大象传媒

On Feb. 1, 2014, Google featured freedom fighter, activist, and abolitionist Harriet Tubman as a Doodle illustration on its homepage.

The image depicted Tubman wearing a patterned headscarf and shawl and holding a lantern on a starry night. While not a direct reference to any of the widely circulated images of Tubman, the included objects closely associated with her, including the gifted to her by Queen Victoria. The lantern nodded to her role as the most famous conductor of the , and the starry night to her leading fugitive enslaved people away from chattel slavery.

But where was her gun? Although a singular image couldn鈥檛 capture the breadth of Tubman鈥檚 extraordinary life, the Doodle sanitized the image and legacy of this insurgent historical figure. I felt it lacked the revolutionary energy that propelled Tubman and resonated as only a partial recuperation of the who was an enemy of the state.

Such limits of representation are central to , the new book from author, activist, and political scientist . He revisits Tubman鈥檚 life to examine what we learn from her legacy and how we commemorate her extraordinary life.

Tubman is foundational to how I, as a queer Black feminist, think about liberatory politics and the robust . More than 100 years after Tubman led 150 Black Union soldiers in the , an operation that liberated more than 700 enslaved people, a queer Black feminist and socialist collective named itself after this revolutionary act. The Combahee River Collective (CRC), founded in 1974, crafted the Combahee River Collective Statement, one of the most significant and influential modern Black feminist writings. For the CRC, Tubman embodied their that 鈥渋f Black women were free, it would mean that everyone else would have to be free since our freedom would necessitate the destruction of all the systems of oppression.鈥�

Throughout her life, Tubman鈥檚 body was brutalized, exploited, and hunted, while her embodied resistance was criminalized, demonized, and vilified. Far too often, popular narratives about Tubman erase that part of her history as well as the war this nation literally and figuratively waged against her body, her life, and her radical vision of freedom. To recover her 鈥渉eroism鈥� without being fully transparent about the violent opposition she faced prompts considerable anxiety about the use of her image as a symbol of American progress.

Without question, Tubman warrants celebration for her distinct contribution to African American freedom struggles, the women鈥檚 suffrage movement, and the fight for elderly/aging care鈥攁nd these contributions occurred with the support of individuals and communities. Her victories against white supremacy don鈥檛 necessitate hagiographic and mythologizing treatments to convey their significance.

Tubman鈥檚 likeness, much like that of African American freedom fighter , has become a curious venue for U.S. self-congratulatory statecraft. Absent from predominating narratives about King are his . Any tribute to Tubman that fails to acknowledge that her work as an abolitionist opposed white supremacist, patriarchal, and ageist laws, conventions, and norms is valueless.

In Twenty Dollars and Change, Lusane takes up the vigorous debate about plans to put Tubman鈥檚 likeness on the $20 bill in place of former U.S. President Andrew Jackson and explores Tubman鈥檚 unwavering commitment to 鈥済ender, race, and economic equality.鈥� By the conclusion of this incisive and thought-provoking book, Lusane seamlessly connects Tubman鈥檚 legacy鈥攊ncluding the use of her likeness鈥攖o ongoing struggles against white supremacy and the evolution of Black traditions of resistance. Moreover, he traces a long history of Black women鈥攌nown and unknown and unnamed鈥攁s leaders of resistance and harbingers of social change.

Lusane offers varying perspectives on the prospect of Tubman鈥檚 image appearing on U.S. currency, delving into debates within Black communities as well as progressive non-Black communities. Although I am adamantly opposed to Tubman鈥檚 likeness being used on U.S. currency, I see his approach to the debate as generative and allowing space for opposing perspectives to be heard. He compellingly pinpoints why Tubman deserves every accolade bestowed upon her as a progenitor for a U.S. democracy not yet in existence. Without question, as Lusane declares, 鈥淣o one represents the fight to be free of domination and hierarchy鈥攁nd the good trouble that often involves鈥攂etter than Tubman.鈥� This fight roars into our present moment.

African Americans remain entrenched in and subjugated within a white supremacist racial hierarchy. We still aren鈥檛 free鈥攐ur lives remain surveilled, policed, and criminalized. From to the to to to to , racist marginalization prevails. Twenty Dollars and Change is a call to look to Tubman鈥檚 activism for inspiration and the wherewithal to fight. 

While I disagree with Lusane鈥檚 heralding of a Tubman $20 as a 鈥渟mall but important victory,鈥� I understand why upending, removing, and replacing white supremacist symbols matter. Tubman worked to tear down the systems created by many of the white men who are currently on U.S. currency. Her likeness and legacy inspire generations and remind us of how transformative we can be when we commit to liberatory politics. Tubman鈥檚 image fills me with pride, especially those images that capture her tenacity, her fatigue, and her dignity as a freedom fighter. I鈥檓 sure it does the same for millions of other people.

The ways Tubman put her body on the line for Black people鈥檚 freedom serve as a point of entry and a clear demonstration of what it means to dedicate oneself to the emergence of a world that does not yet exist.

To follow in her footsteps is to commit to abolishing the systems that harm and kill us. The symbolism may propel us forward, but her body of work is a map we can hold onto as we chart our paths toward freedom.