I am delighted and deeply honoured to let you know that today, Living Blindfully received the National Federation of the Blind’s distinguished Dr Jacob Bolotin Award at its national convention in Orlando, Florida. The Dr Jacob Bolotin Awards honour individuals and organizations that are a positive force in the lives of blind people.
Dr Jacob W. Bolotin (1888-1924) was the world’s first physician who was blind from birth. He achieved that goal despite the tremendous challenges faced by blind people in his time. Not only did he realize his own dream, but he also went on to support and inspire many others.
Winners of the Dr Jacob Bolotin Awards:
- Break down barriers facing blind people in an innovative way
- Change negative perceptions of blindness and blind people
- Push past existing boundaries to inspire blind people to achieve new heights
In my acceptance of the award, I said in part,
Thank you to the Bolotin Committee, and to the Federation as a whole, for this great honour.
The media often ignores us, and when it doesn’t do that, we wish it did because it frequently underestimates us and misrepresents us. They tell people not to use the dreaded “b” word, “blind”. But as I observed yesterday, “Living Visually impairedfully” just doesn’t have the same ring to it.
Living Blindfully gives you an oasis from all of that. You’ll hear our issues covered by us, for us.
I humbly accept this award on behalf of the members of our little Living Blindfully team, which includes Hannah Mae Aldeza who puts our transcripts together, so DeafBlind people aren’t excluded from the conversation. They are excluded from the conversation far too often, and it’s not right. The transcripts also mean we build an extensive, searchable repository of information and opinion on the issues of the day. Also Derek Lane, our gifted and brilliant audio engineer who speeds up the production of the show by editing some of the interviews. And of course my wife Bonnie, who is here with us today to see Living Blindfully receive this award.
Finally, I accept it on behalf of our listeners in over 113 countries, some of whom share their thoughts on the issues we cover and the things that matter to us. Thank you so much again for recognising Living Blindfully, and I’ll conclude my acceptance the way I conclude every episode. Remember that when you’re out there with your guide dog, you’ve harnessed success, and with your cane, you’re able.”
The Dr Jacob Bolotin Award we received includes a beautiful trophy, and a cash prize of $15,000 USD. We will use the cash prize to help us record face-to-face interviews at blindness-related gatherings around the world, such as those we have done at this and last year’s National Federation of the Blind convention.