𝗜'𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮 𝗳𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗳 CT Murals. I've always loved the impactful message they can inject into a community, acting as a reminder promoting reverence of a time or individual.

𝗜𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟭, I learned about 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗲, an enslaved man of a bone doctor named Preserved Porter. In 1798, Fortune was said to have slipped from a rock on the west bank of the Naugatuck river, broke his neck and drowned. Dr. Porter then cut him into pieces, boiled the bones so the flesh fell off and used the bones as a medical training tool. After his death, Dr. Porter's son used the bones to teach anatomy to his grandson, who used them to teach his daughter; 135 years of generational doctors and wealth. In 1933, his name long forgotten, the family donated the bones to the Mattatuck Museum where they were a popular exhibit shown on their postcard; not taken down until 1970.

𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟭𝟵𝟵𝟬'𝘀, anthropologists and archeologists examined the bones, determining Fortune was a strong man who lived and worked with a broken back, hand and likely died of a broken neck. In September of 2013, Fortune was finally freed…laid to rest at Riverside Cemetery.

𝗟𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿, I started a push towards the creation of a mural in honor of Fortune. My non-profit Alex Breanne Corporation raised $18,000 of the total cost of $30,000. We aligned with The RiseUP Group to manage the effort. We gained support from the Mayor's office, local public schools, NAACP Greater Waterbury and many others. 𝗪𝗔𝗧𝗥 𝗙𝗠 radio agreed to run a PSA for us and on April 9th @ 6pm, the Mattatuck Museum will be hosting Waterbury Public School Students in their annual Artrageous Art Exhibit. I'll be manning a table soliciting support.

𝗧𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝘂𝘀, please visit https://alexbreanne.org/fortune. 𝗦𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴. 🙏🏿 #Life