So Tall Within | Gr 5 Sample

GARY D. SCHMIDT Illustrated by DANIEL MINTER

TALL

SOJOURNER TRUTH’S LONG WALK TOWARD FREEDOM

In Slavery

Time, when Tiredness stood at the doorway,

Sojourner Truth walked all the way to Washington, D.C. There she met Abraham Lincoln, and she told him he was “the best president who has ever taken the seat.” In Michigan she collected food and clothing for the Black regiments of free men and former slaves fighting in the Civil War to end Slavery. In Virginia she worked with the Freedmen’s Bureau to teach liberated slaves how to live in Freedom. When some people wanted to stop her, she warned that if they tried, she “would rock the United States like a cradle.”

And in Washington, D.C., when a streetcar conductor would not pull up for her, she cried, “I want to ride!” so loudly that the carriage traffic around them stopped, and she got on. The conductor threatened to throw her off, but she told him that she “knew the laws as well as he did,” and she stayed on and rode longer than she had planned—“to make the most of it.” For years and years, Sojourner Truth walked and told her story and fought for Freedom. And when Slavery Time finally ended, she felt so tall within.

In Freedom Time, when Hope kindled a fire in the dark and Happiness winked

you were thinking about something different here to do with

over the horizon,

Sojourner Truth told an audience in Massachusetts, “Children, I have come here like the rest of you, to hear what I have to say.” And what she had to say was plenty. She spoke of a woman’s right to vote. She spoke about making prisons more humane. She asked the government to offer land to former slaves. She spoke against capital punishment. For almost fifteen more years, she walked thousands of miles—to Philadelphia and to Brooklyn and to Washington, D.C. And to Kansas and Iowa and Missouri and Wisconsin and Illinois and all over Michigan. And everywhere she went, she spoke of Freedom.

ARTIST’S NOTE

When I sat down to illustrate So Tall Within , I approached the text as a work of poetry. It conjured feelings that allowed me to view the narrative of Sojourner Truth in a contemporary light. Inspired by this poetic reading, I created a series of vertical paintings that are loosely planted in the times of legal slavery but that parallel the feeling of struggle in today’s streets—the feeling that you may be buried, but you are surrounded by soil that nourishes you. One panel has an image of a young man in a slave collar, a bizarre accoutrement used to prevent people from running away. For me, this nineteenth-century image has echoes in present times. This individual prison of metal and chains has now evolved into prison data records and religious and racial profiling that follow an individual, limiting his or her access to citizenship and free movement. The story of Sojourner Truth shows the value of deep inner strength even when others try to deny your humanity. It shows the power of spirituality, self-worth, and the determination to live a right life in a wrong world. I believe that when Isabella told the painful details of her life and struggles, it was her way of sharing her strength and psychic armor with us so that we could continue the walk long after she laid her lever down.

For Ashley Bryan, with gratitude for a long friendship — G.D.S.

To my Eight Tall Sisters, whose strength and embrace I always rely on — D.M.

No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Roaring Brook Press, an imprint of Macmillan Publishing Group LLC, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.

ISBN-13: 978-1-338-35544-4 ISBN-10: 1-338-35544-9

SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20

Scholastic Inc., 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012

Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8

Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs