Presidential Report 2001

Presidential Report 2001

PRESIDENTIAL

REPORT

National Federation

of the Blind

July 4, 2001

by Marc Maurer

The National Federation of the Blind

has had a year of unprecedented growth and progress. During the past twelve

months, we have accepted greater challenges than ever before in our history,

and we have found a way to meet those challenges with results exceeding the

expectations of us all.

Nevertheless, we have remained the same organization that we

have always been—growing, developing, moving forward. We are the blind:

the blind students, the blind teachers, the blind factory workers, the blind

lawyers, the blind medical professionals, the newly blinded, the blind in the

sheltered workshops, the blind vending-stand operators, the blind musicians,

the blind in governmental agencies, the blind who have not yet found jobs, those

who have become blind as senior citizens, and all other blind people who, along

with our colleagues and friends, possess the imagination to dream of a day when

our lives can be lived to the fullest and our talents employed as they deserve

to be. From every state, from every segment of society, from every economic

or educational background—we are the blind, and our strength comes from

the combination of us all. We are the blind—the organized blind movement—the

National Federation of the Blind.

In the mid-1970's the National Federation of the Blind began

working with Dr. Raymond Kurzweil on the first reading machine for the blind.

This invention demanded optical scanning technology, which became as useful

for the sighted as it is for the blind. This was only the first of many inventions

created by Dr, Kurzweil. A number of them came from the reading machine. Dr.

Kurzweil currently believes it is possible using techniques developed in speech

recognition to build an automatic language translator.

This past year I, serving as President of the National Federation

of the Blind, nominated Dr. Kurzweil for an award offered jointly by the Lemelson

Foundation and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). On April 25,

2001, I attended a gathering of scientists and other professionals held at the

Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Each year the Foundation gives a

Lifetime Achievement Award. This year's recipient was Raymond V. Damadian, the

inventor of magnetic resonance imaging technology. However, the highest honor

of the Foundation is the Lemelson-MIT award, the best-funded technology award

being offered anywhere in the world. As the nominator of Raymond Kurzweil, I

was (along with my wife Patricia) recognized publicly by the delegates. The

2001 recipient of the Lemelson-MIT award—a man honored for the work he

has done on the reading machine for the blind and other related technologies—is

Dr. Raymond Kurzweil, who received from the Foundation a cash grant of $500,000.00.

The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped

(NLS) is that part of the Library of Congress that operates the Books for the

Blind Program. Established in 1931, NLS has become one of the most effective

programs for the blind in the nation. Its director is Mr. Frank Kurt Cylke,

who is committed to excellent library service for the blind.

In the year 2000 NLS published a book entitled Braille into

the Next Millennium. This book collects articles about Braille on virtually

any topic. Some of the names of the writers who have contributed to this volume

will be familiar to members of the National Federation of the Blind. They include

Abraham Nemeth, Euclid Herie, Tim Cranmer, Fredric Schroeder, Curtis Chong,

Ruby Ryles, and Marc Maurer. The foreward is by Frank Kurt Cylke. The preface

begins with these words: “This book on the value and history of Braille

symbolizes the times in which we live. It highlights the importance of Braille

in the life of every man, woman, and child who is blind and points the way to

the future—a future of promise and hope.” The preface, which appeared

for the first time in the fall of 2000, was written by Dr. Kenneth Jernigan,

the most outstanding leader and teacher of the blind of the latter part of the

20th century. This book, which has been put into Braille, will encourage the

learning of this vital skill for generations. It will provide not only hope

but the opportunity for achieving the dreams that are part of that hope as well.

Equal access to information is as important for the blind as

it is for the sighted. A little more than a year ago we told the banking industry

and bank machine manufacturers that the automated teller machine (ATM), which

was fast becoming a standard for electronic commerce, must become accessible

to the blind. In the intervening months, we have worked with the premier manufacturer

of ATM equipment, Diebold, Incorporated, to assure access to the electronic

commerce of our nation. We will assist with the development of ATM machines

that are accessible to the blind, and we will encourage the installation of

such equipment. We are working with Diebold, Incorporated to make the fastest,

most broadly usable machines in the nation and to have them deployed in businesses,

government agencies, and other public places. We recognize a spirit of common

interest and generosity in Diebold, and we are joining with the computer developers

within that company to design inexpensive, effective machines.

They also believe in us. They want to support enhanced technology

for the blind, and they have promised to help us build the National Research

and Training Institute for the Blind with a gift in the amount of one million

dollars. The president of Diebold, Incorporated, Mr. Walden O'Dell, will be

with us at this convention.

In 1994, we initiated the Newsline® for the Blind Network,

a telephone based newspaper delivery system capable of providing the text of

newspapers to blind people in local service areas. For the past seven years

this service has expanded steadily until it has reached more than 70 cities,

providing daily newspapers by touch-tone telephone to tens of thousands of blind

people each day.

Late last year Congress appropriated four million dollars in

the budget of the Institute of Museum and Library Services for the purpose of

expanding Newsline® to every part of every state of the nation. To provide

services on a nationwide basis requires a redesign of the network itself. The

target date for the redesigned service is March 1, 2002. Continuation of the

nationwide service beyond the first year depends upon the development of funding

mechanisms to support it in each state. However, just as we will find a way

to build the technology, so will we find a way to fund the continuation of the

service. Blind people everywhere will be able to read all of the newspapers

on the network—the seven national papers and dozens of local ones.

We have continued with a number of other efforts to expand access

to information. We have revised our publicly distributed document describing

adequate web accessibility, and a number of companies have asked us for assistance.

Among these are the Gap, Intuit, H&R Block, election.com, and votehere.net.

At one time it was not possible for a blind person using screen access technology

to make online purchases through the Gap's website. Officials at the Gap noticed

the legal challenge we had brought against AOL, and they were eager to work

with us. Today, shopping on the Gap's website is possible because of the close

cooperation between the Gap and the National Federation of the Blind.

The working relationship with the Connecticut Attorney General

to make web-based tax filing services accessible to the blind has brought positive

results. If we must pay taxes, we said, make the forms so that we too can read

them. By the end of January 2001, the blind could file independently.

Members of Congress have decided (with the evidence of the last

presidential election fresh in their minds) to pursue election reform. We have

asked them to include nonvisual access to voting, and they have agreed. Several

companies are coming out with voice-guided electronic voting systems, and many

of them are seeking our help to ensure that these systems are usable, not only

by the sophisticated blind computer user, but by the blind person who simply

wants to vote without having to learn how to run a computer. We are in the process

of obtaining all of the nonvisually accessible voting systems for display and

evaluation in the International Braille and Technology Center for the Blind.

The International Braille and Technology Center for the Blind

has experienced significant growth during the past year. Many of the computers

housed in the Center are being upgraded. We have embarked upon a project to

replace old DOS computers with newer ones. We have acquired twenty-three Pentium

computers running Windows 98 or 2000, and there are a number of other machines.

During the past year we have acquired in the IBTC thirteen electronic note takers

with refreshable Braille displays, two electronic note takers with voice output,

two Braille embossers, eight tape tutorials for Windows and Windows applications,

one commercial Windows-based calendar/organizer program, two refreshable Braille

displays, two screen reading program upgrades, three scanners, one talking globe

with tactile markings for the continents, one solid state MP3 Player with memory

stick technology, one talking numeric pager, one computer keyboard with Braille

entry capability, three upgrades to print reading systems for the blind, two

low-cost self-voicing print reading systems for the blind, two commercial optical

character recognition programs for converting print to text, one self-voicing

calculator program for Windows, two force feedback mouse units for the blind,

two Braille music translation programs, two voice-activated television remote

control units, one voice recognition program, one digital audio recorder, one

internal speech synthesizer, one King James Talking Bible (using Road Runner

technology), eight audible traffic signal demonstration units, one talking GPS

system with laptop computer, one demonstration Diebold talking automated teller

machine, one talking Diebold machine with money--the real thing, one web search

and summarization program, one self-voicing document reader program for Windows,

one screen magnification program, and all of the peripherals, cables, and other

computer-related attachments to make them function.

We have made considerable progress with America Online (AOL)

during the past year. AOL's online services were completely inaccessible to

the blind, and AOL officials seemed indifferent to our need for information

until we brought suit in federal district court in November of 1999. Suddenly

there was an interest in discussion. After we agreed to withdraw our lawsuit,

developers from the AOL accessibility team came to visit the National Center

for the Blind for the purpose of learning how their software could interact

with screen-reading programs—in other words how they could give AOL speech.

The AOL 6.0 software, released last fall, demonstrated modest improvements in

nonvisual access. It appears that the people working on the accessibility project

know what needs to be done, and the team has already begun the work. Although

AOL is slow, it may have gotten the message. If not, we will provide it once

again.

We have also continued to maintain our website, with increasing

numbers of people gaining access to information about blindness through it.

Within the past twelve months people from sixty-three nations have received

website information.

On January 19, 2001, the United States Department of Education

adopted a final rule redefining “employment outcome” under the Vocational

Rehabilitation program to exclude those placed in sheltered workshops. This

advance in the rehabilitation program (drafted by Dr. Frederic K. Schroeder)

was strongly supported by the National Federation of the Blind, which submitted

more than 1,500 comments in support of the proposed rule. Rehabilitation is

expected to assist individuals with disabilities to obtain high-quality employment

in the integrated, competitive labor market. Because sheltered shop employment

had not provided high pay, career choices, integrated work, opportunities for

advancement, and the chance to learn transferable skills, continued vocational

rehabilitation services should be available, and this progressive rule determines

that they are. A number of operators of sheltered shops have opposed the rule.

Nevertheless, we believe that blind people should receive pay as high as sighted

people receive for comparable work, and we believe in opportunities for advancement.

Consequently, we will continue to support the rule despite the attacks of those

in the sheltered shops.

The National Federation of the Blind continues to be in the

leadership of programming for the blind in the United States. On January 18

and 19, 2001, the Millennium Symposium on improving services for the blind was

convened at the National Center for the Blind. Rehabilitation professionals

from more than a dozen states participated along with leaders of the organized

blind from those states. Working independently we can accomplish a great deal,

but joint effort between consumers of services for the blind and providers of

those services can create greater programs with more positive results than have

ever existed in work with the blind. This was true of rehabilitation in the

state of Iowa when Dr. Jernigan served as Director of the Commission for the

Blind, and the principle is equally applicable today. There will be more such

seminars, and the National Federation of the Blind will continue to coordinate

interaction and joint support of programming for the blind.

At our convention last year, we heard a report of the establishment

of specialized services for the blind in the state of Nebraska—a commission

for the blind was created. However, in the Nebraska legislature this spring,

a bill was introduced to eliminate separate identifiable programs for the blind,

and the blind moved into immediate action. By March 5, 2001, the bill to eliminate

the Nebraska Commission for the Blind had met its fate in committee. The reason

is straightforward and uncomplicated. The bill was killed because of the efforts

of the National Federation of the Blind.

Pat Summerall conducts a daily television program in which he

talks about entities that have helped to build America. Last fall on the Summerall

program, in the segment designated “Captains of Industry,” a two-minute

feature appeared depicting the work that we in the Federation do. Among other

things, there are pictures of me standing next to the barbecue grill and others

that show me with a chainsaw in my hand. Videos of the “Captains of Industry”

program are available for use by individuals and chapters throughout the Federation.

One of our objectives within the Federation is the support and

promotion of Braille. We cause more Braille to be produced than anybody else

except the Library of Congress. We have created the International Braille and

Technology Center for the Blind, drafted model Braille bills, written language

to ensure the teaching of Braille that has been included in the Individuals

with Disabilities Education Act, distributed Braille material to individuals

throughout the nation and the world, created videos about the importance of

Braille, taught dozens of classes on the subject, and taken other steps to encourage

production and use of Braille. During the past year we have received support

for the notion that Braille would become more widely used if it were more readily

accepted. To promote this acceptance, we have created a program called “Braille

is Beautiful,” including videotapes on Braille with teaching materials

and lesson plans for students to use to learn the code. If the sighted learn

Braille, Braille will be accepted. Those who use Braille—the blind—will

also be accepted. The techniques used by the blind are often as effective as

those used by the sighted. If they are regarded as commonplace, there will be

much greater emphasis on teaching them. Today the Braille literacy rate for

blind students in school is in the neighborhood of ten percent. With the “Braille

is Beautiful” project we believe Braille literacy will increase.

During the summer and fall of 1998, we began the planning for

the construction of the National Research and Training Institute for the Blind.

In 1999 we discussed the Research Institute at the convention, and we dedicated

our 2000 convention to the building of the Institute. A full report of the progress

of this initiative will be included later in the convention. However, fund raising

has gone well. We have received more than 18,000 gifts ranging in amount from

a few dollars to one million. We have obtained outright gifts and pledges of

more than ten million dollars, and the groundbreaking for construction will

occur on October 19, 2001, at the National Center for the Blind. Following the

groundbreaking there will be a Gala celebration of the work of the Federation.

Federation members and our friends are encouraged to participate—especially

those who have dreamed of a new kind of research and who have worked to make

our Institute come true.

In November of 2000, the National Federation of the Blind participated

in the quadrennial General Assembly of the World Blind Union in Melbourne, Australia.

Kicki Nordstrom of Sweden, who spoke at our convention last year, was elected

to the presidency. She is a woman of spirit, and she will work diligently. However,

the world organization is rarely unified in its objectives, and the progress

it makes is often slow. Nevertheless, the National Federation of the Blind will

continue to be a part of it and will put energy and resources into the world

body to promote programs of self-organization of the blind.

Then, there is the National Federation of the Blind Everest

Expedition. Two years ago we decided to support a blind mountain climber, Erik

Weihenmayer, in his dream to reach the highest spot on the globe—the summit

of Mount Everest. Erik Weihenmayer will be making a full report later in this

convention. However, our dreams combined with our support and the efforts of

a climbing team have been successful. Erik Weihenmayer is the first blind man

ever to stand on the top of the world.

Part of the reason for supporting the Everest Expedition is

to let people know about the work of the National Federation of the Blind. When

he returned from Nepal, Erik Weihenmayer's exploits were reported on CNN, The

Today Show, Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, and The Tonight Show with

Jay Leno. There were dozens of newspaper and radio interviews, and our expedition

was featured as the cover story in Time magazine. It is estimated that there

were something in the neighborhood of 500 million media hits for this expedition,

and featured prominently was the National Federation of the Blind.

We have renewed our effort in Congress to eliminate the work

disincentives caused by the Social Security earnings limit. Congressman Robert

Ehrlich of Maryland and Senator John McCain of Arizona have introduced identical

bills which would raise the current blind persons' earnings exemption from just

under $15,000.00, where it is now, to $30,000.00 per year—$2,500.00 per

month—toward the goal of its eventual elimination.

These bills have strong bipartisan support in Congress and a

solid majority of co-sponsors in the House. The battle to remove the economic

penalties placed on blind people who go to work began decades ago, and much

progress has been made. However, in this Congress we may be able to make a very

substantial change for the blind of today and those of generations to come.

We have initiated an effort in Congress significantly to expand

financial support for meeting the training and adjustment needs of blind people

age 55 and older. This is by far the largest segment of the blind population,

and the current level of service available is far from adequate to meet the

growing need. Therefore, our proposal would expand covered services under Medicare

to include independent living services for older blind individuals. This proposed

amendment would allow state vocational rehabilitation agencies to be reimbursed

for at least a portion of the cost of services provided.

Three years ago we started the Jobline®

service in partnership with the United States Department of Labor. This service

provides convenient access to America's Job Bank by means of a standard touch-tone

telephone. America's Job Bank is the largest database of job listings available

anywhere in the world. Now, we have created the technology to make this service

available nationwide. Everybody in the United States—blind or not—can

now reach the National Federation of the Blind Jobline®. So, here is the

toll-free number: 1-800-414-5748.

In July of 1998, the National Federation of the Blind, with

substantial support from the United States Department of Labor, began an ambitious

second generation of Job Opportunities for the Blind. The new initiative targeted

competitive jobs for the blind through intensive training in our three NFB training

centers and placement with both public and private employers. Prominent private

companies such as the United Parcel Service, IBM, The Gallup Organization, Marriott

Worldwide Reservations, and others have accepted our invitation to become partners

in the JOB program. As a result of this work, through March of this year, 125

additional blind people have been enrolled for services from this program and

61 have found competitive jobs since our last convention.

There have also been a number of legal cases this year. We have

successfully represented the blind vendor program in a conflict with sheltered

workshops over the operation of military mess halls as cafeterias under the

Randolph-Sheppard Act. NISH (formally National Industries for the Severely Handicapped)

is a conglomerate of workshops that employ persons with severe disabilities.

The ongoing dispute involves attempts by NISH and its affiliates to claim a

priority over the blind in being chosen to fulfill contracts for food service

in military mess halls. There is a priority for such food service, but contrary

to the assertions of NISH, it does not apply to them. It is created in the language

of the Randolph-Sheppard Act, and it applies to the blind.

On April 18, 2001, in the only published and precedent-setting

decision issued so far, a case involving food service at Fort Lee, Virginia,

titled NISH v Cohen, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

agreed with us. Mess halls are cafeterias as defined in the Randolph-Sheppard

Act, the Court said, and the blind have a statutory priority to operate them.

Building on the victory in the Fort Lee case, we are representing

a blind vendor seeking to become the operator of the mess halls at Kirtland

Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Although the Air Force fought us

for a time, it has recently recognized that the Randolph-Sheppard priority applies,

and a blind vendor should be employed soon.

Janet Mushington is a certified teacher whose job offer from

the Baltimore City Public School System was withdrawn when the school system

learned that she is blind and uses a guide dog for travel. The refusal to hire

on these grounds is a violation of law, and the Department of Justice has agreed

to bring her case in the Federal District Court with our help. Already negotiations

have begun, and it appears that Janet Mushington will be properly compensated

for the discrimination she has undergone. It is good to have friends in the

National Federation of the Blind. Janet Mushington is with us at this convention.

Darlene Barker was a consumer credit counselor with Amerix Corporation

who had received glowing personnel reviews. Amerix acquired new software and

decided it would be too much trouble to make the new computer system accessible.

Without discussing accessibility issues with her, Amerix fired Darlene Barker.

Yet, they tell us there is no discrimination—that the blind are treated

equally with others. She was terminated without the opportunity to discuss the

matter. We are filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

on behalf of Darlene Barker, and we will take the matter to court if necessary.

We are not prepared to let discrimination be unchallenged. We will talk if we

can, but we will fight if we must.

Before last year's convention, we sued Chevy Chase Bank, whose

ATM locations (all of them inaccessible to the blind) include all the leading

transportation, business, and tourist venues in our Nation's Capital, along

with a number of locations in Virginia and Maryland. We have now reached a settlement.

After a pilot program to deploy accessible ATMs at the airports and other public

places, Chevy Chase will have accessible ATMs at

each of its more than 700 locations. The entire rollout of accessible machines

will occur within three years.

DeKinyon Baldwin was a Missouri high school student who wanted

to attend the summer program at the Colorado Center for the Blind last year.

The school system refused to pay for the program. The Federation made it possible

for DeKinyon to attend and sued the school system. The school system backed

down, paid for the program, and paid our legal bills. Proper training at an

early age is vital for success, and we insist on it. If you need to know how

it is done, ask DeKinyon Baldwin.

The Federal Communications Commission has promulgated a rule

requiring broadcast television entertainment to have a portion of its programming

audio-described so that the blind may know what is on the screen. At the same

time, the FCC failed to require audio description of text messages on the screen,

such as weather alerts, emergency announcements, and other critical information.

We have challenged the rule as arbitrary and capricious in the United States

Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and we expect to win.

Dennis Lindsey is a blind man living in Denver, Colorado, who

is a member of the National Federation of the Blind. With a former wife, Tonya

Lindsey, he had two children, Garry and Taylor. His ex-wife has had a history

of mental illness. Furthermore, she physically assaulted Dennis last September

and got arrested for it.

Shortly after the assault, Tonya Lindsey filed an emergency

ex-parte motion with the Court requesting that a restraining order be entered

against Dennis Lindsey prohibiting him from seeing his children except for a

brief time on the weekends. The reasons for the motion were that Dennis Lindsey

is blind and diabetic, and that blind diabetics cannot (according to Tonya Lindsey)

care for children. The motion was granted.

We appeared on Dennis Lindsey's behalf, and the judge's order

was vacated. Today, the children are living full-time with Dennis Lindsey. Although

permanent orders have not yet been entered, we expect them soon, and we will

not permit the Court or anybody else to prohibit Dennis Lindsey from exercising

his parental rights because of his blindness.

Mary Cullum is a member of the National Federation of the Blind

living in Springfield, Missouri. She is a client of Missouri Rehabilitation

Services for the Blind, RSB. She requested that RSB sponsor adjustment to blindness

training for her at the Colorado Center for the Blind, but RSB denied the request.

The reason for the denial was that no contract existed between the Colorado

Center and Missouri rehabilitation. The contract had been terminated in 1997,

because the Colorado Center for the Blind routinely announces that meetings

of the Denver chapter of the National Federation of the Blind will take place

and encourages its students to participate in the Federation.

We filed an appeal, and a hearing occurred late in May. Missouri

rehabilitation has violated the provisions of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973,

as amended. Shortly before this convention a decision was reached. Mary Cullum's

right to free choice has been violated by RSB. She will be receiving her adjustment

to blindness training at the Colorado Center for the Blind. The decision was

made because of the work of the National Federation of the Blind.

Tammy Pettyjohn is the mother of a blind child, Isa Hullender,

now eleven years old. They live in Georgia, and they have been attempting to

obtain Braille instruction for Isa for the past five years. Although the Individuals

with Disabilities Education Act contains provisions which declare that Braille

will be taught if a parent wants it taught, Isa Hullender has not been receiving

instruction. Isa's mother insisted that Braille instruction be included in the

education plan. But there was no teacher. When a teacher was found, she objected

to teaching Braille.

Because of these circumstances the school system decided to

eliminate Braille as part of the education curriculum for Isa. Isa's mother

called for our assistance. Tammy Pettyjohn asked if we could identify a bright,

well-qualified teacher of the blind to perform an independent assessment. We

did; the assessment was preformed; and the conclusion was unequivocal. Braille

is a must for Isa Hullender.

When the hearing with the school district came to a conclusion,

the education plan was as unequivocal as the assessment. Braille would be taught

every single day. We know that Braille is an essential skill. The evaluators

may fight us, the administrators may try to avoid us, and the teachers may object

to us. But we will continue to insist on Braille. If Isa Hullender does not

receive instruction in Braille, we will find a way to charge the school district

with liability for its failure to give her the education she needs. It is that

serious, and we are that determined.

There have also been Social Security cases. Kathryn Freetman,

from Lincoln, Nebraska, contacted us in October 2000, concerning her application

for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits. Despite the fact that she

was making less than the current exempt earnings amount for blind individuals,

she was told that she would not qualify. We immediately initiated an appeal,

citing the regulations pertaining to blind recipients. In March 2001, Kathryn

Freetman received a check in the amount of $21,700.00 in back benefits, and

her monthly checks have begun to arrive.

We have continued with a great many educational programs, teaching

classes for students of ophthalmology at the University of Maryland, for teachers

of the blind at the University of Louisville, for rehabilitation professionals,

and others. Leadership seminars have been conducted for students at the Colorado

Center for the Blind, the Louisiana Center for the Blind, and Blindness: Learning

in New Dimensions. Community leaders and business executives have attended a

number of transformation seminars conducted at the National Center for the Blind

to give them a notion about what blindness is, and especially what it is not.

A record number of individuals have visited the National Center

for the Blind this year, more than 2,500 people from the United States and twenty

other countries. We hosted librarians who have visited the Library of Congress

in an international program sponsored by the Soros Foundation to encourage international

understanding and cooperation. They came to us from the countries of Georgia,

Russia, the Czech Republic, and the Slovak Republic.

In 1991 we initiated a program to distribute Kernel

books, small volumes containing firsthand accounts of the meaning of blindness

intended to take the mystery from the subject and encourage the public to comprehend

us as we are. Last fall we released volume 19 in the series, entitled I Can

Feel Blue on Monday, and at this convention we release number 20, Reaching for

the Top in the Land Down Under. With a circulation approaching five million,

these books that describe the real-life experiences of the blind are attracting

attention from a growing number of individuals and are making blindness interesting

and exciting for a perceptive audience. With these volumes we are altering forever

the meaning of blindness and the future for blind people.

There are also the other ongoing programs of the Federation.

We continue to print and distribute the Braille Monitor,

the most widely read, general interest magazine about blindness with a circulation

in the neighborhood of 35,000 per month. The Voice of the

Diabetic, our magazine for blind diabetics and their friends, has reached

a circulation of well over a quarter of a million. Future

Reflections, the magazine for parents and educators of blind children continues

to stimulate teachers and parents, being circulated to approximately 14,000

people per quarter. And there are the other publications, the recorded edition

of the American Bar Association Journal, The Student Slate—a publication

of the National Association of Blind Students, and state and local newsletters

and publications.

The Federation is on the move, tackling more and bigger problems

than ever before in our history and expanding our programs and activities. Despite

our growing diversity, we are the same Federation that came into being in 1940

to plan for our future and dream of a time when our talents would be recognized.

We gain our spirit from our positive philosophy and from each other. Sometimes,

when we undertake an ambitious new program that will stretch our imagination

and tax our resources, we wonder if it can be done. When we have completed the

ambitious effort, we cannot imagine a time when it would have been beyond our

powers. In just this way we expand our horizons and increase our opportunities

for ourselves and for those who come after us.

In 1986 you gave to me the highest honor the Federation can

bestow—you elected me president. I have tried to lead the organization

with imagination and firmness. I promised my predecessor, Dr. Kenneth Jernigan,

that I would do my best to continue to lead the movement as long as the Federation

wanted me to do so.

We have a bond in this organization of love and trust which

spans the generations and does much to make us what we are. I will do my best

to lead with all that I have and all that I am. I will not shirk or dodge or

avoid hardships and confrontations. I will not imagine that the work is too

hard or the challenges too great. And I will come to the daily tasks with as

much optimism and imagination as I can muster. I will believe in our future,

and I will believe in you, the members of the Federation.

But you too must do your part. When the attacks come and the

setbacks occur, you must support the Federation, its leaders, and me. When the

challenges to our methods and morals are made, you must tell me that you believe

in our cause and in our people as much as I believe in you. Building our movement

will not be easy or simple. It demands everything within us—our faith,

our energy, our willingness to give, our capacity to comprehend, our commitment

to care. However, whatever is demanded we will give. Whatever is needed we will

provide.

With such a commitment, with such a shared responsibility, with

such unshakable determination, with such an outpouring of love—our movement

is unstoppable and unbeatable. We are the blind, and we will decide for ourselves

what the future will be. Our movement cannot be hindered or slowed or turned

back. As I have worked with you, the members of the Federation during the past

year, this is what I have had confirmed yet again with absolute certainty. This

is the meaning of the National Federation of the Blind. This is my report for

2001!

Back to Top

Posted: January 7, 2002