Aint I a Woman?

Since the beginning of time, abolitionist have been working toward reform in order for a better humanity. In learning of history, we commonly salute and pay homeage to the men who have advoacted social and racial reform. The only woman I vaguely remember learning about as a youngster was Harriet Tubman. She lead hundreds and hundreds of slaves to freedom and is sometimes called "Moses." But Ms. Tubman wasn't only woman who contributed to the cause and acted as an abolitionist.  Francis Ellen Watkins Harper, too, helped along the Underground Railroad. She also assisted in southern reconstruction after the civil war, educated freed slaves after Emancipation, and was a noted author during slavery and post slavery days. She worked along side Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Stanton in the support for women's rights but valued her support for the African American race and their rights over women's rights. Maria Stewart addressed the gender politics of the 19th Century through public speeches and opened several schools for black students.  Her speeches reached auidences of both white and black races, men and women, and upset the attention of most. Sojourner Truth was born a slave but died a national symbol for African Amercian women. She, with no education, spoke out against slavery and equality for women. For a former slave, her complexity shocked her audiences. Her masculine voice, earnest gestures, witty character, and distinct dialect captivated their attention and made her speeches renowned. All of these women contributed an equal amount of work in the fight for human equality; their argument was that they have put forth just as much as men, why don't they deserve the same rights as men? Sojourner Truth questioned it best in her "A'n't I a Woman" speech in 1851:"..all I can say is, if woman have a pint, and man a quart-why can't she have her little pint full?" These women have endured the same pain, if not more, as men; why do you think men feared sharing rights with women? It seems they had nothing to lose and all to gain, espcially African American men, who looked down upon the works of these women. #imjustsayin