Sojourner Truth, slave, abolitionist, lecturer and activist (1797 - 1883) was honored today with a statue in Emancipation Hall of the United States Capitol Visitors' Center. Around her statue stood a group of people who appreciated and honored her legacy: First Lady Michelle Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi among many others.
Born in upstate New York as Isabella Baumfree, Sojourner Truth traveled extensively beginning 1843, the same year she took the name she is known by to this day. She spoke at the first Women's Rights Convention in Worcester, Massachusetts and owned a home in Northampton, Massachusetts. In her 86 years, she worked tirelessly for what could most accurately be described as human rights, whether as an abolitionist or as a suffragist.
I mean no disrespect, no flippancy, when I say she spoke truth to power.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
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