Blind Ambition: One Woman's Journey to Greatness Despite Her Blindness

by Ever Lee Hairston

As a child, Ever Lee Hairston faced one disappointment after the other. A product of share-cropping parents and raised on one of the biggest plantations in the South, Ever allowed those disappointments to diminish her self-confidence and sully her self-esteem.
Not to mention, that for years, the young Ever hid a terrible secret, which she hadn’t told anyone – not her family, her friends, her teachers, and as she got older, even her employers. Ever Lee didn’t want to accept that she was slowly losing her eyesight.
As darkness began to envelop her, and inspired by the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Ever eventually decided to stop feeling sorry for herself and face her fears. Through two turbulent marriages, a host of setbacks, and a life that was getting harder and harder to manage, Ever encountered defeats, but was determined not to be defeated.
Now, decades after she lost her eyesight, her powerful story is one of inspiration and ambition….and helping others realize their lives have purpose as they reach their full potential in spite of any obstacles in their paths.

Genres: Nonfiction

366 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 30, 2015

Reviews

[Connor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone should read this book.

Ever Lee Hairston is one of those people within the blind community that I look up to. Not just because she lives her life on her own terms, though I look up to her for that reason, but because her advocacy and her persistance enables young blind people like myself to have choices.

I spent a year living in the United States. And many of the rights and privileges I had would not have been possible without the work so many blind and other disabled people put in. Also, when I read about the ways in which she fought to get a job it really gave me a lot of perspective. We kind of take it for granted that if we get a job, we're going to have funding for the technology we need, for training and travel costs. But that just wasn't available to her and yet she still made it work.

This is her story, she starts in her childhood growing up on a plantation in the South, moving to New York for the summers, going to college and getting involved in the civil rights movement. And throughout all of this she tells how she adapted to her blindness. She has RP, so at first, she is night blind, and then her vision starts to get worse during the day. And like many people losing their vision at first she hides how bad it is. She feels shame and discomfort, which is only enhanced by those around her either not believing her or not wanting to face it.

I loved every part of this book. Particularly how she recounted her involvement with the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. I think about that a lot, how she was a woman in the 60s, but she was also a woman who was going blind, and then, a black woman who was going blind. And how all of these things had such a huge impact on her life, but she still kept fighting

Then she takes you through her life as an adult, how she resisted dating and the reasons why, her emotionally abusive and complex marriage and her eventual diagnosis of Retinitis Pigmentosa. She manages to cover so much of her life and yet the book still felt complete. That's not to say I don't want to read more, because I absolutely do. But she tells stories so well I also felt like I was being given enough to follow what had happened in her life and when.

I've been lucky enough to hear Ever Lee speak at blindness events that I've been to. She really is an amazing speaker and even if you don't read her book, check out some of the videos of her speeches.

I felt a lot of emotions reading about her introduction to the National Federation of the Blind. The NFB has made such a huge difference to my own life, and so whenever I read about the impact it has had on someone elses life I feel this really deep connection to their words.

Anyway, this book was so so good and I cannot praise it enough, so please read it if you can. I wish I could give it more than five stars.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book; a journey of a courageous woman; Ever Lee Hairston. Ever Lee faced so many disappointments in her life, but she did not give up. Ever Lee did not want anyone to know that she was losing her sight. Ever Lee was a strong woman that was not defeated by anything. She overcame every challenge that was thrown her way; marriage, divorce and the loss of her sight…..Awesome story!!!

[Khushi · Rating 4 out of 5]

CW: **the use of the ‘N’ word ***
synopsis:
Ever Lee Hairston is hiding something. as she navigates her way around things she loved and did not loved at all, she's hiding a secret. something she wants no one to know. her parents were sharecroppers and she grew up on one of the biggest plantations of the south in North Carolina. subjected to racial discrimination and various setbacks, this book tells her story in her own words.

I don’t know what to say about this book. it was a treat to read this!
Everyone should read this! But I hope some other addition comes out for this book where the ‘N’ word is not used in full. Because I can see why its used here.. because of the time period this book is set in.
And of course, the NFB part! It was my favorite! I got teary a few times while reading this book but I won’t give any spoilers!
I’m glad this was my first book of 2021. And yeah, the NFB part had me so badly wanting to give this a full 5 stars.
I learnt so much! as someone who loves the NFB model and admires the work they do in the US, it was insightful and amazing.

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found the book exciting from the start! Her childhood life was grim on a plantation, poor and lacking regular schooling but throughout her life, her ambition was strong and always forward facing despite societal limitations and duties to family members. Ever Lee fought many battles to attain education, especially diminishing sight and growing inability to navigate in the dark. Clever ideas she came up with enabled her to work and attain better employment until her condition was diagnosed.
Ever Lee mentioned future travel on a ZOOM gathering (imagine as we sighted folk lessen our travels!) and I made the decision to read her book.

No regrets! Her story was wonderfully told and I recommend it highly for high school students( age I taught) thru adults as an inspiration to never give up nor look back but to live in the Now anticipating how your future may improve.

[Sherry S · Rating 5 out of 5]

I met Ever Lee at a Federation Blind meeting. She told us her brief story and told us she wrote her bio. I loved this book! You will never whine again after you hear about her early life.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ever Lee Hairston was born with an eye disease that slowly robbed her of her sight, but that did not not stop her from accomplishing remarkable things. Born on a plantation in North Carolina during the Jim Crow era, Hairston has never let her condition keep her down. Whether it was marching and participating in protests of the Civil Rights Era to speaking out for economic opportunities and social equality for the blind as a prominent board member for the National Federation of the Blind, her mission in life has been to improve the quality of life for people. Overall, this was a great book, written in a simple, but powerful voice. Personally, I could identify with some things that she was saying, but still, to grow up during an era of extreme prejudice having a disability and not knowing if people would give her an opportunity had to be nerve-wracking. To also raise a child basically being a blind single parent is truly a testament to who she is. I got the chance to hear her speak a couple of weeks ago, and she was an amazing speaker.