{"product_id":"big-reds-mercy-the-shooting-of-deborah-cotton-and-a-story-of-race-in-america-9781639366750","title":"Big Red's Mercy: The Shooting of Deborah Cotton and a Story of Race in America","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe moving story of a New Orleans woman who fought for justice and her community even amidst one of the city's darkest moments.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMark Hertsgaard and Deborah Cotton were strangers to one another, united only by a love of jazz and New Orlean's distinctive Second Line tradition. And then, during a Mother's Day parade, they were thrown together when two gunmen fired into the crowd... \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Deborah Cotton--known to all as Big Red--was among the most grievously injured. She is the driving force of this deeply reported parable of two of America's most deeply rooted issues. A racial justice activist in her forties who was born to a Black father and a white mother, Cotton was one of twenty people--including the author--shot in the biggest mass shooting in the modern history of New Orleans. Once one of the largest slave ports, the city has long been a vortex of violence and racism. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e From her apparent deathbed, Big Red shocked observers by urging mercy for two young Black men accused of the attack. \"Racism can kill Black people even when a Black finger pulls the trigger,\" she tells Hertsgaard, who, she later said, is \"called\" to investigate what actually happened, and why. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Charismatic, complicated, and struck down in her prime, Big Red and her heroic life will captivate readers. In the wake of the shooting, she never stopped fighting as she sought to get to the core of this uniquely American maelstrom. \u003ci\u003eBig Red's Mercy \u003c\/i\u003eis an illuminating narrative that provides a human and unflinching look at modern America. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eFront cover photo credit by Linda Usdin\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMark Hertsgaard\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of seven nonfiction books, including \u003ci\u003eOn Bended Knee: The Press and the Reagan Presidency \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eHot: Living through The Next Fifty Years on Earth. \u003c\/i\u003e As a journalist, Hertsgaard has reported from around the world for the\u003ci\u003e New Yorker, The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, TIME, The Nation, The Guardian, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eScientific American, \u003c\/i\u003eand more. He is the co-founder and executive director of Covering Climate Now (www.coveringclimatenow.org\/).\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Pegasus Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50725985354002,"sku":"9781639366750","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_d4a072b0-9e58-42f0-8eab-82a48d26877b.jpg?v=1734848618","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/big-reds-mercy-the-shooting-of-deborah-cotton-and-a-story-of-race-in-america-9781639366750","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}