Full Transcript
Jeff Thompson:
Welcome to Blind Abilities. I’m Jeff Thompson. White Cane Safety Awareness Day 2019. This was an awesome event attended by so many. We had teachers, parents, kids, students, instructors, directors, senators, representatives, all gathering and bringing awareness to the White Cane and the month of October, National Disability Employment Awareness month. We heard from Sheila Koenig, transition coordinator at State Services for the Blind; Ryan Strunk, president of the NFB of Minnesota; Jennifer Kennedy, the new executive director of BLIND, Inc.; Jennifer Pelletier and the Minnesota State Academy for the Blind choir; and many, many more making their voices heard at the State Capitol in Minnesota. Please join us as we celebrate White Cane Safety Awareness Day 2019. We hope you enjoy.
Michell Gip:
My name is Michell Gip and I’m the youth services coordinator at BLIND, Inc. We’re excited that everyone’s going to be here for White Cane Day today. We’re at the State Capitol rotunda and we have people from all over Minnesota who will be here. So I’m really excited about that.
Rep. Daniels:
Representative Daniels from Fairbault here.
Sen. Jim Abeler:
I’m Senator Jim Abeler from Anoka.
Paula Visha:
My name is Paula Visha and I come here to celebrate White Cane Day, Safety Awareness Day, and hopefully everyone has a great time walking the route.
Victoria Lamtin:
Victoria Lamtin ,Columbia, Mississippi.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, she’s from, all the way from Mississippi.
Speaker 2:
Really? What does White Cane Day mean to you?
Victoria Lamtin:
Learn how to use a cane more.
Sheila Koenig:
Sheila Koenig, the transition coordinator at Minnesota State Services for the Blind. And we are here to celebrate White Cane Day, hoping that everyone gets infused with a sense of pride and walks out into the world with that sense of pride deep in their hearts.
Michelle:
My name is Michelle, and I am a parent. And I’m here with my daughter today just to support people with visual impairments and to raise awareness.
Cameron:
I’m Cameron and I’m in fourth grade. And I come to White Cane Day because I am someone who is visually impaired.
Speaker 3:
Now there is something amazing about technology. You heard a moment about that this morning. And right now I could pull a piece of glass out of my pocket, I could tap on it a bunch of times, and send a message shooting out of that piece of glass into a tower where a computer would send it to Apple, Apple would process it, it would send it back out, it would end up back at this tower, and then the tower would send it to my friend Steve Jacobson, who’s standing five feet away from me. Or I could just turn around and say, “Hi, Steve.”
Speaker 3:
So why would I do the first thing? I mean, I don’t know, because it’s cool. But otherwise, why? Especially when I already have a perfectly good way of doing it without fancy technology. We live in a crazy world full of tech. Every map of every street is in that little piece of glass in your pocket, and you can get directions to anywhere you want to go. You can wear it around your neck and either Google Lookout, which meh on the name by the way, or Aira, can tell you about what’s in front of you. Except when they can’t. But we’ll get back to that in a minute.
Andrea:
My name is Andrea. And I am a student at San Francisco State University, and learning to be an orientation to mobility specialist. And I came to support White Cane Day. And I’ve just moved to Minnesota.
Sen. Jim Abeler:
I’m Senator Jim Abeler from Anoka. And it’s my honor to get to be here and get to greet all the individuals who are working to be all they can be. I have the privilege to serve as a chairman on one of the human service committees and we try to find ways to help everybody succeed. And if I can encourage somebody in a small way, then I’m just happy to be that guy.
Ida:
Hi, I’m Ida. I am a student at BLIND, Inc. and White Cane has always represented independence and confidence to me. And I have always, always, always celebrated White Cane Day by blindfolding sighted people and making them use canes. So yay.
Speaker 3:
Do you know one of the first tools that early man learned to use? It was a stick. And do you know one of the first tools that blind people ever learned to use? It was a stick. And we’ve been using canes to get around for thousands of years, but it wasn’t until the 1930’s that canes started to become serious travel tools. People used to walk along with the cane, held up in front of them, and they would drag it along the sidewalk or push it in front of them so they didn’t trip. They also used to paint them black until someone pointed out that black canes were a lot harder for drivers to see.
Speaker 3:
The first canes, they weren’t terribly effective either. They were short, maybe coming up to your waist, and they were made of wood. If you drug one of them on the ground, you’d probably grind it into sawdust pretty quickly. So we didn’t. We walked along and we held them in front of us, and people saw us, and they knew to get out of our way, but they didn’t take us seriously. Time went on the cane got better. We changed what it was made of going from wood, to metal, to fiberglass, to carbon fiber over the decades. It got taller too. It went from something we had to hunch over to use, to something we could hold out in front of us while standing up tall and proud. We started tapping it in front of us instead of dragging it along. And people started to take us seriously, but we still had some work to do.
Dave Andrews:
This is Dave Andrews. I work at Minnesota State Services for the Blind. I’m the Chief Technology Officer and also the engineering supervisor. And I came to White Cane Day because I support the use of the white cane and blind people being able to travel independently. And I think it’s a great thing to do every year. I’ve been coming for many years.
Teresa Jeffer:
My name is Teresa Jeffer and this is my first White Cane Day. And I wanted to get out there and spread the word about blindness. And that’s kind of the main reason I’m here. I’m even volunteering to be a marshall.
Kyle Honamin:
My name is Kyle Honamin. I am on the committee for White Cane Day this year. And what it means to me is to show others that we can be independent and keep living the lives we want.
Speaker 3:
The National Federation of the blind started a campaign in the late 1950s, and into the 1960s, to associate the white cane with independence. We wanted people to see us as skilled, not incapable. We wanted them to see us as worthy of all the same opportunities our friends and neighbors were getting. In 1964, we took a big step when President Johnson signed a joint resolution into law giving him the ability to proclaim every October 15th as White Cane Safety Day. The very next year, the chief of the NFB’s Washington office, guy named John Nagle, stood with President Johnson on national television as he declared the Second Annual White Cane Safety Day. And I should say he the president, not Mr. Nagle, because we haven’t had a blind president yet. People started to notice us, but we still had work to do.
Natasha Jerde:
My name is Natasha Jerde. I am the Director of State Services for the Blind. This is actually my first White Cane Day and I am just so pleasantly surprised to see the turnout here. I think it’s important that people see the individuals, whether they have a cane, a dog or nothing. They can travel independently and safely. And I think everyone needs to see that and become aware of that.
Speaker 3:
Because people still thought they could hold us back, keep us from going into shops or restaurants with our canes. The National Federation of the Blind had a plan for this too. We wrote model legislation to address the problem. Twenty years before the Americans with Disabilities Act was ever passed, we advocated that the public could not discriminate against us as blind people. In 1969, that law was passed right here in this building and I want to read for you just a few more sections from that law.
Speaker 3:
The blind, the visually handicapped, and the otherwise physically disabled have the same right as the able bodied to the full and free use of the streets, highways, sidewalks, walkways, public buildings, public facilities, and other public places. That’s pretty clear. The law also guaranteed our right to restaurants, hotels, all modes of public transportation, and other places to which the general public is invited. And don’t worry guide dog users, we got you too. It also said every totally or partially blind person shall have the right to be accompanied by a guide dog in any of the places listed in Minnesota State statutes. And now they have to take us seriously.
Hunter Keester:
Hi, I’m Hunter Keester. I am a part time travel assistant at BLIND, Inc. I came to volunteer here today as one of the BLIND volunteers to empower the blind people walking and to show their support for the White Cane Day. I think it’s an important event in Minnesota, and across the country, to recognize that blind people can live the lives they want, and get out in the community, and go out and get jobs and prove that we are just as capable as their sighted peers.
Speaker 3:
If you ask me, there are two things the white cane does well. It serves as a very real symbol of our independence, letting people know we’re here and we intend to navigate the world. And it lets us move through that world with confidence. When we step out onto the sidewalks or into schools or offices or colleges or stores or concerts or anywhere else we want to go, we can do it proudly and safely because of our white canes.
Speaker 3:
Now, I mentioned technology a few minutes ago. I love technology. I love everything it has enabled us to do. I love the maps, and the directions, and the visual interpreters, but I also know they won’t always be there. I know that someday I’ll step off a bus or a plane and my phone battery will be dead. I’ll think about connecting to Be My Eyes or Aira, and I won’t have the signal for it. Or maybe I just want to step outside my door and disconnect. Take a walk in nature without a piece of glass in my pocket. Give Steve a call later. The one tool that will still be there for me, my long white cane. As it should be.
Speaker 3:
Today is a day to be proud of that. To take that stick we started with years and years ago, and hold it out in front of us so people can see us in the world. Tap it on the ground so they can hear us moving with purpose. And walk tall and proud so they can know that blind people have a place in society along everyone else. It may have started as just a stick, but the white cane now is a symbol. It stands for independence. It stands for equality. And it stands for freedom. Thank you ladies and gentlemen, happy White Cane Safety Day.
Dominique P.:
My name is Dominique Parker. I’m a student doing training at BLIND, Inc. I think that is very important. So that we can remember the significance about the importance of white canes and our rights is blind people.
Sheila Koenig:
I am so excited to be here with you to celebrate White Cane Day. There are two reasons why I think it’s so important to celebrate the white cane, for me anyway. First of all, it’s a tool that helps me to go where I want to go. Just a couple of examples. Recently, about maybe four or five weeks ago, I went to New York City with my parents. My parents had never been there before. They’re from a really, really small town. I’ve been to New York a couple of times and was really excited to show them around the parts of the city that I’ve come to love. So I used my cane as a tool to do things like go on the subway. I was able to use my cane to go down steps, to find the end of the platform, to navigate around crowds. When we went to the Freedom Tower, I was able to follow the people in front of me. And it really was an amazing trip because of all of the different places we went.
Sheila Koenig:
A little bit before that I went to the Minnesota State Fair. How many of you went to the fair this year? All right, so you know it is packed full of people. But again, I was able to use my cane, kind of in the pencil grip, holding it close to me, using it to tap people on the feet so that I didn’t slam them with my body. Right? The cane can be tool to do that. I was able to find the great American sing-a-long, I think it might be called something else, but the great sing-a-long. I was able to find the horticulture building and admire all the flowers. And I found something really amazing called the mini donut latte. It is phenomenal.
Rep. Daniels:
Representative Daniels from Fairbault here just to celebrate the White Cane Day today. And I get the opportunity to read the section of law that it’s protected under.
Sheila Koenig:
So I used my cane as a tool, not only to help me find those things, but also to let other people know why I was asking the questions I did. So when I asked, “Can you tell me what intersection I’m standing on?” They were able to see, oh, she has a cane, she just can’t see the street signs. So it’s a tool for me and it’s a tool for them. It didn’t always used to be that way though.
Sheila Koenig:
When I was in college, I was an English major. I wasn’t using a cane then because I just hadn’t gotten to that point in my journey yet. And one of my professors invited me to a poetry reading. I liked this professor a lot and I absolutely loved poetry, loved it. But all of a sudden I became anxious. I thought, “How is the bus driver going to know what stop I want? How am I going to find the bookstore? How am I going to find the people in the bookstore once I get there?” And I didn’t go to that poetry reading. It’s something that I still kind of regret actually, but it also serves as a contrast for me. It shows me that the cane really has become a tool to help me go to the places I want to go and be the kind of person I want to be.
Cody Beardslee:
Hi, my name is Cody Beardslee. I’m a cane travel instructor for BLIND, Inc. I’m also the president of the Minnesota Association of Blind Students. And I come to White Cane Day every year because without a white cane I wouldn’t be able to live an independent life and be able to live the life I want.
Speaker 2:
Cody, if someone’s interested in the Minnesota Association of Blind Students, how can they find that out?
Cody Beardslee:
You can go to our website at nfbmn.org. There’s a tab on that page called students. You can also reach out to us at students@nfbmn.org. Or you could just give me a call or shoot me a text message at (763) 291-3711.
Sheila Koenig:
I also celebrate White Cane Day and the importance of the white cane because it is a symbol of pride. As you just heard me talk about it, it wasn’t always something I was proud of. I felt really nervous and anxious thinking that people are going to walk on the other side of the street. People are going to think I’m not as smart as they are. People are going to think all of these different things, but as I kept using the cane, and as I met other people, like all of you in this beautiful Capitol rotunda. As I met people like you who are also out there using your canes, I became more comfortable with it. I became comfortable within my own skin and you might even say that the cane really helped me to become the best version of myself.
Sheila Koenig:
While working at State Services for the Blind. I’ve had the opportunity to meet a lot of different people as they venture out into the world. At Services for the Blind, we work to connect people with the tools that will help them. It might be tools to learn how to read. Tools to learn how to live in your own home. Or tools to find a job. Whatever tools are necessary to be the person that you most want to be in this world. Maybe you’ll use some of the tools that SSB can connect you with. Maybe you’ll use tools that your teachers help you find, that your parents help you find, that you find in training centers, or that you learn from other friends and role models.
Sheila Koenig:
Most importantly though, what I hope you all take from today is a really deep sense of pride in who you are. Blindness or having any kind of vision loss, there is no shame at all inherent to those things. And today you have a chance to show everyone out in the world just how proud you are, and I hope you can keep that pride in your heart forever. Thank you.
Jackie Bauer:
Hi, this is Jackie Bauer and Ann Mays where you’re here from the Minnesota DeafBlind project. We’re here to volunteer at the White Cane walk today.
Ann Mays:
Hi, this is Ann Mays from the Minnesota DeafBlind project with Jackie Bauer. She and I are here volunteering because we want to raise white cane awareness for deaf blind people.
Anthony R.:
My name is Anthony Reinhart. I am currently a student at BLIND, Inc. and White Cane Day, to me, means independence. You can go anywhere if you have the right mindset and I use a white cane for that.
Speaker 4:
I am proud to be standing up here with my friend Steve and my friend the white cane. Part of what we do at BLIND, Inc. is we build skills. We build confidence. And we build a belief in yourself. When I lost my sight at 15, you would never have convinced me that I would stand on this stage today, so proud of who I am. I was a student council president. I was dating the star basketball player. I didn’t have time to be a blind person. I didn’t have time to stand out reading that weird bumpy stuff or tapping along in the world. It wasn’t ever a thing that we signed up for. You want to be rich, you want to be good looking. Nobody checks the I want to be blind box.
Speaker 4:
Entering the doors at BLIND, Inc. means that you have decided that that box doesn’t have to be a box of shame, disappointment, or less valuable. You have decided that you are going to take ownership over what that blind box really means. All of our classes focus on skills, focus on building confidence, and focus on building mastery.
Speaker 4:
How do we become the master of our ability to travel? We use those travel tools, the dog guide, the white cane, and perhaps a visual interpreter from time to time. But without the belief in yourself, and the understanding that you are a valuable member of society, the cane will mean nothing. I had my first folding cane and it did a great job in my backpack. It did a really good job sitting in my locker. In fact, it was the best paperweight I’d ever owned. And I realized that that’s exactly how I saw it. I saw it as a part of me that had failed. Somehow my value was no longer. I didn’t deserve to date the star basketball player anymore. I didn’t deserve to be a contributing member of society. Nobody taught me that, or did they?
Speaker 4:
When you enter the world of BLIND, Inc. we believe that part of our job is to get you thinking about the world the way that we do, and that is that you are valuable there. The cane does three things. It gives you feedback, it helps protect you, and it’s a symbol, an identification. What does that symbol mean? As I began using my cane more regularly, I realized that I needed a different type of cane. I needed a cane in which I couldn’t hide that identity anymore. And I realized as I moved my cane, that attention that I was drawing, I had to think about it in a way that empowered me. Was it that they were looking at me going, “Oh, that’s a shame.” Or were they looking at me going, “Huh, that looks kind of easy.”
Speaker 4:
I believe today as I walk through the world, rather than my cane drawing attention, it pushes away the misconceptions that go along with what I believed a blind person was. As I moved my cane, I send off signals letting the world know that I am here, and I am permitted to stay, and I am proud to stay. That I will not go back into the closet with the folding cane, that I once thought that I had to live in. My cane, to me, is what has gotten me through five different states, graduate school, into a marriage. But most importantly it has been the thing that has reminded me every day, before I leave my house, that I have the right to be here. I thank all of you for joining me, and take those canes out and let them radiate with what that cane really means, a tool to empowerment.
Eva:
I’m Eva. I’m also here to celebrate White Cane Day. And I’m here because I think the cane, it’s empowering and an amazing tool and simple tool. This event is just fun in general. That’s also why I’m here.
Tom:
Hi, my name’s Tom. I’m here doing the cane walk. Did work this past summer at Target Field. I can travel safely with my white cane because I got good training at BLIND, Inc. When I was working at Target Field, I got some more instruction from [Isaac Cato 00:00:22:59]. Now I feel I’m very confident with my cane.
Joshua Zhang:
My name’s Joshua Zhang. I work over at the Centennial building. I do cashiering and vending. Here for a nice walk and to represent blind people.
Hannah:
So I’m Hannah. I recently graduated from Bethel University and I’m in the middle of the job search. And I came here because everything that was said today, like the cane represents empowerment, equality, independence.
Speaker 5:
Each year, we request from the governor’s office a proclamation to help us celebrate White Cane Day awareness. And Senator Jim Abeler, from District 35, is now going to read this year’s proclamation that comes from Governor Walz’s office.
Sen. Jim Abeler:
What an amazing event this is. I thought I’d be coming to encourage you all, and actually you’ve encouraged me. I had a sister who went blind when she was 16, with hemorrhages and so we got to see a part of that. And so you’re calling it White Cane Day, but I think it should be called independence, equality and freedom day. And happy to be here for a small bit of that. And so I applaud you, who wake up every day, and decided to be independent and equal and free as you go about your life, as you seek to encourage others, and accomplish the work that God has put before you in your life. And the governor was not able to be here, and he’s a Democrat, I’m Republican. But there is, yeah, but there is no partisan work I think to be done in fighting about who should care more or who can help. Because in Minnesota we all care. We share so many things and it’s my honor to read the proclamation that he put together. This is from the governor.
Sen. Jim Abeler:
By joint resolution, approved on October 6, 1964, United States Congress designated today every year as White Cane Safety Day, which I’m calling Independence, Equality, and Freedom Day, to recognize the contributions of Americans who are blind or visually impaired. And the white cane, which every blind citizen in Minnesota has the right to carry, demonstrates and symbolizes the ability to achieve a full independent life and the capacity to work productively in competitive and employment.
Sen. Jim Abeler:
Whereas by allowing every blind person to move freely and safely from place to place, the white cane makes it possible for the blind to fully live the lives they want and contribute to their society.
Sen. Jim Abeler:
Whereas there are an estimated 60,000 Minnesotans who are blind or visually impaired, many of whom travel a white cane and…
Sen. Jim Abeler:
Whereas Minnesota law also calls upon employers, both public and private, to be aware and utilize the employment skills of our blind citizens.
Sen. Jim Abeler:
And whereas BLIND, Inc., Minnesota Department of Education, Minnesota state Academy for the Blind, consumer organizations, and Lions Clubs around the state, in recognition of the 55th anniversary of this law, will hold a statewide White Cane Awareness Day event on now, at the rotunda. Therefore, I Tim Walz, governor of Minnesota do hereby proclaim Tuesday, October 15th, 2019, as White Cane Safety Awareness Day.
Sen. Jim Abeler:
And I proclaim it as Independence, Equality and Freedom Day. Thank you so much to all of you. God bless you all.
Jennifer Pelletier:
My name is Jennifer Pelletier and last year, here in the rotunda, we sang a white cane song that our students wrote last year. And we’d like to share that again. This isn’t a MSAB choir thing. This is everybody. And so we’d like to invite everyone here to sing along with our school. One of our transition students here, Pablo Contrarez, is going to play the melody on the guitar. Listen to that melody. He’s going to play it all the way through and then we invite you to sing along. (singing)
Jeff Thompson:
You can find out more about State Services for the Blind, BLIND, Inc., and the Minnesota State Academy for the Blind in the show notes. I want to thank you for listening, hope you enjoyed, and until next time, bye bye.
[Music] [Transition noise] -When we share
-What we see
-Through each other’s eyes…
[Multiple voices overlapping, in unison, to form a single sentence]
…We can then begin to bridge the gap between the limited expectations, and the realities of Blind Abilities.
Jeff Thompson:
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*****
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