Carl,
But I wasn't thinking about the world of the blind when I wrote that post. I
was thinking about my interests and concerns which have always been political
and which have always had to do with international relations, civil liberties,
and race relations. Those are the things that I've been interested in, but my
ability to connect with others who had the same interests, were limited by my
disability. By the way, so was my ability to make a good living and have
financial security in my old age. And if I'd had that, I might be in a much
better situation than I am now. But back to my first point. Given whom I
associated with for most of my life, I couldn't find people with the same
interests and beliefs as I had. An exception was when I was attending social
work school and lived in a graduate co-op. Some of the people there, thought as
I did, but even then, my visual disability was a social barrier. But one
evening, the two African American women who lived in the co-op, invited me to
attend a Mahalia Jackson concert with them. She was a wonderful gospel singer.
They asked me because they knew I was into folk music. There were other people
who also liked folk music, but for some reason, I'm the only one they invited
to go with them. After the concert, they invited me to join them at a party
they were attending. Everyone at that party was African American except me and
one other white person. It was the best party I ever attended because people
were so kind and welcoming. I was included. People asked me to dance. I heard
wonderful rhythym and blues music that I'd never heard before. For that one
night, I wasn't visually impaired. I will add to that, that many years later
when I was traveling in Manhattan with a guide dog to do home visits as part of
my adoption work, it was African American people who were the most generous in
offering assistance whenever they saw me.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Wednesday, August 19, 2020 11:03 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Speaking of censorship
Miriam,
I would submit that it was not your blindness that worked as a roadblock, it
was opportunity. Had you lived in Washington State during the 70's, I and
others would have done all we could to obtain your support on behalf of blind
people. That one struggle to establish a Commission for the Blind, lasting 7
years, thrust several blind people into successful careers. We saw blind
people take positions on the state Human Rights Commission, several went on to
successful careers in Law, several went on to open and successfully operate
private businesses. And even I managed to secure employment, later advancing
to direct the Adult Orientation and Training Center at Services for the blind,
and as assistant director of field services.
In a sense, blindness was the launching pad. One of my reasons for supporting
collectivism, many hands make light the work.
It's tough when you stand up and look around and discover that you're the only
one standing.
One thing for sure, Miriam, after reading your posts and personal thoughts for
several years, We really could have gained from your participation during those
years in the 70's and 80's as we struggled from our roles as Patients, to
becoming Clients, and on to being Participants who must be totally involved in
the rehabilitation process. We're a long way from standing on the level
playing field, but we are no longer "the invisible blind".
And all the efforts caused ripples to circle out. Today we have a blind
Lieutenant Governor who rose up on his own merits, but did so because of
activities that went on long before he was born.
In fact it was blindness that enabled me to return to college and put behind me
the work in the drapery factory. College and raising a daughter placed more of
a strain on our family budget than we could handle. But on SSDI and free
college? A piece of cake...with whipped cream.
Of course I never wanted to become totally blind, but I always took the
position that we played with the cards we were dealt.
Yup, I sure missed you back in the 70's and 80's.
Carl Jarvis, who never wants to look around and find myself alone.
On 8/18/20, Roger Loran Bailey <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Miriam, I think you may be writing to the wrong people. OO tunes
provides the radio stations you get on your Stream. The podcasts are
provided by something else, I think maybe the Apple podcast store.
___
Carl Sagan
“Every aspect of Nature reveals a deep mystery and touches our sense
of wonder and awe. Those afraid of the universe as it really is, those
who pretend to nonexistent knowledge and envision a Cosmos centered on
human beings will prefer the fleeting comforts of superstition. They
avoid rather than confront the world. But those with the courage to
explore the weave and structure of the Cosmos, even where it differs
profoundly from their wishes and prejudices, will penetrate its deepest
mysteries.”
― Carl Sagan, Cosmos
On 8/18/2020 9:47 PM, Miriam Vieni wrote:
Problem is, given the joys of using modern technology, it's difficult
to know whether what is happening is a result of a technical issue or
whether stuff is being censored. So I do find it rather suspicious
that the Mary Trump and John Bolton books were quickly removed from
BARD shortly after they were put up and the reason given was, well I
don't know what because I'm one of the people who never saw the
removal notification that supposedly everyone saw and had to click OK
on. But it was something to do with missing text. But now there are
two podcasts which are suddenly hard to get. Loud and Clear
disappeared for a week. There are supposed to be 5 daily programs.
It airs on the Sputnik network in DC. Then last week, 3 episodes
appeared on one day. Not good because it's a discussion of daily
news. The episodes for yesterday and today never appeared. Well,
everyone in DC thinks that the Russian government is trying to cause
conflict and discontent in our harmonious peaceful nation. So now,
Flashpoints, which is aired on KPFA didn't appear last night or this
morning and tonight's episode is not downloading now. Neither is
today's Loud and Clear. I've sent an email to OO Tunes asking why,
but I'm not holding my breath until I receive an answer.
Now, if I were like Evan Reese, (who's tried to kill me on the two
lists of which we are both members, and I were comfortable accepting
the political center and the mainstream media consensus on all issues
and I worshipped artificial intelligence, I could happily snuggle in
the warm, comfortable nest that the ruling class has provided for the
consumers of mainstream thought. I was reminded, the other day, that
a book by Neil Postman, was written back in the sixties about the
effects of television on the population called, Entertaining
Ourselves To Death.
One big disadvantage to me of being blind is that had I not had a
disability, I would have been free to find, and to be accepted by,
people who think as I do and I could have been more active in working
toward the kind of world in which I believe.
Miriam