Harriet Tubman on the $20 note

The US government has decided to include a portrait of Harriet Tubman, the first woman to appear on US currency, on the $20 note. She will replace the seventh former US president, Andrew Jackson, who promoted an anti-Indian law.

Choosing Tubman from among the hundreds of important feminist voices was no easy task. As a woman in the United States, she went from African-American slave to abolitionist leader during the American Civil War and later to national heroine.

Harriet Tubman was born around 1822 on a Maryland plantation to a band of nine siblings, known as Moses, after the prophet who led the Hebrews to freedom.

To make his escape a success, he used the "underground railroad", a network of underground railways, which helped people in his situation escape to the northern states. It is estimated that he contributed to the freeing of more than 300 slaves to Canada or to free American states. 

Harriet Tubman, who is said to have always warned her passengers on the Underground Railroad that no one would be allowed to return, that they would all go on or she would kill them with her hands. This was the only way to ensure secrecy about the route they used to escape.

The administration of President Joe Biden wants to return to the idea of having the figure of African-American slave and abolitionist Harriet Tubman appear on $20 notes, the White House said on Monday.

The project was originally born during Barack Obama's presidency, and will make Tubman the first African-American person to appear on a US banknote.

But during the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump spoke out against the move and called the choice of Tubman a "purely politically correct" decision, suggesting that the activist should be better featured on the $2 notes, which have long been out of print. 

The trajectory of Afrofeminist activists and political leaders illustrates the great difficulties encountered along the way in visibilising and breaking with dominant gender mandates and challenging established power bases. Afrofeminisms have been a good reference point from which to promote and advocate for the transformation of political leadership. 

The legacy of African American activists and politicians such as Tubman is a testament to the struggle and empowerment of women around the world. 

The experience of women has not always been easy, nor is success by any means guaranteed. But despite the difficulties, it can be said that the trajectory of women at the forefront of different struggles is gradually being recognised and has confirmed that on the road to renewal, women's empowerment must also be promoted.