Greg Sumpter

Assembly List Greg Sumpter

What does the worst day for a Texas town almost 100 years ago have to do with the tragic events happening to prominent families members in present day? Texas Ranger Justus Marshall Young, J, is working the most difficult set of cases in his career. Solving these cases may bring damage to some powerful people in Texas, and may even damage the oldest organization in the state, his agency, the Texas Rangers. Working with a local female officer, he constantly wonders about the costs of solving this case. As a modern black law enforcement officer, J is struggling with finding whether or not he belongs, in either world. Discovering past racial wounds, is a balance between exposing hurt and bringing healing. J is determined to find out what the "Athens of Texas" has to do with the "Athens of Greece", and why prominent Texas families are ending up on the Assembly List. The shine of the recent promotion and celebration as the only black person to promote to Captain in the Texas Rangers was a fleeting memory. Now, the toughest case of his career and a world that is shifting its views of law enforcement has brought the weight of it all on his shoulders. On top if it all, these new cases are bringing to light the pain of Texas' racial past. A lynching that occurred 90 years ago in Sherman, Texas is being revisited, when the town would soon prefer to forget that it ever happened. The pressure is mounting from the seats of power in the state, to the halls of justice, and the heights of capitalism to resolve the matter and silence the noise. Justus Marshall Young is in a race against time at a time that is precariously uncomfortable coming to terms with racial unrest. Coming to terms with the racial past, and the fall of the area known once as the Athens of Texas, Captain Young and his colleagues are on the clock, and finding the truth may be more dangerous than letting go of the past.