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Haben
Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law | Haben Girma
17 posts | 15 read | 30 to read
"This autobiography by a millennial Helen Keller teems with grace and grit." -- O Magazine "A profoundly important memoir." -- The Times ** As featured in The Wall Street Journal, People, and on The TODAY Show ** A New York Times "New & Noteworthy" Pick ** An O Magazine "Book of the Month" Pick ** A Publishers Weekly Bestseller ** The incredible life story of Haben Girma, the first Deafblind graduate of Harvard Law School, and her amazing journey from isolation to the world stage. Haben grew up spending summers with her family in the enchanting Eritrean city of Asmara. There, she discovered courage as she faced off against a bull she couldn't see, and found in herself an abiding strength as she absorbed her parents' harrowing experiences during Eritrea's thirty-year war with Ethiopia. Their refugee story inspired her to embark on a quest for knowledge, traveling the world in search of the secret to belonging. She explored numerous fascinating places, including Mali, where she helped build a school under the scorching Saharan sun. Her many adventures over the years range from the hair-raising to the hilarious. Haben defines disability as an opportunity for innovation. She learned non-visual techniques for everything from dancing salsa to handling an electric saw. She developed a text-to-braille communication system that created an exciting new way to connect with people. Haben pioneered her way through obstacles, graduated from Harvard Law, and now uses her talents to advocate for people with disabilities. HABEN takes readers through a thrilling game of blind hide-and-seek in Louisiana, a treacherous climb up an iceberg in Alaska, and a magical moment with President Obama at The White House. Warm, funny, thoughtful, and uplifting, this captivating memoir is a testament to one woman's determination to find the keys to connection.
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Amor4Libros
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This was such a wonderful memoir! Loved Haben‘s tenacity to make her dreams come true and using her education and platform to advocate for people with disabilities.

Read this!

Thank you @wanderinglynn for putting this on my radar ❤️

wanderinglynn So glad you enjoyed her story too! 5mo
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Amor4Libros
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Multiple library holds came in today (including audiobooks), and an unexpected ARC that has made me very, very curious! 😅

Update on Haben: Loving it!

IMASLOWREADER loved stories for punjabi widows 5mo
Amor4Libros @IMASLOWREADER So happy to know that. I read the first chapter last night and it looks promising 😊 5mo
IMASLOWREADER @Amor4Libros i listened to the audio version and it felt like i was a fly on the wall listening to their conversations…the henna artist was good too 5mo
Amor4Libros @IMASLOWREADER Oh, I love that kind of books. I also have The Henna Artist, bought it a few years ago on Kindle during an after-Christmas sale…I think I might have all three books. Will bump that up on my TBR! 5mo
37 likes4 comments
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Amor4Libros
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Started this last night, after being very influenced by @wanderinglynn 🤗

wanderinglynn I‘ll be interested to know what you think! ☺️ 5mo
vonnie862 I went to my friend's Cal State LA graduation a few years ago and was blessed to hear Haben's speech at the event. She, too, was graduating with another degree. I bought the book. It is time that I move it up my TBR list. 5mo
Amor4Libros @wanderinglynn Will be posting a review soon, don‘t think this is going to take me that long, she‘s so inspiring! 🫶🏽 5mo
Amor4Libros @vonnie862 How awesome! Will be looking out for your review when you get to it 😊 5mo
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wanderinglynn
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In 2010, Haben was the first, the FIRST, deadblind student to attend Harvard Law School, which was founded in 1817.

Her memoir is written in episodes, discusses different events from her childhood through professional life. Throughout her stories, she highlights how the world is designed for able-bodied people and discusses the concept of "ableism." This book is a must-read.

kspenmoll Stacked! Great review! 5mo
wanderinglynn @kspenmoll thanks!☺️ 5mo
Amor4Libros Stacked, this sounds great! 5mo
See All 6 Comments
wanderinglynn @Amor4Libros her story is fascinating & inspiring 5mo
Amor4Libros @wanderinglynn I was able to obtain the book from the library 😊 5mo
wanderinglynn @Amor4Libros yay! Enjoy! 5mo
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Cazxxx
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"Through my work at Disability Rights Advocates, I strive to ensure that people with disabilities have full access to the digital world internet services, online businesses, websites, and apps. Every day I'm reminded that as far as we've come, the drive for equality is not over.”

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Smrloomis
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💗

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MallenNC
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My book club at work read this memoir a few years ago. It was very meaningful to us because we work at a college, and she writes a lot about the accommodations she had to fight for at school. One thing that she had to fight to get was a Braille menu at the dining hall, because their “accommodation” had been to have staff read the menu to her, which didn‘t work since she could not hear in the noisy cafeteria.

#Disability #ConflictedWorlds

Eggs Great choice-that sounds so good🤗📚👏🏻 3y
MallenNC @Eggs It was a very good book! 3y
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rsteve388
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Wow! What an excellent and eye opening story about Haben Girma life as she navigates and shares with us her life of being DeafBlind and how she conquered Harvard Law School. This story is powerful and makes you think about your own ablism and the way the world limits.others based on biases and judgements. Beautiful story

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BayouGirl85
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I was very intrigued by Haben's story. I wasn't aware the Ruston, LA had a school for the blind which is interesting since I live in LA. It was very inspiring to her how she found ways to function being deaf/blind in a society that isn't design for their struggles.

April Book 7/25 #LitsyLove

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LiteraryinPA
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Solid memoir. The author used a factual style that was effective, though I usually prefer more of a touchy feely vibe. She organized it as a series of vignettes about her life experiences. I would have also enjoyed reading about her personal experiences but this focused mainly on her academic and professional ones. It‘s her choice what to share, but at one point it implied she was in a serious relationship and she‘d never mentioned that at all.

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sarahlandis
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Loved this memoir of Haben Girma, the first deaf blind student at Harvard Law. Haben tells her story of self advocacy and navigating through life tailored to the seeing and hearing. I read a short story by her about her guide dog in Alice Wong‘s collection of essays in Disability Visibility and immediately needed to read more by her. I love an audiobook read by the author and Haben‘s unique voice made the audio that much more memorable

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jploves2read
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Are you kidding me with this book? I love a good memoir and this was amazing. I love that it was told in present tense. It made everything seem more intense and alive. I loved the way she expressed her emotions. It‘s amazing what and where she silences herself and where she advocates for herself. I really love all of her adventures but I especially love her experiences with Maxine. Go and get this book and read it for yourself!

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MallenNC
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Catching up my #Nonfiction2019 bingo card. I‘m counting Haben for a book I chose (it was our book club pick for October) and Here We Are for a book that turned out unexpectedly. I heard the author talk about her book on NPR and how it turned out wasn‘t the way I thought based on that interview. With those two, I finally got a Bingo in a few rows, but I‘m still hoping to fill in the full card before the end of the year.

Riveted_Reader_Melissa Great job, and you have plenty of time left! You can do this! 5y
akaGingerK I listened to Haben recently! I enjoyed the audiobook- how‘d you feel about the book? 5y
MallenNC @akaGingerK At first I didn‘t like it because it seemed like she jumped quickly through her early life, but once I got into it, I really liked it. I especially enjoyed the parts when she was in her undergrad years, and her summer at the institute for the blind in Louisiana. And her visit to the White House. We had a great discussion in book club. 5y
MallenNC @Riveted_Reader_Melissa Thank you! I‘m doing nonfiction November so I am hoping to fill in a few more blocks soon. 5y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa @MallenNC I‘m doing it too, for the same reasons! 5y
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Insightsintobooks
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This one sounds good. This one I don't actually have. In case anyone is interested it's on sale today.

#kindledeal #kindledeals #ebooksale

BookNAround It is good! I read it this summer as it was voted a Great Group Read for National Reading Group Month. 5y
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MallenNC
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Just finished this for book club. I really learned a lot from her story. She emphasized that being blind is “just a lack of sight” but that others often assume blind people have nothing to offer. Her book proves that is very wrong. My favorite parts were her fight to get accommodations at her college, her Harvard Law years, and her experience introducing President Obama at a White House event. This was a quick read & would be good for #NFNov

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erinjohns
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Phenomenal read. Thought-provoking, stunning, soul-opening book to a world so few people know about. Haben is brilliant and is changing the world as we speak. Someone I now look up to and admire. I hope she writes much more. She is a voice that needs to be heard around the globe.

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HeatherBookNerd
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Fascinating book. Memoir of a deafblind woman who went to Harvard Law School and is a disability advocate. It was so interesting to see how she grew up, how she has been empowered to succeed using accommodations for her deafness and blindness. I learned a lot too!

ValerieAndBooks This interests me, being Deaf, and having worked with Deaf-Blind clients in the past. Stacking! 5y
HeatherBookNerd @ValerieAndBooks Haben has a particular passion for making helpful technology available to deafblind people. I was curious to know how she communicates with others and it was super interesting. She also discusses ableism and just generally made me more aware of what is useful when interacting with disabled folks. It‘s a good read. 5y
ValerieAndBooks @HeatherBookNerd Does she use sign language? I googled her but wasn‘t able to find that out. Definitely on the lookout for this one now! 5y
HeatherBookNerd @ValerieAndBooks she has limited use of sign language 5y
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