[Antiracism] Sojourner Truth Memorial Statue, May 29, 2:00 p.m.

[s.strimer at excite.com]

Dear Anti-Racism workers of Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden,

You are invited to the second annual Sojourner Truth Commemoration Celebration on Sunday May 29, 2:00 PM, at Memorial Park on the corner of Park and Pine Streets in Florence. In case of rain, the event will take place across the street at the Florence Community Center.  
A highlight of this event will be the presentation of the first Sojourner Truth Scholarship for Social Justice. One or more college scholarships will be awarded yearly to high school seniors (currently just of Northampton) who demonstrate commitment to social justice. 

A special fundraising event will take place at the celebration. The R. Michelson Gallery and the Daily Hampshire Gazette have donated a limited edition print of Barry Moser¹s etching of Sojourner Truth. This print will be offered by a silent auction at our Commemoration Ceremony with a minimum bid of $200. Those who cannot make the May 29 event may enter a bid by mail, postmarked by May 24, addressed to the Sojourner Truth Committee, PO Box 60405, Florence. The highest bid will be announced at the celebration. T-shirts with the same image will be for sale at the commemoration. All proceeds go to the Sojourner Truth Scholarship Fund.

The program will include music by Morningstar and Moonlight, a dramatic rendering of Sojourner Truth by Lawanza Lett-Brewington, and a talk about Sojourner by Ruth Hooke. Robert Romer who has done extensive research on slavery in early Deerfield will speak, and Zawadi Nyong'o, coordinator of the Anti-racism Summit "The Struggle Continues" will give an update on the ongoing efforts resulting from the conference in Holyoke. Following the program, Steve Strimer, chair of the Sojourner Truth Memorial Committee, will lead a walking history tour of abolition era Florence and its historical African-American Community.
  
One year ago the Sojourner Truth Memorial Park was dedicated to the memory of Sojourner Truth and her neighbors in Florence, partners in the struggle for equal rights and the abolition of slavery. Born a slave in upstate New York, Sojourner Truth came to Florence in 1843 to join a utopian community which stood for abolitionism, pacifism, and equality including equal pay and equal voting rights regardless of race, class, or gender. After the dissolution of the Northampton Association of Education and Industry in 1846, Truth remained in Florence until 1857, moving into her own home on Park Street, about a block from the Memorial Park.

Please Join Us!

Sojourner Truth Memorial Statue Committee 








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