Philosophy 23

“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!”

Quote: Sojourner Truth (1851): "Ain‘t I a woman?", https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/sojtruth-woman.asp Picture: Randall Studio - This picture was digitally processed, Wikimedia, Creative Commons.

Sojourner Truth (1797-1883), originally born into slavery, free from 1827, was an activist who campaigned for the abolition of slavery and for equality for women.

Sojourner Thruth gave the speech "Ain't I a woman" at the women's convention in Akron, Ohio in 1851, criticizing the unequal treatment of black and white women, to which the question "Am I not a woman?" refers. The speech is also directed against the unequal treatment of men and women and the lack of rights for women. In the quote, she refers to the Bible, in particular to the original mother Eve and her strength to turn the world upside down. In her speech, Truth draws attention to the specific intertwining of sexism and racism in the 19th century.

*bell hooks (2014): Ain't I a Woman. Black Women and Feminism. New York: Taylor & Francis Ltd. *Sojourner Truth [1851]: "Ain't I a Woman?"

1851