Sachem alum Albert Rizzi made news last month when he was removed from his U.S. Airways Flight in Philadelphia bound for Long Island’s MacArthur Airport.
Rizzi, who lives in Bellport and is a member of the Suffolk County Disabilities Advisory Board, said he was discriminated against when the airline did not assist with his dog, Doxy, a yellow lab.
Rizzi is also the Founder and CEO of My Blind Spot, a place where people of all visual abilities can come together and gain a clear view to independence, empowerment, and inclusion, according to the organization’s website.
“It is our hope to be not just a resource, but a force that empowers individuals and society as a whole: one spot where people of all visual abilities can find answers and support,” the company’s mission statement reads.
“Each of us in one way or another has a blind spot in our lives,” Rizzi writes. “When I first came to be blind, I found I was forever running into literal and virtual walls—dead ends that blocked my assimilation into the blind community and hindered my participation in mainstream society. Without my sight, not only did the world become invisible to me, but I learned how it felt to be unseen.”
Rizzi received his B.A. from Manhattanville College and has dual M.S. degrees from St. John’s University in education, one in early childhood and the other in administration and supervision, according to his bio on My Blind Spot. He was a New York City Teaching Fellow and began his career in education as a kindergarten teacher. He became the Executive Director of MARC After-School and Pre-K Program located in the South Bronx, providing direct services to 250 students and their families.
Rizzi went unexpectedly blind in 2006 and immediately became an advocate for the blind.
Other passengers on the flight grew angry with the way Rizzi was treated and the flight did not take off that day in Philadelphia.
Click here to learn more about My Blind Spot
-Words by Chris R. Vaccaro