Big Red's Mercy: The Shooting of Deborah Cotton and a Story of Race in America

The moving story of a New Orleans woman who fought for justice and her community even amidst one of the city's darkest moments.

Mark 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…

Deborah Cotton—known to all as Big Red—was among the most grievously injured. She is the driving force of this deep...