Harriet Tubman: freedom fighter. Harriet was an abolitionist and union spy. When she was 13, she threw herself between a slave and the overseer who was about to whip him. The overseer hit her on the head. For the rest of her life she had a traumatic brain injury. One day she escaped from slavery. Instead of just living free, she went on secret missions to rescue other slaves. Many folks brushed her off because of her disability so she used this to her advantage and acted “crazy” so she could walk around many plantations without anyone knowing she was mapping out paths for slaves to escape. She was also a very outspoken civil rights advocate.