[New-hampshire-students] First blind Governor

[Marie Johnson]

Hi all, I just thought you may like to read this article about the firdt blind Governor.

* Author: Hersh, William  <
whersh at pco.edu
Subject: First Blind Governor

David Paterson to become new New York governor

By Reuters / March 12, 2008

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Lieutenant Governor David Paterson was set to 
become the state's first black governor and the first legally blind 
governor in U.S. history, after the resignation of Gov. Eliot Spitzer 
Wednesday.

Paterson, 53, became New York's first African-American lieutenant governor 
in November 2006. He has been legally blind since childhood, with only 
partial sight in his right eye.

Spitzer resigned after media reports linked him to a prostitution ring. He 
said Paterson would take over Monday.

The following are some facts about Paterson:

Paterson was born in Brooklyn to Portia and Basil Paterson. His father was 
the first non-white secretary of state of New York and the first 
African-American vice chair of the national Democratic Party.

He earned his bachelor's degree in history from Columbia University, 
graduating in 1977, and completed his law degree at Hofstra Law School in 1982.

Paterson became a public servant in 1985 when he began representing Harlem 
in the New York State Senate, according to the New York governor's Web site.

In 2002, he became the body's minority leader, the first non-white 
legislative leader in New York state history.

In 2004, he became the first legally blind person to address the Democratic 
National Convention.

In 2006, Paterson was elected New York's first African-American lieutenant 
governor.

Paterson ran the New York City marathon in 1999.

Paterson, an adjunct professor at Columbia's School for International and 
Public Affairs, lives in Harlem with his wife, Michelle Paige Paterson, and 
their two children.

Additional information from a New York Times article FROM January, 08

"As a disabled person, there's certain times that I don't want to appear to

need that much help. When I was in college, when I was at Columbia, I had a

professor - I actually Googled him, he passed away in 1986 and his name was

Basil Ruch, and he was a professor of history at Barnard College, and he 
showed

me a picture of Franklin Delano Roosevelt being carried into the 1932 
Democratic

convention. And he said that Roosevelt by 1932 was still able to walk a 
certain

distance, but not quickly, and he wanted to walk in, he wanted the country to

see him standing, and but what happened was, when he started to walk, and 
he got

toward the end, he was starting to be a little jittery, that a bunch of

supporters, thinking they were helping him, grabbed him and picked him up and

carried him in. And you see in this picture - and I couldn't really see it, 
but

he described it to me - he has this stern, angry look, because they messed up

his moment. And I know what he was feeling. Because sometimes you want to 
project a certain

amount of strength. And you can project it if you're a woman, you can 
project it

if you're disabled, you can project it, but often the people who love you 
don't

see the need for you to project it.

I remember when I was in the D.A.'s office, and I conducted a hearing and 
it had

to do with a stalker who was bothering this woman. And I got to feeling 
when the

woman saw me holding the file up to my face and that kind of thing, and the

stalker's looking at her, and she's kind of - I got that she didn't really 
know

if I was able to handle this.

And I went over to her and I said, "Listen, just in case we lose this hearing,

don't worry, because when he goes outside, I'm going to kick his butt." I said

that to her because I wanted her to know that I'm in charge of her case. And

that's what I'm saying about projection."

Q: Did you always think, with your disability, that you could follow your 
father

into politics, or was that something you came to over time?

A: When I was 10 years old I watched Robert Kennedy speak at the Democratic

National Convention and I wished I was him. And I think, again, there was that

family connection - he was following in the footsteps of John, Hillary follows

in the footsteps of Bill, so I always relate to that, you know, kind of family

member who has to deal with that shadow.

When I was in college, though I had academic ability, I don't know that I was

all that socially developed, or had a real difficult problem asking people for

assistance, and had a lot of problems as a result of that. And I think as I 
had

more problems, my ideas about being in politics, or following my father

dwindled. I didn't see myself as - I think my self-esteem really suffered from

that. ...

Q: In terms of your vision, how much can you see?

A: I am legally blind in my right eye, and totally blind in my left eye. I'm

looking at Armen [Meyer, a press aide who was in the room]. I know he has a

white shirt on, I know he has a tie on, but from this distance I can't tell 
you

what color it is. I think it's a darker color. ...

  When I am in places where I am familiar, I will appear to see better than in

places where I'm not. If I walked around my house, and you didn't know, you'd

probably think I have no vision problems.

When I say I saw something, it's more like I sensed it. So when I said that we

were on a plane with the Clintons, and we're all eating pizza, I knew that 
I was

eating pizza and I knew they took pizza off the tray, so I assume they're 
eating

it. I think people's perception of me sometimes is that I see more than I

actually do. But I play basketball, and I've done things that people with 
my vision aren't

supposed to do. I'm in this interesting sort of zone between the sighted 
and the

unsighted, and have never really met anyone who I visually relate to, I've 
never

met anyone who is kind of like me. ...

My truest disability has been my ability to overcome my physical 
disability. So

in other words, as soon as people see that I can be independent, then they 
hold

me to the standard that everyone else is. So I remember once I told the 
airlines

that I had a sight problem, and they put me on this bus to go to a hotel 
because

there were no other flights out of the airport that night, and I gave up my 
seat

to everyone got on and they passed me, and then like this 90-year-old 
woman, who

was trying to get up the steps, and I couldn't take it anymore so I helped her

up the steps, gave her my seat and took another seat. First stop, the bus 
driver

tells me to get off. And I know that he's doing this now because he thinks I

have no problem. He goes, "Go that way." And I almost fell in the wishing well

in front of this hotel. That's because he saw me able to fend for myself.

And I think that's been my greatest disability, that as I've overcome my

physical disability, it just leads to other problems. So I think I have now

learned - and I'm not doing this to be deceptive - but I don't act the way 
I did

when I was 17, like I can do everything myself, because I realized the 
minute I

do that, no one helps me. So I learned to be a little more pragmatic about 
life.

-------------- next part --------------
Hi all, I just thought you may like to read this article about the firdt blind Governor.
 
* Author: Hersh, William  <
mailto:whersh at pco.edu whersh at pco.edu
Subject: First Blind Governor
 
David Paterson to become new New York governor
 
By Reuters / March 12, 2008
 
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Lieutenant Governor David Paterson was set to
become the state's first black governor and the first legally blind
governor in U.S. history, after the resignation of Gov. Eliot Spitzer
Wednesday.
 
Paterson, 53, became New York's first African-American lieutenant governor
in November 2006. He has been legally blind since childhood, with only
partial sight in his right eye.
 
Spitzer resigned after media reports linked him to a prostitution ring. He
said Paterson would take over Monday.
 
The following are some facts about Paterson:
 
Paterson was born in Brooklyn to Portia and Basil Paterson. His father was
the first non-white secretary of state of New York and the first
African-American vice chair of the national Democratic Party.
 
He earned his bachelor's degree in history from Columbia University,
graduating in 1977, and completed his law degree at Hofstra Law School in 1982.
 
Paterson became a public servant in 1985 when he began representing Harlem
in the New York State Senate, according to the New York governor's Web site.
 
In 2002, he became the body's minority leader, the first non-white
legislative leader in New York state history.
 
In 2004, he became the first legally blind person to address the Democratic
National Convention.
 
In 2006, Paterson was elected New York's first African-American lieutenant
governor.
 
Paterson ran the New York City marathon in 1999.
 
Paterson, an adjunct professor at Columbia's School for International and
Public Affairs, lives in Harlem with his wife, Michelle Paige Paterson, and
their two children.
 
Additional information from a New York Times article FROM January, 08
 
"As a disabled person, there's certain times that I don't want to appear to
 
need that much help. When I was in college, when I was at Columbia, I had a
 
professor - I actually Googled him, he passed away in 1986 and his name was
 
Basil Ruch, and he was a professor of history at Barnard College, and he
showed
 
me a picture of Franklin Delano Roosevelt being carried into the 1932
Democratic
 
convention. And he said that Roosevelt by 1932 was still able to walk a
certain
 
distance, but not quickly, and he wanted to walk in, he wanted the country to
 
see him standing, and but what happened was, when he started to walk, and
he got
 
toward the end, he was starting to be a little jittery, that a bunch of
 
supporters, thinking they were helping him, grabbed him and picked him up and
 
carried him in. And you see in this picture - and I couldn't really see it,
but
 
he described it to me - he has this stern, angry look, because they messed up
 
his moment. And I know what he was feeling. Because sometimes you want to
project a certain
 
amount of strength. And you can project it if you're a woman, you can
project it
 
if you're disabled, you can project it, but often the people who love you
don't
 
see the need for you to project it.
 
I remember when I was in the D.A.'s office, and I conducted a hearing and
it had
 
to do with a stalker who was bothering this woman. And I got to feeling
when the
 
woman saw me holding the file up to my face and that kind of thing, and the
 
stalker's looking at her, and she's kind of - I got that she didn't really
know
 
if I was able to handle this.
 
And I went over to her and I said, "Listen, just in case we lose this hearing,
 
don't worry, because when he goes outside, I'm going to kick his butt." I said
 
that to her because I wanted her to know that I'm in charge of her case. And
 
that's what I'm saying about projection."
 
Q: Did you always think, with your disability, that you could follow your
father
 
into politics, or was that something you came to over time?
 
A: When I was 10 years old I watched Robert Kennedy speak at the Democratic
 
National Convention and I wished I was him. And I think, again, there was that
 
family connection - he was following in the footsteps of John, Hillary follows
 
in the footsteps of Bill, so I always relate to that, you know, kind of family
 
member who has to deal with that shadow.
 
When I was in college, though I had academic ability, I don't know that I was
 
all that socially developed, or had a real difficult problem asking people for
 
assistance, and had a lot of problems as a result of that. And I think as I
had
 
more problems, my ideas about being in politics, or following my father
 
dwindled. I didn't see myself as - I think my self-esteem really suffered from
 
that. ...
 
Q: In terms of your vision, how much can you see?
 
A: I am legally blind in my right eye, and totally blind in my left eye. I'm
 
looking at Armen [Meyer, a press aide who was in the room]. I know he has a
 
white shirt on, I know he has a tie on, but from this distance I can't tell
you
 
what color it is. I think it's a darker color. ...
 
  When I am in places where I am familiar, I will appear to see better than in
 
places where I'm not. If I walked around my house, and you didn't know, you'd
 
probably think I have no vision problems.
 
When I say I saw something, it's more like I sensed it. So when I said that we
 
were on a plane with the Clintons, and we're all eating pizza, I knew that
I was
 
eating pizza and I knew they took pizza off the tray, so I assume they're
eating
 
it. I think people's perception of me sometimes is that I see more than I
 
actually do. But I play basketball, and I've done things that people with
my vision aren't
 
supposed to do. I'm in this interesting sort of zone between the sighted
and the
 
unsighted, and have never really met anyone who I visually relate to, I've
never
 
met anyone who is kind of like me. ...
 
My truest disability has been my ability to overcome my physical
disability. So
 
in other words, as soon as people see that I can be independent, then they
hold
 
me to the standard that everyone else is. So I remember once I told the
airlines
 
that I had a sight problem, and they put me on this bus to go to a hotel
because
 
there were no other flights out of the airport that night, and I gave up my
seat
 
to everyone got on and they passed me, and then like this 90-year-old
woman, who
 
was trying to get up the steps, and I couldn't take it anymore so I helped her
 
up the steps, gave her my seat and took another seat. First stop, the bus
driver
 
tells me to get off. And I know that he's doing this now because he thinks I
 
have no problem. He goes, "Go that way." And I almost fell in the wishing well
 
in front of this hotel. That's because he saw me able to fend for myself.
 
And I think that's been my greatest disability, that as I've overcome my
 
physical disability, it just leads to other problems. So I think I have now
 
learned - and I'm not doing this to be deceptive - but I don't act the way
I did
 
when I was 17, like I can do everything myself, because I realized the
minute I
 
do that, no one helps me. So I learned to be a little more pragmatic about
life.