ANHOW Review of Books: "Narrative of Sojourner Truth" by Sojourner Truth -- Adilbrand Noblesword's Hall of Warriors

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Date Posted: 13:26:59 07/05/02 Fri
Author: mt. healthy mountaineer
Subject:

ANHOW Review of Books: "Narrative of Sojourner Truth" by Sojourner Truth

Genre: Autobiography
Published: Dover Publications, Inc. 1997

Sojourner Truth has always been one of my heroes - she was born a slave in New York state in 1797 and slowly became one of the leading voices for Abolitionism, Civil Rights and Women's Rights despite having no formal education and actually being illiterate. I found some info from a couple of sites about her and have included it here, starting with a quote from her in retort to a man who asserted at a Women's Suffrage meeting in 1751 that women did not have the strength to handle the right to vote:

"That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm. I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man-when I could get it-and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen them most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?" - Sojourner Truth

"It is rarely discussed, but Sojourner Truth fought for the desegregation of public transportation in Washington, DC during the Civil War. She refused to face the indignities of Jim Crow segregation on street cars and had the Jim Crow car removed from the Washington D. C. system. Sojourner Truth brought a local street to a standstill when a driver refused her passage. With the support of the crowd she forced the driver to carry her. During her legendary life, she challenged injustice wherever she saw it. She was an abolitionist, women's rights activist and preacher.

Sojourner Truth lived a long and productive life. She spoke before Congress and two presidents."

So - I was hoping that her own autobiography, being written in 1850 but updated regularly until 1884 would be informative about her struggles and talk about her meetings with statesmen and common people as she fought for her rights. I was gravely disappointed - mostly it talks about her early religious experiences and it ends in 1850, despite the revisions. It offers little insight, except for, perhaps, the groundwork for her motivations to action later on in life. It does give us a picture on the powerlessness of the life of a slave and the knowledge that even in those times of supposed helplessness, people can still act out and speak up. I was hoping for more - so I have to give this book a "D" for failing to come up with the goods on her whole life.

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