Royal Abolitionist: Sojourner Truth, The First Feminist

Sojourner Truth

Born on this day, November 18, in 1787 (exact date of birth not verified), Sojourner Truth, a profound orator, abolitionist, and feminist, was born into slavery as "Isabella".  In 1815, she married an enslaved man by the name of Thomas, bore five children, and was sold to four more slave masters before walking to freed in 1826 with her youngest child, an infant,  Sophia.  Isabella eventually settled in New York City, after taking her freedom back, and changed her name to Sojourner in radical protest of the name that her slave masters called her. After moving to Northampton, Massachusetts and then Ohio, Truth began her fight for social justice reform.  Though she could not read or write (as was the literacy state of most slaves), Sojourner traveled the country preaching about the abolition of slavery, women's rights and suffrage, prison reform, and the end of capital punishment. Although she traveled the country, Truth found a way to make a living by selling her portraits and autobiography (possibly penned by her grandson, Sammy Banks, as he was literate).  Sojourner also worked to assist those freedman and former slaves of Freedman's Village in Maryland who had fled to Washington, D.C. The city was ill prepared for the large influx of residents and, therefore, needed the help of leaders like Truth to find them adequate housing and jobs.  Though she passed away on November 26, 1883, Sojourner truths have lived on throughout Black history and serve to tell the story that our fight for women's rights, black liberation, and prison reform are not new battles.  

Source: 

1) 2015. sojournertruth.org. "Sojourner Truth: A Life and Legacy of Faith". http://www.sojournertruth.org/Library/Archive/LegacyOfFaith.htm. Accessed: November 15, 2015

2) Photo: http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/sojourner-truth