When Cane River was published in Lalita Tademy established herself as the chronicler of her own familys life since their arrival here as slaves in the sMixing family history fiction and fact made the story rich and unforgettable enough that Cane River became an Oprahs Book Club-xAB Now with Red River Tademy has done it againWriting is a second career for Tademy who is a former vice-president of Sun MicrosystemsShe left the corporate world to immerse herself in her familys history--and the history of the southIn in the small southern town of Colfax Louisiana history tells us there was a riotThe Tademy family knows different Wasnt no riot like they say It was a massacreThe blacks are newly free just beginning life under Reconstruction with all its promises of equity the right to vote to own property and most importantly to decide their own future as individuals Federal Government troops are supposed to arrive to protect the rights of the colored people--but they are not yet on the scene In one wretched day white supremacists destroy all the optimism and bright promise by taking Colfax back in an ugly and violent mannerThe tragedy begins with the two sides the white Democrats of Montgomery and the colored and white Republicans of Colfax in the courthouse finally meeting face to face to discuss their differencesThen a group of white thugs kills a colored man who was not involved in the courthouse struggleHe was home minding his business and the ugliness came and found himThe confrontation that follows results in the death of more than black men killed by white supremacists bent on denying them their voting rights and keeping in office those who uphold the status quo prior to the Civil WarThe massacre is only the beginning of Tademys storyUsing reliable sources wherever they may be found she tells the hard and proud story of Sam Tademy Israel Smith and their families as they fight their way back from the massacreThey get a foothold in Colfax finally starting a school owning land and businesses and becoming full-fledged citizens as they were meant to beTademy tells part of our history that we would like to forget she also tells the story of her family which is a story worth remembering--Valerie Ryan.
