We Owe It to Harriet Tubman to Talk About Her Disability

At Liberty

How much do you know about Araminta Ross? Her face is slated to start appearing on the twenty dollar bill by 2030. She’s the first American woman in history to lead a military raid that emancipated over 700 people, and one of the most important abolitionists in history. You might know her by another name: Harriet Tubman. But when it comes to Harriet Tubman’s legacy, an important part of her lived experience is often overlooked: her disability. With July being disability pride month, we wanted to celebrate Harriet Tubman as an icon and learn more about her identity from someone who finds her “often rightly celebrated, but seldom understood.” That someone is Tiya Miles, a National Book Award-winner and the Michael Garvey Professor of History at Harvard University. In her latest book, "Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People," Tiya writes about the somewhat unsung aspects of Harriet Tubman’s life—her intertwined relationship with God and nature—which guided her activism and connected her to a collective of other women of her time. Through “Nightflyer,” Tiya proves that even when it comes to the most heralded historical figures, there’s always more to say. And today, she joins us to tell us all about her new book, connect past and present, and offer lessons from Harriet’s life that can help us build a future of collective liberation.