In blood done sign my name timothy b tyson examines the murder of henry marrow a twenty three year old black man in oxford south carolina on 11 may 1970 the book combines both historical research about race relations during the late 1960s in which tyson attempts to dispel popular myths of civil rights with tysons own memory of growing up in oxford and the racial caste system in the town tyson concludes of the period and its legacy everyone in this struggle adversaries and . Blood done sign my name is a superb story by a superb author i would most definitely recommend it to anyone seeking to further their knowledge of civil rights history sadly and as the author points out just because back in the 50s 60s congress passed civil rights bills doesnt mean that these were ever fully implemented or accepted in tysons book he tells of an incident that took . Blood done sign my name 2007 by timothy b tyson in this outstanding memoir that takes its title from a traditional african american spiritual has been compared to to kill a mockingbird tyson a white professor of african american studies examines the civil rights struggle in the south the book focuses on the cold blooded street murder of a 23 year old veteran and black man henry marrow . In blood done sign my name timothy tyson details the triumph and the shame inherent in american history with no quarter given to any assumptions or preconcieved notions interweaving his stirring personal narrative with an often disturbing yet ultimately enriching examination of the freedom struggle in north carolina and beyond tyson spares no one not even himself or his family of his hard and direct analysis thus blood acts as a striking blow against our gauzy . The black radicals who burned much of oxford also told tim their stories it was like we had a cash register up there at the pool hall just ringing up how much money we done cost these white people one of them explained we knew if we cost em enough goddamn money they was gonna start changing some thingsin the tradition of to kill a mockingbird blood done sign my name is a classic