Negroes with Guns (African American Life) [Paperback]

Robert Franklin Williams (Author), Timothy B. Tyson (Introduction), Gloria House (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1998 | ISBN-10: 0814327141 | ISBN-13: 978-0814327142

A southern black community's struggle to defend itself against racist groups.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

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 authorities against blacks, the small community of Monroe, North Carolina, brought the issue of armed self-defense to the forefront of the civil rights movement. 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.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Wayne State University Press (March 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814327141
• ISBN-13: 978-0814327142
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #65,204 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #85 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Current Events > Civil Rights & Liberties

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What your history teacher didn't tell you, January 22, 2002

By 

Andre M. "brnn64" (Mt. Pleasant, SC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Negroes with Guns (African American Life) (Paperback)

This is a raw, powerful book about an aspect of the Civil Rights movement that your history teacher was not likely to have told you. Contrary to popular belief, the Civil Rights movement was not all about Dr. King and nonviolence (with all due respect). Robert Williams preached and practiced armed self-defense against the powers that be. Read his story and learn. It will shock and inspire you (this book also inspired Huey Newton and the Black Panther movement). For more about this unsung hero, read Timothy Tyson's "Radio Free Dixie."

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why the individual right to gun ownership is important., November 27, 2006

By 

Kilted Dad - See all my reviews

This review is from: Negroes with Guns (African American Life) (Paperback)

There is much being said about gun ownership and the Second Amendment. Robert Williams book clearly illustrates why even in out "civilized" age that the protection of you and your family depends upon you.

Williams found out about this the hard way when the police refused to assist him against a racist onslaught, but also when the NAACP turned on him too and revoked his NAACP charter for using a gun to save himself from being lynched!

Who would have thought that it would be the the NRA that would come to the aid of Williams and his beleaguered people?

Not exactly the image that the media would like us to have of the NRA, or the NAACP for that matter.

Please do not let the injustice that this man and his family suffered or the painful lessons learned here go to waste!

Read this book and take it's lessons to heart.

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read the book and I met the Man, March 26, 2002

By 

rodog63jr (bronx, N.Y.C. N.Y. USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Negroes with Guns (African American Life) (Paperback)

Robert F. Williams is a man who is forgotten in most histories of The Civil Rights Movement. He talked and practiced self-defense before Malcolm X became a household name. He represented the militant leadership that was to follow him in the form of SNCC and The Black Panther Party. He correctly showed the limits of integration and why everyone could not turn the other cheek.A must buy book.