Forty Years A Federationist

Forty Years A Federationist

FORTY YEARS A FEDERATIONIST
by Thomas Bickford

(This article appeared in the BRAILLE MONITOR, July 1997,
published by the National Federation of the Blind.)

From the MONITOR Editor: Tom Bickford has been

a federationist for many years. In many ways that experience has

shaped and defined who he is and the gifts he has to offer in

every part of his life. This is what he says about the enriching

influence of the NFB in a person's life:

It was in October of 1956 that I first joined

the National Federation of the Blind. Kenneth Jernigan was the

president of the chapter in Oakland, California, at the time, and

that is where I got a thorough grounding in Federationism. I

didn't know what I was getting into, but the more I participated,

the better it got for me.

You had better believe that we had an active

chapter. We sold raffle tickets. We wrote letters to legislators.

We traveled to the state capital to appear at hearings. We made

friendly visits to nearby chapters. We participated in the NFB

state conventions. On top of all that we got together for dinner

parties. As you see, we were busy.

The most important part of these activities for

me was a growing understanding that it was all being done by

blind people. Meetings were chaired. Reports were given. Trips

were taken. Activities were organized. I became part of all that,

and I was just as blind as everybody else in the chapter.

My first National Convention was the next

summer in New Orleans. Many members of the Federation know what a

learning experience that can be for a young person. Three days by

Trailways bus from Oakland to New Orleans was just the beginning.

I had my first experience with that southern food called grits

and observed racially segregated facilities for the first time. I

had yet to learn how close that would come to my own life. I

learned a lot about the Federation, but I learned even more about

myself. I have missed more National Conventions than I have

attended--some for good reasons and some for bad, but every one

of those I attended was full of fun, fellowship, learning, and

inspiration.

The thorough grounding in Federationism I got

has stood me in good stead through the decades. I consider my

achievements in and through the Federation as glory to the cause.

I have enough ego to be glad when I hear my name spoken or find

it published, but I know it is there because I stayed with the

Federation, its principles, and its members. Over the years I

have served as president, vice-president, secretary, and

treasurer in the chapters where I was a member as well as

chairman and member of many committees. If I tell you of my three

proudest achievements, you must believe that they are glory for

the cause as well as for me.

In 1968 and 1969 I chaired the committee that

presented several candidates for the NFB official song. The

convention chose the "Battle Song," and that song has

inspired us through the years. I am glad that we also inspired

more people to write more songs, and now we have books full of

songs.

In 1971 and 1972 I chaired a committee in

Washington, DC., which presented testimony before Congress that

led to the passage of the White Cane Law covering the District of

Columbia. It all started when I was trying to help two blind men

through a discriminatory situation in a local movie theater. That

led to contacting their local Congressman, to whom I sent a copy

of Dr. tenBroek's Model White Cane Law. When it was all over I

got a souvenir pen from the Nixon White House with the

Presidential seal on it.

In 1992 I found myself explaining to a sighted

friend some of the techniques I use to know when to get off the

bus. I decided to write it down, and that was the beginning of

"Care and Feeding of the Long White Cane." I spent lots

of evenings and weekends with my Braille writer on my lap, and I

received lots of help from my Federation friends in the form of

ideas and the physical production of the manuscript.

In November of 1993 the Federation published

the book, which I am delighted to say has already helped hundreds

of people. There is always more work to be done for the cause.

How do you know what to do? The more you get

involved, the more will come to your attention. If you can do

more things and better than I have done, more power to you. There

are gavels ready to be pounded; paper waiting for your ink or

Braille; interviewers looking for subjects; cakes to be baked and

sold; and always more people who need us and whom we need. If you

need help, ask, and people and materials will be on your

doorstep.

Lots of us collect quotations which we find

helpful, so here is one for today. "An artist is not a

special kind of person, but every person is a special kind of

artist." I would add that all of us have more than one

talent to bring to the cause. Sometimes I am just a warm body,

sometimes a loud voice, maybe a not-so-perfect typist writing a

letter, now and again a song leader at a picnic, or part of a

brainstorming session deciding how to make use of someone ELSE's

talents. Some of these abilities I brought to the Federation, but

others I developed after I joined. What kind of artist are you?