American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults
Future Reflections Winter 2022 FEATURE
Safety and Support
by Carlton Anne Cook Walker
My name is Carlton Anne Cook Walker, and I am the mother of a blind young adult, Anna Catherine. I have the honor of serving as President of the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children (NOPBC), a proud division of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB). In addition to serving as president of the NOPBC, I am certified as a Teacher of Students with Blindness/Low Vision. I am also an attorney with my own solo law practice as well as an advocacy firm, Blindness Education and Advocacy Resources (BEAR). As you might guess, that name came from the fact that I'm a Momma Bear.
Of all my roles, that of parent is most important to me, and it will always be so. Our family has been involved with the NFB and the NOPBC since 2006. Without the NFB and its Parents' Division, the NOPBC, I would not have had the information I needed to be an effective parent for Anna Catherine—in early childhood, through the school years, and now that she is a young adult. What has made all the difference is the education from and support of my fellow Federationists—those whom I met through the Parents' Division and, of course, blind adults I have come to know from throughout the country. My Federation family has taught me how to provide Anna Catherine with the tools and skills she needed to become the successful blind adult she has the right to be.
Our children's well-being is of paramount importance to us as parents. I was drawn to and became active in the Federation because of the high quality of support, resources, and wisdom available and because of the high expectations infused throughout Federation philosophy.
In December 2020, we learned that some individuals in our Federation did not share our principles. We learned that some individuals chose to harm others, including minors, for their own selfish purposes. We learned that our trust in some individuals was misplaced. We discovered that we had to find healing for those who were harmed, prevent future harm, and rebuild the trust that was broken by those harmful individuals who are now banned from our organization.
Below, you will find links to an array of important documents. The first of these documents is the current NFB Code of Conduct. This Code of Conduct memorializes the minimum expectations we hold for one another. An FAQ (frequently asked questions) about the Code of Conduct follows. The documents under the heading "Safety and Support Initiatives of the National Federation of the Blind" represent the results of our process of rooting out evil behavior and forging a path forward.
These topics are not easy ones. Sadly, the NFB is not the only organization that has had to face these deep concerns. Confronting these topics in terms of our children is excruciatingly painful and difficult, but we owe it to our children to do so. Our children deserve our best. They deserve the benefits of Federation knowledge and philosophy; they deserve parents, educators, and community members with high expectations; and they deserve to be safe in all environments in which they find themselves. They also deserve to learn to identify harmful behavior, to develop the confidence to reject harmful behavior, and to be believed and supported if they do report such behavior.
We in the NFB and the NOPBC stand ready to support you, your blind child, your family, and your community. We welcome you as you are, and we offer ourselves to help every blind child achieve their dreams.
Current NFB Code of Conduct
- NFB Code of Conduct (HTML): https://nfb.org/about-us/history-and-governance/code-conduct/code
- NFB Code of Conduct (Braille Ready Format): https://nfb.org/sites/nfb.org/files/2021-12/National-Federation-of-the-Blind-Code-of-Conduct.brf
- NFB Code of Conduct (MP3 audio): https://nfb.org/sites/nfb.org/files/202112/national_federation_of_the_blind_code_of_conduct.mp3
- NFB Code of Conduct (PDF): https://nfb.org/sites/nfb.org/files/files-pdf/national-federation-of-the-blind-code-of-conduct-final-2021-12-30.pdf
- NFB Code of Conduct Frequently Asked Questions: https://nfb.org/about-us/history-and-governance/code-conduct/code-conduct-frequently-asked-questions
Safety and Support Initiatives of the National Federation of the Blind
December 16, 2020: Open Letter of Apology: https://www.nfb.org/blog/open-letter-apology-president-riccobono
January 4, 2021: January Presidential Release: https://www.nfb.org/resources/publications-and-media/presidential-releases
January 4, 2021: Partnership with RAINN: https://www.nfb.org/about-us/press-room/national-federation-blind-announces-partnership-rainn
February 2021: When Survivors Lead: Introducing the Survivor Task Force, Braille Monitor, https://www.nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm21/bm2102/bm210207.htm
April 15, 2021: Open Letter on Safety and Support Progress: https://nfb.org/blog/open-letter-safety-and-support-progress
June 6, 2021: Tonya Baña to answer questions from the community. Access the recording: Open Call with Tonya Baña Audio: https://nfb.org/sites/nfb.org/files/2021-07/Open-Tonya-Bana-MP3.mp3 | Transcript: https://nfb.org/programs-services/safety-support/june-6-open-call-tonya-bana-transcript
June 10, 2021: 2021 June Board Resolution to Establish Fund to Support Survivors under Our Code of Conduct: https://nfb.org/get-involved/national-convention/2021-june-board-resolution-establish-fundsupport-survivors-under
June 26, 2021: Special Committee's Interim Report (PDF): https://nfb.org/sites/nfb.org/files/2021-06/Special-Committee-Report-with-Addendum-20210620.pdf
Special Committee's Interim Report (MP3): https://nfb.org/sites/nfb.org/files/202107/special_
committee_report_on_sexual_misconduct_and_the_nfbs_response.mp3
June 28, 2021 Climate Assessment Report completed by RAINN: https://nfb.org/sites/nfb.org/files/2021-06/RAINN_NFB_Climate-Assessmen_2021_Report.pdf
June 29, 2021: Statement of the NFB Board of Directors Regarding the Interim Report of the Special Committee: https://nfb.org/sites/nfb.org/files/2021-06/RAINN_NFB_ClimateAssessment_2021_Report.pdf
July 22, 2021: NFB Board of Directors Statement Regarding NFB’s Constitution and Code of Conduct: https://nfb.org/blog/nfb-board-directors-statement-regarding-nfbs-constitution-and-code-conduct?fbclid=IwAR3kaOxIGu9VXlC2eGO2uEg_36H5uGgVTsxmdxcDgJvcokkEhLGNJimBp6I
November 11, 2021: Special Committee's Final Report (PDF): https://nfb.org/sites/nfb.org/files/2021-12/NFB-Special-Committee-Final-Report-2021.PDF
Special Committee's Final Report (MP3): https://nfb.org/sites/nfb.org/files/2021-12/NFB-Special-Committee-Final-Report-2021-audio.mp3
December 8, 2021: Statement of the NFB Board of Directors Regarding the Final Report of the Special Committee: https://nfb.org/blog/statement-nfb-board-directors-regarding-final-report-special-committee
Raising Expectations Every Day: The Challenge of the Federation's Community Standards, Braille Monitor, February 2022: https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm22/bm2202/bm220201.htm