John Brown, Accomplices, and the Struggle Against Systemic Racism: A Conversation with Dan Morrison

In this episode, Lou speaks with Dan Morrison, the founder of the John Brown Project and a documentary filmmaker from Torrington, Connecticut, John Brown’s birthplace. Morrison details his work, including a community arts project that produced a 21st-century remix of the Civil War era song, "John Brown's Body" and his current musical documentary, "Pushing the Rock," which examines systemic racism in America and features interviews with historical figures’ descendants and scholars. The conversation heavily focuses on rehabilitating the historical reputation of abolitionist John Brown, countering common misconceptions that portray him as a terrorist, a failure, or insane, and advocating for white people to actively combat white supremacy as Brown did. They also discuss the recent conservative media backlash against Dr. Stacey Patton, a Howard University journalism professor who cited Brown as an example of a good white ally, further prompting their discussion about the ongoing struggle against misinformation and historical bias, especially relating to John Brown.