Why Harriet Tubman’s Legacy Matters with Prof. Lorne Foster

Recorded audio interview with Professor Lorne Foster, completed by Blessing Ogunyemi for the Harriet Tubman Institute, York University. 

TRANSCRIPT:

Professor Lorne Foster:  I think, well, I mean, it actually… She represents the dynamic and, you know, individualist nature that we all subscribe to. Part of her legacy, or part of her mythology, is all-American. You know what I mean. America has this sense of rugged individualism, and she actually is quintessential in that regard, you know. I mean, she’s the ultimate rugged individualist. And I suppose as Canadians, we like that a little bit too. We’re a little more passive, I suppose, than the Americans, or the American ethic. And she represents all of that, and plus, she represents what’s best in humanity. You know, I spoke about me being a human rights expert, you know. And for me, human rights is all about recognizing that there’s room for us all on the threshold of history. 

And people like Harriet Tubman, they actually do what we… what I only talk about. You know what I mean. She actually tries to make the world a place where everybody is worthy, everybody is recognized, and everybody belongs, and she’s not stopped by barriers and other human rights concepts reducing barriers. She rode over barriers. She broke down barriers of slavery. She broke down, you know, the infrastructure of slavery. She fought it from the inside, and she actually made it outside, and then went back inside again. So, the idea of her bravery and her rugged individualism is something that I think is important as an image for us to emulate as Black person who wants to have heroes, who needs to have heroes. You want to have a Harriet Tubman as a hero, as a legacy of your culture, that you can look up to and strive towards. And remember those instincts. You know, it’s tough to remember those instincts. You don’t see a lot of people today who are actually trying to break down barriers and risk their own lives doing it, you know, for freedom, for liberation.  

You know, there’s a there’s a famous song by Solomon Burke, and it’s the classic line in the song. It’s like if one of us… none of us is free. How does it go? If one of us is enslaved, none of us is free, or something to that effect. I messed that up, because that’s not exactly the line, but that’s what the line is trying to get at, and, and basically, people like Harriet Tubman really represent that; they quintessentially are those people who recognize that we’re not free, if not all of us, if all of us aren’t free, none of us are free. That’s the line!