Are there any literature buffs among you? Why, if memory serves me well, that would be a, “yes.” Those of you who characterize yourselves as such will appreciate the irony of Isabelle Freeman’s name, since she was born a slave. Further irony can be appreciated from the fact that she was promised freedom from her master, who was not true to his word. So, she simple took her infant child and walked away, because she thought it was right. She would later convert to Christianity and change her name to the more apropos Sojourner Truth. She would alight on one platform or another pontificating and advocating on a myriad of social issues of the time. Usually, with quite a bit of agitation involved. Sojourner Truth was so far ahead of her time that even the Abolitionists of her time couldn’t quite keep up with her. She frightened even them because she was seen as too radical. But, she was prophetic in that every social ill that she championed have come to pass, or are on their way to fruition almost 100 years after her death. She was an advocate the abolition of slavery – indeed winning the lawsuit that effectively ended slavery in Massachusetts. She advocated for women’s suffrage, which would final happen in the ‘60’s. She advocated for equal protection under the law, which became the Civil Rights movement. She campaigned against Capital Punishment and prison reform. She even fought unsuccessfully to have land grants given to former slaves – this movement would become the present day reparations movement. Her vignette comes to you after much internal debate. I had to choose between her and Harriet Tubman as to who I thought was the most important Black woman in our history. I think I’ve chosen Harriet by a slim margin only because of the slaves she personally freed. You can read all about Harriet tomorrow. thebiv.zapto.org/Sojourner_Truth.html If you have missed any vignettes, or you simply want to read one a second time, I have compiled them all, here: thebiv.zapto.org
Posted on: Tue, 04 Mar 2014 00:48:18 +0000
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