So I've been thinking about this discussion ever since it started and it occurs
to me that this specific issue, providing services for older newly blind people
and the unbelievable inadequacy of the services, the neglect of this specific
sector of this population, is an example of the inadequacy of capitalism in
meeting social needs. And the fact is that the blindness advocacy groups are
obviously not the answer to the problem. There's no way that they can
substitute for well funded government programs. In New York City and in Los
Angeles and, I believe, San Francisco, blind people benefited from large,
privately funded multi service agencies for the blind until these agencies
began to be dismantled. But the rest of the country didn't have anything like
these agencies and most blind people never received the level of services that
they provided. The reasons for the dismantling of the agencies were economic
with all sorts of cultural rationalizations. But the advocacy organizations
never had the power to demand that government agencies be better funded and
that they provide a better level of services. Back in the mid 60's, I taught
two courses for Hadley. It's certainly better than nothing. But the reason that
I was able to learn braille as quickly and as well as I did, aside from the
fact that I was young, was that I had someone teaching me and providing
encouragement and emotional support. When you learn braille, you're developing
neurological pathways that enable you to distinguish the dots. And if I
remember correctly, I started with larger size cells and the size decreased as
my fingers became accustomed to recognizing what I was touching. In our modern
world, this pretense of providing service when almost nothing is being provided
is in every field. We have a Sservice for the Aging in our county and Debbie
called them and put me on a list. When my name came up for a phone interview,
the woman called. Debbie had some sort of fantasy that they would have home
care services. On paper, they do. They contract with home health agencies, the
same agencies I've already had experience with and which are expensive and
undependable. If my income were lower, the county would help with the cost. But
they don't even have professionally educated social workers to help people find
appropriate services. All they have is a list of names that they give people.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Monday, August 31, 2020 3:20 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: blindness, was,Jacob Blake's Father Says His Son
Is Paralyzed Below Waist After Being Shot From Behind by Kenosha Police
It's a never ending downward spiral. Time, funding and personnel cuts
even as numbers of new applications increase. How bad is it? In
Washington State the funds that come from the federal government, which fund
the majority of the Independent Living/Older Blind Program, are passed off to
the University of Washington because the DSB agency has no FTE's to administer
the program. But the U offered to free up a position. And how does the
program fund positions for Rehab Teachers? Why, contracts, of course.
Each year the IL/OB program offers contracts. Non Negotiable, take it or leave
it. Cathy and I did well enough for many years because we covered such a large
territory(the entire Olympic Peninsula and Kitsap Peninsula, too)as well as
having my state retirement and social security, and later we added Cathy's two
retirements. So even though we could only charge a certain percentage of our
contract funds to cover Aids and Equipment, we were always able to increase
that amount out of our own pockets. But the only expensive equipment we were
able to provide were those that were donated to us. Veterans had the best of
all worlds. The VA provided some very expensive equipment, like the top end
CCTV's, along with a four week residential training program, or out patient
services in Seattle.
I've always considered our services akin to rushing into a bomb explosion armed
with a box of band aids.
As I mentioned before, we had very few request for Braille. But we still
presented it as an alternative skill for use in labeling. Our program would
never support teaching Braille to the place where our client could actually
read Literary Braille. But we explained that we would get them started, and
then connect them with the correspondence services at Hadley. Two women went
the entire route. Two in 25 years. But the importance of it to them was huge.
The reward to us was immense. Such sweet, kind people, over joyed just for
the little we did for them. In today's wild and angry world, it's a huge help
recalling how many good people live all around us. Far more than those angry
loud mouths who keep making the news.
Cathy and I came away from those 25 years far and away the better for it.
Carl Jarvis
On 8/29/20, Frank Ventura <frank.ventura@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Miriam, of all of the elderly folks Iwork with I have never heard even
one express a desire to learn braille. Some want to learn to use
computer non-visually and some don't. The latest craze among the
elders is smart speakers like Amazon Alexa or Google Home devices.
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Miriam Vieni
Sent: Saturday, August 29, 2020 4:31 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: blindness, was,Jacob Blake's Father
Says His Son Is Paralyzed Below Waist After Being Shot From Behind by
Kenosha Police
Carl,
The problem is twofold, at least. First of all, it has to do with
money. No one is spending money on rehabilitation of the blind like
they used to, and certainly not on the elderly blind. Things had
changed radically in New York by the 90's when I was still in touch
with what was going on, and for the elderly, only a fraction of what
used to be available was available. God knows what's left now. And the
younger high functioning blind people , from what I can tell on the
email lists that I'm on, tend to be rather entitled and self centered.
They're focused on obtaining technology and learning to use it. Their
idea of advocacy is ensuring that the latest app is accessible. They
are not interested in an old person, recently blind, who can't use a
computer with a screen reader. They don't understand why I don't have
an I phone. They collect several devices, not just one VR Stream and an I
phone, but several other small devices, all of which do the same thing.
As for the newly blind old people, the woman who had recently become
legally blind and lived in the same apartment building as I, was
getting audio books from the local library, but they had to be brought
back within one or two weeks. I told her about the books from NLS that
would be sent to her and helped her become involved with the regional
library. She used the books for a few months and then stopped. She
didn't tell me the reason, but from her attitude, I could figure out
the reason. She didn't want to be known in the building as someone who
received books for the blind. That woman used to use a computer. When
I suggested that she could get one with screen magnification and a
screen reader, she didn't want to consider that option or learning to
use it. I suppose that each chapter and affiliate has its own
character, but it seems like the emphasis of the advocacy groups in
general, is on the issues that affect the younger, blind people who
are students and who work. I know that ACB has some sort of group on
aging, but whether that gets to every state affiliate and all the chapters in
each state, is another story.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Saturday, August 29, 2020 2:57 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: blindness, was,Jacob Blake's Father
Says His Son Is Paralyzed Below Waist After Being Shot From Behind by
Kenosha Police
And that's exactly what yanked my chain, Miriam. This strange
thinking that Braille can shadow print. The six dot Braille cell was
found to be far more readable than the old Moon Type, because it was
easier to feel. The contractions that ended up in the 1960 Braille
Grade II Code(Standard Literary Braille)made good sense in the use of
space conservation. Any student capable of learning Braille could
easily understand the difference between running words such as, and,
the, for, with, and of in the Braille code, and the use of spaces in
print. Also, the use of contractions and short word forms. But while
I bitch about it, my teaching days are behind me, and the next
generation can take over. The fact is that people will adapt.
The greater struggle needs to be carried on by All the Blind, of All Ages.
We are becoming older, and many new blind people have functioned as
sighted people for the majority of their lives. Now they are not only
older, but losing their sight, their hearing, their memories and their
energy. As active as I am at 85, if I do up the dishes from last
night, strip the bed and change the sheets and sweep the kitchen
floor, I am done for the rest of the morning. Chores that I used to
do in addition to doing more strenuous work now wear me out. Learning
new "tricks" is slower, attention span is shorter, and often even our
balance is untrustworthy, leading many to become recluses. But
instead of more time and training, our elders are receiving less. We
need to become more active in our demands for better training, or we
will find ourselves back in the days of the Poor Houses and nursing homes
where our ability to become independent will be smothered.
We, the blind as well as the rehab teachers, need another shot in the
arm of that good old NFB enthusiasm, "We know who we are and we'll never go
back!"
Carl Jarvis
On 8/29/20, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
As for the new code, I've read the rationalizations for it which come
down to, "it's more like print and somehow, this makes it more
useable in business or with computers". Well, I don't know about
business or computers.
I do know that the point of traditional American grade 2 braille was
to make reading books more efficient and the new code makes reading
books less efficient because it removes some contractions. The point
of having the contractions is to allow one to read more quickly by
reading fewer letters.
The point of learning grade 2 is that one is no longer pretending to
read print. One is reading a braille code. There was also once a
grade
3 which had even more contractions than grade 2 and was meant for the
use of blind secretaries. Having read about it once, I developed a
few of my own personal contractions that I used when taking notes,
back when I was interviewing people.
Fred was a rehab teacher, and then he was head of the rehab teaching
department at Helen Keller Services for the blind, which used to be
called The Industrial Home for the Blind. A majority of the people
whom his department served, were elderly, newly blinded people. The
department flourished for the years during which federal funds were
available for a category of rehab client called, "Homemaker", and
then were expanded for some insane category called, "Homemaker's
Helper", which, I assume meant someone who could barely learn any skills.
During all of the years that he did rehab teaching and then ran the
program, he taught only one older woman enough braille so that she
actually used it for reading books. She was about
60 years old.
My children never wanted to have anything to do with braille. I have
no grandchildren. Various people who have had occasion to see me
using my braille writer, have been curious about braille. I've showed
them what a braille cell is, and how letters are formed, and their
curiosity was then satisfied.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Saturday, August 29, 2020 12:32 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: blindness, was,Jacob Blake's Father
Says His Son Is Paralyzed Below Waist After Being Shot From Behind by
Kenosha Police
Sitting here in front of me are two Braille 'N' Speaks. Both are set
up in the Braille code that was around from 1960. I read very little
Braille these days, but still keep lots of notes and lists on my
Braille 'N' Speaks.
So the Wise Pooh Paws who determine the order of the Braille Dots
can have their way, and I will putt along using what I'm familiar with.
Too bad for those who also learned the old "normal" Braille code.
Adapting to a new system is very much easier for the young, than for
us oldsters.
My grandchildren all found Braille fascinating, and several of them
learned the Braille alphabet so they could leave Grandpa love letters.
Only one grand daughter went to the length of learning to use a slate
and stylus. A couple of them pounded away on my Braille Writer and
then beamed up at me, "Grandpa, what did I say?" I would study their
jumble of dots, and then read stuff like "Grandpa, can you walk me to
the store and we can buy ice-cream bars for everyone." When they
were very young they were impressed by their great talent. As they
became older and wiser, they would listen for a bit and then say,
"Grandpa ah ah..."
I spent as little as three months with some adult students getting
them up to 30 words per minute. The longest I spent was just a few
days over one year. But that student went on to use Braille in his
daily life. Sadly, he died from cancer in his mid forties.
But as an instructor, I tried to remember that each of us are
individuals, and we learn differently. My challenge was to figure
out how to engage each new student.
Cathy and I did the same with our older adult clients. I think that
in 25 years we taught Braille to fewer than a dozen clients. And we
worked with well over 3,000 clients. Only two women, both former
special Education teachers, learned to read Standard Grade Two
Braille. But in spite of the chastising we constantly received from
our friends in the NFB, learning Braille was not the key that opened
the door to living independently in a sighted world.
There are many stumbling blocks along that road to independence, many
of them placed there by us, the service providers. But we also face
discrimination by Society in general, because we have a bad attitude
toward our Elders.
But I said that I'd tell you about that woman who read well over
1,000 words per minute.
Because many of my adult students had been visually impaired or blind
from childhood, I would ask each new student whether they had been
taught Braille as they grew up. "I sure did", this sweet young woman
assured me. "I even won a blue ribbon for being the fastest reader
in our First Grade resource room."
"Well," I told her, "There are always techniques that will assist us
in developing our reading and comprehension". I pulled down a
Braille book that was written for about eighth grade level, and said,
"When I give you the signal, read as fast as you can until I say
stop". The time was to be
15 minutes. At about 13 minutes she stopped and said, "What else can
I read?"
Thinking that she'd finally reached the bottom of the first page, I
said, "Turn the page".
"But Mister Jarvis, I've finished the book".
Many thoughts passed through my head, the dominant one being that she
was scamming me. "You finished the book?" Using the standard of
roughly 200 words per page, times the number of pages in that volume,
I quickly calculated that she just read at about 1,200 words per minute.
"Impossible", my brain told me. But I calmly stood and opened the
book to the middle, and told her to read. As she did, I placed my
hands lightly on hers. She took off like a thoroughbred out of the
gate. About halfway down the page I told her to stop. Then I took
the book and slowly read, word by word, until I knew what the story
was all about. "Tell me what you just read", I said. And she did,
word for word. Not only super fast, but a photographic memory, too.
Further testing brought me back down to the ground when I had her
read from the encyclopedia, and asked her to tell me what she had read.
While she could recite the reading word for word, she had no idea of
what it told her.
Despite her amazing speed, she never learned a vocational skill, and
was never able to find employment.
This has bothered me for over the past forty plus years. She had
learned to read Braille. She could follow a routine of showering,
dressing, fixing cereal and toast, and helping her mother do the
daily household chores. But she could not transfer even basic
cleaning skills, into outside jobs.
Did she live "happily ever after"? Probably not. But I'll bet she
read every Braille book in the Talking Book and Braille Library.
Carl Jarvis
On 8/28/20, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
The thing is, you and Penny are talking from the point of view of
the theory that the rehab profession teaches its practitioners.
And, of course, if people learn the skill when they are children,
they're going to be much more proficient. But you can't force
children to learn a skill that they don't emotionally recognize a
need for. If they have enough eyesight to see print, even if it's
only large print, and if the whole world uses print, that's what
they're going to try to use. Using the vision that one has is the
natural thing for individuals to do. We learn an alternative method
from using our sight, only when reality forces us to. And it's
really hard because when someone is blind from birth or infancy, the
entire manner in which they perceive the world is organized
differently from someone who has sight. If you're going to learn
braille, you're bringing a whole new sensory experience into play.
For me, recognizing braille characters has never been the
instantaneous, automatic experience that recognizing print is. I
have no idea how fast I was able to read a braille book. But it was
never as quickly as Fred could read. And now the experts have changed the
braille code.
Unforgiveable! (smile)
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Friday, August 28, 2020 5:23 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: blindness, was,Jacob Blake's Father
Says His Son Is Paralyzed Below Waist After Being Shot From Behind
by Kenosha Police
I agree with Penny. However we did have difficulties teaching
Braille to adults with limited vision, but who could still make out
print. As long as they could struggle reading print faster than
they could read Braille, they reverted as soon as they were out of
the Center. My goal was to reach at least 30 words per minute,
since that put them a bit ahead of their print reading speed.
Several of my faster students continued to use Braille and became
proficient in its use. As my own speed increased, so did my
expectation for my students. My last year teaching Braille, I was
telling students that if they could achieve 50 words per minute,
they'd be a Braille user for life.
But many of my friends who learned Braille from the ground up could
read well over 200 words per minute.
My fastest reader was a young woman who could read Braille at over
1,000 words per minute. But that's a story for later.
As for me, I self taught myself at the ripe old age of 30. I have
been a Braille user, but not the fastest kid on the block. Still,
very few folks learning Braille at my age or older went on to out
read me. I peeked at about 100 words a minute. As a sighted reader
I could read at about 300 words per minute.
Carl Jarvis
On 8/28/20, Penny Reeder <penny.reeder@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I don’t agree about learning braille. When a child learns to read
and write braille early, they develop good tactile sensitivity and
skills for writing with a slate and stylus that are nearly
impossible to pick up later in life even if their primary literacy
tools are print and pencil centered. Good reading and writing
vision frequently deteriorates over time, and when that happens,
they are ahead of the game if they have gained experience with many
modalities. Penny
Sent from my iPhone
On Aug 28, 2020, at 1:57 PM, Miriam Vieni
<miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
I've seen a lot of blind people over the years, people with
varying amounts of residual vision and I've observed that some of
them used the vision they had, efficiently, while others
functioned as if the vision they had, didn't exist. I functioned
as I did because my first eye specialist had a philosophy which he
practiced and which he imparted to my parents, which was that I
should take advantage of the vision that I had and learn how to
use it optimally. Over the years, different blind people whom I've
met, have had varying responses to my way of functioning. One
woman, whom I encountered when I was in South Dakota, complimented
me on how effectively I used my small amount of vision. One of the
older blind women who was on several trips that I was on and who,
with her husband, became a good friend, repeatedly told me that I
should stop putting forth effort to see things which were
difficult to see. I've never been in a rehab program because they
didn't begin the programs for young high school graduates in new
York until several years after I'd graduated.
Perhaps my tactile skills would be better if I'd received some
training, but I doubt it because when I was in high school and
college, I had a great deal of useable vision. Techniques like
training with sleep shades would have been artificial. It's like
when they insisted that kids who attended the New York Institute
for the Blind learn braille. It was an insane requirement because
those kids could read large print and didn't need braille. It was
like learning something so you can pass a test, but it wasn't
integrated into their functioning. The fact is that when sight is
there, but not enough sight to be used in any meaningful way, one
knows it. I certainly knew when the sight that I have left,
stopped being of help in any meaningful way. But when there's
enough to matter, I think it's criminal to deny people its use
and not to teach them how to take advantage of what they have. In
South Dakota, on a field trip, we stood at a window which looked
out at a mountain that the Indians considered to be sacred. I
could see it, not details, but I could see it, with the sun shining on
its top.
The young woman standing next to me had a bit of vision which she
almost never tried to use. I remember suggesting to her that if
she turned toward the window and looked out, she might be able to
see the mountain that was being discussed. She turned hesitantly,
looked in the correct direction, and then said with amazed
pleasure, "You're right. I can really see it".
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Friday, August 28, 2020 1:22 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Jacob Blake's Father Says His Son
Is Paralyzed Below Waist After Being Shot From Behind by Kenosha
Police
When I began teaching Braille in the Orientation and Training
Center, in 1979, the blind organization in Washington State was
affiliated with the NFB. There was a very small ACB affiliate
just beginning to grow. So we patterned our training program
after the one in Des Moines, Iowa at the Iowa Commission for the
Blind. We used sleep shades in the belief that once a person's
vision was at a point where they could no longer function as a
sighted person, then they needed to learn to be in total reliance
on their other senses.
Once they had achieved this goal, and proved to themselves that
they could function fully independent, we removed the sleep shades
and spent some time in using their remaining sight more effectively.
This practice of the sleep shades as a teaching tool met with
strong resistance, but to this day I still see it as critical in
the rehabilitation process.
Many students told their families that we were "teaching us to be
blind".
Actually, we were attempting to provide the training and the tools
students would need in order to function in a sighted world.
Nonetheless, the world is seen differently depending upon, among
other things, how much usable vision a person has. Pretending to
be "Blind"
as in totally blind, was used as a status symbol. DSB director
Ken Hopkins and I had become good friends, and I marveled at how
easily he maneuvered through crowded rooms. I asked his wife
Mary, "How much can Ken see?" Mary quickly replied, "Ken's a
blind guy". And to me that meant that he was totally blind.
Later Ken told me that in the NFB Kenneth Jernigan insisted that
we were all, "blind guys", men, women, totals and partials alike.
I disagreed with him then, and I disagree still. Cathy and I
spent the past 25 years teaching folks to use whatever senses they had.
We taught methods of incorporating the remaining sight with the
remaining hearing, with the remaining senses of smell and touch.
We worked on methods of "remembering" where we put things, because
folks memories were showing wear and tear. And then we told them
that if, or when there were changes in their ability to do their
own care,they should call us and we'd make the needed changes.
This was a vast difference in teaching techniques we used for the
older blind.
Carl Jarvis
On 8/27/20, Roger Loran Bailey <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I went from fully sighted to where I am now, a little bit of
vision but not enough to be useful, and on the way I spent a
little bit of time in each level of legal blindness. If I had
just had time to get used to some of those levels I might have
functioned a lot better in them, but being just barely legally
blind is still difficult to deal with. I remember telling someone
when my eyesight was declining that you do run into walls. That
was because I actually did run into a wall. After that I learned
to slow down a bit and pay better attention. So, does one have
the right to call oneself blind if one is just barely legally blind?
If not then there just about has to be some kind of
acknowledgement of the condition. At least one should call
oneself visually impaired. And as I was typing I remembered a
certain incident from the time my eyesight was declining. My
eyesight worked better in some levels of light than in others.
Bright sunlight was a problem for me, but so was certain stages
of dusk. I was walking on the outskirts of a certain plaza just
as evening was coming on. I thought I could see where I was going
perfectly well. The plaza appeared to be empty. Suddenly I ran -
splat - into a lamppost. My arms flew out and I literally bounced
off it. I was so surprised that I just stood there a moment
looking at the lamp post.
Then I realized that the plaza was not as empty as I thought.
Across the plaza I heard someone breaking up in laughter.
___
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 8/27/2020 1:34 PM, Miriam Vieni wrote:
I do remember NFB's insistence that one is blind, even if one is
legally blind but can see enough to move comfortably without a
cane and can read print with some magnification. Didn't people
have to be blindfolded during rehabilitation in NFB facilities?
I had a friend who became totally blind, but originally had
partial vision.
His parents were blind. I don't think that he was a member of
either NFB or ACB. He was a ham radio operator with a talent for
computers. He and his sighted friend, also a ham radio operator,
bought my first computer for me in 1993, a dos computer, and his
friend set it up and taught me how to use it. It had the
forerunner to Window Eyes, whatever that program for dos was
called and Zoomtext as the print enlargement program. Although
I'd lost a lot of vision by then, I could use Zoomtext at 16X.
My blind friend wanted me not to use it at all. He wanted me to
depend solely on the screen reader because, he was sure, I'd
eventually lose my useable eyesight and I'd have to relearn
everything. To me, that was an insane position to take. I had
some eyesight and I wanted to use it while I had it. He was
wrong. It wasn't until 2018 or 2019 that I stopped using
magnification as backup help to Jaws on my computer. And using
my sight didn't prevent me from using the computer when my sight
was no longer available.
But you were talking about people taking advantage of these
inclusion quotas. That's what Elizabeth Warren did, claiming her
Indian heritage for admittance to something or other. I can't
remember what.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2020 11:42 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Jacob Blake's Father Says His Son
Is Paralyzed Below Waist After Being Shot From Behind by Kenosha
Police
Miriam,
Seems like Black is the dominant color in the crayon box. I
interviewed a fellow many years ago, who told me he was
considered to be Black. Turned out he could justify about an
eighth African American. I can trace about the same percentage,
only my minority is Native American Indian. That doesn't count.
Yet we both were brought up in the same culture, in the same
city and attended the same university.
My last Secretary(administrative assistant)was on the register
as a Hispanic. When Cathy met her, she was surprised to find
herself looking at a fair haired, light complexioned woman. She
turned out to be a terrific assistant, but she had no connection
with the Spanish community, other than that her grandmother was
half Mexican.
Labels, labels, labels. Gotta have our quotas.
When I signed up for several mid management courses, I noticed
that among the forty or so participants, there were only two
women in one group and three in the second group. One Black man
in one group and none in the other. I was the only disabled
person in both groups, although one participant edged up to me
and whispered, "I've got a hidden disability".
Turned out he had a fairly severe hearing loss.
The state was busy training up its future managers from a nearly
all white, all male collection. And back in the late 1980's no
one raised so much as an eyebrow.
Even among the blind in the NFB it was important to wear the
proper label.
Since Jacobus tenBroek was totally blind, and so was Kenneth
Jernigan, even the high partials faked vision loss. We were
all, "Blind Guys", men and women, partials and totals alike.
Belonging seems to trump honesty...hmm...Trump trumps honesty, too.
But I've strayed, so I'll go have some more coffee.
Carl Jarvis
On 8/26/20, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Carl,
Maybe Jacobus tenBroek was black, sort of like Obama is, only
less so.
Who was it who was the head of the NAACP who looked and sounded
white?
I guess that new book called, Caste, is right. Being black is
more a question of caste than race. In this country, you can
look and sound white, and you're still black.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Wednesday, August 26, 2020 8:15 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Jacob Blake's Father Says His
Son Is Paralyzed Below Waist After Being Shot From Behind by
Kenosha Police
Miriam,
I never met Jacobus tenBroek, but it was his speeches in "The
Man and the Movement" that drew me into the NFB. Cathy tells
me that in his pictures he looks White, although many folks who
are considered to be Black look quite Caucasian. Still,
listening to his speeches, I dream up an image of FDR.
But speaking of Black Blind Leaders, back in the 70's John
McCaw was president of the Maryland NFB, and was on the NFB
Board of Directors.
John had a voice that was not only loud but very deep. John
was working for the state of Maryland in a social service
agency, in an administrative position.
John was a very likable man, but his blind nephew was a stuck
up, self centered snob. I forget his name, but he married a
friend of mine, and moved to Washington State. Both he and his
wife Jackie, had their PhD's, but I don't think he ever did work.
Jackie, also totally blind, worked for the State Social and
Health Services.
Her family disowned her for marrying a Black man. I lost track
of him after Jackie was killed by a hit and run driver. When
John died, Kenneth Jernigan wrote an eulogy which he read to
the convention and published it in the Braille Monitor. In it
he attempted to show John's real humble spirit by telling how
John would take Jernigan's shoes out and polish them. I'd need
to find it in order to get the feel of it again, but I
remembered feeling insulted for John.
Carl Jarvis
On 8/26/20, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
That's tragic, especially because, neither are NFB or ACB
interested in this particular issue. Aside from Tenbrook, who
started NFB, and I never knew that he was black until I read
it somewhere recently, I don't think that there have been any
black people in leadership positions in the national
organizations. I don't think there are any African American
people on the blindness email lists that I'm on.
Miriam .
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl
Jarvis
Sent: Wednesday, August 26, 2020 3:39 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Jacob Blake's Father Says His
Son Is Paralyzed Below Waist After Being Shot From Behind by
Kenosha Police
Absolutely true. White, even as a blind man, has its privileges.
A number of Black people attended the Training Center over the
years I worked there.
Most of the ones who did go on to work, ended up at the
Seattle Light House for the Blind.
I can't think of a single Black client who came close to
holding down a job that paid as much as mine paid. One man
ended up operating a snack bar in the Public Assistance
building. He had been a nurse when he could see. His wife
was director of the Head Start Program in King County, but her
connections didn't help her husband. A very bright and
talented fellow played the electric organ in a high end bar in
Seattle's Greenwood area.
He did make a bit of a name for himself, but not until he left
the Northwest and settled in Los Angeles.
Another young man ended up operating a machine at the Light
House, when he would probably have been self employed is a
contractor if he were White, or if he could see. One young
woman was standing on the street corner with a group of
friends, when she was shot in the head by a senseless drive by
scumbag.
She never worked again. We did a great amount of training
students in how to deal with the disadvantages of applying for
work while blind, but we were not equipped to deal with the
problems that arose for the students who were both blind and
Black.
Carl Jarvis
On 8/25/20, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Yes, and being a white protestant man allowed you to know
people who were in positions that allowed them to be of help.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl
Jarvis
Sent: Tuesday, August 25, 2020 8:23 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Jacob Blake's Father Says His
Son Is Paralyzed Below Waist After Being Shot From Behind by
Kenosha Police
Jacob Blake is the same age I was when I became totally blind.
I hope he has the same support network that enabled me to
return to college.
And I hope he has a network of friends in administrative
positions who can assist him in securing a decent living.
Having a friend who became director of our Services for the
Blind agency sure gave me a leg up. Oh yes, one other thing.
The color of my skin gave me a decided advantage. And even
so, it took me
10 years before I was earning the same income as I'd earned
when I was sighted.
Carl Jarvis
On 8/25/20, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Published on
Tuesday, August 25, 2020
byCommon Dreams
Jacob Blake's Father Says His Son Is Paralyzed Below Waist
After Being Shot From Behind by Kenosha Police Marches and
demonstrations have been held nationwide demanding justice
for the 29-year-old father of six, who is Black.
byJessica Corbett, staff writer A boy sits on his father's
shoulders while holding a sign on August 24,
2020
in Kenosha, Wisconsin. (Photo: Brandon Bell/Getty Images) A
boy sits on his father's shoulders while holding a sign on
August 24,
2020
in Kenosha, Wisconsin. (Photo: Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man whom police shot in the
back multiple times in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Sunday, is now
paralyzed from the waist down and doctors do not yet know if
the injury is permanent, his father told the Chicago
Sun-Times on Tuesday.
"Those police officers that shot my son like a dog in the
street are responsible for everything that has happened in
the city of Kenosha."
-Jacob Blake's father
The younger Blake, a father of six, was reportedly trying to
break up a fight before officers followed him to his vehicle
and fired several shots at point-blank range as Blake opened
the driver-side door.
Blake's partner, Laquisha Booker, told a local television
station that the couple's three children were in the back
seat "screaming"
when police shot him.
A video of the police shooting began circulating on social
media Sunday, sparking protests in the Wisconsin city and
other communities across the country. The incident came
nearly three months after footage of Minneapolis police
killing George Floyd led to nationwide demonstrations.
The Sun-Times reported that Blake's father is driving from
Charlotte, North Carolina to be with his hospitalized son,
who now has "eight holes" in his body. The 29-year-old grew
up in Winston-Salem, North Carolina before moving to
Evanston, Illinois during middle school. He has been living
in Kenosha for about three years.
"I want to put my hand on my son's cheek and kiss him on his
forehead, and then I'll be OK," said the elder Jacob Blake.
"I'll kiss him with my mask.
The first thing I want to do is touch my son."
Blake's father also addressed the protests and unrest in
Kenosha, where vehicles and dozens of buildings were set on
fire overnight, according to Newsweek.
"Those police officers that shot my son like a dog in the
street are responsible for everything that has happened in
the city of Kenosha,"
his father said. "My son is not responsible for it. My son
didn't have a weapon.
He didn't have a gun."
As ABC News reported:
The man who said he made the cellphone video, 22-year-old
Raysean White, said he saw Blake scuffling with three
officers and heard them yell, "Drop the knife! Drop the
knife!" before the gunfire erupted.
He said he didn't see a knife in Blake's hands.
The governor said he had seen no information to suggest
Blake had a knife or other weapon, but that the case is
still being investigated by the state Justice Department.
The officers were placed on administrative leave, which is
standard practice in a shooting by police. Authorities
released no details about the officers and did not
immediately respond to requests for their service records.
Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Tony Evers activated 125 members
of the National Guard for the Monday night demonstrations in
Kenosha, where county officials imposed an 8:00 pm curfew.
Newsweek reported that "hundreds of people remained outside
the Kenosha County Courthouse in the city after the curfew
took effect, prompting police to fire the first of several
rounds of tear gas at around 8:30 pm in a bid to disperse them."
Evers also said after the shooting that although all the
details aren't yet known, "what we know for certain is that
he is not the first Black man or person to have been shot or
injured or mercilessly killed at the hands of individuals in
law enforcement in our state or our country."
Blake's family is being represented by civil rights and
personal injury attorney Ben Crump, the lawyer confirmed in
a statement Monday.
Crump is also representing the families of Floyd and Breonna
Taylor, who was killed by Louisville police in March.
"We all watched the horrific video of Jacob Blake being shot
in the back several times by Kenosha police. Even worse, his
three sons witnessed their father collapse after being
riddled with bullets,"
Crump said. "Their irresponsible, reckless, and inhumane
actions nearly cost the life of a man who was simply trying
to do the right thing by intervening in a domestic incident.
It's a miracle he's still alive."
"We will seek justice for Jacob Blake and for his family as
we demand answers from the Kenosha Police Department," the
attorney vowed. "How many more of these tragic 'while Black'
tragedies will it take until the racial profiling and
undervaluing of Black lives by the police finally stops?"
Crump, co-counsels Patrick Salvi and B'Ivory LaMarr, and
Blake's family will hold a news conference Tuesday at 3:00
pm local time at the Kenosha County Courthouse. According to
the attorneys, "The family will address Jacob's current
condition and their plans moving forward following the
latest occurrence of excessive police force against the
young Black man."