Sojourner Truth

Last Thursday, November 18, marked the birthday of Sojourner Truth.  She was born in the year 1767.  She was an abolitionist and women’s rights activist, whom herself, had been born into slavery.  During her life, she would fall in love with a slave from a neighboring farm, but be forbidden to wed him. Instead, she would be forced to marry, and have children with, a much older man, also a slave.

Although promised by her owner, John Dumont, that her freedom would come well before the New York Emancipation Act in 1827, Sojourner would have to escape slavery when Dumont reneged on his promise. In 1826, Sojourner would escape with her infant daughter, Sophia.

It was in 1851, that she attended the Ohio Womens’ Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio, where she delivered her famous speech, later known as “Ain’t I A Woman?”.  Please watch this speech, performed by the narrator of Sweet Blackberry’s, “The Journey of Henry ‘Box’ Brown”, by the incredible Alfre Woodard.

“Only Passing Through: The Story of Sojourner Truth” is a wonderful book for children about this remarkable woman. It’s illustrated by Sweet Blackberry’s, “Garrett’s Gift” illustrator R. Gregory Christie.

I learned firsthand how difficult it can be to write a story for small children about slavery when writing “The Journey of Henry ‘Box’ Brown.” Most parents shy away from the subject for obvious reasons. But while it is a horrific chapter in our history, and a child’s young  mind is delicate, these stories of individuals meeting challenges with unflinching determination and perseverance, illustrate for our children that they needn’t ever feel powerless to affect change in their lives.