Sojourner Truth: A Great Woman

1 Pages 307 Words

Sojourner Truth is really a great woman who helped the abolitionist movement and the women’s rights movement, but Sojourner isn’t recognized as much as she should be along with all the great women who helped in these movements. 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 streetcars 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.
Born into slavery, as Isabella Baumfree, in upstate New York, Sojourner Truth obtained her freedom and moved to New York City. There she began to work with organizations designed to assist women. She later became a traveling preacher and quickly developed a reputation as a powerful speaker. A turning point in her life occurred when she visited the Northampton Association in Massachusetts. The members of this association included many of the leading abolitionists and women's rights activists of her time. Among these people Sojourner Truth discussed issues of the day and as a result of these discussions became one of the first people in the country to link the oppression of black slaves with the oppression of women.
For these reasons and more Sojourner is truly a great woman. One that fought to make life better for blacks and women all around America and in her efforts did make some change which shows how influential a single woman can be in a time when women weren’t thought very highly of, especially if you were a black woman....