Latest news with #SojournerTruth
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Battle Creek cemetery closed for months due to storm damage
BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (WOOD) — During Memorial Day weekend and beyond, a Battle Creek cemetery is closed due to storm damage from last week. Oak Hill Cemetery experienced 'extensive damage' during , according to a social media post by the cemetery. It will be closed for up to 2.5 months to clean up the damage. NWS confirms 2 tornadoes touched down near Battle Creek A sign that read 'Closed due to weather damage' was posted on the front gate Sunday. Each year, tourists worldwide visit the cemetery to see the final resting places of several historical figures like W. K. Kellogg, John Harvey Kellogg , C.W. Post and Sojourner Truth. 'We are saddened by the news, especially with it being Memorial Day this weekend,' wrote Oak Hill Cemetery. For more information, you can call Oak Hill's office at 269.964.7321. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
U.S. Navy's newest replenishment oiler to honor Black civil rights activist Sojourner Truth
April 25 (UPI) -- The U.S. Navy on Saturday plans to christen the future Sojourner Truth, a John Lewis-class fleet replenishment oiler that honors the famous American Black woman, in San Diego. The ship is named in honor of Sojourner Truth, a 19th-century civil rights abolitionist and activist from New York. "This ship honors the legacy of a woman of great character and determination and the ship will bring the critical capacity needed to the fleet in often rapidly changing environments," John Lighthammer, program manager, said in June 2024 when the keel was laid. The ceremony will be livestreamed and is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. PDT. Ship sponsor Barbara Allen, a sixth-generation descendant of the ship's namesake, will christen the ship by breaking a bottle of sparkling wine across the bow. Isabella Baumfree gave herself the name Sojourner Truth in 1843 after she became convinced that God had called her to leave New York and go into the countryside. She was born into slavery in Swartekill, N.Y., in 1797, and escaped with her infant daughter to freedom in 1826. She became the first Black woman to win such a case against a White man in 1828. She died in 1883 at age 86. There is an exhibit about her at the Smithsonian National Women's History Museum in Virginia. It is part of the Smithsonian. Brett Seidle, the under secretary of the Navy, will deliver the principal address, followed by remarks from Vice Adm. John Wade, commander, U.S. Third Fleet; Capt. Micah Murphy, commander of Military Sealift Command in the Pacific; and Dave Carver, president of General Dynamics NASSCO. The U.S. Navy in 2016 announced T-AO 210 would be named after her. Construction on the future ship began on March 27, 2023. The replenishment oilers are operated by Military Sealift Command and feature oil as well as significant dry cargo capacity. In May 2024, the U.S. Navy took delivery of the first fleet replenishment oiler, USNS Earl Warren, named after the U.S. Supreme Court chief justice. Three are under construction in San Diego by General Dynamics and two others are planned. They are a cornerstone of the Navy's fuel delivery system and "essential to sustaining contested logistics, enabling lethality even in sea-denied environments," according to a news release. In addition, they have aviation capability and provide additional capacity to the Navy's Combat Logistics Force. A Block Buy contract was issued in September 2024 for the detail design and construction of T-AO 214-221.
New York Times
14-04-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Two Postscripts on a Column
'Ain't I a woman?' Well, no, I'm not. Yet ever since I first read that refrain in Sojourner Truth's famous speech to the 1851 Woman's Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio, I've thought of it as belonging to the canon of great American rhetoric — right up there with Abraham Lincoln's 'With malice toward none' and Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I have a dream.' It's for that reason that I cited the line in my April 8 column as an example of the kind of American spirit I treasure — what I called 'the shared conviction that strong and weak are united in a common democratic creed.' The problem — as I learned after the column was published — is that Truth may never have said it. We may never know for sure. A near-contemporaneous transcript of the speech, published in June 1851 in the Anti-Slavery Bugle newspaper, does not contain the famous phrase. But it did appear (as 'And ar'n't I a woman?') 12 years later, in a very different version of the speech published by the feminist abolitionist Frances Dana Barker Gage, who had presided over the convention. Among the reasons not to believe Gage's account: Her version of Truth's speech is rendered in a Southern dialect. But Truth was born in upstate New York as a slave to a Dutch-speaking family, and spoke English with a Dutch accent. Whatever the case, both versions of the speech are powerful and ring true, morally speaking, and Truth's place in the pantheon of American heroes remains secure. There are also less-heralded heroes in the American story, including two who came to my attention this week almost by accident. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Miami Herald
21-03-2025
- General
- Miami Herald
It's time to honor the women who taught us, watched over us and championed our dreams
During Women's History Month, we pay homage to the great women of this country who helped to make it what it is today — and rightfully so. But while I appreciate the likes of Sojourner Truth; Harriett Tubman; Harriett Beecher Stowe, whose book 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' exposed the cruelty of slavery to the world; Louisa Mae Alcott, abolitionist, 'Little Women' author and strong advocate for women's rights; First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt; Dr. Mary McCloud Bethune, founder of Bethune Cookman College (now university) and human rights activist; and the work they all did to help make America great, I also think about all the unknown women who helped build this country by touching one life at a time. They were teachers, like the late Naomi Carr, who after working hard teaching third graders at the then Frederick Douglass Primary (now elementary) School in Overtown during the 1940s, spent many evenings searching for the addresses of children in her class to learn why they had missed more than one day of school. She did this for me when I missed school because of a sprained ankle. Or the late Marian Shannon, who taught journalism to her high school students at a time when a career in journalism for Blacks at a major newspaper – especially in the South — was almost unheard of. Still, Shannon pushed her students to excel. One of them (yours truly) became the first Black female reporter at The Miami Herald. And, thankfully, she lived to celebrate with me. Or like Jane Lewis, who taught shorthand and typing to her students even when there were no jobs available for them to use their skills. I was able to use what I learned in her class when I applied, by letter, for the file clerk position in the Miami Herald's library in 1965 and was hired. While there were many more outstanding teachers who made a difference in my life, the memory of Carr, and Shannon and Lewis stand out, like it's etched on the breastplate of my heart and mind. It amazes me that so many of the women in my life had the audacity to dream dreams for me and other Black youngsters as we grew up during the Jim Crow era. That, you may remember, was when there were signs everywhere reminding us of our 'place' in society. Signs that said 'Colored Only' over public water fountains. And signs on public transportation that told us, 'Colored Seat from Rear.' These women dreamed because some women before them had dreamed for them. In so doing, they never had to settle for the lowly, underpaid job as a washer woman, or an ill-treated domestic worker that some of their foremothers had been. But it wasn't only the schoolteachers who nurtured me, taught me how to be a strong woman. Before them, there was my mom. I've said it before: Mom was my hero. She taught me to tunnel through any situation, even when I was scared. She showed me by example, that being scared doesn't mean you don't have courage. It took courage to leave an abusive marriage when she was only 24, with a 5-year-old (me) and a 2-year-old (my brother). Although she was 'scared silly,' she kept her faith, which gave her courage and kept her moving forward. There were other women in my life. You wouldn't know them. They were the women in the neighborhood, the true unsung heroes, who served as surrogate moms to the neighborhood children when there was no proper childcare. They always kept a watchful eye on us children, gently scolding and dispensing love for free. They were the likes of the late Doris (Doll) Dorsett, who with eight children of her own, found time to 'mother' a working mom's children. There was Ms. Mae Bodey, who found the time to read to a neighbor's child, opening up a whole new world to her by teaching her to love books, or a Ms. Early Mae, who did not have children of her own at the time but poured out her love on me. Then, there was Ms. Birdie, who was our next-door neighbor when we lived in the Liberty Square Housing Project. An excellent seamstress, Ms. Birdie had two little girls — Maomi and Joyce — when I met her. The pretty dresses she made for them would rival any that the upscale Burdines carried. It was Ms. Birdie who taught me the skill of sewing. It would come in handy years later when I was able to sew a suitable wardrobe for my new job at The Miami Herald. These are just some of the women who encouraged me when I dared to share my dreams with them. Against all odds, these brave and courageous heroes kept on teaching, nurturing and giving hope to youngsters like me even when hope for some of them had died before it was born. Yet, they never let us doubt that there would be a better day for us. And they were right. So today, to all the women who have touched my life, and your life, in positive ways that cannot be measured – I salute you with love and respect.
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Tens Of Thousands Of French Women Flooded The Streets In A VERY Bold International Women's Day Protest, And People Are Saying Americans Need To Be More Like Them
Women's History Month is upon us, and with it, International Women's Day on March 8. For many folks, this just means an email from corporate remembering Amelia Earhart or Sojourner Truth. But for legions of French women this past weekend, International Women's Day meant taking to the streets and demanding an end to the rise in fascism they're seeing around the world. In Paris on Saturday, a staggering 120,000 people joined in the Grève féministe (Feminist Strike), France 24 reported. The organizer estimates that 250,000 people participated in around 150 demonstrations across France. The feminist activist group FEMEN, which was founded in Ukraine in 2008 and is now based in France, stages topless protests for women's rights and liberation in an approach they call "sextremism." Their blog reads, "You tell the world: Our God is a Woman! Our Mission is Protest! Our Weapon are bare breasts!" They go on: "FEMEN female activists are the women with special training, physically and psychologically ready to implement the humanitarian tasks of any degree of complexity and level of provocation. FEMEN activists are ready to withstand repressions against them and are propelled by the ideological cause alone. FEMEN is the special force of feminism, its spearhead militant unit, modern incarnation of fearless and free Amazons." At the Grève féministe march on Saturday, a FEMEN group went topless, their chests painted with US, EU, and Russian flags with swastikas to represent Nazism on the rise in those places. Written on their chest were the words "FASCIST EPIDEMIC." They also donned WWII-style military garrison caps, arms painted red, and the word "NO" above their lips resembling Hitler's mustache. One video of the FEMEN protest by Brut reporter Rémy Buisine went particularly viral. In it, the women chant, "Epidemie fasciste, riposte feministe" (fascist epidemic, feminist response). That video has over 1.3 million likes and has been viewed over 43 million times. The caption translates to, "FEMEN action underway in Paris aimed in particular at Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump." In more clips posted to Instagram by Brut and Buisine, the FEMEN chant, "Pour une Europe feministe, pas fasciste" (For a feminist Europe, not fascist), wield smoke-emitting devices, and march militarily. The video caption translates to: "'Fascist epidemic, feminist response.' FEMEN action targeting Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in particular." People, particularly Americans, saw this as a very bold move — and that's just what the FEMEN are after. Many called on Americans to take a stand in the same way, saying that it would have a bigger impact we're doing over here. An account that reposted the video wrote: "These women are BOLD and BEAUTIFUL. What would happen if American women were so BOLD?" Some comments have been auto-translated from French. "THIS IS PROTESTING," this person wrote. Another commented, "This is the most beautiful display of feminine patriotism." "I tell you what. The French know how to protest. The US needs to take notes," someone said on TikTok. Comments on the videos, unfortunately, got pretty nasty, as you might be able to imagine. Some pointed out that's exactly why these types of protests are needed: Some argued this approach wouldn't work in in the US. But mostly, women were just really damn proud. You can watch the FEMEN protest chant here. Rémy Buisine / Brut / Via What do you think? Would protests like this in the US spur real change or just have their message distorted? Discuss in the comments!
