I keep thinking, this week in particular, of the natural acumen of both Nana Harriet Ross Tubman-Davis and Mother Sojourner Truth, as spiritual business women. They did absolutely everything, significant and minor, only after deep
consultation with the Divine and that included their business work which was that of freedom marketing, promotion, and distribution.

Neither of them could read or write "a lick", as the Tennessee elders would say,
but they supported themselves and many of those in their world by the sale of their biographies which they themselves could not read. Many biographies have come and gone off the world scene, but biographies of these two supremely great souls continue to abound from myriad literary corners.

Heading off somewhere with a wagonload of her books, Mother Truth would get to a crossroads and not knowing just where to go, would say to the Divine, "You drive, God." I have learned to say that myself, not only at life's crossroads but throughout this sometimes joyful, sometimes arduous journey.

Nana Tubman, (like her mother in whose honor she took the name Harriet Tubman--her birth name was Araminta), at any rate, she could really cook and oftentimes sought to fill her meager coffers with proceeds from the sales of her delicious gingerbreads and ginger ale (made from fresh herbs, for like her father, Ben, she was an herbalist.) She used that knowledge of herbology, you will recall, on her many freedom treks. Later biographies reveal that she'd taken her cooking skills to another level by having a restaurant at least for a brief time
in Gullah/Geechee country of South Carolina, if my memory serves me correctly.

She also taught the Gullah/Geechee women how to set up laundering businesses to support their families by providing these services to the Union soldiers during the Civil War. Mother Truth taught the women in the Freedmen's Villages in the Washington area about hygiene, health, and housekeeping.
They were both superb spiritual businesswomen and l9th century multitaskers long before that word became popular. And all this without being able to read or write "a lick". They were Spirit-bred and Spirit-bred. Among the great contemporary poet, Maya Angelou's "Phenomenal Women."

One of the most fulfilling activities of 2007 was working on my new book, MAMA MOSES AND MOTHER TRUTH--Life Links as Mystics and Freedom Masters revolving around the life similarites of ancestral mothers, Harriet Ross Tubman Davis and Sojourner Truth. Through my research I wanted to delve deeply into their souls and link with the source of their passion and humble, mighty power. This literary desire was
wonderfully fulfilled.

Discovering the twelve similarities in their lives,
I was also blessed to touch upon what provided the "wind beneath their wings", of what was, as the late folklorist, anthropologist, and master dancer, Katherine Dunham termed the "launching pad". I found that they were both deeply rooted in the love, service, and dedication to family, ancestral and bloodline and to a freedom and self-determination quest for both their people and women.

Yet when one thinks of the devotion of these two love warriors, one might tend to limit the contemplation to their love for humanity, forgetting that they were sensitive women who also experienced and embraced a deep romantic love--a love which in their early years unfortunately ended in heartbreak and disappointment but which nonetheless helped to serve as that launching pad to a greater mission. Mother Truth's greatest love, Tom, died at a young age, after having been forbidden to see her (since they were slaves on different plantations and his owner was loath for him to produce children that would become the human assets of his neighbor.) Tom was beaten brutally for daring to slip away to visit Mother Truth then called Isabella ("Belle") Baumfree when he heard she was ill.

Mother Tubman, on the other hand, faced heartrending rejection when her husband, John Tubman, refused to even come out to the woods to meet her on her freedom journey back to Maryland to take him to the "Promised Land" with her. To add insult to injury, he had even taken up with another woman during her absence.

Yet despite the pain of these losses, these magnificent women rose like the proverbial phoenix from the ashes and went on to pursue a mighty life mission and vision. One would remarry again to a devoted mate years later and one would walk alone, content in the companionship and love of the Divine. But I "talk" quite a bit about both these situations in the book. Do contact me if you would like to secure your personal copy
of MAMA MOSES AND MOTHER TRUTH and learn more about their personal love lives, the roots of their missions and visions as leading ancestral contributors, and their numerous life similarities. The price is
$12 plus postage. I believe you'll enjoy getting into it for the holidays.

Mother Harriet Ross Tubman Davis, the Underground Railroad's most skillful conductor, is famed in different literary and historical quarters for having freed at the most 300 freedom seekers and at the least 70 liberty lovers; but as my late Grandmama Anna Pearl would say, "Honeychile, you don't know the half!"

Those freedom lovers she liberated, with the assistance of the fearless abolitionist, Colonel James Montgomery and the 300 Black soldiers who accompanied them--yes, on that Combahee River Raid on June 2, 1863 in South Carolina...well, hold your hats, sailors, there were 750 Gullah/Geechee FORMER ricefield slaves who gleefully hopped aboard that boat and sailed with the good "Mama Moses" and crew to freedom. Those souls who sailed should ALWAYS be counted in
the freedom numbers. She became the first woman to lead a military expedition in U. S. history and a first class liberator of those who longed to taste freedom. Uh-oh! You go, Mama Moses! Wow!

They (the media of the day) tried to give all of the credit to the good Colonel Montgomery, but we know well who should really take the bow. The same saintly one whose statue stands not only on American soil, but also now in Ghana, the homeland of her ancestors.

And Nana Tubman, you walked, you rode, you sailed, you crawled, you ran guiding countless ones to freedom, but in August of 2005, your Spirit flew with your descendants and us Nana Tubman Honor in Ghana travelers for your rewards on those ancestral shores. As the enslaved songwriter penned, "Great day, what a morning!" Take your long-deserved bow from the freedom shores of Heaven, Nana. You are still ever so loved and appreciated. Truly.

And folks, do mosey over to the website ...and take a look at the Nana Tubman statue standing so proudly in Ghana--and yes, before you even have to ask--a video and dvd are available of the journey, so you can armchair on that herstorycal journey from the comfort of your home. Info on that is also on the site.

Ever celebrating the Maryland-born Mama Moses...