And Ain't I a Woman?

Last night I took part in a Black History celebration for my job.  I work for a non-profit organization called City Impact with their teen Leadership Academy.  The celebration was wonderful and I found myself  incredibly proud and privileged to be a involved with such an amazing group of teens. 

One part of the evening was a presentation of famous speeches by the Speaking Team.  The first speech was read by a young girl whom I have known for quite some time.  It was a historic speech by Sojournor Truth called "Ain't I a Woman?"  What stood out to me about this speech was not necessarily the words.  I had read the speech before.  It was what happened to the person delivering the speech.  As she began, she was quiet, barely audible.  But as she continued to read, you could see her posture improve and hear her voice get louder.  It was beautiful.  Almost as if the power of those words, "Ain't I a woman?" gave her more and more confidence with each utterance.

So in honor of Black History Month I'm going to post a link to the the speech here.  If you haven't read it before, please take the time to read it now.  It was powerful when it was first heard in 1851.  And its power is still evident today.

Ain't I a Woman?