by Claire Stanley
Did I read that right? I thought I just read something about an advocacy session. There’s another one!
That is what was going through my mind as I reviewed the session agenda for the 2025 annual convention in Dallas, Texas. Several affiliates, committees and staff put on a variety of advocacy-related sessions. As I put together my personal agenda for the week, each day there was yet another advocacy session to lead, attend or observe.
This was a great thing. I was excited to see how motivated and dedicated our members are to advocacy. Our members want to advocate, and they want to learn more about how to advocate and what to be advocating for.
We talked about how to advocate through the various branches of the government and how to advocate for ourselves individually or for the blind community as a whole. We talked about advocating at the state level, or when to take it to the federal level. We talked about current legislation and litigation that is going on that will impact the lives of people who are blind or low vision. There was no scarcity when talking about advocating for the blind community.
As I reflected on the sessions from our annual convention, I was invigorated by our members. Our members want to advocate. And, as long as we continue to want to advocate, we will keep pushing for greater access.
As we always say on our ACB Advocacy Update podcast, keep advocating!