“LIBERTY ACCESSIBILITY ADVOCACY AWARD” Acceptance Remarks
July 25, 2008
Thank you very much, I’m truly honored to be deemed deserving of this award. It was not that long ago people with disabilities didn’t have the civil rights guarantees of the ADA. Why, because they did not have access to information, the basis of education and all other forms of learning.
My entire career has been devoted to making printed and other information available and accessible to people who cannot read print. Some people may believe that the ADA made information access possible. On the contrary, it was access to information that made the ADA possible. Information is the companion of thought, more powerful than military force, and the parent of personal freedom. Of course, if one doesn’t have access to that information it’s all for nought, so it is critical as we go forward to make sure ADA guarantees of access not view information access as a less important afterthought. Those who would impose total control over us must first control the flow of information. Lack of information is ignorance. Ignorance makes a docile easily lead population. We fight this battle as free citizens all the time. This is never more true than within the community of people with disabilities. So I thank you again for this award, and I am gratified that those who chose me for the award recognize the importance of information access to our obtaining and preserving equal civil rights.
– Bill Pasco
Published by: diversityadmin on September 18th, 2008 | Filed under All
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SUN SOUNDS OF ARIZONA DIRECTOR BILL PASCO RECEIVES LIBERTY ACCESSIBILITY ADVOCATE AWARD
Tempe, AZ, July 9, 2008 – On July 25th Bill Pasco, Director of Sun Sounds of Arizona, will receive the 2008 Americans with Disabilities “Liberty Accessibility Advocate” award from the Arizona Disability Advocacy Coalition.
“The Liberty Accessibility Advocate award honors a community member who advocates for equal access for people with disabilities. We recognize Bill Pasco for his active involvement and broad work in promoting accessibility in our state,” says Amina Kruck, AZDAC Chair.
The Liberty Accessibility Advocate award will be presented to Pasco on Friday, July 25th, 11:30-1pm, in the State Capitol Towers lobby in conjunction with the 18th birthday celebration of the Americans With Disabilities Act. Governor Janet Napolitano is expected to deliver the keynote speech, and other leaders in the disability community will be on hand to present the award. The public is invited to attend.
Pasco, Director of Sun Sounds of Arizona since 1996, is a proponent of using technology to provide wider access to information. In 1998 Sun Sounds of Arizona was the first reading service to stream their broadcast on-line. That same year Sun Sounds launched Sun Dial, an innovative touch-tone telephone system that visually impaired customers can use to surf speech-enabled websites.
Under Pasco’s leadership Sun Sounds of Arizona has won more programming awards from the International Association of Audio Information Services than any other radio reading service.
Outside his role at Sun Sounds, Bill pursues accessible technology at the national level. He helped define national standards for accessible consumer radios, and was an early tester of some of the digital technologies which will be part of the new HD radio environment including DVR style recording and time shifting for radio audiences.
Locally, Bill dedicates time each election cycle to help the Arizona Clean Elections and the Arizona Secretary of State provide accessible voter information guides through Sun Dial. He is a past Chairman of the Arizona Governor’s Council on Blindness and Visual Impairment, and is recognized in the community as an accessibility resource. Bill seeks opportunities to assist organizations in fulfilling ADA requirements, and mentors and coaches other professionals in making their workplaces accessible. His message: “Make it accessible by design – not as an afterthought.”
The Liberty Accessibility award highlights Bill’s longstanding vision that, by providing every disabled person access to current information, the inability to read print will no longer be considered a disabling condition.
For accessibility information, questions for Bill, or to volunteer, donate, or refer a listener to Sun Sounds of Arizona call 480-774-8300 or 1-866-967-8300.
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About Sun Sounds of Arizona
Sun Sounds of Arizona, established in 1979, is a radio reading and information service for individuals who are blind or living with a disability that make it difficult or impossible to read print. It is a community outreach service with more than 500 volunteers, and is part of Rio Salado College and KJZZ with affiliate stations located in Flagstaff and Tucson. For eligible persons, Sun Sounds of Arizona is available free of charge, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week using special radios, designated cable systems, telephone and the internet.
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Heidi Capriotti
Marketing Coordinator
Sun Sounds of Arizona
2323 W. 14th Street
Tempe, AZ 85281
480-774-8300 ph
480-774-8310 fax
www.sunsounds.org
Published by: diversityadmin on July 9th, 2008 | Filed under All
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I Want Some Chicken…
For the past few weeks, I noticed KFC’s most recent commercial. It has an African American cast. The players consists of, a mother and three children, but no father. I think that the KFC, Toco Bell companies are also affiliated with Pizza Hut. The next commercial was for Pizza Hut. The cast are all Caucasian. A mother and her two children are coming home. Their conversation centers on what their “dad” has made for dinner. They open the door and dad ordered a smorgasbord of Pizza Hut products, everyone is happy.
Once again the stereotype of the missing father in the African American family is perpetuated. This stereotype is normalized by the television media. The people that developed this commercial seems oblivious about the negative messages this sends to the public, or maybe they do. Oh, I am sorry; I am pulling the RACE card again.
Things like this are so common that even African Americans sometimes do not realize what we see. I have to admit, that when I first saw the chicken commercial, I wanted some chicken. It was not until I saw the Pizza Hut commercial that I was able to see the difference.
As I write this, I wonder if the advertising industry is keen about the impact, of the images they present. The advertising and marketing industry are so sophisticated that it is hard to believe that this depiction was not intentional. Over the last five years, I have studied diversity and inclusion. Diversity and inclusion is a researchable subject area. Recently, I developed the belief that people do not choose to intentionally discriminate against others; it is just the normal thing to do. Discrimination is so pervasive in society, people do not notice when they are doing it especially when they are in the position of getting what they want. Why would members of our society want to be politically correct and pull the infamous “race card”? Dr. Beverly Tatum in her landmark book Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria quotes David Wellman author of Portraits of White Racism when he defines racism as “a system of advantages based on race”.
On a local level, I am a frequent visitor to the City of Glendale Public Library, Foothill Branch. I pay for the privilege because I recently moved to a home in Phoenix. I also frequent their web site to conduct library business. Each year they promote youth summer reading programs. When I open the site, I discovered that they had these wonderful bright faces of young children. There were four shots in all and if you waited the photo would change to the next shot. I was extremely upset because there were no African American children or any children of color. During my next visit to the library, I made the Reference Librarian aware of this issue. She opened the site herself and agreed with my findings. She made a note of this error and informed me that she would send it on to the program developers of the web site. A few days later, I received an email message for her informing me that she took my concern forward. Today, I am happy to say that when one opens the Glendale Public Library site they will see a photo of a teenaged African American male reading. A month later I saw that librarian and thanked her for bring my concern forward. She reinforced the fact that I was right about my observation. She also said that the web site Program Committee said the “we did not think about leaving someone out, we were in a hurry.” Once again, there was no consideration given to being inclusive. As educator, meaning that the library is a community education enterprise, they have a responsibility to make sure that people (the community) see themselves as members of the library. This issue is extremely critical for people who have been historically disenfranchised.
Dr. Tatum tells us that so many institutions are still struggling to understand the ABCs of creating truly inclusive environments that will maximize the intellectual and leadership potential of all members of our society. The ABCs she describes are affirming identity, building community and cultivating leadership, three critical dimensions of effective learning.
Affirming identity . Students need to see themselves reflected in the environment around them — in the curriculum, faculty, staff, and the faces of their classmates — to avoid feelings of invisibility or marginality that can undermine student success. It is often harder for those students who have been historically marginalized in our culture to see themselves reflected, and the demand for ethnic studies courses on campuses around the United States can be understood in part as a need for one’s presence to be acknowledged in the institution. The establishment of cultural centers is another common approach to affirming marginalized identities on predominantly white campuses. Along with the specialized programming that is often based in such centers, they provide a physical location to which students can briefly retreat from campus environments that, despite an institution’s best efforts, are alienating at times.
Building community. Students also need to sense that they belong to a larger, shared campus community, and some observers argue that while the existence of cultural centers and related programs affirm identity, they work against building community, encouraging separation rather than the cross-group engagement we seek. As paradoxical as it may seem, the opposite is more often the case. Students who feel that their own needs for affirmation have been met are more willing and able to engage with others across lines of difference. When an important need is met, we don’t have to spend energy pursuing it. Rather we can use our energy to push ourselves academically and socially. Most of us are more willing to engage in the often-taxing work of crossing social borders when we are operating from strength. Affirming identity is not contradictory to but a prerequisite for building community. Those who feel left out of the process do not readily participate in community-building activities. Learning to build community, to think inclusively, is both a challenge and a benefit of being part of a diverse campus community.
Cultivating leadership. Leadership in the 21st century not only requires the ability to think critically, and speak and write effectively, but also demands the ability to interact effectively with others from very different backgrounds. The development of each of these abilities requires opportunities to practice.
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Kenneth R. Clarke
Published by: diversityadmin on October 17th, 2007 | Filed under All
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Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?
Reviewed by Ken Clarke, Diversity Coordinator PVCC
We would all like to think that we are unaffected by the theoretical construct race. Many of us would like to believe that racism is outdated. People of color are afraid to bring the topic of race up in fear of retribution by whites “there they go again…” and by other people of color, “he/she is making us all look bad”. In reality, racism is still pervasive in our society. Many if not all of us would deny that racism plays a role in the decision we make in our everyday life. In her book, Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria, author Dr. Beverly Tatum a Professor of Psychology and President of Spellman College states that racism is unavoidable. She says that all of us develop our individual identities based on race. Tatum is inclusive. She addresses the critical identity development of Whites, Latinos, American Indians, and Asian Pacific Americans. Dr. Tatum quotes David Wellman author of Portraits of White Racism when he defines racism as “a system of advantages based on race”.
Dr. Tatum goes into great detail about how our individual identities are formed. She analyses the critical influences race has on our social environment and the impact on education in America. By reading Tatum’s book, America can begin to understand race from a scholarly perspective. Additionally, her book serves as a self help manual for all races. She implores us all to address racism so that we can move on as a people and provide quality education for all members of our society. Her objective is to inform us on how to create inclusive learning environments of all students, and outlines what she calls the ABC’s of inclusive learning environments.
Published by: diversityadmin on August 30th, 2007 | Filed under Book Reviews
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Museum of Tolerance Trip
Twenty-two faculty and staff took the bus to the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles this weekend. It was an amazing trip. The Museum explains that the Holocaust is one of the most well-documented genocides that has occurred, and uses it as an example of how genocide happens.
There are opportunities to consider other systems of oppression throughout the world and in our own country, as well as looking at the power and strength of families and culture to make us strong and whole. We also had the opportunity to hear a Holocaust Survivor share his story. We were all touched by his words and his strength. We’ll post a picture of our group shortly. If you have attended the Museum, please share your reflections.
Published by: diversityadmin on May 22nd, 2007 | Filed under All
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Diversity Today
Share your thoughts about this cartoon by Wiley Miller, featured in the AZ Republic a few weeks ago. Posted with permission from Universal Press Syndicate.
Published by: diversityadmin on May 14th, 2007 | Filed under All
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Maricopa’s Diversity Blog
We are hoping to keep our Diversity Website interactive and current by having a Blog page that is easy to update and fun to use. However, we also want our blog to represent what we believe in. At the present time it is open to you only because I am sending you information about it. Please review the website, our blog categories and blog entries and share your thoughts about a title for this page as well as how we go public without it turning into a rant page. The blog will be moderated. We look forward to hearing from you as a diversity ally. Thanks.