What is The Brownsville Project?
We work to abolish systemic oppression by helping communities confront and heal from suppressed history. We do this through live performance, community organizing, public education, and social discourse.
For us, this work starts at home in Frostburg, Maryland. Our primary focus is unearthing the history of Brownsville and reckoning with its racist displacement.
About Brownsville
Brownsville was a community of Black folks established in 1866, nested in Frostburg, Maryland. It began with two Black women, Tamar Brown and Elizabeth Jackson. Both were formerly enslaved people who purchased land and raised homes on neighboring lots.
Do you think you could be a descendant of Brownsville? Let us know!
Our Methods
Our methods of change include a transformative justice model, live performance, social discourse, and community organizing to explore how the past led us to the present; and how we can learn from that past to create a future of healing, justice, and repair.
Initiatives
Our work supports a multi-layered and grassroots response to pursue justice and healing. This has included: the development of community led reparations demands for Brownsville/Park Ave descendants, a public art commemoration, the formation of the Allegany County Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Committee (ACLTRC), public education through theater, and community building.
Get Involved
We are always looking for support via true allyship, volunteerism, and donations to advance the interests and healing of Brownsville descendants and those affected by historical erasure.
