Right here in my hometown, the tribute to Sojourner Truth who famously gave her "Ain't I a Woman" speech here at the Akron Suffrage Meeting.
Or did she?…. For the full story, see Nell Painter, Sojourner Truth: A Life, A Symbol and Lolita Buckner Inniss, "While the Water is Stirring": Sojourner Truth Proto-agonist in the Fight for Black Women's Rights, 100 B. U. L. Rev. 1637 (2020).
Sojourner Truth Legacy Plaza to Open in Akron
***Truth, a former slave, traveled the country advocating for an end to slavery and the betterment of women’s rights. On May 29, 1851, Truth delivered her “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech at the Old Stone Church that was once on High Street at the Ohio Women’s Convention.
The 10,000-square-foot plaza is the “first historic site in Akron that directly reflects and honors the Black woman’s experience,” according to a release from United Way of Summit & Medina. ***
A life-size statue of Truth, created by Akron artist Woodrow Nash, sits in the center of a large impala lily, the national flower of Ghana. Truth has ancestors from Ghana, Harris said, and the flower’s strong structure speaks to her character.
“I wanted to make every aspect mean something,” Harris said. “I wanted to mix human elements and some of the natural elements with historical elements and try to tie everything together.”