Abraham Franklin, a kind Black coachman with disabilities, heard an enraged white mob was storming New York City. They were rioting in protest of being drafted into the Civil War – and taking revenge by hunting Black people!
Franklin’s mother lived alone across town – so he had to save her.
Franklin had barely reached his mother’s home, when BANG! The door slammed open and a group of white men poured inside.
Franklin demanded they spare his mother. So she watched, terrified, as they beat and strung him up, ready to lynch him.
The military eventually arrived and drove the mob away, but unsuccessfully – they soon returned to ensure Franklin’s death.
They grabbed the nearly lifeless Franklin and re-lynched him from a lamppost as the mob jeered. Once dead, his body was mutilated and dragged through the streets by his genitals as a means to intimidate other Black men – showing what their fate would be if they were caught.
While Franklin’s murder was horrific, his final act was kind. To be clear, acts of kindness shouldn’t bring death – but sometimes love for our people requires radical bravery.
Franklin understood that without love from one's community, fighting white supremacy can feel lonely and impossible. We must exercise kindness for those we love – despite the risk.