Part 3: Sewing the Seeds--Creating the Kernel Books

Part 3: Sewing the Seeds--Creating the Kernel Books

Part III:
Plain Talk and Home Truths:
Sewing the Seeds-Creating
the Kernel Books

Nothing has had a more profound influence on the perception of blindness and blind
people than the Kernel Books, edited by Dr. Kenneth Jernigan. These little paperback
volumes contain first-person accounts by blind people of their own experiences. Each book
includes a brief introduction by the editor along with a narrative about a portion of his
life and thought. There are many contributors to the Kernel Books, but the segments
written by Dr. Jernigan have a special sparkle.

In 1996, 1997, and 1998, Dr. Jernigan incorporated the material from the Kernel Books
that he had written into major addresses delivered at conventions of the National
Federation of the Blind. He observed in one of these addresses that the Kernel Books have
altered the perception of blindness and changed the socioeconomic structure of our
society. The changes that have been caused by these little books constitute nothing less
than a revolution. Included here are some of the introductions to these books and all of
the autobiographical material describing the experiences of the author. In those instances
in which the material from the Kernel Book is incorporated within a larger address, the
addresses have been reprinted here. The 1997 speech is of particular interest since it
combines a new method of philosophical understanding with the experiences depicted in the
Kernel Books. This address is entitled "The Day After Civil Rights." Dr.
Jernigan worked for most of his long life to promote civil rights for the blind. He was no
less interested in this endeavor at the end of his life than he had been in earlier times.

Yet, he recognized that, though this work is essential, it is not sufficient for full
integration or the most meaningful of lives. It is only one element among many. The
writings from the Kernel Books speak for themselves from the heart of the man who wrote
them. In 1991, the Kernel Books were initiated with What Color is the Sun, which
included this "Editor’s Introduction" and Dr. Jernigan’s article,
"Growing Up Blind in Tennessee During the Depression."

EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION
by Kenneth Jernigan
For at least twenty years I have been appearing on radio and television
and in the newspapers as the spokesman of the National Federation of the Blind, and lately
something has been happening with increased frequency which I probably should have
anticipated but didn’t. Total strangers keep stopping me on the street or in the
supermarket or airport to ask me about blindness. Well, not exactly about blindness as
such, but about what it is like to be blind-about the everyday experiences and the
ordinary happenings in the lives of blind people. I do the best I can to tell them, but
usually neither they nor I have the time for me really to do it right. This book is an
attempt to remedy that situation. Even so, I still don’t know that I have done it
right, but at least it is better than a hurried attempt in a supermarket.
The persons who appear in the pages of the book are people that I
know-friends, former students, colleagues in the National Federation of the Blind. Mostly
they tell their own stories-stories of ordinary men and women who think about last
night’s dinner, today’s taxes, and tomorrow’s hopes and dreams. These are
people I think you would like to know, so I am introducing them to you. And I am also
telling you a little about myself. When you have finished reading these personal accounts
and reminiscences I hope you will have a better picture of what it is like to be blind and
how blind people feel. Mostly we feel just about the same way you do.
Kenneth Jernigan
Baltimore, Maryland
1991

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