I’d really like to know more about John Brown, but I just can’t get through biographical books, for anyone. Any good documentaries on the man, the myth, the legend?

  • hypercracker
    ·
    2 months ago

    I will try to say this gently, I get we valorize John Brown because his starting point is similar to most of the people here, but I feel like there are many many more black & indigenous people who fought valiantly and died trying to liberate themselves that we could focus on as role models instead

    One time I went to the blacksonian in DC expecting John Brown to have a fairly sizeable presence and was surprised to see he was a footnote in one small windowed exhibit off the main hall. I think a lot about that feeling of surprise I had and what it means.

    • pastalicious [he/him, undecided]
      ·
      2 months ago

      I love John Brown but will shamefully admit some of it comes from a vestigial West Wing brain compartment that reads all his letters and speeches and feels intoxicated by the illusion of them powerfully moving people to change. I’ll still enjoy them as a treat but I’m trying to kill my inner Aaron Sorkin.

    • JoeByeThen [he/him, they/them]
      ·
      2 months ago

      Tbh, I'm surprised he was mentioned at all. American history up until recently really hasn't been very polite to him. He's pretty much treated as a traitor. The one big feature he's got in popular media (The Good Lord Bird) treats him like a clown. I kinda suspect the author of it, James McBride, doesn't even like Brown.