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Rapper Kanye West, in his first speech after he declared himself a presidential candidate for the upcoming November elections, spoke against American abolitionist Harriet Tubman saying she “never actually freed the slaves”.
“She just had the slaves work for other white people,” said the Grammy award-winner on Sunday, prompting shouts from some in the crowd. After video clips of his address started circulating on social media, critics and historians took to Twitter to share information on Tubman’s legacy. This is not the first time that West has made controversial remarks. In 2018, West faced backlash for saying that 400 years of slavery sounded “like a choice” to him.
Who was Harriet Tubman?
Tubman was born to slave parents Benjamin Ross and Harriet Greene near Cambridge in 1821. While she was named Araminta by her parents, Tubman took her mother’s name after she married John Tubman in 1844. She escaped over five years later after her enslaver died and when she was to be sold. In the following decade, Tubman returned to her place of birth many times to help free her friends, family and other enslaved African Americans.
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In the book, “Bound For the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman, Portrait of an American Hero” by Kate Clifford mentions Tubman’s successful journeys into Maryland during the 1850s to rescue enslaved men, women and children, an effort that earned her the name of “Moses”.
During the Civil War, Tubman served in the US Army as a spy, scout, nurse and cook. In early 1862, she travelled to South Carolina to provide nursing care for African-American soldiers and civilians. As a spy for the Union Army, Tubman was told to gather a network of spies among the black men in the area and was told to take up expeditions to gather intelligence and identify and map Confederate mines, supply areas and troops.
In 2019, Tubman’s image was incorporated into the design for a new $20 bill that was delayed by six years for technical reasons.
