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Haben Girma👩🏿‍🦯
6,205 posts
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Haben Girma👩🏿‍🦯
@HabenGirma
Human Rights Lawyer, Speaker & Author. Disability drives innovation. My book is titled Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law habengirma.com/book
San Francisco, CA
HabenGirma.com
Joined August 2013
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  • Pinned
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    Haben Girma👩🏿‍🦯
    @HabenGirma
    Aug 6, 2019
    My book is now in stores! The audiobook, too! Check your local bookstore or find it through habenbook.com. When you find it, let me know what you think! Haben The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law #Habenbook
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    Haben Girma👩🏿‍🦯
    @HabenGirma
    Jun 7, 2020
    Police can’t see I’m Deafblind. Frankly, many wouldn’t care. 30 to 50% of the lives extinguished by police were disabled black & brown people. If you believe #BlackDisabledLivesMatter, add your name to create a bold new solution #DefundThePolice action.aclu.org/petition/dives…
    A head and shoulders photo of Haben Girma, a black woman, standing outside with a fence in the background.
  • user avatar
    Haben Girma👩🏿‍🦯
    @HabenGirma
    Jun 30, 2020
    My eyes move involuntarily, each one swinging to its own music. They’ve danced this way for as long as I can remember. I can’t see it myself, but the jeering kids let me know. The adults nudging me to wear sunglasses let me know. And trolls certainly let me know. Thread 1/5
    I'm a Black woman standing with my hands at my waist, wearing a pink blouse and smiling. My left eye is slightly left of center and my right eye is looking to the right. Behind me is water and trees.
  • user avatar
    Haben Girma👩🏿‍🦯
    @HabenGirma
    Jun 25, 2023
    Park rangers stop us every time. “No dogs allowed. You need to leave.” Their surprise upon learning it’s a real, actual Seeing Eye dog puzzles me. The Parks & Recreation Department trains them to identify coyotes and mountain lions, but not Seeing Eye dogs? 1/4
    I’m wearing a shirt that says “Commit to Inclusion” and smiling down at Mylo, a German Shepherd Seeing Eye dog. Behind us is a grass-covered hillside with forested hills in the distance.
    487K
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    Haben Girma👩🏿‍🦯
    @HabenGirma
    Aug 14, 2023
    Because I'm blind, an airline is saying I have to sit alone. We booked side-by-side seats. But when they found out I'm blind, they separated us. They're claiming it's their policy 1/7 #RightsOnFlights
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    1.2M
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    Haben Girma👩🏿‍🦯
    @HabenGirma
    Jun 30, 2020
    Replying to @HabenGirma
    This photo is for that third group who accepts #disability & strives to understand. You all get it. I’m Haben and my rebellious eyes look here, there, & everywhere! #BodyAcceptance #BodyRespect #DisabilityPride #Blind #DeafBlind #BodyPositive #BodyPositivity #Inclusion 5/5
  • user avatar
    Haben Girma👩🏿‍🦯
    @HabenGirma
    Oct 11, 2020
    #DeafU, a Netflix show about #Deaf students at Gallaudet University, has zero Black Deaf woman. Nor does it have Deafblind or other multiply-disabled students. Mylo & I are disappointed. Producers need to stop whitewashing the #disability experience. #DisabilityTooWhite
    I’m standing in front of an old rock wall. My guide dog Mylo is sitting beside me, his mouthed raised to the skies as if howling. He wasn’t, but it would have been fitting.
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    Haben Girma👩🏿‍🦯
    @HabenGirma
    Sep 3, 2023
    The lighthouse had their first blind visitor, and they turned it into an opportunity to search high and low for all the tactile experiences! They showed me the reserve light, the antique light, and they invited us to climb the stairs as high as we were comfortable going. 1/3
    High up on the tower’s viewing platform, I stand beside an orange, waist-high wall where the reserve light happens to be perched. The large lantern has red along its top and bottom, and a silvery, translucent center. My guide dog Mylo looks alert beside me, and behind us, down below, appear the tops of trees, deep blue waters, and the shores of another island called São Jorge.
    179K
  • user avatar
    Haben Girma👩🏿‍🦯
    @HabenGirma
    Jun 30, 2020
    Replying to @HabenGirma
    The #blind community has many stories of police glancing at our eyes & immediately assuming intoxication, illegal substance use, or criminal intent. Those of us who are blind and Black face the dual forces of #ableism and racism. #BlackDisabledLivesMatter 3/5
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    Haben Girma👩🏿‍🦯
    @HabenGirma
    Jun 30, 2020
    Replying to @HabenGirma
    Our society criminalizes #disability. Countless books & films allege eyes reveal a person’s soul, then deliberately give the evil characters abnormal eyes. Not all of them, of course, but enough to influence the public’s perception of eyes like mine. #Ableism 2/5
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    Haben Girma👩🏿‍🦯
    @HabenGirma
    Mar 14, 2021
    Never in my life have so many people attempted to crush my voice. Relatives urge me to stay silent. Trolls are digging up old photos & mocking my #disability. They inspired me to make this video: youtube.com/watch?v=050ByD… #Ableism #Tigray #AllowAccessToTigray #BlackLivesMatter
    A head and shoulders photo of me sitting in my living room, a blue throw is over the back of the sofa and there are plants in the background. Text reads: Responding to Ableist Comments. Disability Justice & Tigray, Ethiopia -- Video.
  • user avatar
    Haben Girma👩🏿‍🦯
    @HabenGirma
    Jun 30, 2020
    Replying to @HabenGirma
    3 main sighted reactions. Those who see my asymmetrical eyes and experience fear & discomfort. Others claim they don’t notice, insisting they see the person not the #disability. The third type of reaction, my preferred reaction, accepts the difference & strives to understand. 4/5
  • user avatar
    Haben Girma👩🏿‍🦯
    @HabenGirma
    Mar 5, 2022
    Another glorious disability rights win! The Los Angeles Community College District finally agreed to drop its appeal to the Supreme Court, saving civil rights protections for millions of disabled people. We did it! Congratulations!!! #a11y
    I’m a Black disabled woman smiling in an orchard. Small flowers cover the trees and the ground is dotted with white petals. Almond blossms infuse the air with the sweet but delicate fragrance of hope.
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    Haben Girma👩🏿‍🦯
    @HabenGirma
    Mar 7, 2021
    I’m not Tigrayan, but my heart is big enough to care for all the ethnic groups of #Ethiopia, #Eritrea & beyond. Right now the 6 million people of #Tigray are facing genocide. #StopWarOnTigray #AllowAccessToTigray