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Multicultural Affairs Committee

Cheryl Cumings, WA, Chair
617-990-6314
[email protected]

Peter Heide
Mary Haroyan
Lynne Koral, PhD
Pat Love
Janae Miller
Michael Garrett
Lisa Sled
Gabe Lopez Kafati
Regina Maria Brink
Pam Metz

Board Liaison: Ray Campbell

MCAC Committee Chair Cheryl Cummings converses with two attendees of the MCAC mixer at the 2023 convention.Mission

The mission of the Multicultural Affairs committee (MCAC) is to promote and sustain a cohesive and inclusive environment that truly values and embraces diversity, cultures, differences, and perspectives within the framework of ACB. MCAC hosts programs and activities each year during the ACB Conference and Convention designed to combat bias, bigotry and racism, while promoting intercultural dialog, awareness and respect for diversity.

The MCAC was established over 30 years ago. The MCAC was created by members who recognized the great need for ACB to work towards being an organization that is open and welcoming to members of minority groups. Throughout its existence, MCAC has partnered with other ACB committees and affiliates to offer thought provoking and interactive workshops. MCAC was instrumental in getting a resolution passed committing ACB to setting up a pathway to develop and promote its minority members into leadership opportunities. Today, there is the INSPIRE mentoring program which is open to all ACB members to learn about the organization and to pursue leadership opportunities.

The MCAC is made up of members with diverse ethnic, racial and cultural backgrounds. Through the work of its members who develop programming for the convention, facilitate several book discussions and work with other committees and affiliates, the MCAC actively works to implement its mission.

MCAC Resource Library

Contenido en Español

Attendees of the MCAC mixer at the 2023 convention.

ACB Mentoring Program

The American Council of the Blind (ACB) aligns its programs and services with its mission, purpose, vision and core values. The development of a mentorship program will address a variety of concerns expressed by members and leaders within ACB. This program will serve as a roadmap and place an emphasis on meeting each member where they are and offer guidance to achieve desired goals and aspirations, while working to sustain and position ACB to be the premiere venue for Americans who are blind, visually impaired or have low vision. This program will be extended to meet the needs of affiliates, committees and chapters as they are encouraged to incorporate effective strategies into their respective areas of service. Learn more about the ACB Mentoring Program by visiting: www.acb.org/2022-mentoring-program.

DEI Reading List Materials

2020 was an unforgettable year. Three months into the year, as a result of a world-wide pandemic, we are all asked to social distance and to isolate from each other. 5 months into the year, a video is broadcast showing a White policeman kneeling on the neck of an African-American man until the African-American man is no longer breathing. It is this latter event that forces everyone to confront racism in America. We can no longer pretend that we don’t know. Yet, how to understand what we witnessed.

A group of ACB members got together and decided that one way we can begin understanding is to begin learning more about each other. Members of the Multicultural Affairs Committee, Blind Pride International, and the ACB Women developed a reading list we would like to share with ACB members. We also sought guidance and input from Asian-American members, librarians, and Native American academicians. WE are not experts. This is not a definitive list of books. Instead, these are books which we have read or were recommended to us. We invite you to read and to learn about each other.

We came up with the following criteria in order to select the books:

  • The book must be available on BARD
  • Provide the DB and Br number (when available)
  • Focus on experiences within the United States
  • Fiction: writer of a racial/ethnic, gender background presenting a story that reflects an aspect of  a ethnic, racial and gender group’s past and present experiences. Within the Blindness and Person with Disabilities fiction section, we selected blind authors who write fiction even if their subject was not about blindness or disability.
  • Nonfiction: window into culture; presenting experiences, chronicling history, policy, presentation of systems and how they impact life choices and options

Books focus on the experiences:

  • African-American
  • Native American
  • Latino/x
  • Asian American and Pacific Islanders
  • LGBTQ+
  • Women and Feminism
  • Blindness and People with Disabilities

We selected 10 nonfiction and fiction books for each reading list.

This reading list was put together by:

  • Regina Brink
  • Anthony Corona
  • Cheryl Cumings
  • Mary Haroyan
  • Pam Hill
  • Gabriel Lopez Kafati
  • Linda Porelle

Book Lists

Book List: African American
Book List: Asian American and Pacific Islander
Book List: Blindness and People with Disabilities 
Book List: LGBTQ+
Book List: Native American
Book List: Women and Feminism
Book List: Latinx/Latino Culture

This web page was last updated January 27, 2023.