(NNPA)—Sororal treatment has linked Sojourner Truth and Michelle Obama in history.

In 1843, a domestic servant in up-state New York whose given name was Isabella Van Wagenen changed her birth name to one that would reflect her mission in life—Sojourner Truth.

Her life’s journey would lead her to be revered for her stature, intellect and fearlessness. Like Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth was one the first Black feminists to publicly assert that Black women should be viewed as total human beings.

In other words, within the Black community there are women; and within the feminist movement, there are Black women.

As an abolitionist and an itinerant Pentecostal preacher, Ms. Truth was invited to the 1851 Women’s Conference in Akron, Ohio. According to Frances Gage, a White abolitionist and president of the conference, as Sojourner Truth rose to approach the stage, White women whispered, “For God’’s sake, Mrs. Gage, don’t let her speak.’’

Despite the whispers, she was reported to have famously said, “I have borne children and seen most of them sold into slavery, and when cried out with a mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me. And ain’t I a woman?’’

One hundred and sixty-five years after Sojourner Truth assumed the national stage comes Michelle Robinson Obama. Like Truth, Mrs. Obama stands 5-11 and possesses a commanding, yet feminine presence. Raised by parents who instilled in young Michelle and her brother, Craig, a thirst to succeed despite racial oppression in the world, the potential first lady of the White House is gifted and grounded.

Ivy-League educated at Princeton and Harvard, the wife, mother, lawyer, and woman is worthy of respect. Yet, like Mrs. Truth, Mrs. Obama has had to succeed amid the whispering campaigns of negativity.

She is said to be “angry’’ and “the baby mama of Obama.’’ Maureen Dowd suggested that many Americans believe Michelle Obama to be “emasculating’’ to her candidate husband. Likewise, the blogesphere is rife with the modern version of whispered insults and innuendo.

For example, a recent posting on the Daily Kos revealed an image of a wrist-bound Michelle Obama about to be burned on the back by Ku Klux Klansmen, with the title “Our New Hi Tech Southern Strategy’’ sponsored by the David Duke Fan Club.

Whether 1851 or 2008, fear-mongers and the ignorant that use race as a dividing wedge are not surprising. What is alarming is the lack of defense for Mrs. Obama that is afforded to others. If Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton who once was first lady in the White House deserved—as she did—defending by leading White feminists from stereotypically sexist attacks on the campaign trail such as hecklers yelling “Hillary: Iron my shirt,’’ than surely Mrs. Obama as a potential first lady in the White House deserves the same. One set of defense rules. The only leading voice I have heard has been National Organization for Women President Kim Gandy who is “watching’’ for sexist attacks on Michelle Obama. And this is a good start.

But where are the famous names in feminism now that Mrs. Obama is under attack? Metaphorically, the cultural chasm between Helen Reddy’s “I am Woman’’ (1972) and Chaka Khan’s “I am Every Woman’’ (1992) must be closed to open a new paradigm of equal defense for equal offense.

Appearing on the television show, “The View,’’ last week, Mrs. Obama was poised and personal; elegant and electric. As she fielded questions, Michelle Obama did so with a sense of genuine openness, which seemingly connected with the viewers of “The View.’’

But why did she have to appear in the first place? Sojourner Truth’s words still instruct us:

“If the first woman God ever made (Eve) was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back and get it right-side up again.’’ Together, we are one.

(Gary Flowers is executive director and CEO of the Black Leadership Forum.)