{"id":148842,"date":"2025-04-29T12:43:16","date_gmt":"2025-04-29T17:43:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=148842"},"modified":"2025-04-29T12:43:20","modified_gmt":"2025-04-29T17:43:20","slug":"badge-unbrokena-story-of-prejudice-injustice-and-redemption-coming-to-off-square-books-may-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/badge-unbrokena-story-of-prejudice-injustice-and-redemption-coming-to-off-square-books-may-2\/","title":{"rendered":"BADGE UNBROKEN:A Story of Prejudice, Injustice, and Redemption Coming to Off Square Books May 2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Robert Hall and Sandy Grisham, co-authors, will be in discussion with the Rev. Christopher Powell.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Robert Hall<\/strong>, who had dreamed of being in law enforcement since he was a child, was sworn into the Tupelo Police Department<\/strong> in 1987. Hall excelled, rising to the rank of deputy chief (and even graduating from the FBI National Academy). Hall earned the respect of both White and Black citizens of Tupelo, and he appeared to be the heir apparent to the chief of police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in 2006, a swift decision was twisted to suit his persecutors\u2019 ends, and Hall found himself suspended from the force and charged with obstruction of justice and perjury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Badge Unbroken: The Robert Hall Story<\/em><\/strong> by Sandy Grisham<\/strong> and Robert Hall (Nautilus Publishing, 2025) explores the turbulent events that played out in the Tupelo Police Department in 2006 and beyond. For the first time, Robert tells his side of events, laying bare a reality of racism, lies, and injustice. Sandy Grisham masterfully gives voice to Robert\u2019s story, from his early days of working as a dispatcher to the 2007 trial where he stood before a judge and declared, \u201cI don\u2019t believe I have a chance in a court of law because everything has been denied me. This cannot be a fair case!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hall\u2019s career in law enforcement was shattered. But Hall persevered. He started over, building a new life for himself and his family. In 2010, when new leadership emerged at the police department, Hall was asked to rejoin the force. Once again, he wrestled within a system that would not accept a Black man in a position of power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jack Reed, Jr.<\/strong>, former mayor of Tupelo and owner of Reed\u2019s Gumtree Bookstore<\/strong>, praised the book. \u201cRobert Hall has never been given the opportunity to tell his side of the story in the controversial roller coaster ride of his tenure at the Tupelo Police Department \u2014 until now. With the expert assistance of Sandy Grisham, this is a blow-by-blow account of the ups and downs and final ascent of one man\u2019s battle to end up on top.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Robert\u2019s story unfolds, it illuminates the racial politics that have shaped the South since the Civil War \u2014 and that are still at work today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Badge Unbroken<\/em><\/strong> is available at bookstores everywhere. A signing event with authors Robert Hall and Sandy Grisham is scheduled for Off Square Books on May 2, 2025<\/strong> at 5:30 pm. To order, or for more information, visit your local independent bookseller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Robert Hall and Sandy Grisham, co-authors, will be in discussion with the Rev. Christopher Powell. Robert Hall, who<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":238,"featured_media":148843,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2239],"tags":[31746,5,31747,5317,4,31749,31748,23030,602,17212],"class_list":["post-148842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-literary-events","tag-badge-unbroken","tag-mississippi","tag-nautilus-publihing","tag-nautilus-publishing","tag-oxford","tag-rev-christopher-powell","tag-robert-hall","tag-sandy-grisham","tag-square-books","tag-tupelo-police-department"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/TLV-464-HP-Robert-Hall-ad-for-Local-Voice-Final-1200.jpg?fit=1200%2C720&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/238"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148842"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148842\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":148844,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148842\/revisions\/148844"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}