American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults
Future Reflections Special Issue on Ethnic and Cultural Diversity INTRODUCTION
The Sum of Our Parts
by Deborah Kent Stein
When I studied plane geometry in tenth grade, I learned the corollary that "the whole is equal to the sum of its parts." In the National Federation of the Blind, our sum is made up of children and senior citizens, parents and blindness professionals, blind students, and blind people in a host of occupations and professions. Our members come from every part of the country and represent every ethnic and cultural background. The work of the Federation is carried forward by our diverse members in cities and rural areas across the nation.
As blind people we belong to a minority group that is too often overlooked, discounted, and misunderstood by mainstream society. Yet our community itself is comprised of people with a host of identities in addition to blindness. We are Asian Americans, African Americans, people of Latinx heritage, members of indigenous groups, and members of the LGBTQ community. The involvement of people from all backgrounds has long been an implicit aspect of our movement. In recent years, however, the NFB has recognized that we can do a better job of welcoming people from diverse backgrounds, meeting their needs, and helping them become an integral part of our organization.
At the 2019 national convention of the NFB, the Committee on Diversity and Inclusion, co-chaired by Rosy Carranza and Shawn Callaway, sponsored a series of events that focused on the involvement of members with minority identities in addition to blindness. Workshops included "Mujeres of the Federation," "Black Leaders Advancing the Federation," and "Asian Membership Development." At the Presidential Diversity Morning Mixer, Federationists met informally with President Mark Riccobono and other NFB leaders to share ideas about making the organization more inclusive.
A few months after convention Rosy Carranza approached me to suggest that Future Reflections publish a special issue around the theme of ethnic and cultural diversity. Rosy took an active role in recruiting people to write many of the articles in this issue. In her guest editorial she shares her thoughts about opening a conversation around diversity, and she invites readers to contribute their ideas to future issues of this magazine.
Our movement gains strength when we welcome diversity and ensure that all voices are heard. Together we are bolder, wiser, and more powerful than any segment of our movement can be on its own. As I think about the rich diversity of the NFB, I realize that the corollary I learned in geometry class doesn't always hold true. In the case of the National Federation of the Blind, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
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