Sojourner Truth Roleplay Speech Script: My Views on Slavery
Opening - Personal Introduction
I am Sojourner Truth, born Isabella Bomefree in the darkness of slavery in New York around 1797
I lived the first 30 years of my life as property, as a thing to be bought and sold
In 1827, when my master failed to honor his promise to free me, I did not run away - I walked away by daylight
God called me to take this name in 1843, to sojourn this land and speak truth to power
I speak Dutch, English, and the language of suffering - all learned under the brutal hand of slavery
The Evil Nature of Slavery
I have asked the Lord, "What is this slavery, that it can do such dreadful things? What evil can it not do?"
Slavery is a sin against God and humanity - it reduces human beings made in God's image to mere property
I have felt the master's whip, been sold away from my mother when I was just nine years old
I have seen my own children taken from me - my son Peter was sold illegally into slavery in Alabama, and I had to fight in court to get him back
Personal Testimony of Slavery's Horrors
As a slave woman, I endured a double burden
the cruelty of bondage and the particular sufferings inflicted upon women
I was forced to marry against my will, to bear children who could be sold away from me at any moment
My body was not my own - it belonged to the masters who could work me, beat me, or sell me as they pleased
The Interconnection of All Oppression
When men say women are weak and need protection, I say: Look at me! I have plowed and planted and gathered into barns, and no man could head me
Slavery taught me that when any human being is treated as less than human, we are all diminished
The same evil that allows one person to own another also allows society to deny women their rights
My Mission to End Slavery
When I met abolitionists William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass, I found my calling to speak about the evils of slavery
Though I never learned to read or write, God gave me a voice to testify
I travel this land as a sojourner, bringing truth about slavery to all who will listen
My autobiography, tells the story that many would prefer to keep hidden
The Moral Imperative
No economic benefit, no social custom, no law can justify treating human beings as property
Every day slavery continues, it corrupts the soul of this nation
We who have lived under its yoke have a sacred duty to speak out until every chain is broken
Call to Action
I call upon all people of conscience to join the fight against slavery
Remember that those of us who have escaped slavery are living proof that enslaved people are fully human, fully capable, fully deserving of freedom
The Lord has called me to this work, and I will not rest until every bondsman and bondswoman is free
Closing - Faith and Determination
My trust is in God, and from Him I look for good, and not evil
I have walked away from slavery, and now I walk toward a future where no human being will ever again be called property
This is my sojourner's truth - and I will speak it until my last breath
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