Some books arrive with a whisper. Others show up with a purpose.
David A. Geiger’s Our Fragmented Family Tree, Broken Roots, and Buried Truth in the World We Live In lands somewhere between a personal testimony and a historical correction. It doesn’t ask politely for your attention. It earns it, page by page.
At first glance, you might mistake this for another family memoir. It’s not. This is a book built from the ground up — decades of research, interviews, military discipline, personal trauma, and a relentless drive to answer a question that too many Americans still live with: “Who am I really, and where do I come from?”
Geiger, a retired U.S. Marine, didn’t grow up with a full picture of his family. Raised in the Deep South during segregation, he spent much of his life disconnected from his roots. That silence drove him to dig, and what he found reshaped not only his understanding of his family but the story of Black America itself.
This Is More Than Personal
The story begins with Frank and Susanna Geiger in post-Reconstruction South Carolina, but it doesn’t stay there. Through years of research, Geiger uncovers generations of his family’s path, enslaved ancestors, military veterans, midwives, sharecroppers, community leaders, and quiet survivors who never made the history books.
He uses DNA results, public records, military files, and oral histories to reconstruct what was lost. But the true power of this book isn’t just in the documentation. It’s in the commentary: sharp, unfiltered, and deeply informed. He speaks directly to the ways that institutions, laws, and cultural systems fractured Black families and erased their place in the American record.
If that sounds heavy, it is. But it’s also necessary.
Why Business and Leadership Communities Should Pay Attention
Legacy is a word that shows up often in boardrooms, fundraising campaigns, and mission statements. But how often do we examine what that word actually means — or who gets to claim it?
For leaders who talk about impact and long-term vision, Geiger’s book offers something rare: a firsthand look at what it takes to rebuild a legacy from scratch, in a country where not everyone was given a fair starting point.
Our Fragmented Family Tree reminds us that legacy isn’t just what we leave behind. It’s what we fight to uncover, preserve, and pass forward, especially when the system tries to silence it.
From Uniform to Unearthing
Geiger served his country for nearly 30 years in the U.S. Marine Corps. The irony is not lost on him. He’s fighting for freedom abroad while spending much of his life searching for his own history back home. That tension runs through every chapter. It gives the book its honesty. You feel the emotional weight. You also feel pride. This is not a man writing for sympathy. He’s writing to restore something that should never have been taken.
And in doing so, he gives others permission to do the same.
A Book for Readers, Doers, and Builders
This isn’t light reading. It’s not meant to be. But for those who are serious about understanding cultural intelligence, intergenerational impact, and the human side of leadership, this book belongs on your shelf.
You won’t find platitudes or polished soundbites. What you will find is truth: documented, lived, and delivered with clarity.
Geiger doesn’t just tell the story of one family. He gives language to what so many others have experienced and lacked the tools to name. He shows what legacy really looks like when it’s been interrupted. And he challenges us to ask: what will we do with the stories we’ve inherited?
Final Thought
All in all, this book slows things down. It asks hard questions. It makes room for grief, for clarity, and for pride. And it does something rare: it honors those who came before while speaking directly to those who are still searching.
If legacy matters in business, in culture, in life then Our Fragmented Family Tree is not just worth reading. It’s essential.