To Nell Painter on Truth

Nell Painter,

Reading “Representing Truth” made me wish again that I had
been taught differently. I wish I had been introduced at a
younger age to a less Eurocentric, masculine epistemology,
one that does not value objectivity and solidified truth over
everything else. I wish I had learned to see the world in a less
cemented way, knowing instead that hardened truth is actually
malleable and can be constructed and reconstructed. You
mentioned Isabella/Sojourner Truth's “anxiety over the
integrity of the world,” which pushed me to destabilize my
understanding of both the ideological and physical world as
they stand. Do you think anything has integrity, or the ability
to be whole? It seemed to me that Isabella/Sojourner Truth
arrived at this understanding of truth through her use of
various means of communication outside of the culturally
accepted one. Though I do not want to impose myself on her
as many white feminists of the past did, it seems that she knew
that we cannot ever be fully represented, we can only attempt
through multiple ways to show parts of ourselves. Can we only
ever see reality in parts, and should we ever expect to arrive
at universal truth? Will the presented truth always be tainted
by power and desire? The idea of a layered and dynamic self,
as well as a layered and dynamic truth, seems to not be
understood by many white people of the past and present. When
you thought about Truth did you think about her dynamically
and how to portray her in the most multifaceted way? Additionally,
did you intentionally write both of her names to represent the
multiple ways she existed? As of now I am thinking that even
though we can never be known fully we should at least have
the autonomy to present how we want to be known, which appears
to be something almost completely inaccessible to black women.
Even as I write this I am thinking that my presentation of truth is
completely wrong and I should not warp the stories of people
who could tell it themselves.