Helen Keller/Anne Sullivan photo found

[lagatta]

A photo illustrating the relationship before the two women: Helen Keller as a child with the young Anne Sullivan. Putting this here because Keller was an activist for disabled people and for the exploited and oppressed.

How I became a Wobbly (Keller)

[lagatta]

A photo illustrating the relationship before the two women: Helen Keller as a child with the young Anne Sullivan. Putting this here because Keller was an activist for disabled people and for the exploited and oppressed.

How I became a Wobbly (Keller)

Keller on socialism and social causes of disabilities

[Holly Stick]

That's fascinating, both the photo and the articles.  When we were kids, my sister and I had several books about Helen Keller, including her autobiography.  We had seen the movie and went to the play with a friend and our mothers.  Later we three girls re-enacted our own version of the play for our parents: I had all the bit parts, the friend was Helen Keller and my sister was Annie Sullivan.  The highlight of our play was the friend spitting cold mashed potatoes at my sister.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056241/

http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/keller/life/life.html  I don't remember her talking about socialism, but it's many years since I read it, and I probably didn't know anything about socialism then.

ETA: the autobiography was published in 1905, when she was 25; so I guess the socialism mostly came later.

[lagatta]

Her comments on women's suffrage are interesting as well:  Keller on women's suffrage

When women vote men will no longer be compelled to guess at their desires--and guess wrong. Women will be able to protect themselves from man-made laws that are antagonistic to their interests. Some persons like to imagine that man's chivalrous nature will constrain him to act humanely toward woman and protect her rights. Some men do protect some women. We demand that all women have the right to protect themselves and relieve man of this feudal responsibility.

[Toedancer]

Thanks so so much Lagatta, I absolutely needed to read that.

"What are you committed to - education or revolution?"

"Revolution." She answered decisively. "We can't have education without revolution. We have tried peace education for 1900 years and it has failed. Let us try revolution and see what it will do now."

Keller belongs in the Activist Hall of Fame!

[skdadl]

It's a wonderful photo. To me, it says that some people have known -- and demonstrated, too -- for a long time what the essential element of communication with disabled or distressed people is: it's that focus, the full commitment, total empathy, however we describe it. It works, although it is exhausting and, of course, few in our world will fund it.