Eight women embark on 116-mile long hike in remembrance of Harriet Tubman

CAMBRIDGE, Md. – With each and every step forward, eight women embarked on a 116-mile long journey to hike the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway.

“I felt her spirit and I thought you know I’m going to walk this,” said Linda Harris, the organizer.

“I felt like she was calling me,” said Harris.

They’ll be traveling from Cambridge all the way to Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.

And according to the organizer of the hike, it is a difficult trek.

“I’ve read a lot about long-distance walking and we understand that by day three our bodies are going to be feeling it and a little worn out, but we’re going to carry on,” said Harris.

But it is a long walk they know Tubman faced with bravery and a lot less comfort.

“She followed the north star my god, no phone,” said Harris.

“We’re going to have a car following us if anything happens,” said Harris.

They say this hike is a chance to find new hope and inspiration especially with the coronavirus pandemic and the country’s social unrest.

“Because of some of the social unrest that was going on too we started thinking about connecting with our ancestors and of course the strongest spirit right now is Harriet Tubman’s journey, her amazing courage, faith,” said Pauline Heard-Dunn.

“It is a sense of ourselves that we are reclaiming the footsteps of our history,” said Jennifer Bailey.

Overall, these women say their goal is to find freedom just like Tubman did.

“That’s the goal, freedom,” said Heard-Dunn.

“And if each of us feels free we wouldn’t try to keep anybody else down and we wouldn’t try to oppress anybody else,” said Heard-Dunn, “So if we all could just be free.”

The group says they will finish the first part of the hike in Hurlock and they’ll continue their journey tomorrow.

If you’re interested in following the group you can visit their Facebook page called We Walk With Harriet.