And I ain't a Woman? and Letters to his Family blog

"And I ain't a Woman" by Sojourner Truth is a very moving poem. I think she is comparing the difference between blacks and whites and the how people treat them. A man says a woman is supposed to be helped and carried, but she never receives that treatment because of her race. The white women always get the special treatment, and the special places. The blacks on the other hand receive no speical place and she had to watch while her 13 children were sold into slavery (Sojourner, Truth). I think her speech is sad. It is also very moving though because her points are so true. God came from a woman who bore him. There would be no God if it was not for that woman (Sojourner, Truth). In her eyes, she should be receiving the same treatment, and she is right because all woman should be created equal. I think her views are similar to Thoreau because they were both against this cruelty and they both wanted equal rights. Thoreau had more of an effect becasue during the time, he was a male and people listened to the male more than a woman, and his imprisonment and his civil disobidience made a statement. Sojourner Truth did make a statement, but only in her words. Not many people would listen to what she had to say because she was a woman and because she was black. I find the story very inspiring because she fought for what was right and she wanted equal rights as the other woman, because they do not understand what she is going through. The views of her and Thoreau and Emerson are the same because they all believed in individualism and standing up for what was right, even if they stood alone. All three views are one in the same because they all had similar journeys and just wanted to be heard, but they were also against slavery too, and Sojourner Truth was born a slave.

Truth, Sojourner. "Sojourner Truth's Aint I a Woman Speech!" Women Writers: A Zine. Womenwriters.net, 14 July 1998. Web. 13 Feb. 2012. http://www.womenwriters.net/domesticgoddess/truth.htm.