Executive director featured on John Brown Today Podcast

After we intervierwed Dr. Lou DeCaro for our film, he turned the microphone on Dan to record an episode the John Brown Today podcast. Lou and Dan talked about Dan’s abolitionist filmmaking, including His Truth is Marching On, 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.

They talk about rehabilitating the historical reputation of abolitionist John Brown, countering common misconceptions that portray him as a terrorist, a failure, or insane, while 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.

TRANSCRIPT BEGINNING:

“My name is Dan Morrison, and I'm going to talk about a community arts project that celebrates John Brown's passion for equality. I live in Torrington, Connecticut, which is the birthplace of John Brown, the abolitionist. There are a lot of John Brown references in our city.

The homestead is located just out of town. An illustration of his house is on all of our recycle bins. It's part of the town seal.

There's huge murals from the WPA Project hanging in our post office, pictures of John Brown and his family on the homestead here in Torrington. There are even collections of John Brown artifacts in the public library and historical society, both of which contain a piece of the rope that was used to hang the old man. I work with a non-profit here called Culture for a Cause, whose mission is to build community through music and the arts.

“And when we were disrupted by COVID, we were looking for ways to still be relevant and decided to launch a community arts project, where we would do a 21st century remix of the Civil War song, John Brown's Body, which was written by Union soldiers and was an incredibly popular song during the early part of the Civil War. We decided to do this because as a country, we were in the middle of probably the biggest civil rights movement ever. We felt that it was important to stand up and say out loud that people are welcome and wanted and that they deserve respect and dignity for the simple fact that they exist.

We wanted to amplify John Brown's passion through a song that was based in equality.

DeCaro: As you just heard, Dan Morrison is a man on a mission. In fact, the mission is clearly set forth on the website of the John Brown Project, a media company which he founded in Torrington, Connecticut, the birthplace of John Brown. What is that mission?

To correct the record, and to inform people of truths buried in history, systemic racism, implicit bias, and gender inequality.