When Sojourner Truth refers, in her speech, to "the little man in black" she is talking about a clergyman or preacher. She is criticizing the fact that abolitionists addressed only the problems of black men, not those of women, and, being a feminist, she reminds her audience that Christ, whom the clergyman is purported to serve, was the son of God and a woman, conceived --according to the Catholic religion-- without the intervention of a man. Her intention in speaking thus is to stress the importance of women, and therefore, of defending women's rights.