Amanda Berry Smith
1837-1915 19th century
The inner freedom of someone who no longer waits for permission; joy that passes through contempt.
Who was Amanda Berry Smith?
Born into slavery in Maryland, freed by a father who worked his nights to buy the whole family out, she was a washerwoman and domestic servant in New York, twice widowed, and lost four of her five children. In her thirties she began preaching at Methodist camp meetings, the only Black woman among white platforms, then travelled at her own expense to England, to India, and for eight years to West Africa. Back in the United States she opened an orphanage for Black children near Chicago, and told the whole story in an autobiography she wrote herself.
In their own words
I have been bought twice, and set free twice, and so I feel I have a good right to shout.