                                 PRESIDENTIAL REPORT

                          NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
                               NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA
                                    JULY 3, 1991


     The past year has been a time of unprecedented activity for the National
Federation of the Blind--the largest, most dynamic organization of blind people in
the nation.  Our aspirations have always been high, and our single-minded dedication
to the achievement of full equality for the blind has always remained a constant
driving force of our movement--which accounts for much of the progress we have made. 
The unity and harmony of the Federation are as strong as they have ever been, but
there is also something else--we have expanded our horizons, diversified our
endeavors, and accelerated our pace. 

     One of the key components in creating a climate of independence for the blind is
education of the public to the abilities of blind people.  A necessary part of the
proper perception of blindness is the recognition that only those who have been
democratically elected by the blind can rightfully speak for the blind.  Because
blind individuals have often been regarded as incompetent, recognition that we can
(and indeed must) represent our own interests in the halls of Congress, in the
offices of the executive branch, and in the private sector has been coming slowly;
but in ever broadening arenas, it is coming.  

     On January 9, 1991, Federation members traveled to the White House at the
invitation of America's First Lady, Barbara Bush.  We spoke of the needs, hopes, and
dreams of the nation's blind.  We described our efforts in the Federation to achieve
independence and self-sufficiency.  During the course of our interchange, we
presented to Mrs. Bush an autographed copy of the definitive history of the blind of
the United States, Walking Alone and Marching Together.  The White House is, of
course, a symbol of freedom and the nucleus of our democratic process.  It is the
place where the chief executive of our nation lives and works--the place where the
wishes of Americans are given focus and direction--the place where the actions are
taken to generate a better society.   We the blind, organized in our Federation, the
largest and most vital movement of blind people in the nation, are a part of this
focal point--we in this room are a part of our society and the America of the future-
-we of the National Federation of the Blind.  

     November 16, 1990, was the fiftieth birthday of the National Federation of the
Blind.  Shortly before this date Federation members asked Congressman Paul E.
Kanjorski to sponsor a resolution recognizing the fifty years of progress we in the
National Federation of the Blind have made.  Congressman Kanjorski represents Wilkes-
Barre, Pennsylvania, the birthplace of the Federation.  He is proud of what we have
done, and he was not only willing but pleased to sponsor such a resolution.  However,
he pointed out that at least a majority of the members of the House of
Representatives and Senate must be listed as co-sponsors if the resolution was to be
adopted.  The congressional session had almost come to an end.  There were those who
felt that there was not sufficient time to enlist the support of an adequate number
of senators and representatives.  Within less than two weeks, a majority of the
members of the House and Senate had joined as co-sponsors of Joint Resolution 667, to
commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the National Federation of the Blind and to
designate November 16, 1990, as "National Federation of the Blind Day."  On November
15, 1990, the day before our birthday, President Bush signed the proclamation
commemorating the vital work of the Federation and our fifty years of progress toward
independence for the blind.  On the following day, Congressman Kanjorski traveled to
the National Center for the Blind in Baltimore to present the Presidential
Proclamation in a public ceremony honoring the Federation (along with a United States
flag which had been flown over the Capitol that morning).  

     Our organization is a people's movement.  While the ceremonies were occurring at
the National Center for the Blind, similar celebrations of our fifty years of
progress were being conducted with appropriate public recognition by chapters and
affiliates of the Federation in every part of the nation.  The message of the
proclamation of the President of the United States is clear--the National Federation
of the Blind deserves credit not only for our fifty years of achievement but also for
the savvy we possess today--the ability to enlist support from the public, the press,
and the members of Congress.  Federation members know how to get things done.  Our
congressional resolution was introduced, passed, and signed by the President in less
than six weeks.  

     One of the events occurring on November 16, 1990, was the grand opening of the
National Braille and Technology Center for the Blind.  In addition to the federal and
state officials who participated in the celebration of our fiftieth anniversary, one
Federationist who was present at our founding, and who has served the Federation for
over five decades, assisted in the ribbon cutting.  Hazel tenBroek, the first of our
First Ladies, a Federationist with the faith to believe that the blind can create the
destiny we want to achieve, remembered the days of our beginnings.  Dr. tenBroek, she
told us, could not have imagined that the Federation would have built so powerfully
and well.  But, she added, we have remained true to the hopes and beliefs of the
founders of our movement, and although Dr. tenBroek might be astonished by the extent
of the progress we have made and by the distance we have traveled toward our goal of
first-class citizenship for the blind, he would also be immeasurably pleased.  

     At the ceremonies inaugurating the National Braille and Technology Center for
the Blind, Dr. Kenneth Jernigan--who has been the leader of our Federation for a
quarter of a century, the man with the imagination to create the National Center for
the Blind and the skill to build it, the innovator who established the National
Braille and Technology Center for the Blind--introduced the Commissioner of the
Rehabilitation Services Administration, Nell Carney; the Director of the National
Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Frank Kurt Cylke; the
Attorney General of Maryland, Joseph Curran; and other state and federal officials. 

     The National Braille and Technology Center for the Blind is collecting in one
place each commercially available computerized Braille embossing device and each
piece of equipment or computer program to retrieve computerized information in speech
which can be had anywhere in the world.  Nowhere else is it possible to study all of
these products at the same time and to compare their characteristics.  Already dozens
of employers and hundreds of other persons have visited the Center.  We have answered
volumes of mail and hundreds of phone requests for information.  The vast majority of
what we have done in the National Braille and Technology Center for the Blind has
been directed toward helping blind people to know what equipment or piece of software
can be used most effectively so that the blind individual can perform at a certain
job, can study a given discipline, or can acquire the skills necessary to advance in
employment or enter a new career. 

     As Federationists know, we have been operating a low-interest loan program for
the last seven years.  This program provides resources to blind individuals who need
them in order to enter a job or enhance their present employment.  This year we have
launched, in conjunction of the opening of the National Braille and Technology Center
for the Blind, an additional effort--the Technology Assistance Loan Program.  With
the same low interest rate--3%--we are providing the means for blind people to obtain
technology for work, for study, or for any other useful purpose.   Those who wish to
examine technology and consider its purchase can do so at the National Braille and
Technology Center for the Blind.  It belongs to us--the National Federation of the
Blind.   

     At our fiftieth anniversary convention, held last year, Dr. Kenneth Jernigan
announced that we would be creating a time capsule to be opened on the hundredth
anniversary of the Federation in the year 2040.  One of the significant features of
our movement is the leadership seminars.  We have been conducting them for almost
twenty years.  Our movement has evolved and developed through the seminars. 
Consequently, it is fitting that the New Year's seminar for the end of 1990 (known as
the "Now and Then Seminar") packed and sealed the time capsule.  Chapters and
affiliates from throughout the Federation sent material to be placed in the capsule. 
Each member of the "Now and Then Seminar" put several items inside, and all
participated in bolting the cover to the case.  

     As Federation members know, we have long been a strong proponent of Braille
literacy.  We have distributed our magazine, the Braille Monitor, in Braille from its
beginning.  We provide slates and styluses at a lower cost than anybody else in the
country, and we are the largest publisher of Braille material (other than the Library
of Congress) in the nation.  We have established the National Association to Promote
the Use of Braille; we have supported research and development efforts to encourage
Braille teaching and reading.  We sponsor the "Braille Readers Are Leaders" contest
each year.  We encouraged the appointment (and we participated in the work) of a
committee to study the establishment of a national certification for teachers of the
blind in the use of Braille, and we have recommended a set of standards to be used in
measuring the ability of such educators to perform the functions of reading and
writing Braille.  

     A few months ago we initiated significant additional action further to support
and encourage literacy for the blind.  In response to widespread demand, we designed
and distributed a model bill entitled the "Blind Persons' Literacy Rights and
Education Act," to be recommended for adoption by state legislatures.  This proposal
would amend the laws in each of the states so that students who want to learn Braille
or whose parents want them to learn Braille will get the chance to do it.  Even
though this new measure was circulated less than six months ago, it has been adopted
in a number of states, including South Carolina and Kansas.  

     Perhaps our most innovative formulation of this legislation is the act which was
recently passed by the Texas legislature.  This measure not only directs that school
districts make Braille teaching available to blind students, but it goes further. 
Textbook publishers who wish to sell material in Texas must also publish it in
Braille or provide information on computer disk so that anybody with the proper
computer and Braille printer can produce a Braille copy.  There are those who have
said that this landmark legislation was originated, developed, introduced, and
promoted by the agencies for the blind.  It is ever thus.  After years of battling
for the right to read (often against heavy opposition from some of the professionals
in the field), the organized blind movement decided that something had to be done. 
We formulated a plan and devised a strategy to solve an urgent problem.  Shortly
after the conclusion of this convention, the governor of Texas will sign our Braille
literacy bill in a public ceremony.  Now that the work has been completed and the
legislation adopted, the agencies are trying to get the credit.  But it won't work. 
Let those who believe that Braille is outmoded or anachronistic hear our voice.  We
shall not be denied Braille.  For the blind there shall be literacy.  And we are not
prepared to wait interminably to get it.  And when I say we, I mean the National
Federation of the Blind!

     Our efforts regarding Braille literacy have attracted national attention.  This
spring National Public Radio interviewed me regarding the importance of Braille.  The
news item appeared on the nationally broadcast program "Morning Edition."  The
position of the National Federation of the Blind that Braille should be available to
all blind people who wish to learn it was opposed by a representative of an agency
for the blind.  Braille, he asserted, was not for everybody.  It is (he said) a
specialized skill suitable only for a limited number of tasks to be performed by a
restricted group of individuals.  Besides, he implied, it doesn't contribute very
much to an individual's ability to perform, and modern technology has made it largely
obsolete.  To which we answer, nonsense!

     On Sunday, May 12, 1991, the New York Times carried a front-page story entitled
"How Best to Teach the Blind: A Growing Battle Over Braille," which described the
struggle of the blind to achieve literacy.  Sighted agency administrators, it said,
are not always highly supportive of Braille.  The blind, it continued, feel
differently.  And who do you suppose was featured prominently as the most outspoken
proponent of Braille?  You know the answer as well as I do.  It is the National
Federation of the Blind.  

     Immediately following the publication of the New York Times article, the Scripps
Howard News Service invited the Federation to write one of the arguments for its
weekly syndicated point-counterpoint column, distributed to over 350 newspapers
throughout the United States.  We said just what you would expect: that Braille is
valuable, that new technology is helpful but that it is no replacement for Braille,
that those who are partially blind should use remaining vision but should also have
Braille as an option, that sighted children have eyes and ears to get information and
blind children should have ears and fingers to do the same, that resistance to
Braille is often the result of prejudice against blindness and the techniques used by
the blind, and that Braille can be competently read at several hundred words a
minute.  The other half of the argument, drafted by a representative from an agency
for the blind, was predictable.  

     Last April the National Federation of the Blind served as a consultant to the
"Sally Jessy Raphal Show," a nationally televised interview broadcast.  The producer
called to get background information and material about blindness.  An actor, Dana
Elcar, who is one of the star performers on the "MacGyver" television show, is
becoming blind.  (He is, incidentally, participating in this convention.)  The "Sally
Jessy Raphal" program was planning to feature his life along with other examples of
successful blind individuals, and we were asked to supply information.  What can a
blind person expect to do?  Especially, what can a blind actor hope to accomplish? 
We provided to the producer of the "Sally Jessy Raphal" program quantities of
information about successful blind people performing in a wide range of roles.  As a
result, a large segment of the feature on blindness portrayed one of our Federation
leaders, Barbara Cheadle, president of the Parents of Blind Children Division of the
National Federation of the Blind, along with her blind son Charles.  When our
telephone number was displayed on the television screen and repeated on the air, the
switchboard at the National Center for the Blind was almost immediately jammed with
calls.  We sent hundreds of packets of information to interested viewers, and we
responded to literally thousands of questions.  

     One of the people who learned about the National Federation of the Blind from
this interview program was Dana Elcar.  Within a few days he visited the National
Center for the Blind in Baltimore, and we have worked closely together since that
time. You will be hearing from him later in the week.  Whether it is the teaching
profession, the sales and marketing business, the manufacturing occupation, the
lawyering trade, or an acting career, the blind can compete and do so successfully. 
We will find a way: that is the promise and the reality of the National Federation of
the Blind.  

     For a quarter of a century blind people have sought employment in the Foreign
Service of the United States.  The State Department has steadfastly refused.  At our
convention in 1989 Congressman Gerry Sikorski of Minnesota came and shared the
enthusiasm of the Federation for fairness and equality for all segments of society. 
He promised that he would lend his support to assist Federation members to gain the
opportunity to enter the Foreign Service.  

     Last year I reported to you that the State Department had made its commitment to
consider the blind for employment in Foreign Service jobs on equal terms with the
sighted.  No job had been offered, but the commitment had been made.  Today, the
circumstances are different.  Rami Rabby, who is a long-time Federation leader and
who is familiar with five different languages, is now a State Department Foreign
Service employee.  His assignment is in London.  As Federationists know, we sometimes
lose skirmishes; occasionally we lose battles.  But we never lose wars--for the war
is never over until we win it.  

     The National Accreditation Council for Agencies Serving the Blind and Visually
Handicapped (NAC) came into being just about twenty-five years ago.  From its very
beginning NAC was the center of turmoil, political maneuvering, and discord.  NAC's
avowed purpose was to set high standards for work with the blind, but its real effort
was directed at gaining control over blindness-related programs and services.  There
will be a full report on the status of NAC later during this convention.  However, I
am pleased to be able to tell you that events this year have evolved in such a way
that the end of the NAC era appears to be close at hand.  

     We have continued to work toward solutions of the problems faced by blind
employees in sheltered workshops.  Workers at the Association for the Blind of
Western New York, a sheltered shop in Buffalo, were receiving $2.51 an hour--
substantially less than the minimum wage.  We assisted with the formation of a labor
union.  The union, Local 200-C of the Service Employees International, an affiliate
of the AFL-CIO, and its local president have become staunch allies in the struggle to
obtain adequate pay and decent working conditions for blind workers.  

     The workshop has continued to pay as little as $2.51 an hour to the blind.  In
contract negotiations with the union, shop management has refused to alter this
policy.  Because of the refusal by management to bargain, a federal mediator has been
appointed.  This is the first time that the Federal Mediation and Conciliation
Service has ever been used in a sheltered workshop pay dispute.  Two dollars fifty-
one cents an hour is not a fair wage.  It isn't legal for the sighted, and we intend
to see that it is no longer acceptable for the blind.  The prevailing wage in the
area is higher than the federal minimum established by law, and we intend to see that
blind workers get their fair share.  We who are blind know that we must produce the
goods, but when we do, we must also be paid.  And, incidentally, the Buffalo workshop
is one of those NAC-accredited agencies.  NAC can no longer be used as a shield for
mismanagement or exploitation of the blind.  We don't need NAC.  Especially when it
supports the payment of wages at the level of $2.51 an hour!

     In August of last year I addressed the entire delegate assembly of the New York
State AFL-CIO.  The invitation came at the request of the Service Employees
International Union--the representative of the blind workers at the Buffalo workshop. 
From the results of that meeting I can assure you that the commitment of the New York
State labor movement to join with us in supporting blind workers is strong.  The
union officials are not willing to accept management's claim that the blind are worth
less than the minimum wage.  They have pledged to negotiate for a favorable contract
through the federal mediation process, and they intend to work with us in the
Congress to change the law so that subminimum wages are completely eliminated.  

     James Grasso is employed by the Rehabilitation Institute in Mineola, New York. 
He, a blind worker, is paid far below the federal minimum wage.  Most of the time he
receives a little over $1 an hour.  Often, although he is required to be present at
the shop for a full forty-hour week, he is given a job to do only part of the time,
and he is paid only for the time that he works.  As a result, his paycheck for a full
forty-hour week is sometimes as little as $20.  

     Mr. Grasso does various hand-packing jobs, such as putting plastic utensils into
bags.  Sighted workers in competitive industry in the area are paid wages between
$5.00 and $7.00 an hour for comparable performance.  We are helping Mr. Grasso
challenge the workshop's decision to pay him as little as $20 for a forty-hour week. 


     On June 20, 1991, just a few days ago, a hearing was held before an
administrative law judge of the United States Department of Labor.  Mr. Grasso's
representative is James Gashel, our Director of Governmental Affairs and one of the
most knowledgeable individuals in the nation regarding labor statutes applicable to
the blind.  We will know the results shortly.  One thing we know for certain.  With
only $20 a week Mr. Grasso is in no position to contest the determination to pay such
miserable wages.  An argument with management requires skill, guts, and money.  There
must also be the backing of the law.  Until only a few years ago there was no right
for a blind worker receiving subminimum wages to petition the Labor Department for a
wage hearing.  In 1986, at the request of the National Federation of the Blind, the
law was changed.  In 1991 Jim Grasso is using this law and being represented by the
blind of the nation.  We have already changed the law.  Now we must change the
practice.  This, too, is why we have formed the National Federation of the Blind. 

     Last year I reported to you about the case involving the unlawful payment of
subminimum wages to workers at the Southwest Lighthouse for the Blind in Lubbock,
Texas.  When the workers filed a fair wage petition with the Department of Labor,
management declared bankruptcy.  But the workshop was not really broke.  In a
settlement involving the reorganization of the Lighthouse, all of the workers who had
received less than the minimum wage were to be paid back wages totaling approximately
$30,000.  This $30,000 settlement was intended to repay the blind employees for
management's violations of fair wage requirements prior to October 15, 1989. 
Beginning on that date the Lighthouse was required to pay every worker the proper
wage as determined in accordance with standards of the Department of Labor.  Unless
the Lighthouse could show that a subminimum wage payment was warranted, all workers
would receive at least the federal minimum wage.  However, despite its agreement to
do so, despite the order of the bankruptcy court, despite the determination of the
Department of Labor, the Lighthouse is not paying.  We are pursuing the Southwest
Lighthouse for the Blind once again under the Fair Labor Standards Act.  We are
determined that management shall pay fair wages, and we are prepared to settle for
nothing less.  We are the National Federation of the Blind.
     
     Programs of the Social Security Administration directly affect a large number of
blind persons in this country.  Consequently, we have sought improvements in Social
Security such as the opportunity to select the rehabilitation agency that will
provide the services purchased with Social Security dollars or better work incentive
provisions for those receiving benefits.  Not all of the suggestions we have made
have been implemented, but a number of them have. 

     Susan Parker, the Associate Commissioner for Disability at the Social Security
Administration, attended our 1990 convention.  At our urging she made a strong
commitment to reform the rehabilitation segment of Social Security.  The first steps
in that effort are now being taken.  The new program, called Project Network, will be
operated directly by the Social Security Administration.  

     The opportunity for Social Security recipients to choose the agencies, the
programs, and the services which they receive will be a significant part of Project
Network.  Not all of the elements of this experimental program have been worked out. 
Even so, it is clear that the goal we have set (to provide blind persons with greater
opportunities in the choice of rehabilitation and employment assistance) is being
achieved.  

     We are also involved in a substantial number of Social Security appeals.  Brian
Conneely is a blind person living in Connecticut.  He runs a small vending facility
that provides him with an income of less than $10,000 annually.  Three years ago the
Social Security Administration sent Brian a letter saying that he had received
disability insurance benefits for several years during which he was not entitled to
them.  The overpayment, they said, was more than $26,000.  He made the proper appeal,
but nothing happened.  Then he came to the National Federation of the Blind.
  
     Through our Connecticut affiliate, with backup assistance from the National
Office, we are helping.  A hearing was held on June 10, 1991.  The conclusions we
have reached are that Brian has not been overpaid, that he does not owe the money,
and that he will not have to pay it back.  We feel confident that the decision of the
Social Security Administration will affirm our understanding.  What would have
happened to Brian Conneely, and others like him, if there were no National Federation
of the Blind?  The question is more than rhetorical.  You know the answer, and so do
I.  Those who are blind cannot afford to be without the National Federation of the
Blind.  

     When Russell Jeffreys, from Columbus, Ohio, received a notice from the Social
Security Administration telling him that he owed the government almost $94,000, he
hired a lawyer.  But the lawyer lost the case.  Although it was late in the appeal
process, Russell Jeffreys called upon the Federation.  Earlier this year a hearing
was held.  The case has not been concluded, but the initial results are recorded: The
amount of the overpayment has been reduced by over $90,000, and we hope to have the
Social Security benefits reinstated as well. 
 
     In another case involving an incorrectly calculated Social Security payment, the
Federation made the difference.  Because of the amount of the claim in this case, I
will not indicate the name.  For several years the individual had not been receiving
all of the Social Security benefits to which she was entitled.   Because of our
intervention on her behalf, this staunch Federationist is now being paid the correct
amount each month.  She has also received a check for the money that should have been
paid.  The amount is over $91,000. 

     In a vending case dealing with Dennis Franklin of Kentucky, we have been able to
reinforce a vital principle for blind vendors.  In 1987, the day he was leaving to
attend the convention of the National Federation of the Blind, Dennis had been
summarily dismissed as the manager of a Postal Service cafeteria which he had
successfully operated for many years.  He came to the convention anyway.  We
encouraged him to appeal.  It is not legal for a state agency to remove a blind
vendor without notice and the opportunity for a hearing.  As a result of our efforts,
the state agency has been ordered to pay Dennis Franklin $16,000, and I am pleased to
tell you that he has received the money. 
     
     Tom Linker and Frank Rompal have filed an arbitration against the California
Department of Rehabilitation.  Both of them were refused the opportunity for
promotion within the vending program.  If the rules for advancement had been
observed, at least one of them would probably have been selected for a better
location.  The arbitration is now over, and a settlement has been reached.  Both
Linker and Rompal have obtained promotions, and the California Department of
Rehabilitation has learned of the determination of the Federation to challenge
arbitrary and capricious decisions.  It would not have happened without the National
Federation of the Blind.  

     Helen Eckman operates a vending facility in Alaska.  She has been a leader of
the Federation for a number of years.  Consequently, she is knowledgeable about
matters dealing with blindness, and she is familiar with the methods to secure her
rights.  When the rehabilitation agency circulated a contract with a notice to all
vendors that they must sign it or be expelled from the vending program, Helen was
suspicious.  When she read the document, her suspicion was confirmed.  The state
agency had decided without consulting the vendors that it would charge a set-aside
fee of five percent of the proceeds from each vending location.  The decision had
been made without following the requirements of Alaska law or of federal rules.  Any
vendor who did not sign immediately, agency officials said, would be expelled from
the program.  

     Helen Eckman called our National Office.  Working with vendors in Alaska, we
prepared for legal action.  But the rehabilitation agency backed down.  Vendors were
not required to sign the contract, and Helen Eckman did not lose her vending
location.  We in the National Federation of the Blind can protect ourselves, and when
we must, we will.  
 
     In Tennessee we are helping Larry Reynolds to commence litigation to alter
court-imposed limitations placed upon him in visiting his six-year-old daughter.  He
is presently required to visit his daughter in the presence of her mother, who is
sighted, or in the presence of another sighted person acceptable to the mother. 
Larry Reynolds is a responsible and caring father.  If he were sighted, the
visitation rights would have been handled differently.  On the grounds of his
blindness he is being denied the right to visit his six-year-old daughter alone. 
This court-adopted policy is demeaning to the blind--to all of us.  It says that the
sighted are competent but that the blind are not.  We must (it says) be supervised
when visiting our own children.  Such a pernicious belief about the blind cannot be
left unchallenged.  We have as much right to be with our children as anybody else,
and we insist that we be accorded the same rights as others.  Family relationships
are among the most fundamental in our society.  The blind will not be without them. 
This is another reason for the National Federation of the Blind.  

     Last year I reported that we were assisting Dave Schuh with an appeal of his
dismissal as a supervisory accountant at a Pillsbury plant in Denison, Texas.  The
Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) in the United States
Department of Labor, has conducted an investigation of the matter.  The OFCCP
findings support our conclusion that Dave Schuh was fired because he is blind.  

     Pillsbury officials were asked to try to reach a reconciliation.  They offered
Dave Schuh a job as a receptionist in the accounting office.  He refused.  They
offered to pay him $11,000 if he would agree never again to seek employment with the
Pillsbury company.  He refused once more.  During all of his time with Pillsbury Dave
Schuh's work performance was among the best.  The case is now in the hands of the
Department of Labor's attorneys for enforcement.  This means that, unless Pillsbury
reverses the position it has taken, the company could be prohibited from receiving
federal contracts for at least three years.  The formal action being taken against
Pillsbury (known as debarment proceedings) should begin within a few months.  Dave
Schuh is at this convention.  He has moved to Wausau, Wisconsin, where he is
president of our Central Wisconsin Chapter.  His experience with Pillsbury has taught
him a valuable lesson.  It is necessary to have friends, and some of the toughest
allies are the members of the National Federation of the Blind.

     Mary Jo Edwards is a blind nurse living in Illinois.  She studied hard to learn
the skills of nursing, and she has demonstrated competence to perform the tasks
required.  Nevertheless, when she attempted to get her nursing license, she was told
that she could not have it because she is blind.  Mary Jo Edwards came to the
National Federation of the Blind, and we helped her find a lawyer, and we supplied
background information and materials.  The case has now been settled, and Mary Jo
Edwards has entered the nursing profession.  Blind people shall not be prevented from
working in the medical profession.  This is true because of the work of the National
Federation of the Blind.  
     One of our most important objectives is to educate the public about the
abilities and capacities of the blind.  In the past year we have been at least as
effective in disseminating a positive image of blindness as we have ever been.   We
have shipped from the National Center for the Blind almost one and three-quarter
million items.  Our initiatives have attracted visitors from locations all over the
globe: Canada, Germany, England, Pakistan, Denmark, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and the
Caribbean.  We have distributed our materials to countries all over the world:
Bermuda, the Philippines, Spain, Japan, Australia, Czechoslovakia, Poland, countries
in Africa, countries in Asia, and elsewhere.  Dr. Jernigan has continued to serve as
the president of the North America/Caribbean Region of the World Blind Union.  During
the past year he has traveled to Jamaica, Uruguay, Argentina, and Canada to represent
our interests and exchange information.  Although it is vital for us to address the
problems of the blind in our own country, we must also work in partnership with the
blind of other lands.  If we do not, we will face mistaken attitudes about the blind
as they are imported from abroad.  But our increasing influence in affairs of the
blind throughout the world has begun the process of initiating change.  

     Reaching more than 30,000 blind individuals in the United States and forty-three
foreign countries, our magazine, the Braille Monitor, remains the most influential
and widely circulated publication in the field of work with the blind.  We have also
continued the distribution of our other publications: Future Reflections, our
magazine for parents and educators of blind children, now being circulated to more
than 10,000 people; the Voice of the Diabetic, our journal for blind diabetics, being
sent to more than 35,000 individuals and institutions; our Job Opportunities for the
Blind Bulletins and related materials, of which we have distributed over 30,000; and
the newsletters of our chapters, affiliates, and divisions.  With the cassettes that
we produce, the American Bar Association Journal, Presidential Releases, and other
specialized items--we have become a major producer of recorded material.  We have
duplicated approximately 50,000 tape recordings since our last convention.

     Our national headquarters, the National Center for the Blind, continues to be
one of the most functional and impressive facilities of its kind in the world.  We
have placed approximately three miles of additional shelving on the second floor, and
we are constructing additional office space and installing new equipment.  The front
entrance of our building is being redesigned to make it accessible for wheelchair
users and to bring it in line with the standards of the National Center for the
Blind. 

     The majority of our work has always been accomplished by volunteers.  This is
one of the elements that has made us the unstoppable movement we are.  Whenever we
need additional hands, we can call upon ourselves, the members.  My wife Patricia is
an example of what I mean.  She spends almost full time volunteering her services at
the National Center for the Blind.  But of course, there are tens of thousands of
others: the newsletter editors, the candy sellers, the JOB recruiters, the public
relations coordinators, the writers, the drivers, the telephone callers--the people
of the movement.  We work together because we care for one another and for the goal
we are striving to achieve.

     There are some in the blindness field--fortunately a diminishing number--who
still fail to comprehend what we are as a movement.  Our critics at one end of the
spectrum say that we are unthinking automatons and that we are radical and militant. 
Those at the other end of the spectrum say that we are overly conservative and
reactionary--even, if you please, Neanderthal.  Superficially this hostility seems
out of proportion to reality.  But of course, the reason is easy to understand.  We
in the Federation have something they don't--something they can't believe exists.  We
believe with all of our being that the blind are capable of equality, and we are
willing to give of ourselves and our resources to make it come true.  We are not only
willing but glad to accept self-discipline and sacrifice to achieve the objective. 
Our cause is as noble as the will to be free.  It is as just as the demand for first-
class citizenship--and nothing on Earth can keep us from it.  Let those who would
stop us say what they will and call us what they please.  We will not falter or turn
back.

     Within the past year I have traveled throughout the Federation and worked and
dreamed with thousands of you the members.  I have represented the blind of America
in the White House, and I have shared a victory celebration supper of fried chicken
and beans with you, my fellow Federationists, in the workshop in Buffalo, New York. 
As I have gone throughout the movement, I have felt a sense of authentic inner
security and peace of mind.  Of course, there are troubles aplenty, but we can solve
them.  There is a tacit understanding in the Federation.  We accept individual
responsibility for our own freedom, and we believe in our capacity to achieve it. 
The deep and abiding faith that we have in the future stems from our willingness to
assist one another when the need is great and to join in the triumph of success. 
Those who have not been a part of this movement, who have not shared the commitment
and the passion of bringing genuine togetherness to the blind, cannot believe that
the spirit of our movement is real.  But it is, and it makes us what we are.  With
such belief, such dedication, such mutual love and trust, and such determination, we
will make our future what we want it to be.  We are moving at an accelerating pace,
and the realization of our dream for freedom and independence is within our reach. 
We the blind, organized in our tens of thousands, will gain our objectives through
our own organization, the National Federation of the Blind.  Our past declares it;
our present proclaims it; and our future demands it!  This is our pledge to each
other--and this is my report to you for 1991.  