Inspirational Quotes by Sojourner Truth (African-American Abolitionist)

Sojourner Truth (c.1797–1883,) originally Isabella Van Wagener, was an African-American evangelist and orator who directed her religious fervor to the abolitionist and women’s rights movements.

Born a slave in Ulster County, New York, she worked for several years for a variety of owners. Her first language was Dutch, and, occasionally, her English speaker-owners hit her for being slow in the language. Truth gained her freedom after the New York Emancipation Act (1827) and settled in New York, taking her surname from her earlier master and becoming a zealous evangelist.

In 1843, following revelations she declared were from God, Truth rechristened herself and embarked on her mission, as commanded, to “sojourn” in the land and spread His truth. In Northampton, Massachusetts, she came under the influence of abolitionists and refined her message against slavery and for women’s suffrage.

Lecturing across America, Truth drew large crowds with her compelling style of speaking. It is doubtful whether she was illiterate. Via a scribe, she produced a biography, The Narrative of Sojourner Truth (1850.)

President Abraham Lincoln appointed Truth to the National Freedmen’s Relief Association to counsel former slaves, particularly in matters of resettlement. Truth continued to promote black rights, including educational opportunities, until her retirement in 1875.

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