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Harriet Tubman and Spirituality with Dr. Rosemary Sadlier

A streetscape view of Geneva Street in St. Catharines, showing a row of small storefronts and houses along the road in early morning or late-afternoon light. Power lines stretch overhead and the street appears quiet. Photo by Blessing Ogunyemi.

Recorded audio interview with Dr. Rosemary Sadlier, completed by Blessing Ogunyemi for the Harriet Tubman Institute, York University.

TRANSCRIPT:

Dr. Rosemary Sadlier: I think number one, Africans are very spiritual people. And once Africans were removed from their own spirituality, they needed still, we all need something to believe in. We all need something that can offer us hope. And I think that for Harriet Tubman, and for many people of African origin during that time, they took from the Christianity that they were exposed to, those elements that would empower them or give them hope. I think that even Harriet Tubman was a kind of an interesting and special person, and she probably would still have found a way to work towards, say, the freedom of her people, but it was framed in her practice of Christianity.

I think Christianity right now is troublesome in as much as people who are incredibly conservative, evangelical, right wing conservatives, and their interpretations of what’s important in Christian, in the Christian dogma, they maybe have taken things to a point that is not comfortable, but I think that most religions value good relations with other people, kindness, love and mutual self, mutual help, and that is the very least that Harriet Tubman took from Christianity, the Christianity that she knew.