{"id":1499,"date":"2025-05-02T08:57:31","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T12:57:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/anthropology\/?p=1499"},"modified":"2025-05-06T14:18:14","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T18:18:14","slug":"montclair-state-university-graduate-khara-brown-defies-3-survival-odds-to-uncover-hidden-histories-through-anthropology-and-archaeology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/anthropology\/2025\/05\/02\/montclair-state-university-graduate-khara-brown-defies-3-survival-odds-to-uncover-hidden-histories-through-anthropology-and-archaeology\/","title":{"rendered":"Montclair State University Graduate Khara Brown Defies 3% Survival Odds to Uncover Hidden Histories Through Anthropology and Archaeology"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story is part of a series celebrating Montclair State University\u2019s Spring Commencement 2025<\/a> graduates \u2013 students who embody the University\u2019s mission to broaden access to exceptional learning opportunities and contribute to the common good.<\/em><\/p>\n

When Khara Lillian Brown walks across the stage at Montclair State University\u2019s Spring Commencement<\/a>, she\u2019ll be celebrating more than earning her bachelor\u2019s degree in Anthropology \u2013 she\u2019ll be celebrating a victory against extraordinary odds.<\/p>\n

While in college, Brown was given just a 3% chance to live. Defying that prognosis with courage and determination, she not only survived but thrived, finding her purpose and passion through research, community and storytelling.<\/p>\n

Her resilience carried her through multiple surgeries and intensive rehabilitation. Today, she is presenting original research, receiving prestigious scholarships, and exploring the complex history of free and formerly enslaved African American communities.<\/p>\n

Maybe I didn\u2019t do as well as I wanted \u2013 I\u2019m a perfectionist and hard on myself \u2013 but I\u2019ve met people, changed lives, touched people with my story. And that\u2019s all a person can ask for \u2013 to be a catalyst for change.\u201d \u2014 Khara Brown<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A Newark native, Brown majored in Anthropology<\/a> with minors in Archaeology<\/a> and Native American and Indigenous Studies<\/a>. Throughout her time at Montclair, she combined scholarship with activism, volunteering in the campus Archaeology Lab, co-founding the club LadiesFIRST, and participating in organizations such as the Native American and Indigenous Studies Club and the Coalition for Collective Liberation.<\/p>\n

She also helped launch the Women\u2019s Leadership Conference, organized by the University\u2019s Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) Program<\/a>. At this year\u2019s conference, she was honored with a Triumph Over Trauma Award<\/a>, recognized before more than 350 high school students, educators, community leaders and artists.<\/p>\n

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<\/a>

Khara Brown reacts upon receiving the Triumph Over Trauma Award at the Women\u2019s Leadership Conference. (Photo by John J. LaRosa)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>\n

Balancing academics with health challenges wasn\u2019t simple.<\/p>\n

In 2015, Khara Brown faced a devastating diagnosis after being hospitalized with catastrophic intestinal failure, leaving her paralyzed and barely able to speak. Doctors told her mother there was a 97% chance of fatality. Brown, determined to survive, whispered: \u201cIf God created the world from nothing, imagine what He could do with 3%.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reflecting on her journey, she says, \u201cTo be able to say that I\u2019m in three honor societies, doing my best, graduating \u2013 He obviously did some magic with that 3%.\u201d<\/p>\n

But overcoming the odds wasn\u2019t easy.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaintaining a steady momentum that allowed for proper mental and physical care was the hardest part,\u201d Brown shares. \u201cFinding that balance between what I want to do and what my body can allow me to do was hard as well. You want to be at the same pace as everyone else, but it\u2019s okay if your path is different.\u201d<\/p>\n

Achievements and Future Plans<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Brown\u2019s academic work focused on free and formerly enslaved African American communities of the 18th and 19th centuries, research she presented at the Archaeological Society of New Jersey Conference.<\/p>\n

With the help of her advisor, Christopher Matthews, Anthropology chairperson, Brown researched and compared three archaeological sites in Northern New Jersey and New York. She also participated in the prestigious James Madison\u2019s Montpelier Archaeological Field School,<\/a> working alongside descendants of enslaved people to map the Burial Ground for the Enslaved. This summer, she will continue that work through an internship with Montpelier\u2019s Archaeology Department.<\/p>\n

In addition to her archaeological work, Brown deepened her commitment to Indigenous studies<\/a> through hands-on experiences at the Munsee Three Sisters Medicinal Farm, which provides traditional foods for the Turtle Clan of the Ramapough Lunaape (Lenape) Nation. The tribe can no longer safely farm its ancestral land in Upper Ringwood, New Jersey, due to industrial contamination.<\/p>\n

\"Khara
At the Munsee Three Sisters Medicinal Farm, Khara Brown participated in Montclair\u2019s field-based partnership supporting the tribe\u2019s efforts in food sovereignty, language revitalization and environmental justice. \u201cI planted over 300 pepper plants at the farm, washed chicken eggs, harvested vegetables in the summertime and fall,\u201d she says. Brown is shown painting a garden sign in the Munsee language, working inside the greenhouse, and with Turtle Clan Chief Vincent Mann of the Ramapough Lunaape Nation. (Photos courtesy of Associate Professor Mark Clatterbuck)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Brown credits her success to a wide network of supporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cBig shout out to my EOF family, Dr. Danny Jean and the whole gang, my professors Chris Matthews and Mark Clatterbuck, and the whole Anthropology Department,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

She also expresses deep gratitude to Chief Mann of the Turtle Clan and the Munsee Three Sisters Farm, her co-workers who kept her nourished during long study sessions, and her family and prayer communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cKhara is such an amazing person who has not only overcome so much to complete her college degree, but continues to see serving the greater good and, especially, underserved and marginalized communities as her purpose. Her impact as a student, archaeologist, educator and person will be profound,\u201d Matthews says.<\/p>\n

Words of Reflection<\/strong><\/h2>\n

After graduation, Brown plans to move to Virginia for the summer and celebrate her 30th birthday \u2013 grateful for all she has overcome and excited for what lies ahead.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow that I\u2019m at the finish line, I can sit back and say it was worth it. In some moments, it didn\u2019t feel possible. But perseverance \u2013 that tenacity \u2013 is what keeps me going.\u201d<\/p>\n

The University will celebrate its graduates at Commencement exercises<\/a> on Wednesday, May 7 and Thursday, May 8, 2025, at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.<\/em><\/p>\n

Story by Marilyn Joyce Lehren<\/a>, University Communications and Marketing<\/a><\/p>\n

Ready to Start Your Montclair Journey?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Prospective Students and Parents:<\/strong> Learn more about Montclair admissions<\/a>, our Anthropology major<\/a> and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.<\/a><\/p>\n

Journalists:<\/strong> Contact our Media Relations<\/a> team to request assets or schedule an interview with a member of the Class of 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Graduate Spotlight: With resilience and purpose, Khara Brown uses research to amplify underrepresented voices and reclaim overlooked histories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":1500,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/anthropology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/anthropology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/anthropology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/anthropology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/anthropology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1499"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/anthropology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1499\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1513,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/anthropology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1499\/revisions\/1513"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/anthropology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/anthropology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/anthropology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/anthropology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}