[nfb-talk] The real reason for a chapter meeting

[Mike Freeman]

Joseph:

I tend to agree with most of what you say (shown below), at least in 
part. I especially agree that young people seem these days to be rather 
disinterested in speeches and abstract ideas, being used to ideas 
presented in ten- or thirty-second sound bytes. And I believe you may be 
right in saying that, to some extent, people in general seem not to 
understand the relevance of events held in Baltimore or the invention of 
devices that are somewhat expensive. (They mostly have computers, 
though, so I sometimes wonder if it isn't simply a case of picking which 
expensive hardware one thinks relevant.)

Yet I wonder if, in pandering to these trenes, we aren't reinforcing 
them. And is it not our own fault, to some extent, that we seem not to 
be able convey the relevance of our national movement and that it is 
precisely in this fact that our strength and ability to get things done 
lies.

I also wonder if some of the issues people wish we would tackle --  
CAPTCHA's for example -- aren't the sort of thing that aren't 
susceptible of easy solutions and, to some extent, at least, people 
aren't in the mood to hear that we have a long row to hoe. What I'm 
saying is that people often seem to expect easy and quick solutions to 
problems that don't admit of such and said people don't want to hear 
that message.

I know that here in my state, some of our NFB members are itching for a 
struggle to take on but some of those proposed aren't easily winnable or 
in the winning might cause as much or more harm than they would do good.

In the final analysis, people don't join organizations as much as they 
once did and *all* service organizations are having the same problem.

Doesn't mean we shouldn't think out of the box, though, and your 
solutions and activities have merit. My only hope is that we don't 
forget the philosophical emphasis in our attempt to be "relevant".

Incidentally, this has a familiar ring to it for me as discussions of 
"relevance" of academic subjects were very much in evidence forty years 
ago!

Mike Freeman
Please support me in the March for Independence by clicking on the link 
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 ... "It is human nature to think wisely and act foolishly." - Anatole 
France
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: T. Joseph Carter
  To: NFB Talk Mailing List
  Sent: Sunday, May 04, 2008 4:15 PM
  Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] The real reason for a chapter meeting


  Terry,

  To be fair, the ACB doesn't have the monopoly on local chapters who 
don't
  really seem to accomplish much of anything.  It comes down to the 
interest
  and imagination of the members of the chapter.  If one or the other is
  lacking, the chapter seems to meet and discuss what was discussed at 
the
  last meeting, and what will be discussed at the next meeting.  That 
stuff
  is generally pretty dull, and people lose interest even more quickly.

  I've suggested things that aren't business-meeting related or even 
perhaps
  not necessarily blindness-related to help attract visibility to the
  chapter.  My ideas, all of which focus on the practical, include:

   - An afternoon seminar for high school students and maybe college
     students focusing on transition issues they don't prepare you for 
in
     high school, be it college or job-hunting.
   - A panel discussion where blind people from a variety of fields help
     brainstorm on ideas for how a blind person can do ... whatever
     questions get asked.  If there are sighted people in the audience, 
so
     much the better.
   - A training session on a device like the Victor Reader Stream.  A 
LOT of
     blind people, particularly those who are older, haven't really 
gotten
     into this DAISY thing yet and still find it easier to carry a tape
     recorder that will play back NLS 4-track cassettes.  A workshop and
     walkthrough (not just a demonstration) would go a long way.
   - Organization.  From David Allen's Getting Things Done to the Slob
     Sisters to a host of others, people have found effective ways to 
get
     organized and see that things are accomplished.  Now you can read a
     book about it, or you can get some hands-on experience with 
applying
     some of these techniques.  Which is more likely to get results?

  Why am I not including a discussion of Jernigan speeches or kernel 
books
  or anything of the sort above?  I refer back to a discussion from some
  months ago where we discussed that the younger generation seems to be 
less
  interested in getting involved unless they can see tangible benefit. 
I
  know that makes my generation and younger sound awfully selfish, but 
I've
  collected some informal data that suggests we may be less apathetic 
than
  it appears.  Regardless, by making the benefits of involvement 
tangible
  and immediately apparent, we move past those factors.

  Additionally, within the blindness community, I believe we have 
reached a
  place where words aren't going to change any minds.   The same thing 
is
  happening in the Democratic primary--the latest news isn't having any
  effect on how the people voting feel about their candidate.  The ones
  talking about how Obama's pastor is a militant racist weren't voting 
for
  him anyway.  Likewise with those talking about Clinton's sniper-filled
  imagination.  It's just the people who have made a decision using the 
news
  to justify the position they already have.

  The interesting thing about this state where the value of words has
  dropped faster even than the dollar is that actions remain a valuable
  commodity.  By doing things that people can see have a positive impact
  directly on their lives (and not just on the life of some blind person
  somewhere), we are showing them why our way of thinking is good, 
rather
  than trying to tell them why.

  I think that's important.  Anyone who has ever hear reactions to our 
press
  releases like, "That's great for those people living in Baltimore" to 
news
  of something cool our Jernigan Center is doing or, "That's cool if 
you've
  got $2500" in response to our current generation KNFB reader probably 
can
  already see why.  To people who make such comments, that we are 
"National"
  seems to mean somewhere other than here, and "of the Blind" means of
  certain kinds of blind people.  They need to know that "National" 
means
  right here (wherever here is) and "of the Blind" includes them too. 
But
  they're going to have to see it for themselves first.

  Just my thoughts.

  Joseph

  On Wed, Apr 30, 2008 at 07:52:04AM -0400, Powers, Terry (NIH/OD/DEAS) 
[E] wrote:
  > Hi Mike;
  > Thanks for telling me where those speaches are.  I also was an ACB
  > member for a short while, during my time at AEB in rehab.  I did not
  > know enough about either group and they were the only blind group
  > around.  As a member, we got nothing accomplished, that I can 
remember.
  > I sure am glad to be home and proud to be a true member of the NFB!
  >
  > Terry Powers
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