Deacon Leah Sandwell-Weiss

That’s when I’m gonna stand up
Take my people with me
Together we are going
To a brand new home
Far across the river
Can you hear freedom calling?
Calling me to answer
Gonna keep on keepin’ on
I can feel it in my bones.

Dear friends,

These words are the chorus to the song “Stand Up,” from the movie “Harriet,” a 2019 biopic about the life of Harriet Tubman, who died on this day in 1913. Performed over the final credits, every time I hear it, I almost break into tears and start singing along. It’s an inspiring song of freedom and action—and faith.

Listen to the whole song here:  https://youtu.be/TNO40mDaOEY.)

Born into slavery around 1822, Harriet escaped from slavery in her twenties and eventually brought between 70 to 300 other slaves, including her parents and siblings, to freedom in the North.

But wait—she did more.

She was a spy, a scout, and a nurse for the Union Army. She also led Black troops on a raid that freed over 750 slaves, making her widely credited as the first American woman to lead troops into military action.

After the war she joined Susan B. Anthony and other women fighting for the women’s suffrage.

Harriet’s deep faith led her actions throughout her life. Her final words, repeated at the end of “Stand Up,” reportedly were “I go to prepare a place for you,” from the Gospel of John.

While recognized with three other women as liberators and prophets for over a decade, in 2024, the Church voted to commemorate her life on this day as a Social Reformer.

Frederick Douglass, a friend and fellow abolitionist, wrote of her that “The midnight sky and the silent stars have been the witnesses of your devotion to freedom and of your heroism. Excepting John Brown—of sacred memory—I know of no one who has willingly encountered more perils and hardships to serve our enslaved people than you have.”

O God, whose Spirit guides us into all truth and makes us free: Strengthen and sustain us as you did your servant Harriet Ross Tubman. Give us vision and courage to stand against oppression and injustice and all that works against the glorious liberty to which you call all your children; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

—Deacon Leah