John Brown: American Revolutionary, Fighter for Black Freedom

In our last episode of 2025, we take a look at the American revolutionary John Brown, who believed slavery was a crime so violent and heinous that it could not be ended through patience, compromise, or moral appeals.

Brown’s commitment to Black liberation, which was rooted in faith and a keen understanding of American society, led him from “Bleeding Kansas” to the 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry, an act that helped ignite the Civil War (The Second American Revolution, 1861-1865). Brown knew his actions would cost him his life, and on the day of his execution, he wrote that the crimes of the U.S. would only be purged “with blood.”

Often dismissed as a madman or fanatic, Brown was in fact one of the few white abolitionists willing to fight to destroy slavery outright. Brown’s life, strategy, and sacrifice should be studied and honored by all those devoted to today’s freedom and resistance struggles. As Malcolm X later put it, “When you want to know good white folks in history where black people are concerned, go read the history of John Brown.” 

We also touch on the radical abolitionist tradition, including the uncompromising and quirky Quaker, Benjamin Lay. 

Listen to John Brown's Body, sung by Paul Robeson