Hero #073: Helen Keller … (03/22/16)
Helen Adams Keller was an American author, political activist, and lecturer. She was the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. Keller proved to the world that deaf people could all learn to communicate and that they could thrive in the hearing world. She also taught that deaf people are capable of doing things that hearing people can do. She was able to enjoy music by feeling the beat, and she was able to have a strong connection with animals through her sense of touch … Determined to communicate with others as conventionally as possible, Keller actually learned to speak, and spent much of her life giving speeches and lectures on aspects of her life – doing so in 25 different countries. She also learned to “hear” others’ words by reading their lips with her hands, and became proficient at using braille and reading sign language with her hands as well.
A prolific writer, Keller was well-traveled and outspoken in her convictions. A member of the Socialist Party of America and the Industrial Workers of the World, she actively and courageously campaigned for women’s suffrage, labor rights, fertility rights, antimilitarism, and a host of other similar causes – including and especially the rights of the disabled. In 1920, she also helped to found the American Civil Liberties Union … In closing, even though Helen Keller was delayed in picking up language, this did not stop her from having a beautiful & powerful voice.
“I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble … Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all … Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it … Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose … So be of good cheer. Do not think of today’s failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. You have set yourselves a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere; and you will find a joy in overcoming obstacles. Remember, no effort that we make to attain something beautiful is ever lost.” ~ via Helen Keller
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