Karen       Branan

Healing the Harm of Racialized Policing

A story of two women whose ancestors were on opposite sides of a lynching and now they are friends. It is in large measure the American story.

On February 28, 2021, in partnership with the Equal Justice Initiative, the Mack Henry Brown Historical Marker Committee of the Fulton County Remembrance Coalition unveiled a new marker in remembrance of Mr. Mack Henry Brown. The marker is located in Riverside Park - 575 Riverside Drive, Roswell, GA 30075. The documentary was produced by Sterling Light Productions and the Nate Parker Foundation is followed by a panel discussion on the Legacy of Lynching with Karen Branan, Birdel Jackson III, Rep. Josh McLaurin, and Dr. David Anderson Hooker, moderated by Mike Harris. We honor Mack Henry Brown.

Karen Branan (https://karenbranan.com) "is a veteran journalist who has written for newspapers, magazines, stage, and television for almost fifty years. Her work has appeared in Life, Mother Jones, Ms., Ladies’ Home Journal, Good Housekeeping, Today’s Health, Learning, Parents, Star Tribune (Minneapolis), The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and on PBS, CBS, ABC, CBC, BBC, and CNN." She is also an educator and the author of "The Family Tree: A Lynching in Georgia, a Legacy of Secrets, and My Search for the Truth," which explores the lynching of four people in her home town Hamilton, Georgia and her family's connection to that event. Karen is also an antiracist speaker and a long-time member of "Coming to the Table" (https://comingtothetable.org), a national organization committed to racial healing and racial reconciliation. Today Karen and I chatted about her powerful book, what it means to be white and southern, the American legacy of lynching and racial terrorism, and the need for racial reconciliation and healing, among other related topics. It was a great conversation with many layers, and it was so good to talk with another white, southerner grappling with our shared "southern heritage" and the question of how to work against white supremacy.