Pat Theriault performed Sojourner Truth’s 1851 “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech at Kansas State University’s 8th Annual Diversity Summit on April 1, 2011. The original speech was delivered at the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio, on May 28, 1851. Truth’s extemporaneous address powerfully challenged the exclusion of Black women from both the abolitionist and women’s rights movements, drawing on her lived experience of enslavement to argue for equality regardless of race or gender.

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The central argument of Sojourner Truth’s speech is that Black women deserve the same rights as everyone else. She contends that women are just as strong and capable as men and that race should not be used to deny anyone their rights. By asking “Ain’t I a Woman?”—a refrain attributed to the 1863 version published by Frances Gage—she forces the audience to confront their assumptions about who deserves equality.

Sojourner Truth (c. 1797–1883) was an African American abolitionist, women's rights activist, and itinerant preacher. Born into slavery as Isabella Baumfree in Ulster County, New York, she spoke Dutch as her first language—the language of her enslavers. She endured the brutalities of slavery, including physical abuse and being sold away from her parents at age nine. In 1827, she escaped to freedom with her infant daughter and became one of the first Black women in America to successfully sue a white man when she went to court to recover her son, who had been illegally sold into slavery in Alabama. After experiencing a religious conversion, she changed her name to Sojourner Truth in 1843, believing the Holy Spirit was calling her to travel and preach. She became a powerful voice in both the antislavery and women's rights movements, delivering her famous "Ain't I a Woman?" speech at the 1851 Ohio Women's Rights Convention in Akron. During the Civil War, she helped recruit Black troops for the Union Army and worked to improve conditions for freed slaves. She continued advocating for the rights of African Americans and women until her death in Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1883.

Sojourner Truth’s speech, “Ain’t I a Woman?” was delivered at the Women’s Rights Convention. This event was a significant moment in the antislavery movement and the women’s rights movement, as it brought together individuals advocating for the rights of both African Americans and women. Truth’s speech was a powerful declaration of her belief in the equality of all individuals, regardless of gender or race. It was delivered in the context of a time when many women and African Americans were fighting for their rights and freedoms, and it resonated with the audiences desire for justice and equality.