I know that I have written a couple or three about the organization, National Association of the Deaf (NAD) but I have not written anything about National Association of the Deaf for a few months and I believe that I must write another one as this is important that I talk about National Association of the Deaf a bit. Before I get into it, I want to share a bit information about the organization calls National Association of the Deaf or NAD for short with some of you guys and mix history with it a little. National Association of the Deaf is a civil rights and human rights organization just like some of other organizations such as National Rifle Association that represents for the people who owns guns for hunting or for protection. National Association of the Deaf represents for the Deaf community, people who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing. I am Deaf myself, I am one of over a million Deaf people here in the United States who happens to be oppressed and discriminated daily so National Association of the Deaf is there to make sure that the Deaf community have the same rights as everybody else. That sounds all good doesn’t it? That we have an organization who protect our rights as Deaf American and making sure that we have equal access that everybody else has such as having access to a phone that we can make a call to anyone we wish with a technology that was invented for our use calls Video Relay Service, making sure that we can have the same pleasure watching some movies or television shows on our television with closed captions just the same way for others with audio.
Unfortunately I must say that it is a dream for many of us Deaf people with our organization, National Association of the Deaf and on National Association of the Deaf website they lists their missions along with their vision that states they preserve, protect and promote our rights as Deaf person.
National Association of the Deaf
National Association of the Deaf no longer follows their own mission and vision statements anymore because they have become all about status quo now. As for the most of national organizations when it comes to vote to elect new board members, president, vice president and CEO they have been very rigged for more than a decade now. Â Just not too long ago they had a election for new president, vice president and some board members as their terms were up or decided to retire. The current CEO of the National Association of the Deaf is Howard Rosenblum rigged the voting system so bad that some of the candidates had more votes or favors than the new president-elect. The president position at National Association of the Deaf is two years term, same with vice president and the other positions have longer terms or can be in the position for as long as they wish until they retires such as CEO position. Two terms for presidential election ago at National Association of the Deaf, Sheri Farinha and Chris Wagner were two top candidates that race for presidency at National Association of the Deaf. Sheri Farinha have a very long list of a record that she has done for the Deaf community, had numbers of skills that she could bring to the organization that can be put to use and she have a very close connection with some government such as former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, at that time he was a governor he knows her well. Christopher Wagner had a record of the things that he had done for the Deaf community is a blank page of a record, because he hadn’t done anything much for the Deaf community and only thing that is noticeable from his skills is that he was or is now vice president of marketing for a video relay service company calls ZVRS but still that doesn’t really contribute much of anything to the Deaf community.
On the election day at National Association of the Deaf organization to pick the next president (this was in 2014 I believe), National Association of the Deaf have picked Christopher Wagner to become the president due to getting the most votes by delegates and that doesn’t make any sense as Sheri Farinha only gathered a few votes. How? They had Sheri Farinha so busy by sending her out to few states doing some errands to “prove” that she is the best candidate but what really happens was that CEO had Sheri Farinha as far as possible while introducing Christopher Wagner who didn’t do much of anything for the Deaf community to delegates and making it looks as if Christopher Wagner were the only candidate that actually shows up but what delegates didn’t know that they had sent Sheri Farinha off and far to keep her busy so that she didn’t know that she was supposed to be introduced to the delegates. So in result of that, Christopher Wagner won the presidency unfair and not square.
Now this year Christopher Wagner’s term for presidency were up, thankfully as he never deserved the presidency in the first place thanks to the elitism in the organization. Of course that made the Deaf community very excited about that because we were looking forward to that day since the day he became the president two years ago and that now we were about to have someone new to become the next president for National Association of the Deaf. They have narrowed to very few candidates, then it came down to two candidates namely David Reynolds and Melissa Draganac-Hawk. In the Deaf community have chosen their favorite candidate, so we rooted for the candidate and try all our best to make sure that the candidate we like to win the presidency. Of course we did somewhat expected but at the same time we were really hoping that what we somewhat expects were wrong and it ended up the history repeats with National Association of the Deaf at electing presidency. Most of us wanted David Reynolds to become the next president for National Association of the Deaf over Melissa Draganac-Hawk, because David Reynolds have a long list record of things that he have done and contributed to the Deaf community for decades while Melissa Draganac-Hawk were almost unheard of, as the same way for Christopher Wagner at that time. Of course National Association of the Deaf repeated the history, they still want status quo so they tricked the delegates to vote for Melissa Draganac-Hawk over David Reynolds by none other than the CEO Howard Rosenblum of National Association of the Deaf. What is even worse is that Howard Rosenblum have personally told David Reynolds himself that if David Reynolds were to win the presidency that Howard Rosenblum himself would resign because he said that he refuses to be David Reynold’s boss and that he says he will make sure he would do everything in his power to make sure that David Reynolds to lose the presidency which he succeed in doing so.
These two elections were rigged by none other than the CEO of National Association of the Deaf and I am sure that there is a few of board members sided with the CEO too. These isn’t the only two elections that have happened, as the previous CEO before Howard Rosenblum won the CEO for National Association of the Deaf did the same thing which I am not going to bother to talk about that era.
It’s Time!
National Association of the Deaf, with the way some of you at National Association of the Deaf have done did more than damages to the image of National Association of the Deaf. We have given you many chances to clean up the mess that you have made past these years but it seems that you haven’t and made things even more messier than they have been. Many of us have kept our eyes on National Association of the Deaf, what they have done lately and it seems that since Melissa Draganac-Hawk cheated her way in to become the president of National Association of the Deaf with your help that you as National Association of the Deaf have been too deafening. As if since her presidency, nothing have been done at National Association of the Deaf and a lot of the things that need to be done that National Association of the Deaf ignores. The way that some of you have done at National Association of the Deaf have weakened the organization itself and damages the image of National Association of the Deaf. We have given you too many chances to do something about it, if anything it is why Deaf Grassroots Movement formed and do something because many of us got tired of waiting for many of things that needs your attention to work on. It is time that National Association of the Deaf to restore its image, only way to recover and be stronger as the organization itself to represent the Deaf community is to clean everything inside the organization including CEO, President, Vice President and major of board members. This means removing the status-quo from the building, replace with Deaf people who happens to be grassroots and the Deaf people who have the how-to.
It is time, we have given you plenty of chances and you never recognized them so we are done with giving you anymore chances to clean after yourselves. We are frustrated with the damages that it had done with the image of National Association of the Deaf that represents us, we refuse to allow a national organization that represents us Deaf people to weaken National Association of the Deaf any further and stop the damages that you have done before you guys have completely destroy it as most of you are in the direction to do so. It is time that you hand the keys over to us if some of you aren’t going to protect the image of National Association of the Deaf and be more aggressive in getting what the Deaf community needs. At the moment, with some of you being in National Association of the Deaf are slowing down things that we need to get and it is becoming tiresome to some of us to watch more damages that some of you do to National Association of the Deaf image every day. For several months I have tried so darn hard to become a member of National Association of the Deaf, an organization that is supposed to represent us Deaf community and on my conscience I just couldn’t with how you guys have done to National Association of the Deaf. I have some insider at National Association of the Deaf which I am very thankful for sharing the confidential information, it is very saddening and disappointing to hear the things being done in the National Association of the Deaf which is almost nothing.
Seriously get these tits up, balls up and do something to restore its image of National Association of the Deaf by actually doing something other than enjoying the status quo that you have as CEO and President. They doesn’t really means anything until you actually do something to show that you are truly CEO or President of that organization. I have in fact, offered some suggestions and ideas via e-mail or asking through your Facebook page and Twitter page for a direct e-mail address to few people who’s in these positions including the vice president Josh, President Melissa herself and as well CEO Howard Rosenblum. I was never been responded with an answer from you, until I have pressured one of you to the point that you have just gave me one e-mail address saying that I could just go ahead to e-mail to that e-mail address and that whoever I want to e-mail to will be forwarded to them. Are you that stupid? I asked for individual’s e-mails to “directly” e-mail, meaning that I prefer to e-mail to individuals without having some of you to read my e-mails that I have intended for and then forward them to the intended individuals. No thanks and I feel creeped out by that.
Seriously. Get all of your acts together and do better because we are in a bubble that’s about to be burst so you get the idea of how impatient some of us are with the way some of you over at National Association of the Deaf are doing.
Disrespectfully,
Joshua “Joshie” Sullivan.
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