Honoring Sojourner Truth

By Ann Lewis on 04/29/2009 @ 07:00 PM

I had the great joy yesterday of attending an historic event at the Capitol: The unveiling of the memorial bust of Sojourner Truth.

A visionary of her time, an early crusader for women suffrage as well as the abolition of slavery, Sojourner Truth was one of the "founding mothers" who have made our own lives possible. Her speech at the Akron Ohio women’s rights conference in 1851 echoes today:

“That man over there says that a woman needs to be helped into carriages and lifted over ditches and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helped me into carriages, or over mud ditches or gives me the best place.. And Ain't I a Woman?”

The first African American woman ever to be recognized with a statue in the Capitol, Sojourner Truth will now be a visible symbol of our history, and how America has worked over the years to to fulfill our promise of equality.

The unveiling was an emotional, inspiring ceremony. Speakers included the First Lady, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Cecily Tyson-who recited the "Ain't I a Woman" speech, along with Secretary Hillary Clinton, and Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, who had been the principal congressional sponsors for the legislation. The Visitors Center was filled with long-time women’s rights leaders, distinguished Members of Congress, and members of the National Congress of Black Women, who helped to raise the funding for the memorial bust.

In honoring Sojourner Truth’s work, Secretary Clinton remarked:

"Was any person ever better named? Think about it. She is a sojourner of truth, by truth, and for truth. And her words, her example, and her legacy will never perish from this earth, so long as men and women stand up and say loudly and clearly: We hear you echoing down through the years of history, we believe that your journey is not yet over, and we will make the rest of that journey with you."

For Secretary Clinton’s full remarks, click here: http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/04/122342.htm

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