Danny Glover, Alice Green and Brother Yusuf Abdul-Wasi Burgess received the inaugural Spirit of John Brown Freedom Award at the John Brown Farm on Saturday.
John Brown is buried at his farm in North Elba just outside the village of Lake Placid. The abolitionist was hanged after he and a group of followers raided the U.S. Arsenal at Harpers Ferry in 1859 in an attempt to free the Southern slaves. Brown was convicted and hanged for treason.
John Brown Lives! created the Spirit of John Brown Freedom Award as a response to contemporary examples of racial hate, violence and injustice such as in Ferguson, Baltimore, Charleston, South Carolina, to name a few. Board member Hadley Kruczek-Aaron explained that John Brown Lives! sought to counter the hate by celebrating those whose have demonstrated courage and leadership in the struggle for social justice. “People who took action and also those who often faced risk in service to the cause of freedom. These three award winners have inspired us through their tireless commitments to creating a world that is more just. And at a time when voices of hate and fear dominate our news cycles and the election trail we are ever so grateful for their work and humbled by their accomplishments.”
Albany-based civil rights activist and director of the Center for Law and Justice Alice Green says the recognition will help her in her work. “John Brown certainly was a hero of mine and the resistance to injustice is something that's very important to me because the work that I do calls upon me to be strong in fighting injustice and racism. He saw injustice and he was passionate about it and he decided that he needed to fight that injustice. And I think that is a strong message. John Brown is alive! It took me a long time to realize what they meant by that. But he's alive. The spirit is there.”
Brother Yusuf Abdul-Wasi Burgess received the award posthumously. The activist and youth leader brought students to the Adirondacks to connect with nature. Among them is Adham Stewart, who is now an environmental scientist at the DEC. “The one thing that he had was passion. He definitely was an inspiration to a lot of the people in Albany so he was a great man.”
Actor and activist Danny Glover was the third award recipient. He told the crowd he first learned about John Brown at age 10 and was fascinated that Brown believed in freedom so strongly that he would give his life. “I first heard his name in a movie called Santa Fe Trail. I remember crying at the end of the movie with his hanging. The memory of that moment began to resonate and began to shape so many things that happened about me.”
Glover said Brown has fueled his passion for activism. “When I saw the first portrayal of him I wanted to know more and I learned more. John Brown lives inside of me. And I want to be part of King's last book: Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? I move toward community. Because if we’re moving towards community, then we’re moving toward love. If we’re moving called community we’re moving toward justice. That's what I'm saying.”
Glover, a current UNICEF Ambassador, is working on a film about John Brown and was also conducting research during his visit to the John Brown Farm.
Songs of Freedom performed by Magpie – Greg Artzner and Terry Leonino
