WHY WE MATTER
In today’s ever increasingly diverse world, it is imperative that we engage in meaningful dialogue around the legacies of slavery, human rights, racism, incarceration, and climate justice in order to address the critical and complex issues of our times.
We serve as the official Friends Group for the John Brown Farm State Historic Site carrying forth the spirit of abolitionist John Brown in today’s world. Through education, history, and the arts we believe we can bend the moral arc of history towards justice and equity. By having difficult and honest conversations about complex issues we connect the lessons of the past to the present to create a more just society.
“We are all implicated when we allow other people to be mistreated. An absence of compassion can corrupt the decency of a community, a state, a nation … we all need mercy, we all need justice, and—perhaps—we all need some measure of unmerited grace.”
“I wanted to thank you [JBL!] for another awesome experience. Listening to Janet McFetridge, Lewis Papenfuse and Dr. Barbara Ransby opened my mind and heart so much more. I hope I never stop learning or caring.”
“Martha, it was wonderful to meet you, and feel much enlivened by finding people so engaged in history, and weighing in on all its dichotomies and contradictions. Who knew in a place that still feels remote in this modern age that the spark of interest in history would be glowing brightly. “