Peter Heide (he/him/his)
President, ACB of Wisconsin
525 4th Avenue
Baraboo, WI 53913
(608) 356-8219 (home)
(608) 393-1653 (cell)
[email protected]
1. My name is Peter Heide. I am seeking a position on the ACB Board of Directors. I live in Baraboo, WI with my wife Susan. We have also lived in Madison, WI, rural Kansas, and an exurb of Chicago.
I have been sighted and blind four times in my life and have experienced almost every level of vision in between. I initially retained light perception and some color perception. After developing glaucoma, one eye was removed, and the other had only nondirectional light. Through experimental surgery, I regained some sight in the remaining eye that for thirty-five years fluctuated between 20/30 and 20/100 almost daily. After continued glaucoma and several retinal detachments, the second eye was also removed, but I still remember the struggle I have shared with many low vision/visually challenged people.
At the age of 9, I entered the Wisconsin School for the Visually Handicapped. I returned to Kenosha Public Schools for my junior and senior years, graduating as their first totally blind student. I studied literature at the University of Wisconsin and later graduated from Wartburg Seminary (M.Div.). I was ordained to the public ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and served as a redevelopment and interim pastor until my retirement.
My history gives me a unique perspective for understanding the many degrees of vision that comprise blindness/low vision in our organization. As a pastor I have needed to listen carefully to differing concerns and offer support and aid to people as they advocate for their own needs. I believe that my training and gained perspectives will be useful to me in ACB as we relate to one another as fellow members and in our ongoing work to advocate for all who are blind.
2. My life with ACB started in the Wisconsin Council of Piano Service in 1968. There I learned the benefits of being part of a professional organization and to respect the quality of work of others and share techniques to make the work of each of us better. As secretary and treasurer from 1985-1988, I learned the financial responsibilities for programming and educational opportunities.
In 2018, I reacquainted myself with the ACB family in St. Louis. Since then, I have presented the invocation at convention in 2019 and 2020 and led the interdenominational worship in 2022. Through these experiences, I learned of the deep spiritual roots of many of our members. I have also witnessed how our individual faith traditions can unintentionally injure our dearest neighbors.
I currently serve on two committees, MCAC and Constitution and Bylaws. I am a lifetime member of the Braille Revival League and the Library Users of America affiliates. I currently serve as the president of ACB of Wisconsin as this affiliate enters its own time of renewal and revitalization. To date, I have seen us revise our by-laws, reinitiate use of groups.io, and see state legislation passed.
I regularly participate in two community book discussions where I have been able to share my love of reading with others and influence our learning through that love. I also participate in St. Lucy’s Guide and the Jewish Hour community calls.
I have been part of the last two ACB Leadership Conferences and have benefited from the work ACB does there. I have learned to have a voice in advocacy for the nation’s blind at the federal level and also for those within my state and for myself.
As an ACB Board member, I wish to continue to talk with our members and foster their needs.
3. ACB is predominantly White. The majority of its advocacy has benefitted a fairly affluent, White community. While ACB has made what is largely “a good faith statement of intent”, it has a long way to go to meet its aspirational goals of DEIA.
It is not enough for ACB to claim to be open to all people, to invite diversity, to strive for equity, and to work for equal access. We always want to attract people who are like us. Our commonality is blindness, and it knows no partiality in the world. We are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color; we are Asian, Pacific Islanders, and White; we are gay, straight, and transexual; we are wealthy and poor. We welcome new members who are blind or low-vision and then, both we and they, are surprised to learn that we all have many life experiences that are different and, especially if we are not allowed to express them and explore them together, separate us.
Because the blind and low vision community is so diverse, we possess many gifts we can share. ACB must be very intentional about allowing all members to tell their stories, allowing them to find places where their experience intersects with that of others and share with those others whose experience is different. Providing Spanish translation of our business meetings and other major presentations is a beginning. We must establish other attainable goals as we move into inclusivity.
I actively support the new African American Affiliate of ACB. If elected, I would advocate for creating places where the ACB membership has the opportunity to actively listen to minority voices within its membership as they tell of their needs and then join their advocacy without stealing their stories.
4. I believe the greatest challenge for ACB is identity. We are, and will be, exploring and defining the changes that describe who ACB has been, is, and is going to be. We are working to create the narrative of what it means to be ACB in the midst of an increasing number of affiliates, a greater number of at-large members, electronic voting that allows everyone (not just delegates) to vote, a greater awareness of the pluralistic world we live in, and the rising need for a unified front when addressing the consumer needs of the blindness community in general.
I have proven skills in helping organizations develop their stories through study of their history, their current circumstances, and their dreams for the future. Even in an organization as large as ACB it is important for there to be a unified understanding of how ACB and its affiliates have gotten to where it is, where ACB’s attention is currently directed, and, most importantly, where and how all of ACB will move forward together.
I have learned the value of constructive disagreement, the value of open debate, and the strength of compromise. I have learned that disagreement does not preclude being able to walk together with one mind nor does walking together with one mind mean that we all must agree with one another. We, however, must all be willing to work together for the common good.
I believe that I can help to develop a narrative and goals that recognize the concerns of our special interest groups while working for the common good of all members of ACB. Through my work with Disability Ministries, Racial Equity, and long-range planning teams, I have developed tools and skills which will allow me to serve the ACB Board of Directors in many ways.