John Brown started my path towards being a Communist

I read what he did, how he so strongly understood the evil of slavery that he went out and did something about it, and that resonated with me

Of course, the people who would tell me, "Oh, he had the right idea, but he shouldn't have killed people" only strengthened my respect for him, because I knew they were just the same mealy-mouthed cowards who would said they stood against slavery but would do nothing to actually dismantle the system that permitted it