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Sojourner Truth
Religion without humanity is very poor human stuff. ~ Sojourner Truth


Sojourner Truth Memorial

Among blacks there are women; among women, there are blacks.
~ Sojourner Truth
Sojourner Truth was an escaped/freed slave, abolitionist, preacher, speaker, singer & champion of women's rights.


Sojourner Truth It is the mind that makes the body. ~ Sojourner Truth

Sojourner Truth Postage Stamp

Sojourner Truth

Sojourner TruthSojourner Truth

Born a slave in 1797in Swartekill, New York, Isabella or 'Belle' changed her name in 1843 to Sojourner Truth. She was 1 of 10-12 children born to her parents and was sold at age 9 with a flock of sheep for $100. She suffered greatly with this slave owner and 3 more that followed. She fell in love with a slave named Robert but was not allowed to marry him being forced to marry another slave named Thomas. She had 5 children and escaped with her infant daughter to freedom in 1826. After going to court to recover her son, she became the first black woman to win such a case against a white man. She was a powerful speaker & singer & became a pentecostal preacher; her words of empowerment still inspire to this day. She was well spoken & out spoken for women's rights. She stood 6 feet tall and had a booming voice. Everyone listened when she spoke. She also sang beautifully & mixed her singing & speaking.
Her best known speech, Ain't I A Woman?, (read below) was delivered in 1851 at the Ohio Women's Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio where she was moved to stand and speak. Truth helped president Lincoln during the Civil War by helping recruit black troops for the Union Army. After the war, Truth tried to secure land grants from the government for former slaves but was unsuccessful. She lived to be 86.

Truth is powerful and it prevails. ~ Sojourner Truth
 

The Classic Report
An account of Truth's famous Ain't I A Woman Speech
Found Here: http://www.kyphilom.com/www/truth.html

Several ministers attended the second day of the Woman's Rights Convention, and voiced their opinion of man's superiority over women. One claimed "superior intellect", one spoke of the "manhood of Christ," and still another referred to the "sin of our first mother."

Suddenly, Sojourner Truth rose from her seat in the corner of the church. "For God's sake, Mrs.Gage, don't let her speak!" half a dozen women whispered loudly, fearing that their cause would be mixed up with Abolition. Sojourner walked to the podium and slowly took off her sunbonnet. Her six-foot frame towered over the audience. She began to speak in her deep, resonant voice: "Well, children, where there is so much racket, there must be something out of kilter, I think between the Negroes of the South and the women of the North - all talking about rights - the white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what's all this talking about?"
Sojourner TruthSojourner pointed to one of the ministers. "That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody helps me any best place. And ain't I a woman?" Sojourner raised herself to her full height. "Look at me! Look at my arm." She bared her right arm and flexed her powerful muscles. "I have plowed, I have planted and I have gathered into barns. And no man could head me. And ain't I a woman?" "I could work as much, and eat as much as man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne children and seen most of them sold into slavery, and when I cried out with a mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me. And ain't I a woman?" The women in the audience began to cheer wildly. She pointed to another minister. "He talks about this thing in the head. What's that they call it?" "Intellect," whispered a woman nearby. "That's it, honey. What's intellect got to do with women's rights or black folks' rights? If my cup won't hold but a pint and yours holds a quart, wouldn't you be mean not to let me have my little half-measure full?" "That little man in black there! He says women can't have as much rights as men. ‘Cause Christ wasn't a woman. She stood with outstretched arms and eyes of fire. "Where did your Christ come from?" "Where did your Christ come from?", she thundered again. "From God and a Woman! Man had nothing to do with him!" The entire church now roared with deafening applause.

"If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back and get it right-side up again. And now that they are asking to do it the men better let them."

Aint I A Woman?


Those are the same stars, and that is the same moon, that look down upon your brothers and sisters, and which they see as they look up to them, though they are ever so far away from us, and each other.
~ Sojourner Truth

CBS News featured Artis Lane's work and her beautiful bust of Sojurner Truth unveiled by Michelle Obama. Sojourner is the 1st African American woman to be honored at the White House:

Trust What You Hear Color Seats
Sojourner Truth * Ida B Wells * Claudette Colvin * Rosa Parks



There are many informational and inspirational
books and web pages on Sojourner Truth;
we thank them for educating us and for the pictures!
Here is her Wiki page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sojourner_Truth
Look her up and read, read, read for yourself!