Politics

Sojourner Truth Bust Unveiling

By Karina

“As we honor Sojourner Truth, we recognize the hard-fought progress our nation has made in its unending fight for the ideal of equality which is both our nation?s heritage and our hope. In Sojourner Truth?s lifelong fight for equality, she fought to end slavery, to expand opportunity, and she saw the end of a civil war that had torn apart our country. As the first woman Speaker of the House, I am particularly grateful for Sojourner?s work for women?s suffrage. As she bravely said, ?I am glad to see that men are getting their rights, but I want women to get theirs, and while the water is stirring, I will step into the pool.?
That is the history of our nation ? brave Americans
courageously stepping into stirring water.”
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 4/28/09

Today, Speaker Pelosi and Members of Congress were joined by First Lady Michelle Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to unveil a bust by sculptor Artis Lane of Sojourner Truth. The bust is the first sculpture to honor an African American woman in the US Capitol and was donated by the National Congress of Black Women.

Watch video highlights of the ceremony which also included musical performances by Lomax Spaulding, Dorinda Clarke Cole, Yolanda Adams, and the Ron Clark Academy with a reading by actress Cicely Tyson of Sojourner Truth’s “Ain’t I A Woman”:

Watch students at the Ron Clark Academy perform their tribute to Sojourner Truth:

Full post as published by The Gavel on April 28, 2009 (boomark / email).