Dr. Sandra Edmonds Crewe launches Emunah’s focus on February as Black History, Love and Valentine month with a lively discussion on Sojourner Truth. Crewe is the 2024-25 Sojourner Truth Social & Racial Justice Visiting Professor at Rutgers University School of Social Work. She also is dean emerita and professor at the Howard University School of Social Work.
In describing Sojourner Truth, Crewe says “She was a
woman of faith, and she believed she was capable of most things, but it did not come without suffering. She suffered to get to the point that she was in.”
A few tidbits about Truth, according to Crewe:
· She was enslaved, illiterate and changed
· Dutch was her first language, although she
grew up in the state of New York.
· She was 6 feet tall, bold and a feminist
or reformer, as well as a preacher/evangelist, abolitionist, and civil rights pioneer.
· She became the first Black woman to win a
court case against a white man when she fought to recover her son who had been sold into slavery in 1828.
Crewe also talks about the controversy surrounding
Truth’s popular “Ain’t I A Woman” address.
“Ain't I A Woman?” Source: Internet Modern History
Sourcebook, Fordham University
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/sojtruth-woman.asp Sojourner Truth (1797-1883)
“Ain't I A Woman?” Delivered at the 1851 Women's Convention, Akron, Ohio
Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter. I think that 'twixt the negroes of the South and the women at the North, all talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what's all this
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 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?
Then they talk about this thing in the head; what's this they call it? [member of audience whispers, "intellect"] That's
it, honey. What's that got to do with women's rights or negroes' rights? If my cup won't hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn't you be mean not to let me have my little half measure full?
Then that little man in black there, he says women can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him.
If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to
turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them.
Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old Sojourner
ain't got nothing more to say.
Other publications about Truth that Crewe mentioned include:
Greenlee, Cynthia. 2024.“The Remarkable Untold Story
of Sojourner Truth,”
Smithsonian Magazine, March 2024.
Painter, Nell Irvin. 1996. “Sojourner Truth: A Life, A Symbol.” New York and London: W.W. Norton & Co. ISBN 0-393-31708-0.
Please don’t miss this Black History episode of
To reach Dr. Crewe, email her at [email protected].
Emunah listeners, we would love for you to share what
you like most about Sojourner Truth’s life and the ways she has inspired you. Email us at [email protected].
Or visit our website at https://wordconsultingllc.com.
Please note that the theme song for Emunah (Hebrew for faith, belief), "Hold to Your Faith," was written, sung and produced by Apostle Victoria Regina Lockhart of Jersey City, New Jersey. Other work by Apostle Lockhart can be found on YouTube.
