase into what kinds of experiences are had by blind writers with self-publishing websites. We want to improve the accessibility of websites and will spend this year gathering experiences and finding ways to start conversations about this important aspect of the new writing landscape. We want to look into any forays into making self-publishing websites accessible-a big goal reached one step at a time. The division increased membership from nineteen to thirty-five and drew in as many members in one week as would normally be gained in one year. One of the goals from 2019/2020 was to build up the division and become more active and get the division name out in the Federation. This goal was accomplished, and we are off to a running start! Community Service Division Did you hear who attended the Community Service Division's seminar? Well, allow me to spell it out for you: H E R O E S! When you have a lineup jam-packed with hope, empowerment, resources, outreach, entertainment, plus supernatural vision, you walk away with superpowers to serve globally. The Superpower Hour honored everyday heroes in our community who turned this pandemic into opportunities to serve. The presenters have been volunteering for crisis hotlines, donating free groceries, offering no-cost virtual trainings and social activities, sharing local resources, partnering with nonprofit organizations, spreading their gifts and talents ensuring "Blind People Feel Better," and providing supernatural vision beyond our current view. Our division's seminar had additional heroes who have unleashed their powers to volunteer at church, work, and from their homes. The principle theme of our seminar underscored that COVID-19 does not have the power to stop the movement of fearless Federation members who serve with love, hope, and determination changing our communities one service at a time. Krafters Division The Krafters Division was filled with anticipation, excitement, and a bit of sadness. Yes, that is an interesting variety, but we bet you totally understand. Thanks to Rebecca for her assistance in making our meeting a possibility! Smile! Hats off to Rebecca! Everyone understands the anticipation of all of the new ways we have had to adapt over the last few months, but we just continue to move forward. By moving in a positive direction and using the Zoom platform, the Krafters Division has gotten so excited. During the past in-person meetings, we had between twenty and thirty interested people participate in our meeting. This year we were thrilled to have nearly ninety participants. Wow! The most common thing said was, "I just found out about you." WELCOME! We welcome anybody that is interested in crafts. Another common statement was, "I thought I had to give up ... because my vision got so bad." We respond with a list of classes and invite her/him to come join us. Crafts may sound like such an unnecessary activity to some, but to the Krafters Division it brings confidence and the potential to give back to our community. The side benefits are great as well. By sharing our skills with others, we grow friendships. We consider our crafts very therapeutic and relaxing. Hold onto your hat, some people even make their craft into a business. Yes, some of our members do such a nice job and have the confidence to sell their items. This year we replaced our in-person marketplace with a virtual marketplace. Come check it out at www.krafterskorner.org. If you are interested in selling your handcrafts with us, you are invited to do that as well. The nice thing about this market is there are no lines, no social distancing required, and you can get started on that Christmas list. Smile! The sadness in the list was over the loss of a special crafter, Cindy Zimmer. Her contributions to the Krafters Division were so greatly appreciated and will be dearly missed. As a way of moving forward, we offered a time during our four-hour meeting to share a few small crafts as teasers. This portion was called "Cindy's Extravaganza." We hope we did Cindy proud! What a way to honor her, doing what she loved doing most. In conclusion, we invite you to come check us out. We have chats, classes, and a listserv. A few of our classes are set up as "ongoing classes." You can join the class anytime during the year, and we will work with you collectively and individually. A few of our classes are offered for a one-time slot or over a few days. The nice thing about being on our listserv is if you have a craft question or maybe are interested in getting a class going, you can post it on the listserv. Many of our classes develop from request. We can't share all of the wonderful benefits and opportunities our division offers in this article, but you can check out what happens at www.krafterskorner.org. Here you can explore our calendar, join the listserv, and even become a member. Our annual dues are $20, which gives you access to all of the classes you want. If you have questions, you can contact our president, Tammy Freitag, at krafters.division.president at gmail.com. You are welcome to join us and share this information with others. We look forward to having more crafters. NABV Division (National Association of Blind Veterans) The NABV meeting had forty-two attendees. Due to this being an off year, elections were not held. We had Laura Deck from Bookshare talk to us, and James Vale, the national service director for the BVA [Blinded Veterans Association] talk to us as well. Performing Arts Division Every year, the National Federation of the Blind Performing Arts Division seeks to break down misconceptions about blind performers and engage our members in gaining helpful real-life experience at national convention. Though the platform was virtual, this year was no exception. During our annual business meeting on July 16th, we had a packed agenda and around one hundred eager participants. We took time and encouraged anyone to introduce themselves, which showcased the diversity and wide range of talent in our division. We heard several reports on the past year's activities of the division, including our wildly successful Singing Telegram fundraiser, our Zoom workshops teaching skills from Braille music to beatboxing, our brand new Facebook group to facilitate networking and discussions among performers, and our continued efforts to foster inclusion and authenticity in the entertainment industry. Rachel Grider, the brilliant mind behind creating the Virtual Convention Choir, shared about the rehearsal and production process. The final product of three songs was presented later at various key points throughout the convention. Julie McGinnity was recognized for her exemplary service in leadership for so many years. Next, Ryan Strunk, president of the National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota and an improviser and audio engineer, spoke about the immeasurable talent within the Federation and how we can best use it to further our movement and raise expectations. Additionally, we had a fabulous panel with five wonderful contributors who are all successfully employed in performing-arts-related careers. They spoke about the challenges that arise in their fields, the methods they use to make a path for themselves, and encouragement for budding performing artists. The panelists were Jessica Victoria, Cristina Jones, Tom Page, Kaiti Shelton, and Tiffany Taylor, moderated by Lizzy Muhammad Park. Lastly, we culminated our meeting with an interactive dance workshop, where Katelyn MacIntyre taught the basics of the Latin-inspired ballroom dance, Cha Cha. Everyone got up and got moving, learned purely by detailed verbal explanations, and ended up dancing to some great music together, demonstrating that blind people can achieve their dreams with the right training and opportunity. If you would like to join us as we continue connecting with and advocating for blind performers, please visit www.nfb-pad.org. You can contact our board at nfbpad at gmail.com. We would love to have you! NFB in Communities of Faith Division The NFB in Communities of Faith held its annual meeting using Zoom on July 16. The first agenda item was a panel discussion of publishers of faith-based literature for the blind. Those participating were: Craig Leeds, director of Braille Bibles International from Liberty, Missouri; Daniel Jenkins, vice president of ministry advancement, Lutheran Braille Workers from Yucaipa, California; Malaky Fallon, executive director of Xavier Society for the Blind from New York, New York; Jeri Lyn Rogge, executive director of Christian Record Services for the Blind from Lincoln, Nebraska; and Yvonne Pilot, executive director of Lutheran Braille Evangelism Association from Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota. Braille Bibles International produces the King James Version and the New King James Version of the Bible. It also distributes the MegaVoice Audio Bible and cartridges of various Bible versions, which can be used on NLS players. Additionally, it offers some free books, as well as a Bible dictionary that may be purchased. Lutheran Braille Workers produces the New International Version of the Bible and the English Standard Version in Braille. The Xavier Society for the Blind produces Bibles and other literature for the Roman Catholic Church. Christian Record Services for the Blind has books on loan. The Lutheran Braille Evangelism Association produces the Tract Messenger, a magazine for the blind, the Christian Magnifier, a magazine for the visually impaired, and has twenty versions of the Bible available in audio form on a device called the Bible Courier. We next had a discussion from two blind people who serve as chaplains, Paul Grenier from Pennsylvania and Kelsi Watters who serves as a chaplain in North Carolina. We then heard from Gregory Martin and two other representatives from HOPE Ministries (Helping Other People Excel and Experience God). This ministry holds phone conference meetings each Saturday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. and on Mondays from 6 to 8 p.m. At our business meeting, the minutes and treasurer's report were approved, and other routine business matters were discussed. We also discussed the subject of inclusion. Federationists are always welcome to participate in this division. Division Elections at the 2020 National Convention From the Editor: Here are the results from the division elections that have been reported thus far from the 2020 National Convention: NFB in Computer Science Division Brian Buhrow, president; Steve Jacobson, vice president; Louis Maher, secretary; Curtis Chong, treasurer; Jeanine Linebeck, board member; Harry Staley, board member; Jim Barbour, board member. NFB Science and Engineering Division John Miller, president; Ashley Neybert, vice president; Louis Maher, secretary; Harry Staley, treasurer; Nathanael Wales, board position one; Jamie Principato-Crane, board position two. National Association of Blind Students (NABS) Division Trisha Kulkarni, president; Kenia Flores, first vice president; Justin Salisbury, second vice president; Elizabeth Rouse, treasurer; Mausam Mehta, secretary; Nina Marranca, board member; Johna Wright, board member; Robert Parsons, board member; Shane Wegner, board member. NFB Diabetes Action Network Division Debbie Wunder, president; Gene Brown, first vice president; Mindy Jacobson, second vice president; John TeBockhorst, secretary; Joy Stiegle, treasurer; Gary Wunder, board member; Eileen Leigh, board member; Bernadette Jacobs, board member; Wanda Sloan, board member. National Association of Guide Dog Users (NAGDU) Raul Gallegos, president; Paul Sandoval, vice president; Jessica Snyder, treasurer; Aleeha Dudley, secretary; Heather Bird, board member; Jodi Witthaus, board member; Cindy Lou Ray, board member. Performing Arts Division Katelyn MacIntyre, president; Lizzy Muhammad Park, vice president; Cristina Jones, secretary; LaKeisha Holmes, treasurer; Chris Nusbaum, board member; Precious Perez, board member; Leslie Hamric, board member. Writers Division Shelley Alongi, president; April Enderton, first vice president; Chelsea Cook, second vice president; Shawn D. Jacobson, treasurer; Marilyn Smith, board member; Barbara Hammel, board member; Myrna Badgerow, board member. NFB in Communities of Faith Tom Anderson, president; Rehnee Aikens, vice president; Linda Mentink, secretary; Rev. Dr. Carolyn Peters, treasurer. Seniors Division Ruth Sager, president; Judy Sanders, first vice president; Robert Newman, second vice president; Diane McGeorge, treasurer; Duncan Larsen, assistant treasurer; Shelley Coppel, secretary; Jane Degenshein, board member; Glenn Crosby, board member; Wayne Marshall, membership chair. Assistive Technology Trainers Division Chancey Fleet, president; Nancy Coffman, vice president; Erin Lauridsen, treasurer; Amy Mason, board member; Chip Johnson, board member; Jim Portillo, board member. Community Service Division Jeanetta Price, president; Dr. LaShawna Fant, vice president; Samuel Gates, secretary; Natalie Segura, treasurer; Hattie Griffin, board member; Tyron Bratcher, board member; Linda Lankston, board member. Human Services Division Candice Chapman, president; Bre Ausbun, first vice president; Sarah Patnaude, second vice president; Jessica Snyder, secretary; Merry Schoch, treasurer; Dezman Jackson, board member; LaShawna Fant, board member. National Organization of Blind Educators Cayte Mendez, president; Angela Wolf, first vice president; Harriet Go, second vice president; Valeria Jacobs, secretary; Kaden Colton, treasurer; Kayleigh Joiner, board member; Brian Quintana, board member. National Association of Blind Merchants Nicky Gacos, president; Harold Wilson, first vice president; Edward Birmingham, second vice president; Sharon Treadway, secretary; Pam Schnurr, treasurer; Barbara Manuel, board member; Melissa Smith, board member; Zachary Snow, board member; Melba J. Taylor, board member; Michael Colbrunn, board member; Gary Grassman, board member; John Fritz, board member; Lewanda Miranda, board member; Joe Higdon, board member; Debra Smith, board member. National Organization of Professionals in Blindness Education (PIBE) Eric Guillory, president; Denise Mackenstadt, first vice president; Jackie Anderson, second vice president; Deja Powell, secretary; Krystal Guillory, treasurer; Jennifer Bazer, board member; Michell Gip, board member; Casey Robertson, board member; Carlton Walker, board member. National Organization of Parents of Blind Children (NOPBC) Carlton Walker, president; Penny Duffy, first vice president; Kimberly Banks, second vice president; Carol Castellano, secretary; Sandra Oliver, treasurer; Michelle Murrey, board member; Corbb O'Connor, board member; Melissa Riccobono, board member; Casey West, board member; Jackie Anderson, board member; Sarah Erb, board member; Jean Fultz, board member; Pamela Gebert, board member; Carla Keirns, board member; Tabby Mitchell, board member. Public Employees Division Gary Van Dorn, president; John Halverson, vice president; Kay Baker, secretary; Marcus Soulsby, treasurer; Nicole Fincham-Shehan, board member; Katie Jackson, board member; Daphne Mitchell, board member. National Association of Blind Rehabilitation Professionals Amy Porterfield, president; Pam Allen, first vice president; Dan Wenzel, second vice president; Jennifer Kennedy, secretary; Amy Buresh, treasurer; Shirley Robinson, board member; Julie Deden, board member; Everette Bacon, board member. ---------- NFB Pledge I pledge to participate actively in the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind to achieve equality, opportunity, and security for the blind; to support the policies and programs of the Federation; and to abide by its constitution. From buhrow at nfbcal.org Sun Oct 11 20:26:13 2020 From: buhrow at nfbcal.org (Brian Buhrow) Date: Sun, 11 Oct 2020 20:26:13 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Brl-monitor] The Braille Monitor, October, 2020 Message-ID: <202010120326.09C3QDPC005351@nfbcal.org> Hello. Beginning this month, the format of these e-mails will change. Based on a reader survey the National Office conducted in early 2020, we will now be offering html links to the articles to assist in making the e-mail more navigable with screen readers and full featured e-mail interfaces. If you are reading this message, you may click on the link below, which will take you to the full text of this issue of the Braille Monitor at the nfb.org web site. If your e-mail program does not provide a clickable link, copy the line below into a browser to reach the current issue of the Braille Monitor. We hope you enjoy this new e-mail edition of the Braille Monitor going forward. Sincerely, Brian Buhrow and the Communications staff at the NFB National Office. https://www.nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm20/bm2009/bm2009.htm -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://nfbcal.org/pipermail/brl-monitor/attachments/20201011/a825f6de/attachment.html From buhrow at nfbcal.org Mon Nov 2 23:27:07 2020 From: buhrow at nfbcal.org (Brian Buhrow) Date: Mon, 2 Nov 2020 23:27:07 -0800 Subject: [Brl-monitor] The Braille Monitor, october 2020. Message-ID: <202011030727.0A37R7cv022700@nfbcal.org> Hello. Beginning this month, the format of these e-mails will change. Based on a reader survey the National Office conducted in early 2020, we will now be offering html links to the articles to assist in making the e-mail more navigable with screen readers and full featured e-mail interfaces. If you are reading this message, you may click on the link below, which will take you to the full text of this issue of the Braille Monitor at the nfb.org web site. If your e-mail program does not provide a clickable link, copy the line below into a browser to reach the current issue of the Braille Monitor. Some of yu may be wondering why you received the October issue twice. We have reason to believe that a good number of recipients of the first version of this e-mail, back in October, didn't actually receive it. So, to correct that error, we're resending it. Also, we're still working out the final form of the new version of these e-mails, so we're just providing a link to the on-line html version for the moment until we learn the best way to package up these monthly e-mails. We hope you enjoy this new e-mail edition of the Braille Monitor going forward. Sincerely, Brian Buhrow and the Communications staff at the NFB National Office. https://www.nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm20/bm2009/bm2009.htm From buhrow at nfbcal.org Mon Nov 2 23:36:04 2020 From: buhrow at nfbcal.org (Brian Buhrow) Date: Mon, 2 Nov 2020 23:36:04 -0800 Subject: [Brl-monitor] The Braille Monitor, November 2020 Message-ID: <202011030736.0A37a4wf022684@nfbcal.org> Hello. As we continue to transition to a newer e-mail format that provides a richer reading experience for our readers, we're still working out the final details of what that e-mail will look like. In the mean time, below is a link to the complete edition of the Braille Monitor for november 2020 in html format. If your e-mail client doesn't provide a clickable link for you to use, you may copy and paste the below link into a browser and navigate to the complete Braille Monitor. We hope you enjoy reading this new and improved presentation for the Braille Monitor and we apologize for any inconveniences these format changes may cause. Sincerely, Brian Buhrow and the NFB Communications Staff. https://www.nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm20/bm2010/bm2010.htm