HARRIET ‘MOSES’ TUBMAN!

Today, on International Women's Day, we remember the remarkable Harriet Tubman. Born 203 years ago (also in March), she was an abolitionist and suffragist who earned herself the nickname ‘Moses’ - for leading enslaved people to freedom. Having escaped slavery herself in 1849, she led her first rescue mission the following year.

Famously, she led Union troops up the Combahee River in South Carolina to destroy Confederate stockpiles of weapons, food and cotton - a raid that freed more than 700 enslaved Africans.

She was also referred to as a ‘train conductor’ because she guided escapees along a network of safe houses and secret routes across the US to reach Canada, known as the ‘underground railroad.’

African Stream’s Brenda Mwai brings us her story.