To our dear friends and partners in action, John here:

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Some updates from the DeafBlind Leadership NOW (DBLN) network!

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Reminder

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First, a reminder of what this is all about.? Helen Keller Services recently hired yet another hearing-sighted person to be executive director of Helen Keller National Center. Qualified DeafBlind candidates were passed over.? This constitutes the continued breaking of a promise made with our community ten years ago that a DeafBlind person would be chosen “next time.”

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Over the span of ten days, two hundred sixty-two DeafBlind people signed a petition in protest.? It demanded that a DeafBlind person be appointed executive director of HKNC.? Further, we demanded that HKNC be separated from its distant parent organization, HKS, to become its own autonomous entity, and for it to be run by a DeafBlind-led board of trustees.

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No Response from HKS

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More than a week has passed since the August 9 deadline we set for Helen Keller Services to appoint a DeafBlind director and to begin transition processes toward separating HKNC from HKS and organizing a DeafBlind-led board.? HKS has not reached out to us.

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As our petition explains, their failure to comply with our demands pushes us into the second stage of our movement.? Are you all ready?

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Preparations

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The core team spent all week last week preparing to launch the second stage of our movement.? One of our main projects was to set up a website.? Please check it out!

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Congress

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We’ve begun reaching out and talking with representatives and senators in Congress to share our petition and raise our concerns.? We urge you all to get in touch with your U.S. congressional district representative and the two U.S. senators representing your state.

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Our advocacy team put together a fantastic resource to help you do so.? You will find all of what you need to know at this page:

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Also, two members of the advocacy team are available to answer any questions you may have or to provide further assistance in finding and contacting your representatives.? Feel free to email outreach@...

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Fundraising

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We are now accepting donations!? All donations will go into our advocacy efforts and only those efforts: basic costs for our website and other communications, legal fees, travel and logistics for possible meetings, and, if necessary, support for significant direct actions.

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Please consider donating to DBLN by visiting this page:

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https://deafblindleadershipnow.org/donate.html

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Media

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For those of you who use traditional social media, please consider using the hashtags #DeafBlindLeadershipNOW and #DBLNStrong.? Feel free to post this email anywhere, use links to our website, and to initiate any conversations and commentaries.

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If you are a journalist or know journalists who may be interested in covering our evolving movement, our Media Team is ready to provide media kits and connections to compelling sources.? Email media@...

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Volunteers Needed

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We have several task forces that are focusing on various projects.? If you happen to have an interest or some knowledge in the following areas, we welcome your support!

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--Legal Team: Specifically to explore applying pressure on HKS via legal channels and, more broadly, to counsel our movement throughout all the planned stages of our process.

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--Foundations Team: To contact all the foundations that give money to HKS to advise them of our petition and concerns.

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--CARF Team: To file a set of complaints with CARF, an accredition body.

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--RSA Team: To pursue all avenues of opening dialogues with Rehabilitation Services Administration, the responsible agency for the great bulk of public funding HKNC receives.

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If you would like to volunteer, please email dbln@...

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Statements of Support

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We are heartened to receive statements of support from various organizations, agencies, and schools.? Thank you!? We are thrilled to continue circulating those statements and adding them to our website.

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If you belong to or work for an organization or agency, we appreciate your considering proposing that you and your colleagues issue a statement of support.

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Statements of support can be sent to dbln@...

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DBLN Alliance

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We also recently set up an email group, DBLN Alliance, for anyone interested in supporting our movement and being updated.? It is open to DeafBlind and non-DeafBlind alike.? If you’d like to join the listserv, please email dbln@...

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Our Terms

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We want to note two things about our approach.

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First, for those who want to contribute to our movement, we emphasize that we are FOR DeafBlind leadership NOW, at HKNC and beyond.? We are not AGAINST HKNC.? We acknowledge that many have experienced oppression by HKNC.? There needs to be space for processing such experiences.? Our focus, however, is on making a fundamental change happen at HKNC, NOW.

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Second, we wish to state explicitly that HKS is invited to meet with us at any time to work on resolutions to our demands.? Any such dialogue or meeting will be on our terms, not theirs.

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Can you feel the ground rumbling?? Yes, it’s time.

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PT cheers,

John

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