by Charles H. Crawford
As ACB celebrates its 40th birthday, I am reminded of the scriptural reference to the 40 years the Jews wandered the desert and their triumph upon entering the promised land. For them, as for us, the 40 years has symbolized a struggle that often seemed without end with milestones of hope and millstones of pain. Now as we complete our own 40 years, are we any closer to the promised land and how would we even know it if we found it?
When ACB began, the notion of equality and civil rights was tied mostly to the struggle of African-Americans to be free of systematic discrimination and their collective pursuit of a legal protection that was at least three years away. Our founding fathers could only have dreamed of an Americans with Disabilities Act or a world in which technology would create almost instant access to the printed word. Yet the men and women who created ACB had a deep and abiding faith in our ability to come together in a common cause that would unfold even as we struggled to create a better world for blind people with each passing year.
The American Council of the Blind of today turns 40 with a strength and vigor that arises from both our many successes and our commitment to meet each day with a hearty good morning and sense of optimism for all. We have learned that the fruits of tomorrow lie within the seeds we plant and nourish each day. We have learned patience, that is in some ways long suffering, but in many more ways a representation of shared hope and fellowship in a family that cares. So is our next stop the promised land? Have we come so far that it is truly only ours for the taking?
In some very important ways, the promised land lies miles away. We must tackle housing, transportation, lack of access to appliances, discrimination and other issues that still lay in our path; yet what if the promised land is not a territory that can be mapped or touched? Surely there are material gains and issues we must confront, yet look around and what is it that we see?
The promised land is the wag of a guide dog’s tail as it hears a reassuring word from its handler, the laughter at an ACB picnic, the swell of pride and joy we feel at another blind person’s getting a job, the lift of spiritual beauty at a convention gospel sing, listening to all the great programming on ACB Radio, the comforting support of our brothers and sisters when we are visited with pain, bringing up a web site that can be easily navigated, the pure fun of playing an accessible game, the hustle and bustle of a national convention, hearing the hope and joy of our ACB song, the full experience of watching a video described movie, the sharing of a good time at a chapter meeting or supper, or just getting together with new friends we met at ACB. The promised land is truly all these things and more. It is our common vision and sharing that produces a land overflowing with milk and honey not at the end of our journey, but as we travel and evolve as people and as an organization.
We have come a very long way in these 40 years, and yet we celebrate our most important accomplishment which has truly been ours from birth; we are the American Council of the Blind and the seeds we sowed at the beginning have become the mighty trees of principle, the fields of grain and dreams that nourish us, and the landscape of beauty with members everywhere living lives in the knowledge that it’s right to be who they are and it’s good to be a part of ACB.