The Sojourner Truth Story

'I am a woman's rights. I have plowed and reaped and husked and chopped and mowed, and can any man do more than that? I am as strong as any man that is now' A former slave and one of the most powerful orators of her time, Sojourner Truth fought for the equal rights of Black women throughout her life. This selection of her impassioned speeches is accompanied by the words of other inspiring African-American female campaigners from the nineteenth century. One of twenty new books in the bestselling Penguin Great Ideas series. This new selection showcases a diverse list of thinkers who have helped shape our world today, from anarchists to stoics, feminists to prophets, satirists to Zen Buddhists.

“A triumph of scholarly maturity, imagination, and narrative art.”—Arnold Rampersad Sojourner Truth: formerly enslaved person and unforgettable abolitionist of the mid-nineteenth century, a figure of imposing physique, a riveting preacher and spellbinding singer who dazzled listeners with her wit and originality. Straight-talking and unsentimental, Truth became an early national symbol for strong Black women—indeed, for all strong women. In this modern classic of scholarship and sympathetic understanding, eminent historian Nell Irvin Painter goes beyond the myths, words, and photographs to uncover the life of a complex woman who was born into slavery and died a legend.

At a time when the cooperation between white abolitionists and African Americans was limited, as was the alliance between the woman suffrage movement and the abolitionists, Sojourner Truth was a figure that brought all factions together by her skills as a public speaker and by her common sense. She worked with acumen to claim and actively gain rights for all human beings, starting with those who were enslaved, but not excluding women, the poor, the homeless, and the unemployed. Truth believed that all people could be enlightened about their actions and choose to behave better if they were educated by others, and persistently acted upon these beliefs.

Born a slave in New York state around 1797 and given the name Isabella Baumfree, Sojourner Truth soon believed that God wanted her to be a travelling preacher who always spoke the truth. She was sold three times early in her life; her third owner promised

The inspiring story of how a woman, born a slave, transformed herself into one of the most profound voices of the abolitionist movement.

Born a slave in 1797, Sojourner Truth eventually gained her freedom and travelled the nation crusading against slavery and promoting civil liberties, women's rights, prison reform, and better working conditions. In JOURNEY TOWARD FREEDOM, Bernard gives vivid expression to the great courage, wit, and common sense that made Sojourner Truth an inspirational champion for change in the United States. "Quietly factual when it suits her story, but lyrical when the demand arises, Jacqueline Bernard has succeeded on nearly every account." -- New York Times.

Using original sources, Mabee and Newhouse construct a biography of Truth that seeks to shed the myths that have grown up around her. Though serving a positive function, these myths, they say, distort perceptions about the history of blacks and women in America. While they preserve her reputation as a leader and visionary, they burst some bubbles--among them, the authenticity of the famous "Ar'n't I A Woman?" speech. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Sojourner Truth was born to slaves. She had no choice. But when she grew to be a young mother herself, she ran away with her child looking for freedom. She used her voice to speak for all slaves wanting to be free.