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On the show this week, I pay tribute to David Holladay, a pioneer and a legend in the blindness technology field, who died recently. If you used any of the products that David wrote, including Braille Edit and Megadots, I’d be delighted to get your memories. It is important that we remember our history and acknowledge those who have made such a difference to our lives.
Most of this week’s episode is devoted to an issue which evokes very strong feelings on either side of the debate for many people. Emotions are running high within the American Council of the Blind (ACB) in the United States, following the ACB Board’s decision not to take a position on a rally to be held in conjunction with ACB’s Convention in July in Jacksonville, Florida. The rally, organised by ACB’s affiliate Blind LGBT Pride International, BPI, was to protest policies and practices enacted by the state under the governorship of Ron DeSantis, which many in the LGBTQ Plus community consider discriminatory and hateful.
On the one hand, there are those who believe strongly that the only way blindness organisations can function effectively is to leave other potentially polarising matters to other groups, so people can unify around blindness causes. Others feel equally strongly that blindness is not the single characteristic that defines people, and that blindness consumer organisations must be more embracing of intersectionality and diversity.
To discuss this highly charged issue, I’m joined by Leah Gardner, who is President of BPI, and Deb Cook Lewis, President of the American Council of the Blind, who has been grappling with not just this question, but other matters of intersectionality as well.
All this in Living Blindfully 267. Our show is special because of all the contributions we receive from around the world, so don’t hesitate to be a part of it.