(Editors' note: Al Daniels was the winner of the 2013 Connecticut affiliate writing contest. Here is Al's winning essay on "What is a Significant Contribution the Blind Community has Made for America?")
The contributions of the blind community for America are many. There are blind people in all sorts of occupations. I am a person involved with the "creative arts" and therefore I think of music, a field I am most familiar with. As there are many well-known musicians in the popular category, so with blind musicians. We may mention names like George Shearing, Ronnie Milsap, Stevie Wonder and of course Ray Charles. They have written and performed music to entertain thousands, if not millions of fans. Some blues singers we may not be too cognizant of are Blind Blake, Blind Lemon Jefferson, and the inspirational Reverend Gary Davis. In fact, Gary Davis wrote the gospel tune, "Twelve Gates to the City," for which when sung by the folk group Peter, Paul and Mary, the royalties were able to provide a home for Gary Davis and his wife.
A somewhat more obscure figure who acquired a following was Moon Dog, a native and street dweller of New York City. A person who was quite renowned was Rassan Roland Kirk, who played and wrote jazz music, as well as accomplishing the amazing feat of playing two wind instruments at the same time. He also could play a strain of music while practicing circular breathing, without "stopping to take a breath."
Fanny Crosby lived during most of the nineteenth century and into the beginning of the twentieth century. Her Christian hymns include, "Blessed Assurance," "Love Lifted Me," "All the Way, My Savior Leads Me," and the ever-popular "Rescue the Perishing." Her hymns and poems number in the hundreds and, incidentally, she did not know Braille. Her mind was so sharp that she composed in her head and disseminated her work through an amanuensis!
There are blind musicians that I know of who have received no fame or renown, but that is not what this is about. If a person can make music, be it by composition or performance, not to mention pedagogy, a life's work can be accomplished. This holds true for blind and sighted alike. It is not just the doing but the content and how it impacts our culture. I am sorry I cannot name all the blind musicians doing good work today. Music is only a small portion of the contribution for America. The blind community is involved in many walks of life and we must keep in mind these words, "Ask not what your country can do, but what you can do for your country." I remember the mandate as delivered by John F. Kennedy. May he rest in peace.