Alex Breanne Corporation Year in Review!

Written By John Mills

2024 has been an incredible year of action, growth and blessings for our small non-profit! To recap, here is what we’ve accomplished together:

  1. Pvt. Isaac J. Hill: We found the current-day descendants of Isaac, replaced his headstone, introduced him to his family and home town, and held a memorial ceremony for him in Woodbury, NJ.

  2. Mary & Thaddeus Newton: We found the current-day descendants, repaired their headstone, placed a cenotaph stone for their son Pvt. Stephen Newton who died with the 54th Massachusetts Colored Regiment, introduced him to his family and home town, gained approval in adding their burial site to the Connecticut Freedom Trail, and held a memorial ceremony for him in New Haven, CT.

  3. Prince Mortimer: We uncovered new research into his life, gained legislative approval for an honorary street named in Middletown, CT, and gained approval in adding Old Newgate Prison to the Connecticut Freedom Trail.

  4. Fortune: We presented new research regarding the travels of Fortune’s bones during the 135 years prior to museum display, presented new research into the various donated artifacts of the McGlannan family to museums other than the Mattatuck, successfully completed a mural honoring Fortune on the facade of the North End Recreation Center, was informed of mural addition to an upcoming book regarding Fortune, and donated our Mural planning documentation for archival at the Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury, CT.

In addition, we did nearly 40 lectures and interviews, sharing the concept of Reverence as the demeanor we should promote in remembering our enslaved ancestors. This promotes pride in our shared genealogy, appropriately aligning these individuals to strength and endurance, allowing us all to see ourselves in the exceptional actions of those that established America. I realize many prioritize empathy for the enslaved as a supposed conduit to change, but it’s my perspective that empathy alone can not combat unconscious bias. You must also align the challenges of the past with those that still exist today, forcing individuals to self interrogate… then work to appropriately align those that have endured to the idea of greatness. Therefore, I priorities Reverence.

Thank you all for everything you’ve done in supporting our work in 2024. You can view our 2024 recap video here.

We have many more projects coming in 2025! Please consider helping us. You can donate at https://alexbreanne.org/donate.

Thank you and God Bless.

John



John Mills

Originally from San Diego, John Mills is a technologist by trade, but an equity advocate and independent scholar by passion. The descendant of both southern and northern enslaved, John focuses on unearthing little known people and stories of this country’s history in slavery and the transatlantic slave trade. John presents research through the lens and perspective of a descendant, with intent to inspire understanding and empathy, a means to inspire good, God fearing people, now armed with information, to look into whether they may be unwittingly aligning to biases resulting from the reverberating effects of a past time. John is a member of the Connecticut Freedom Trail and a member of the Webb Deane Stevens Museum Council. John is also working with an international team funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) in an effort to deliver transformational impact on digital methods in cultural institutions...a means to decolonize museums. Finally, John is working with the state of Connecticut, business leaders and scholars in Middletown, CT to honor and memorialize a former enslaved individual by the name of Prince Mortimer.

https://alexbreanne.org
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