"These Women Together Ought To Be Able To Turn It Back And Get It Right Side Up Again"

[Washington, DC; April 28. Image via Getty.]

Sojourner Truth‘s Memorial Bust Is Unveiled In The US Capitol
WASHINGTON – APRIL 28: First Lady Michelle Obama, (L) and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (R) arrive for the unveiling ceremony for the bust of Sojourner Truth in the U.S. Captiol Visitors Center April 28, 2009 in Washington, DC. Sojourner Truth was an 19th century American slave, abolitionist, and women’s rights activist who is best-known for her speech, ‘Ain’t I a Woman?’ (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Here’s the full quote from Sojourner Truth, who, at the time was speaking of suffragettes:

If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back and get it right side up again. And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them.

From an interview with the artist who created the bust, Artis Lane, in the L.A. Times:

“The world’s coming around to seeing black as beautiful,” Lane said in an interview at her home in Los Angeles’ Fairfax district. “When I came up, they were laughing at darker people.”