Growing up in a small, rural town in Mississippi in the 1970’s, Curtis Flowers possibly never stood a chance. You see, Winona Mississippi is set-up like many small, southern towns, white conservatives on the east side of the train tracks and African Americans on the west. Downtown was a meeting place for both. Work would be done by day and each would go home towards their own separate sides of the track at night. 26 years after Curtis Flowers was born, tragedy would strike in the heart of downtown and shake this small town forever.

On July 16th, 1996 someone walked into the furniture store of Tardy furniture and killed, execution-style, 4 employees and stole $300. The only evidence left behind was a bloody shoe print and the bullets. Now enter District Attorney Doug Evans. Doug Evans ran his campaign on the promise of always finding justice. Little did the Flowers family know that this promise would led him straight to their door.

I won’t go into the now 22-year long battle that Curtis Flowers’ has been fighting for his life. Instead I encourage you all to listen to the podcast “In the Dark” Season 2. This explains Curtis Flowers’ case magnificently well and shows just how a promised campaign slogan would tear a family apart, regardless of what was right and wrong.