Sojourner Truth was born into slavery. Slaveowners sold her four times. She was beaten. She escaped in 1826. Then Truth sued her old slaveowner to win the freedom of her son. For years, she worked for the freedom of Black families and rights for women.
No one knows when Sojourner Truth was born. It was likely 1797. She was born in Swartekill, New York, with the name Isabella Baumfree. She changed it to Sojourner Truth in 1843. True to her new name, her powerful words spoke truth.
“Ain’t I a Woman?”
Sojourner Truth asked that in 1851 at the Women’s Rights Convention in Ohio. “I am a woman,” she declared. “I can do as much work as any man,” said Truth. “I am as strong as any man,” she stated. Truth was saying that women deserved the same rights as men. “Ain’t I a Woman?” is her most famous speech.
Truth didn’t just speak up. She sang out. Truth traveled across America — singing to crowds along the way. As an , she worked to end slavery. She told women “to turn the world right side up again.” And she spoke to white people.
Truth could not read or write. However, her voice carried power. And she her story to a friend. That let Truth publish her in 1850. The book helped people learn about slavery.
Truth died in 1883. Yet she made a huge difference during her life. And the effects of her words are still felt across America. She became part of a monument called “Ripples of Change.” Her statue stands in Seneca Falls, New York.
There’s another important sculpture of Sojourner Truth. In 2009, it joined the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. It was the first sculpture at the Capitol to honor a Black woman.
Updated March 6, 2023, 5:01 P.M. (ET)
By Jhazzmyn Joiner
