[nfb-talk] [Blindtlk] HumanWare, Extreme Makeover Home Edition, here we go again

[Cindy Handel]

I remember when Dr. Jernigan said, proudly, that NFB was not beholden to 
anyone.  We didn't take government funds, because there were too many 
strings attached.  But, when UPS, (I believe that was the first company to 
fund a project) and then other companies started providing a lot of money, 
the organization really started to change.  It's not the organization of the 
blind I joined many years ago.  Now, before you all say that there has to be 
change to keep up with the changing world, I agree.  But, if money becomes 
more important than civil rights, then I think we have a problem.

Cindy
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Milissa Garside" <milissa.g79 at gmail.com>
To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2008 12:34 AM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] [Blindtlk] HumanWare, Extreme Makeover Home 
Edition,here we go again


I agree that NFB members should not be silent about these matters. As the
largest organization of the blind, for the blind, the NFB is a very powerful
entity and has a great deal of influence  in portraying the abilities of
blind people to the sighted world. The NFB has thus far made many wonderful
changes in the lives of blind people. However, when the NFB leadership
abandons its core philosophy in the name of money, that too also sends a
powerful message to the public. If the NFB uses its philosophy in one
situation to better the lives of blind people and yet in another, totally
disregards its philosophy for the opportunity to make money, the NFB looses
some credibility. The more the NFB leadership trades its philosophy for
money gain, the less credible the organization will be in the eyes of the
public. NFB's approach by the current leadership to abandon its core
philosophy for money gain can only serve to confuse or worsen the attitudes
that sighted people have about blindness.

Milissa

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
Martin Luther King Jr.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "RyanO" <ryano218 at comcast.net>
To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, February 13, 2008 11:49 PM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] [Blindtlk] HumanWare, Extreme Makeover Home
Edition,here we go again


> Milissa, I agree entirely. This has been an ongoing problem in the
> Federation. You need only look at the records of the 2002 convention to
> see
> how the resolution brought forth by Alpidio Rolon was handled to know that
> Maurer and his crowd are balancing on a tightrope. Furthermore, other
> resolutions have been offered by various members regarding lacking
> customer
> service in these major companies and they have been stopped cold by the
> leadership. This is not the proper behavior of an organization that claims
> to follow the democratic process.
>
> I love the NFb and always will, but you can love an organization and still
> be critical of it. Americans are not unpatriotic because they question
> their
> government. We in the Federation should be given the same consideration.
> We
> need to stop being silent on issues like this so we can affect real change
> within our movement.
>
>
> RyanO
>
> _______________________________________________
> nfb-talk mailing list
> nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk

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