Howard University Professor Calls on ‘White Allies’ to Emulate Abolitionist John Brown’s Legacy

A professor from Howard University has recently called on progressive “white allies” to draw inspiration from a notorious abolitionist from the Civil War era who faced execution for murder.

Dr. Stacey Patton, who teaches journalism, expressed her views in a recent Substack post, suggesting that white liberals should emulate John Brown rather than merely questioning how to improve their allyship.

“When white allies ask, ‘What can I do?’ here’s the answer: Be like John Brown. Contemplate what you are willing to sacrifice so that others can have freedom,” she penned.

John Brown, known for his militant stance against slavery, orchestrated the Pottawatomie massacre in 1856, where five settlers in Kansas were killed.

In 1859, he also spearheaded a raid on a federal armory in Virginia, which resulted in the deaths of four residents.

Brown was eventually captured, tried for treason and hanged.

“Brown was a white man who looked around in the mid-1800s and understood, with holy clarity, that slavery was not a political problem but a moral emergency,” Patton argued in her blog post.

“Brown didn’t need a syllabus, a think piece, or a guidebook on allyship. He didn’t need affirmation from black folks that he was one of the good ones. He saw the horror for what it was and decided that ending this racist f–kery mattered more than being understood.”

“He didn’t post a black square or write a thread about accountability. He saw an empire built on blood and decided to make it stop,” she added.

Patton noted that Brown didn’t fit the usual script given he was a “m’f–kn’ gangsta!”

Elsewhere, Patton also called on white allies to stop coming to black people for the answers, arguing: “We ain’t got it.

“And why the hell should we? It’s strange, really, to expect the people still clawing our way out of the wreckage to tell you how to stop building the fire,” she said.

“Every day we live inside the matrix of white supremacy, maneuvering through traps set generations ago in laws, schools, offices, and culture. We’re dodging the shrapnel, and you’re standing there asking for directions out of a maze you built.

“We are not the architects. We are the collateral damage,” she continued.