Author: Learning the History of Lynching Helped Heal My Wounds

It took me a long time before I realized my family’s struggles had not simply materialized out of thin air — that though we have rightly never made excuses about our faults, they weren’t evidence of ugliness running through our veins. My father beat my mother. My maternal grandfather beat my maternal grandmother. Moochie, my hero big brother, murdered a man. My youngest brother Jordan is serving 20 years in a federal prison.