Sojourner Truth was born into slavery, escaped to freedom, and became a powerful speaker for the end of slavery and for women's rights. In 1828 she successfully sued a white man in court to recover her young son, who had been illegally sold into slavery, becoming one of the first Black women in America to win such a case against a white man. She could not read or write, but her speeches were so moving that people wrote them down to preserve her words. Her most famous speech, "Ain't I a Woman?", is still studied today.