Toni Cade Bambara mentions Harriet Tubman in her story titled "The War of the Wall." How and why is the reference to Tubman important?

In Toni Cade Bambara’s story “The War of the Wall,” a
young African-American woman from New York – a painter – has been given permission to
paint a mural on the outside wall of a building in a small southern town. At first two
of the children in the story are offended by the woman’s apparent presumption: she has
come into their neighbor to paint some of her
art on a wall that has long been used (for shade, for ball-playing, and for other
purposes) by the local community. Yet despite the children’s objections, the painter
continues with her project.

As the project nears
completion, the children decide that they will deface the painting. However, before they
have a chance to execute their plan, they (and the rest of the community) see the
completed mural and cannot help but strongly admire it. They are particularly touched to
find members of the community represented in the painting, and they are surprised, at
the very end of the story, to learn that the painter has a hitherto-unknown personal
reason for wanting to honor the wall.

As the children and
other members of the community look at the mural, they notice that the features of
various important African Americans have been painted on
it:

The wall.
Reds, greens, figures outlined in black. Swirls of  purple and orange. Storms of blues
and yellows. It was something. I recognized some of the faces right off. There was
Martin Luther King, Jr. And there was a man with glasses on and his mouth open like he
was laying  down a heavy rap. Daddy came up alongside and reminded us that he was
Minister Malcolm X. The serious woman with a rifle I knew was Harriet Tubman because my
grandmamma has pictures of her all over the
house.

The reference to
Harriet Tubman is significant for a number of reasons, including the
following:

• She is a well-known symbol of African
  American resistance to slavery.


• She served as a spy for
  the Union during the Civil War.


• She actually helped
  rescue blacks from slavery as part of the so-called “Underground
  Railroad.”


• She served the Union army in a variety of
  capacities during the Civil War.


• She was later involved
  in the struggle for equal rights for women.


• She not only
  led a highly active life but eventually described her actions in vivid
  words.

In all these ways, then (and many more),
Tubman is a highly relevant figure to be included in a mural celebrating
African-American heroes.