A review by pattydsf
The Family Tree: A Lynching in Georgia, a Legacy of Secrets, and My Search for the Truth by Karen Branan
4.0
”’Be careful when you go shaking those family trees,’ Evelyn had warned. ‘You never know what you’ll fine.’ She was sure as hell right about that.”
This is not a book I would have picked up on my own. Although I have been reading more and more about African American history, I had no desire to read any more about lynching. I thought I had read enough. However, I attended a retreat about racial memory and the facilitator recommended that we read Branan’s account of her family.
It has been months since I read Branan’s research into her family, her hometown and the horrible crime that was covered up by both town and family. Although I avoided writing my review, I think about this book on a regular basis. So here I am, trying to write my thoughts about why this book had such an impact.
First of all, I have done some family history research. Not of my own family, but I worked for two years at the Library of Virginia. We answered letters, (remember written letters?) from people all over the country who wanted to know more about their ancestors. I am fairly sure that none of them wanted to discover that their families had participated in the lynching of three men and one woman. I am impressed that Branan was willing to dig up such a painful past. She is a very brave woman.
Next, Branan wrote a book. I realize that writing is her work and passion, but she could have kept this all quiet. She could have shared it with family and, maybe some friends and then let it all alone. Or, maybe, some things to reconcile and repair what happened, but instead she shared her family’s dirty laundry with the world. That also takes guts.
The last reason this book has stuck with me is because of the setting in which I read it. I went to a retreat where the leader, Dr. Paula Parker talked about racial memory. She is an African American, one of many black people whose family suffered terrible fates because of enslavement. Her presentation was about what our bodies remember even if they have never actually experienced the remembered trauma. Branan’s family story along with Parker’s words have seared my brain. Humans do such terrible things to one another and our bodies carry the tale. These tales need to be stopped, but we just keep hurting one another.
I have gotten a bit off topic. However, I believe that Branan has written a book which we all need to pay attention to. We need to stop the violence and to do that we must know the past.
This is not a book I would have picked up on my own. Although I have been reading more and more about African American history, I had no desire to read any more about lynching. I thought I had read enough. However, I attended a retreat about racial memory and the facilitator recommended that we read Branan’s account of her family.
It has been months since I read Branan’s research into her family, her hometown and the horrible crime that was covered up by both town and family. Although I avoided writing my review, I think about this book on a regular basis. So here I am, trying to write my thoughts about why this book had such an impact.
First of all, I have done some family history research. Not of my own family, but I worked for two years at the Library of Virginia. We answered letters, (remember written letters?) from people all over the country who wanted to know more about their ancestors. I am fairly sure that none of them wanted to discover that their families had participated in the lynching of three men and one woman. I am impressed that Branan was willing to dig up such a painful past. She is a very brave woman.
Next, Branan wrote a book. I realize that writing is her work and passion, but she could have kept this all quiet. She could have shared it with family and, maybe some friends and then let it all alone. Or, maybe, some things to reconcile and repair what happened, but instead she shared her family’s dirty laundry with the world. That also takes guts.
The last reason this book has stuck with me is because of the setting in which I read it. I went to a retreat where the leader, Dr. Paula Parker talked about racial memory. She is an African American, one of many black people whose family suffered terrible fates because of enslavement. Her presentation was about what our bodies remember even if they have never actually experienced the remembered trauma. Branan’s family story along with Parker’s words have seared my brain. Humans do such terrible things to one another and our bodies carry the tale. These tales need to be stopped, but we just keep hurting one another.
I have gotten a bit off topic. However, I believe that Branan has written a book which we all need to pay attention to. We need to stop the violence and to do that we must know the past.