Brown became one of the three leaders of the 1969 Curaçao uprising, a series of riots mainly on 30 May 1969. These riots started with a strike of workers in the oil industry. A protest rally during the strike turned violent, leading to widespread looting and destruction of buildings and vehicles in the central business district of Willemstad, the capital of Curaçao. Following the uprising, he founded the Workers' Liberation Front together with Amador Nita and Wilson Godett. This was a radical socialist political party, that in the Curaçao general elections (until the 2017 Curaçao general election). After the demolition of the Berlin Wall, he stopped with his idealism of a socialist Curaçao and focused on liberalism. In 1993 he founded the political party C93. This party strived for a liberal, capitalist, humanistic and democratic Curaçao and wanted to make Curaçao a Dutch province.[2][3]
Brown has been imprisoned several times for political and violent revolutionary activities. Brown is commemorated every year in Curaçao. There, the events of 30 May are mainly seen as a turning point, as a sign of awakening self-awareness.[2][3]
Personal life
Brown was born in the Groot Kwartier neighborhood. His father was an Afro-Caribbean guard at Shell, born on Saint Lucia. His mother was born on Sint Maarten, was of Scandinavian descent, and worked in a shop. Brown was married to Anne-Marie Braafheid and had five children from three marriages. He died in the Curaçao Medical Center in Otrobanda on 16 November 2022 at the age of 84.[2][3][4][1]
