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The Local History Conspiracy Theorist

We are Now the Future of History.

100 Screenings! (And Counting)

On June 26th at the John C. Hart Library, we had our 100th Screening of a JSB film. This is such an incredible milestone in my journey as a filmmaker, historian, and storyteller, and I can’t thank you all enough for helping me get here. I touched on this achievement in a short video I shared on social media, but I wanted to go more in-depth for my loyal readership on what this means for me and the future of our organization.

I’ve expressed many times how proud I am to be operating on a grassroots level through libraries, museums, and other venues at the heart of our communities. My relationship with libraries in particular is especially important to me, since they are not only where I’ve acquired many of the primary sources in my work, but through my events, I feel I am promoting the power that these citadels of knowledge can bestow upon any of us who wish to use what they have to offer.

This has, in turn, helped expand our presence in the region through word of mouth, as well as social media via our Q&A clips from screenings. The unique discussions that occur after each screening provide a fascinating insight into how the stories of the Pound Ridge Massacre, Leatherman, and Peekskill Riots impact people immediately afterwards, and this is reflected in the questions and comments they share. The short videos we’ve made from my responses to audience reactions have helped hook new viewers and followers when they ask where they can learn more about the stories being discussed.

I believe this provides a great example of how a “grassroots movement” can combine in-person and virtual strategies to grow a brand or share a story with as many people as possible. As much as I love doing these screenings—and I most certainly never intend to stop doing them—far more people have viewed our films, short videos, Q&A clips, and other content on social media than in person (with nearly 500,000 views across YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok). However, the human connections made at these screenings cannot be replicated in a comment section, to say nothing of how we wouldn’t be able to reach folks not plugged into social media if we didn’t make such a commitment to touring the region. What we’ve done here, and what we aim to continue doing, is to grow our community to be as strong online as it is offline, and vice versa. Given that in 2024 we had 42 screenings, while in the first 7 months of 2025 we’ve had 45, I’d say we’re doing a great job. But of course, the work isn’t over.

For the remainder of 2025, it is my goal to collaborate with more local organizations, schedule more screenings, share more stories, and continue to grow this amazing community. But as I said before, and will continue to say, this would not be possible without your support. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Book of the Month…in my opinion.

“The Black Panther Party” by David F. Walker and Marcus Kwame Anderson

Search your local library’s catalog or your favorite bookstore with the title, author, or ISBN of this book.

ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1984857703

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1984857705

“The Black Panther Party” is a graphic novel covering the history and legacy of one of the most misunderstood political organizations in American history. Founded in 1966 as a means of combating police brutality and white supremacy in its founding city of Oakland, California, the party grew in membership, as the hopeful dream spoken of by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr became forlorn after his assassination in 1968.

The Black Panthers have often been described with terms such as “violent”, “radical”, or “criminal”. While they certainly used violence as a means of combating white supremacy, they spent much more time organizing free breakfast programs to provide for their communities when local or federal governments refused to. This, of course, has been intentionally ignored. While the Black Panthers were being targeted by FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, who described them as "the greatest threat to the internal security of the country", the Ku Klux Klan was committing lynchings, bombings, shootings, and other acts of terrorism, all while being a legally recognized organization. Rarely are the actions of the latter group—and the structure of white supremacy in general—presented in the story of the Black Panthers so that their violence is seen for what it was: self-defense. Instead, that context is often removed so that all we see are “Violent Black Panthers”. Today, many who have been groomed into believing bi-partisan, white supremacist propaganda still believe the Black Panthers went “too far”, and that we should not even try to examine or hear their story. The result of this is a profound ignorance from many, including myself for much of my life, on who the Black Panthers actually were.

This is where I believe David F. Walker and Marcus Kwame Anderson have made a genius decision to use the format of a graphic novel to tell the story of the Black Panthers. Not only is it more accessible to wider demographics, but it is also able to display the vibrance of Black American culture. While relying upon black and white images is often unavoidable, I feel that many times—whether intentionally or not—it has the effect of weakening or erasing its relevance to current events, which, for a story like this, would be tragic. The illustrations in this novel are magnificent, thanks to illustrator Marcus Kwame Anderson, whom I had the fortune to meet when I did two screenings of the “Peekskill Riots” at the Underground Railroad Education Center in Albany, NY, this past spring. After discussing with him how he conceptualized the colorful depictions of this history, I was immediately hooked, and knew I not only had to buy a copy, but had to share this amazing work with all of you. Please support Mr. Walker and Mr. Anderson by purchasing or checking out this book so that the true history of the Black Panthers can not only be seen, but be used as a model for how mutual aid in our communities is the key to combating fascism and white supremacy today.

Humbled and honored to be able to do what I do…all thanks to you.

-Jon Scott Bennett