The first Deafblind graduate of Harvard Law School, Haben Girma has spent her life advocating for disability justice and the importance of inclusion as a human rights lawyer. Girma is also a recipient of the Helen Keller Achievement Award and a member of the Forbes 30 Under 30 Class of 2016. Former President Barack Obama also named her a White House Champion for change. Using a braille communication system that she developed herself, Girma spoke with The Politic over text about her life, activism, and the ongoing fight against ableism.
Author Archives: Isiuwa Omoigui
“You Must Construct New Stories”: A Conversation with Black Disability Rights Advocate Haben Girma
eafblind graduate of Harvard Law School, Haben Girma has spent her life advocating for disability justice and the importance of inclusion as a human rights lawyer. Girma is also a recipient of the Helen Keller Achievement Award and a member of the Forbes 30 Under 30 Class of 2016.
Twin Pandemics: An Autopsy of the Current Moment
How did we become so anesthetized to the deaths and suffering of the people at society’s margins?
Tending Our Garden: The United States and the Free World
Often referred to as the “policeman of the world,” the nation has struggled to handle our self-given mandate of fostering democracy and encouraging respect for the rule of law.
On Loving Your Neighbors: Racism in the Christian Community
The call to “love our neighbors as ourselves” is not rooted in sentimentality or mush or comfort. It is deeply rooted in a sense of justice and empathy towards our fellow man. If your love only extends to the blonde-haired and blue-eyed and pale-skinned, then it isn’t loving.
Human Rights for Whom?: America’s Longstanding Commitment to Environmental Racism
Natural disasters rub salt in the open wound of race relations in America. In these moments, we can see that some lives are valued more than others.
Do No Harm: Reflecting on a legacy of pain for black women and girls in the United States
We see and feel the painful legacies of slavery all around us.
OMOIGUI: Sickle Cell Disease and the Medicalization of Blackness
The use of medicine to foreground notions of racial inequality tells the frightening story about how racism permeates almost every aspect of life.