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 here talking
about?
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.
This text is part of the Internet Modern History Sourcebook. The Sourcebook is a
collection of public domain and copy-permitted texts for
introductory level classes in modern European and World
history.
Sojourner Truth (1797 � November 26, 1883) was the self-given
name, from 1843 onward, of Isabella Baumfree, an African-American
abolitionist and women's rights activist. She wrote an
autobiography, with the help of Olive Gilbert, titled
Narrative
of Sojourner Truth
.
