MURDER IN THE MARKETPLACE

In the turbulent years following the Civil War, Louisiana stood at the crossroads of freedom and fear. Amid the chaos, Senator Alexander R. François—one of the state’s first Black legislators—rose with a vision to educate freedmen and build a more just South. But his courage came at a price. When François was brutally murdered in 1869, his name was buried with him—his story erased from the records that shaped America’s history. Until now. Over 150 years later, journalist Maya François, a modern descendant, uncovers a cedar box in her grandmother’s attic—filled with letters, secrets, and a forgotten legacy. As she follows the paper trail through archives, parish records, and bloodlines, she begins to piece together not only the truth of her ancestor’s death, but the enduring power of his life. From Reconstruction-era Louisiana to the civil rights marches of the 1960s, and into the present day, Murder in the Marketplace is a sweeping novel of memory, justice, and reclamation. It is both an intimate family chronicle and a powerful act of restoration—bringing voice to those who were silenced and light to those who were forgotten. Rochelle Thompson-Holloman, B.S. Industrial Engineering, M.Ed., draws from her Louisiana roots to resurrect the stories of unsung Black heroes who shaped a nation, reminding us that history does not die—it waits to be told.