The Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum (SOJO Museum) educates and celebrates African-American history, legacy, and culture.
Found in 1996 by the artist and community activist Shonna McDaniels, the museum resides at Florin Square, home to the largest collaboration of black-owned businesses in Northern California. Besides directing the museum, McDaniels, a muralist herself, works with artists to commemorate notable African-Americans on the Florin Square’s walls.
In March 2021, the museum received a grant that allowed it to expand to 3,000 square feet.
The museum tells the story of African-Americans in America in different interactive exhibitions bringing to life thousands of years of black heritage with incorporated videos, artwork, murals, artifacts, and commentary. Among the exhibited topics are the Great Migration, the Harlem Renaissance, notable people such as Sojourner Truth, Black Cowboys, art by Black artists during 1963-1983, Black Women Reclaiming Our Grace, and Escaped Slavery and Became Millionaires.
The museum hosts special events like the Woman’s Festival, the Black Woman celebration, the African Market, holidays like Kwanzaa and Black History Month, and various art activities such as the paint n sip.
Sojourner Truth (1797-1883) was a former slave who became a preacher, public speaker, activist, abolitionist, and national advocate for equal rights for African-American women.
She was born and lived in slavery as Isabella Baumfree for almost thirty years before escaping to freedom with her infant daughter. In her first ten years as a free woman, she worked as a domestic in New Paltz, NY, and then in New York City. In her forties, she followed god’s call to speak the truth to people; she changed her name to Sojourner Truth and traveled around the US preaching and giving public speeches in community gatherings, churches, and conversions, advocating for equal rights.
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