Suzanne Mitchell

Suzanne Mitchell

Public Officials Assess

the Man

Suzanne Mitchell

From the Editor: Suzanne Mitchell is a

long-time Federationist and the director of the state agency serving blind people in

Louisiana. This month she begins serving a term as President of the National Council of

State Agencies for the Blind (NCSAB), the professional organization of state agency

directors in the blindness field.

In April of 1998 the National Council of State

Agencies for the Blind presented its first Lifetime Achievement Award to Dr. Kenneth

Jernigan. Upon receiving notification of this honor, Dr. Jernigan wrote to Jamie Hilton,

then President of NCSAB, and said: "The state agencies are front-line soldiers in the

battle to bring first-class citizenship to the blind, and recognition from their national

organization is heartwarming. Present-day reality is that agencies doing work with the

blind and the organized blind movement have mutual interests and that there cannot be an

adversarial relationship. Any of us who fail to recognize this truth hurt both the

agencies and the blind they were established to serve. Whatever the situation may have

been in bygone days, these are now the facts of life; and past grudges, long-time hatreds,

and traditional squabbles must be put behind us. No, they must not be put behind us but

totally forgotten in the interest of harmony and joint effort. That is my thinking; that

is the thinking of the National Federation of the Blind; and that is also the thinking of

all sensible people in the blindness field."

The honor bestowed upon Dr. Jernigan by NCSAB

touched him profoundly. He expressed that many times in the last weeks of his life. To

him, to all Federationists, and to the body of state directors in NCSAB, this recognition

symbolized an historic moment and the arrival of a new day of cooperative partnership and

thinking among the organized blind and the agencies. The remarks Dr. Jernigan made upon

accepting the Lifetime Achievement Award speak simply and eloquently of the truths which

guide our movement and our purpose in the blindness field. He said, "There is great

strength in collective action. Great opportunity comes by working together toward common

goals, but most of all great satisfaction comes from knowing that together we have done

our individual and collective best to move blind people closer to the day when they will

have the encouragement, training, and self-respect to live normal lives as normal

people."

As I begin my term this January as president of

the National Council of State Agencies for the Blind, Dr. Jernigan's words will offer me

and my colleagues the same wisdom and guidance that so many of his teachings and words of

counsel have done over the years. Two simple truths offered by Dr. Jernigan have proven

valid time and time again. The first is "The test of a thing is if it works."

The second is "If it can, it will." The National Federation of the Blind has

been tested—and it works. And the development of harmony among public rehabilitation

agencies and the blind has moved from "can" happen to "will" happen.

The poet William Blake once wrote, "If a

thing loves, it is infinite." We all felt the love, compassion, and devotion of Dr.

Jernigan and indeed, through his love, he will remain infinite in our hearts and in our

movement. Through his continuing spirit, which abides in all of us, he will bring hope, a

sense of destiny, and daily renewal as we continue to carry on his important work.

Together we are changing what it means to be blind.