An incandescent TRUTH was live streamed from THEARC Theater Center in Washington, D.C.©2015
TRUTH IS AN EXPLOSIVE SHOWDOWN BETWEEN THE PATRIARCHAL POWERS OF CHURCH & STATE, EMBODIED IN THE CHARACTERS OF THE MAYOR AND THE REVEREND, LEADING THE FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION BY PROMOTING THEIR PRESUMPTUOUS POSSESSIVE PREROGATIVES OF POWER AND PROPERTY, ON THE ONE HAND
AND THE VOICE OF LIBERTY, COMPASSION & HOLY JUSTICE ON THE OTHER HAND, EMBODIED IN SOJOURNER TRUTH, COME HOME TO NEW YORK AT A CRITICAL MOMENT IN TIME TO SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER AND CHALLENGE THESE MEN AND THE OPPRESSIVE POLICIES THEY CHAMPION, RIGHT IN THEIR OWN PATRIOTIC PULPIT
THESE MEN WILL TRY ANYTHING TO SILENCE HER, AND THEY DO, AND THEY FAIL, TRUTH PREVAILS
TRUTH IS A RIVETING, TIMELY, SURPRISING, MOVING STORY OF TURNING PAIN INTO GLORY
AWAKENING AND TRANSFORMING THE CONSCIENCE OF AMERICA BY TELLING, SHOWING, HEARING, FEELING…
THE TRUE STORY OF A MOST REMARKABLE WOMAN, SOJOURNER TRUTH
AN AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY?
A WOMAN OF TOWERING FAITH & HISTORIC COURAGE
DEEPLY SPIRITUAL WITH HER OWN UNIQUE MINISTRY?
A PIONEERING CHAMPION OF BOTH EMANCIPATION
AND WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN AMERICA?
YES, YES & YES!
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The PERSON
SOJOURNER TRUTH is one of the most important women/people in American history. A trailblazing force for justice and equality who spoke TRUTH to power in a singular way. Sojourner was world famous in her lifetime, yet her story has been nearly forgotten in America… until now!
Born into slavery as a child named Isabella in New York’s Hudson Valley in 1797, Sojourner was an innocent young girl who endured unspeakable hardships of a life in bondage, but survived to become a free black woman of profound political and cultural impact. When GOD called her later in life to go forth across the nation and tell people her life story - to tell the Truth about slavery, she took on her own God-given name - Sojourner Truth - and embarked on her holy mission.
An electrifying speaker, singer, preacher and activist, Sojourner walked thousands of miles “proclaiming liberty throughout the land.” She lived a remarkable 86 years, through the first twenty-one U.S. Presidents, likely beginning with either George Washington! Surviving and thriving throughout the tumultuous nineteenth century, until nearly twenty years after the Civil War, Sojourner’s life story is an embodiment of the Truth about America. . . a nation founded on profoundly unjust and unholy racist and sexist structures, a nation built by stolen people on stolen land. America’s inherently conflicted righteous/unrighteous and violent nature persists and plagues us to this day, as regressive forces fight to supress even the telling of TRUTH about America’s history. Well, Sojourner has something to say and sing about that!
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The POWER
SOJOURNER is also a trailblazing Spiritual Godmother to so many who came after.
How so, you may ask? TRUTH is:
One hundred years before Rosa Parks sparked the Montgomery bus boycott, Sojourner went to court and sued the city of Washington DC to desegregate the trolley cars after being manhandled and mistreated for trying to ride freely as a black woman - and she won.
A century before Martin Luther King, Jr. met with Lyndon Johnson to press for Civil Rights legislation, Sojourner met with President Lincoln in the White House to advocate for her people.
Earlier in her life, after finally claiming her own freedom at nearly thirty years old, her little son was illegally sold down south, whereupon Sojourner (then Isabella) went to court and sued the white man who sold him, thereby becoming the first black woman to ever sue a white man - and win. She got her little boy brought back home to New York and set free, saving his life.
And long before Mahalia Jackson, Aretha Franklin and other world shaking women burst into song, Sojourner traveled the country singing everywhere she went with what was described as a unique and powerful voice, stirring the hearts of Americans of all races and creeds.
Harriet Beecher Stowe famously wrote that Sojourner Truth had the “most remarkable presence” of anyone she’d ever met. Yet even though Sojourner was world-renowned in her lifetime, her story has gone virtually untold in American mainstream culture. . . until now.
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The PURPOSE
In our present time of racial and cultural reckoning in America, in a nation fraught with political, racial, economic, class and gender tensions, Sojourner returns in TRUTH to awaken and speak to the hearts and minds of America, challenging once more the pernicious deadly narratives of white supremacy and power-hoarding patriarchy.
Coming to bind up, not wound, to resurrect, not bury, Sojourner’s Truth-telling opens a door for helping heal the nation in the here and now. By personalizing for all people the true horrors of slavery and its legacies - with a clear-eyed critique yet deep Love for humanity, Sojourner’s story inspires and awakens a spirit of compassion as essential for justice and equality for all.
In these days of intensifying assaults on women’s rights, voting and civil rights, ongoing violence against black lives and increasingly vocal white nationalist agitation in real life and on TV and social media, TRUTH’s message is more timely than ever. As a hopeful sign for TRUTH, while Confederate statues were coming down across the nation, Sojourner’s statue was unveiled in Central Park in New York City in August 2020. Alongside Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the “Monumental Women” statue is the first statue ever of real women in Central Park. It is also a homecoming for Sojourner, who lived many years in New York City. She has arrived again in New York, a mere stroll from Broadway where she is ready to take the stage. More and more recognition is arising for Sojourner up and down the Hudson River and beyond, as people gather to learn about her Life, her Faith and her Light, and to celebrate once again...
the TRUTH, the Whole Truth & nothing But Sojourner Truth!
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The MUSICAL
Based on her poignant autobiography, Narrative of Sojourner Truth, TRUTH tells Sojourner’s story as she did in her life - in word and song, with a powerful woman’s voice, a deep, rousing musicality, crackling wit and wisdom, and soul-stirring honesty. Sojourner is both the Prophet-Storyteller and the central figure in TRUTH’s Story within a Story. As she recounts and relives her own harrowing journey, she discovers that in order to exorcise the nation’s demons, she must also recognize and release the shame she’s long carried from things done to her in her younger days. In defiance of persistent efforts by men to silence her, Sojourner stands once more in the SpotLight of God above. As she sings from her soul in the Holy Spirit of TRUTH, she is liberating herself, honoring her parents, children, family and ancestors, and lifting up the audience, young and old. Her Faith in Action gives us Faith in a way forward into a more humane way of living, Truly loving our neighbors as ourselves, once and for all.
TRUTH is a musical for our time. . . and SOJOURNER’s Story is one for the ages.
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The FAMILY
Barbara Allen is Sojourner Truth’s sixth generation great-granddaughter and family legacy holder. She is the author of several children’s books honoring her great grandmother and a sought after speaker on the legacy of Sojourner. She is the Family Consultant for TRUTH and a tremendously positive voice for the enduring power and meaning of Sojourner’s life and spiritual legacy. TRUTH is honored and thrilled to have her input and support.
Her website is: www.sixth-generation.com
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TRUTH . . . it’s about time somebody told it!
Covering a wide swath of American musical theater heritage with blues, gospel, jazz, and Americana flavors, TRUTH stirs the soul with a moving and rousing score, and awakens the heart and lyrical mind by making a Truthful joyful noise.
TRUTH song demos were recorded live at THEARC Theater in Washington DC… starring April Nixon as Sojourner Truth, featuring Thaddeus McCants, Ashley Ware Jenkins, Tomi Nelson and others in a fantastic DC cast and crew.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PRODUCTION INQUIRIES, PLEASE SUBMIT EMAIL ABOVE
Or contact TRUTHtheMusical@gmail.com
TRUTH site created by Fineheart Productions @2019
