“The Man Fortune” Added To The Connecticut Freedom Trail

Marker
Written By John Mills

In working with Martin Begnal of Riverside Cemetery, both of us pushing for this for nearly 3 years, it finally happened last night.

I've said for years that I align less with the idea of exceptionalism and more with the grit and persistance shown by those who endured.

Therefore, with pride and humility in my heart, let me be the first to introduce you to the newest entrant to the Connecticut Freedom Trail; Riverside Cemetery and The Man Fortune.

Thanks to all who have supported me and my non-profit through donation, purchase, and kind words. Without you, this would have never occurred. 🙏🏿

Anyone that wishes to support, please goto https://AlexBreanne.org

P.S... $330 is the current day value of Fortune's bones listed in Preserved Porter's will in 1804. If that's what they thought, then they might as well put that name on my head as well, because we are the same. #Life

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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10 year Anniversary Celebration of the Burial of “The Man Fortune”