Land/Mark: A Symposium on Enslavement, Resistance and Revolution

This symposium explores the story of Mark, Phillis and Phebe, three enslaved people punished in 1755 for fatally poisoning their enslaver, John Codman, in order to break free from slavery. The case was so well known that 40 years later, Paul Revere used the location of one of their bodies as a landmark when describing his famous 1775 ride.

How should we remember Mark, Phillis and Phebe today? And how are scholars, artists, activists, and community members work-ing to reclaim the stories of Black life, resistance, and rebellion that have been erased?

The event will include two panel discussions and a keynote address by Kellie Carter Jackson, author or We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance.

Panelists include Aabid Allibhai, Jaimie Crumley, Dan Breen, Ifé Franklin, Dell M. Hamilton, Angela M. Counts, Kendra Field and Kyera Singleton.

Refreshments will be provided.

This program is made possible by a grant from Mass Humanities, which provided funding through the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC). It is presented by the Royall House & Slave Quarters and the Somerville Museum in partnership with the Cambridge Public Library, History Cambridge, and Cambridge Black History Project, Old North Church, and the Somerville Department of Racial and Social Justice.

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