- Feb 9, 2001
- 7,136
- 2,071
When the law breaks down, or when the law is corrupt, do you believe that AA's have the right to bear arms in self-defense or do you subscribe to the principles of MLK's non-violent movement?
The book:
The movie:
http://www.jou.ufl.edu/documentary/negroeswithguns/about.asp
http://www.newsreel.org/nav/title.asp?tc=CN0178
The book:
First published in 1962, Negroes with Guns is the story of a Southern Black community's struggle to arm itself in self-defense against the Ku Klux Klan and other racist groups. Frustrated and angered by violence condoned or abetted by the local authorites against Black people, the small community of Monroe, North Carolina, brought the issue of armed self-defense to the forefront of the civil rights movement. Under the leadership of Robert F. Williams (1925-1996), Monroe became the test case of the right of Black people to armed self-defense when law and order broke down.
The single most important intellectual influence on Huey P. Newton, the founder of the Black Panther Party, Negroes with Guns is a classic story of a man who risked his life for democracy and freedom.
Wayne State University Press, Robert F. Williams, 1998, ISBN 0-8143-2714-1, Soft Cover, 90 p.p., Index
The movie:
http://www.jou.ufl.edu/documentary/negroeswithguns/about.asp
http://www.newsreel.org/nav/title.asp?tc=CN0178
"The American South was changed forever by the work and words of Robert Williams, and by his unfettered passion for equal access for all. Today, it is the job of the body electorate to pick up the work of creating an equitable society. We have much to learn from this important film, notably how far we've come--and how far we have yet to go."
Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney
“Robert Williams’ insistence on armed self-defense in response to racist terrorism inspired hundreds of followers, yet his story has been marginalized or erased from Civil Rights history. Negroes with Guns revives the powerful words and actions of this legendary Black leader and restores him to his central place in the Black struggle for dignity and human rights.”
Kathleen Cleaver, former Black Panther, Professor of law, Yale University
"Rob Williams was a legendary spokesperson for the Black struggle during the 1950s and 1960s. With militancy paralleling Malcolm X, Williams boldly linked the African American freedom struggle with Third World liberation. This extraordinary film helps a new generation of students and activists appreciate the advances he made in the ongoing movement against racism."
Manning Marable, Columbia University
"Robert F. Williams was bold, electrifying, brilliant and iconoclastic, one of the most significant and revealing race rebels of the generation that toppled Jim Crow, created a new Black sense of self, and changed the arc of our nation's history. This film, like Williams himself, is an American original — and a classic."
Timothy Tyson, University of Wisconsin-Madison
“Robert Williams was the voice of Afro-America calling for Self-defense, pre Malcolm X. Rob and Mabel Williams were among the most militant and inspirational figures of the 60's. This video will bring people a little further up to speed about two authentic Black revolutionaries."
Amiri Baraka