Memoried and Storied

Memoried and Storied

Memoried and Storied moves beyond the outrage and horror of Post-Civil War lynchings by sharing details about the victims' lives, saying their names, and bringing compassion and healing to their memory through multi-racial, multi-generational, community-led rituals of remembrance.

Full-color photos enhance the narrative depicting historical monuments, events, people of the communities, and families of the victims.

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About the Book

Memoried and Storied moves beyond the outrage and horror of Post-Civil War lynchings to compassion for the victims, giving them a name, a life, and a multi-racial, multi-generational community-led ritual for healing and remembrance.

Beneath our current political and social divide lie stories that beg to surface from our historical amnesia. Between 1877 and 1950 researchers have documented over 4000 lynchings in the twelve Southern states. Memoried and Storied does not dwell on the outrage and horror of all those events, choosing instead to build the truth around four victims, documenting their ordinary lives cut short by vigilante mobs eager to suppress any advancement by Black people in the years after the Civil War.

Each narrative fills in details of the victim’s life and focuses on remembrance events that name them and their descendants, honors their loss, and makes the sites of their death hallowed ground. These powerful events generate empathy that opens participants up to healing and reconciliation.

Remembrance events within communities of multi-racial and multi-generational activists near the sites of the lynchings have increased in number – for example, tripling in Virginia between 2019 and 2021. This book, illustrated with color photographs of several new memorials and historical portraits of activists and leaders provides a passionate demonstration of the effectiveness of these events in building awareness and moves a step closer to dismantling the systemic racism that strangles our progress.

Details
Author: Dr. Judith Reifsteck
Genre: Non-Fiction
Publisher: Top Reads Publishing
Publication Year: 2023
ASIN: 1970107324
ISBN: 9781970107326
List Price: 28.00
eBook Price: 9.99
"This is a thoughtful, intelligent, and well-researched book that addresses the need to understand, acknowledge, and reckon with our nation's history of racial injustice and violence. The book weaves together four stories of lynchings in Virginia with modern-day community efforts to remember and honor these innocent victims and their families, in an effort to nurture shared healing and reconciliation. The book is filled with moving photos and inspirational quotes, as well as personal reflections that bring readers along this moving journey toward justice and mercy. I recommend it highly, especially if your community is looking to address its own racial history in a meaningful way."
“Dr. Reifsteck recognizes communities doing the hard—and necessary—work to uncover and honor the stories of victims of racial violence. Through her heartfelt and personal account, she offers a path toward a more just future.”
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Dr. Judith Reifsteck

Since 1976, Dr. Judith Reifsteck has worked as a writer, licensed professional counselor, university professor, social science researcher, and psychotherapist. The purpose of her writing is to advocate for the vulnerable who may not have visibility or a voice in their communities. She hopes her work leads others to join together in multi-racial coalitions to learn an accurate and inclusive Black History, and believes that in memorializing the stories and the victims of racial injustice, we may repair the trauma and tell the true story of structural racism in America.

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