Truth is powerful and it prevails.

Hear the immortal words of Sojourner Truth, who declared with unshakable conviction: “Truth is powerful and it prevails.” This was not the polished phrase of a scholar nor the idle song of a poet, but the battle cry of a woman born in chains, who broke those chains and stood before the world as a witness. For she knew by the scars upon her body and the fire in her soul that truth is not fragile, nor does it bow to falsehood forever. Truth may be denied, hidden, mocked, and silenced, but in the end, it rises, conquers, and prevails.

The origin of these words lies in the life of Sojourner herself. Born into slavery in New York at the dawn of the nineteenth century, she knew cruelty, injustice, and the whip of oppression. Yet she escaped, taking not only her body but her voice into freedom. She became a prophetess for abolition and women’s rights, thundering across the land with speeches that shook the conscience of her age. She spoke simple words, plain words, yet words aflame with reality. And in the midst of a nation twisted by lies—that Black men and women were less than human, that women were inferior—she raised her cry: truth is powerful, and it prevails.

The ancients knew this wisdom as well. For though tyrants rule with fear and empires march with armies, none can extinguish truth forever. Socrates drank the hemlock, yet his truth endured. Galileo was silenced, yet his truth circled the heavens. Nations rise on lies but fall when truth demands justice. Lies are swift, but they are brittle; truth is slow, but it is eternal. Sojourner, standing in her time of scoundrels and chains, proclaimed with the clarity of a seer that falsehood would crumble, and truth would remain.

Consider the story of her speech, now called “Ain’t I a Woman?” At a convention in Ohio, men and women debated whether women were weak, whether Black women were worthy of rights, whether the struggle for justice could belong to them. Sojourner rose, tall and commanding, and in her deep voice reminded them of her labors, her grief, her strength, her humanity. Her words cut through the fog of prejudice. In that moment, truth gleamed as a torch, undeniable and searing. Though many resisted, though the struggle raged on, those words could not be forgotten. They prevailed, and they still prevail today.

Her declaration is not a promise of ease. Truth does not prevail swiftly; it prevails through suffering, through fire, through sacrifice. Lies often triumph in the moment, for they flatter the powerful and soothe the fearful. But truth is patient, enduring, and eternal. Sojourner knew that though she might not see full justice in her lifetime, truth itself was greater than any single life. And so she trusted it—trusted that even beyond her grave, it would continue to work, to burn, to prevail.

The lesson for us is this: never despair when falsehood seems to rule the day. Do not believe that lies will last forever, or that injustice is invincible. For truth is powerful beyond measure, and though its triumph may be delayed, it is certain. Live not by lies, but by truth, and you will find that you stand on unshakable ground. Lies shift and collapse, but truth endures like stone.

Therefore, O child of tomorrow, walk with truth as your companion. Speak it boldly, live it faithfully, and trust it deeply. Even if the world mocks you, even if you stand alone, know that you stand with what cannot die. Remember Sojourner’s cry: “Truth is powerful and it prevails.” Hold to this, and you will find strength in every storm, courage in every battle, and hope that does not fade. For in the end, truth always rises, and through it, the soul is made free.