Providing Literacy for Informed Citizenry through Braille

Joesph Sullivan is being recognized as a Champion of Change for leading education and employment efforts in science, technology, engineering and math for Americans with disabilities.

I am deeply touched and honored to be named a Champion of Change for work that I enjoy doing -- towards improving opportunities for blind persons through literacy. This speaks to the high value that our great country places upon literacy for an aware and educated citizenry, not only within our own borders but throughout the world.

It was a blind man, Bob Gildea, who got me "hooked" on braille in 1969, enlisting me as a computer programmer on a joint MIT-Mitre Corporation project that allowed teachers within the Atlanta schools to have materials quickly translated into braille for blind students integrated into regular classes. At first I thought it interesting mainly because of the technical challenges, as the relationship between print and braille is surprisingly complex and different for every language and type of notation under the sun, from Arabic to Zulu and from math to music.  I still enjoy addressing those challenges through our little company, Duxbury Systems, Inc., which specializes in software for braille worldwide.

Administration Officials Host African American Policy Forum In Las Vegas, Nevada

On Monday, April 30th, the White House Office of Public Engagement hosted the first African American Policy Forum in Las Vegas, Nevada. The administration partnered with Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) to discuss a wide-range of topics including, jobs, housing and development, small business and entrepreneurship, the economy, and how each affect the African American community.

During the forum, visitors who were in attendance were welcomed by Senator Harry Reid, followed by keynote remarks from administration official, Raphael Bostic, Assistant Secretary for U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. In addition to hearing remarks, various administration and local officials held panels to discuss job training, business and the economy. Notably, Dr. Regina Benjamin, U.S. Surgeon General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services discussed health disparities and other health-related issues during her segment. The panel gave officials another opportunity to discuss the President's plan to build a stronger economy and how his plans will help strengthen the African American community.

The African American Policy Forums serve as great opportunities for the public to be engaged on how the President is addressing some of the issues that affect the community most. More information on upcoming African American Policy Forums, White House events, and additional information on President Obama and the African American community can be found here.

Paper Memories

Yooha Park. (Photo Courtesy of Points of Light)

For the Win is a guest blog series featuring the remarkable initiatives that young Americans are advancing to win the future for their communities. Each week we highlight a new young person and learn about their inspiring work through their own words. Submit your story to appear in the For the Win guest blog series.

Yooha Park, 17, is founder of Stories of Our Lives, a nonprofit organization which aims to provide a bridge between the younger generation and seniors by creating a nexus to share their thoughts and feelings. Yooha is a recipient of the Daily Point of Light Award, presented by Points of Light.

My grandmother hid in empty rice sacks to escape being raped by Japanese soldiers. But in the midst of hiding, she saw her father get brutally murdered by the soldiers and her younger brothers kidnapped. She never saw them again. The year was 1940 and, like many other Koreans, my grandmother and her family faced violence and torture from the Japanese, who occupied Korea until 1945.

This is all I know about my grandmother except for the fact that she was the mother of my father. She died when I was 7-years-old. Yet when I heard the news of her death, I could not help but feel indifferent. I had seen her a total of three times in my life because she lived 5,000 miles away from me. I felt more comfortable talking to a random stranger on the street, than I did when I talked to my grandmother. When I did talk to her on the phone, our conversation was limited to an awkward hello and questions you would ask someone you had just met — what grade I was in, how the weather was, what I liked to do in my spare time.