February is Black History Month—a good time to remember the
heroic efforts of Sojourner Truth, a one-time slave who moved to
Michigan and tirelessly crusaded for a freer and more just
country for all Americans. Sojourner Truth was born a slave in
New York, where she was known as Isabella by a succession of
masters, one of whom beat her so severely she was scarred for
life. In 1826 she ran away to a friendly white family, who
purchased her freedom from her master. The family’s kindness to
Isabella showed her that both black and white Americans could
work together to end the evils of slavery. She soon began to
travel the country under the name of Sojourner Truth, delivering
her message of liberty and justice to crowds everywhere. In 1857
Sojourner settled in Battle Creek where she personally helped
many other slaves escape to freedom on the Underground Railroad.
When the Civil War ended—and slavery along with it—she stressed
self-reliance, not government handouts, as the way for blacks to
adjust to their new li