[Nfbc-sj] REMINDER: OUR NEXT CHAPTER MEETING IS SCHEDULED FOR Saturday, May 18, 2024 at 3PM VIA ZOOM

Sat May 11 16:06:32 PDT 2024

Brian: a very thoughtful and thought provoking response.

I need to think on what you wrote as it pertains very well, specifically and
perhaps painfully to my life's journey since becoming blind.

I certainly have enough to send out a simple invite to others.

David and Hayley

-----Original Message-----
From: nfbc-sj-bounces at nfbcal.org <nfbc-sj-bounces at nfbcal.org> On Behalf Of
Brian Buhrow
Sent: Saturday, May 11, 2024 3:48 PM
To: NFB San Jose/Silicon Valley Chapter <nfbc-sj at nfbcal.org>;
cricketbidleman at gmail.com; bobbipompey at gmail.com
Subject: Re: [Nfbc-sj] REMINDER: OUR NEXT CHAPTER MEETING IS SCHEDULED FOR
Saturday, May 18, 2024 at 3PM VIA ZOOM

	hello David.  I'll try to address your question, but really, for the
newcomers, I encourage you to invite them to our meetings and to tell them
you really enjoy them.  After all, if they're asking you what the
differences are, what they're really asking you is if you think it would be
worth it for them to come join you at our meetings.  If you enjoy them and
if you think they bring value to you, convey that to them and invite them to
come share in the
experience.   Ultimately, it's about the support and friendship we get out
of the
organizations we belong to.

	I have attended NFB and ACB/CCB conventions and while everyone has
different answers to this question, here's my take on it.  The NFB says
that, given training and opportunity, blind folks can compete on terms of
equality.  The NFB also says that it is respectable to be blind.
This message has always resonated with me, but it has taken me many years to
really come to an understanding of what this actually means.  What this
actually means to me is if I study hard in my chosen craft and if my peers
in that craft give me an opportunity to work with them in that craft, I will
be able to compete with those peers in that craft based on my skill in that
craft, rather than getting special consideration, or inconsideration as the
case may be, based on my blindness.  This doesn't mean I won't have to work
harder than my sighted peers to gain those skills, nor does it mean my
blindness won't conttinue to pose challenges as I work to improve my skill
in my chosen craft.  It does mean that I should not use blindness as an
excuse if my efforts fall short in a given task.  The philosophy in the NFB,
in general, is that if blind people get training in life skills, work
skills, etc. and if they can engineer opportunities for themselves to work
with their sighted peers in those careers or hobbies, it won't be blindness
that keeps them from succeeding.  Of course we are a diverse organization,
so there are those who might not totally believe in this line of thought, or
might not understand how it applies to them, but it is this philosophy that
serves as the North Star for our organization.
I'm not sure the ACB embraces this idea as fully, though they often use the
same words.  Here are some theoretical and actual examples of what I'm
getting at.

	If a new member comes to me and tells me they're hoping to take up a
career in, say, accounting, I fully believe they'll be able to have a
successful career in accounting.  Not being an accountant myself, I might
not be able to tell them how to do it, exactly, but I can give them general
guidance on what things they might try to make things possible for
themselves.  I might also be able to find a blind person who works in the
accounting field who might give them specific  practical suggestions for
things they can do to help them achieve their specific goal.  The point I'm
making here is that at no time do I ever believe blindness is the thing that
will keep them from achieving their goal of working in accounting.

Speaking to the differences between the CCB and the NFB specifically, here
is a practical example.  At both CCB and NFB conventions, members can get
help doing things they need, i.e.
traveling to and from meeting rooms, assistance in getting transportation,
etc. At CCB conventions, that assistance is often offered unsolicited and,
usually, by sighted people.  At NFB conventions, it's offered if folks ask
for it and it's often offered by blind members themselves.  This  has the
effect of demonstrating to the new member that not only do we say we can
function fully in society as blind people, but we put our money where our
mouth is by teaching the new member, either by example or by direct
instruction, how to do the thing they need help with in the moment.  If you
ask for a guide to your hotel room from the hotel lobby, for example, and I
offer you  my elbow and guide you to your room and you realize I am also
blind, you will then realize it can be done as a blind person and, most
likely, you'll want to figure out how to do it too.  And, if you ask, I'll
be happy to show you how to do it.

	In summary, the most fundamental difference between the NFB and the
ACB/CCB in my mind is that while both organizations can teach you the skills
of living with blindness, only the NFB can instill the confidence you need
to truly believe you can live as an equal member of society as a blind
person.  When I joined the NFB, I was pretty good at the skills of
blindness.  What I didn't have, however, was the confidence or belief that
those skills would allow me to live as an equal member of my sighted
society.  By watching my fellow NFB members function in their own lives,
taking courage from their example, listening to the speeches of NFB leaders
and reading the literature, I began internalizing the message and gaining an
understanding of what this message meant in my life.  Today, more than 30
years later, I still come to meetings and contribute to the NFB, not only to
share the small nuggets of wisdom I've picked up from my mentors, but to
draw on the vast reservoir of knowledge and confidence that exists in our
collective presencde.  I may not know how to do something in my current life
that would be interesting to me, but there is a good chance that someone in
the blindness community knows how to do that thing and being a member of the
NFB allows me to find them.  It may be I could find them if I were a member
of the ACB/CCB as well, but given the ACB/CCB's seeming reluctance to fully
embrace the NFB's members, I'm not sure that's true.  As long as I've been a
member of the NFB, we've been welcoming of ACB/CCB members if they want to
join us.  My impression, and I could be wrong, is ACB/CCB members have not
been as welcoming of NFB members in their midst.

Hope that helps.
-Brian
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