ohlooksheswriting: roachpatrol: ...

ohlooksheswriting:

roachpatrol:
princess-neville:
The way that we learn about Helen Keller in school is an absolute outrage. We read “The Miracle Worker”- the miracle worker referring to her teacher; she’s not even the title character in her own story. The narrative about disabled people that we are comfortable with follows this format- “overcoming” disability. Disabled people as children.

Helen Keller as an adult, though? She was a radical socialist, a fierce disability advocate, and a suffragette. There’s no reason she should not be considered a feminist icon, btw, and the fact that she isn’t is pure ableism- while other white feminists of that time were blatent racists, she was speaking out against Woodrew Wilson because of his vehement racism. She supported woman’s suffrage and birth control. She was an anti-war speaker. She was an initial donor to the NAACP. She spoke out about the causes of blindness- often disease caused by poverty and poor working conditions. She was so brave and outspoken that the FBI had a file on her because of all the trouble she caused.
Yet when we talk about her, it’s either the boring, inspiration porn story of her as a child and her heroic teacher, or as the punchline of ableist, misogynistic jokes. It’s not just offensive, it’s downright disgusting.
the reason the story stops once hellen keller learns to talk is no one wanted to listen to what she had to say
how’s that for a fucking punchline
You know what my first introduction to Helen Keller was? It was none other than her book. And I still have it with me from when I got it back when I was 17.
Her words are amazing. In her book she talked so passionately about her life experiences and the things she believed in and held dear that I honestly found it hard to believe that someone who had such a colourful and vibrant personality had only seen colour and heard sound for a few short years of her life. Even when she was 19 she had so much motivation and drive, she said that she would do anything that it took to go to college and make a future for herself and she did that and went above and beyond to go even further.
Helen Keller’s an inspiration, and I’m happy that my first experience in really learning about her was done through reading the words that she put down on paper herself. And I think that this is why it’s so important that minority groups be the ones to represent themselves because they’re the ones who do it right.

(Source: kissinkatebarlow1995, via tumblingclockwork)