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Charles E. Cobb Jr.

This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed: How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible Paperback – December 4, 2015

by Charles E. Cobb Jr. (Author)

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Visiting Martin Luther King Jr. during the Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott, journalist William Worthy almost sat on a loaded pistol. "Just for self-defense," King assured him. It was not the only weapon King kept for such a purpose; one of his advisors remembered the reverend’s Montgomery, Alabama, home as "an arsenal." Like King, many ostensibly "nonviolent" civil rights activists embraced their constitutional right to self-protection—yet this crucial dimension of the Afro-American freedom struggle has been long ignored by history. In This Nonviolent Stuff’ll Get You Killed, Charles E. Cobb Jr. recovers this history, describing the vital role that armed self-defense has played in the survival and liberation of black communities. Drawing on his experiences in the civil rights movement and giving voice to its participants, Cobb lays bare the paradoxical relationship between the nonviolent civil rights struggle and the long history and importance of African Americans taking up arms to defend themselves against white supremacist violence.

Print length

328 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Duke University Press Books
Publication date

December 4, 2015
Dimensions

6.14 x 0.69 x 9.21 inches
ISBN-10

082236123X
ISBN-13

978-0822361237
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A frank look at the complexities and contradictions of the civil rights movement, particularly with regard to the intertwined issues of nonviolence and self-defense. . . . Thought-provoking and studded with piercing ironies."

― Kirkus Reviews

"[A] bracing and engrossing celebration of black armed resistance."

― Publishers Weekly

"[A] richly detailed memoir."

― New York Times Book Review

"Cobb's long-essay format brings the Freedom Movement to life in an unexpected way, shaking up conventional historical views and changing the conversation about individual freedom and personal protection that continues today. . . . A nuanced exploration of the complex relationship between nonviolent civil disobedience and the threat of armed retaliation."

― Shelf Awareness for Readers

"Cobb . . . reviews the long tradition of self-protection among African Americans, who knew they could not rely on local law enforcement for protection. . . . Understanding how the use of guns makes this history of the civil rights movement more compelling to readers, Cobb is nonetheless focused on the determination of ordinary citizens, women included, to win their rights, even if that meant packing a pistol in a pocket or purse."

― Booklist

"[A] brilliant book. . . . A serious analytical work of the African-American southern Freedom Struggle, Cobb’s book…deserves a prominent place on everyone’s reading list."

― Against the Current

"In this challenging book, Charles Cobb, a former organizer, examines the role of guns in the civil rights movement."

― Mother Jones

"Cobb brilliantly situates the civil rights movement in the context of Southern life and gun culture, with a thesis that is unpacked by way of firsthand and personal accounts."

― Library Journal

"[A] revelatory new history of armed self-defense and the civil rights movement."

― Reason

"This book will have readers who might have nothing else in common politically reaching for a copy."

― PJ Media

"Students at a high school or college level would find the book both a fascinating read and a useful tool for learning about civil rights activism. For students in a survey course on United States history, or undergraduates in a U.S. history course for up and coming history majors, This Nonviolent Stuff’ll Get You Killed would be a valuable resource in both how to write compelling history and how to explore themes, such as civil rights history, that have been well traveled before."

-- Robert Greene II ― History Teacher Published On: 2016-02-01

"Cobb’s book extends beyond the subject of self-defense and violence to provide an enhanced understanding of community organizing yesterday and today in the freedom struggle for a more inclusive and progressive society."

-- Ron Briley ― Journal of American Culture Published On: 2017-06-20

Review

"Any book that has as its central thesis that armed self-defense was essential both to the existence and the success of the Civil Rights Movement is bound to stir up controversy. But Charles Cobb, combining the rigor of a scholar with the experience (and passion) of a community organizer, has made his case. This book is a major contribution to the historiography of the black freedom struggle. More than that, it adds a new chapter to the story of the local people who, often armed, protected the organizers and their communities during the turbulent civil rights years."

-- John Dittmer, author of ― Local People: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Duke University Press Books; Reprint edition (December 4, 2015)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 328 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 082236123X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0822361237
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.14 x 0.69 x 9.21 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #55,956 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #144 in Violence in Society (Books)
- #196 in Civil Rights & Liberties (Books)
- #457 in African American Demographic Studies (Books)

Customer Reviews:
316 ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

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Bill Kilgallon

Not always comfortable for me to read, but I'm glad I got it and glad I read it

Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2014

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This was a really important book for me to have read, and I am very glad I did, but not for the reasons I expected. I doubt anyone of any ideology will be completely satisfied with the various assertions made in the book, which in my mind is a good thing. I certainly didn't agree with everything, and it was a very uncomfortable read for me at many points. Sometimes because my own biases and ignorance were so glaring, but sometimes because the authors biases were glaringly slanting the books statements. Again, that's what I want. State your facts, make your argument, describe your conclusions, and believe something. Maybe I'll learn, maybe you will learn, maybe we just disagree.

The book offers a part of the historical narrative that the author lived, and that needs to be shared and understood. One I sure as heck didn't learn in very white public schools in the 70's and 80's, but should have. And these were schools that taught well against bigotry and prejudice. And I learned not just about the role guns played in fighting for equality, but about some of stuff that was really happening and how people in the middle of it adapted and overcame (sometimes with firearms, and always with the recognition that there was no situation so bad that a little violence can't make it worse).

31 people found this helpful

Helpful

Nathaniel

Great book about a little understood part of the Civil Rights movement

Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2014

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Excellent book, completely opens the window on a seldom discussed or understood aspect of the southern Freedom Movement (AKA "Civil Rights Movement" though I'll use the author's chosen language). We're taught an image of passive blacks and do-gooder whites somehow "convincing" southern whites to have a change of heart-- what Julian Bond called "Rosa sat down; Martin stood up; and then the white folks saw the light and saved the day." The reality couldn't be further from the truth. The Freedom Struggle was mostly low key, often almost invisible, grassroots organizing in black communities throughout the south. While many of the movement organizers from SNCC & CORE embraced nonviolence as a tactic, and a few even as a way of life, they were protected by armed, organized defenders from the local black community. This history of armed black self defense is scarcely discussed and goes back before the Civil War, and in the midst of the highly violent Jim Crow south was surprisingly successful. Groups like the Klan, the Citizens Alliance, etc thrived on fear and cowardly attacks and would usually flee when met with local black armed resistance, and these individuals and organized groups protected the "nonviolents" as locals called the civil rights organizers. Without this protection its likely that they would have been subjected to move white supremacist violence. Charles Cobb, himself a former SNCC organizer, does an excellent job exploring this crucial side to the Freedom Struggle.

66 people found this helpful

Helpful

cook man

This book should be required reading for all high school ...

Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2016

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This book should be required reading for all high school and university American history classes. It is a very honest and gripping perspective by a worker in the Civil Rights (Freedom) Movement in the South who was there at the time of the crisis.

14 people found this helpful

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E. Haywood

Who were the working class Blacks that really made the ...

Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 2014

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Who were the working class Blacks that really made the civil rights struggle successful. The subtitle doesn't capture the facts that are well presented and documented in the book: that it wasn't the guns themselves but the very measured, firm use of guns for armed self-defense by many generations of African Americans against the Ku Klux Klan, police and others who got away with terrorizing Black communities and the struggle for equality. Not an argument for immature acts of violence or brandishing of weapons but of knowing who you are up against, that a jury of millions can and must be mobilized and that marches, organizing meetings, homes and business would need to be defended from the violence of those in power and their stooges.

9 people found this helpful

Helpful

Paul Richards

Armed self defense is a good thing

Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2014

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Here is a book that tells a story that needs telling. The non violent movement that ended legal segregation in the 1960s benefited from armed self defense that has always been part of the black communities in the South, and elsewhere for that matter. Our violent culture loves to make heroes of non violent protesters. The hypocrisy involved tends to obscure the way real change happens. Convenient for the powers that be. Historian and ex-SNCC field secretary Charles E. Cobb, Jr. throws new light on how brave activists who adopted non violent tactics to confront heavily armed, violent racist segregationists stayed alive with the help of armed black supporters across the south. A wonderful story of courage and a vindication of the right of poor people to armed self defense, even against cops.

24 people found this helpful

Helpful

Tehuti B.

Excellent Rendering of a Past

Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2020

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Definitely refutes the mis-informed notion that all the Civil Rights movement was about was turning the other cheek. This book tells of the other side of the movement, the side so ignored, for decades, by so many. Definitely worth the time.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Barry

A great read if you like real history

Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2014

Verified Purchase

I thought this book was really good. It tells the truth about the civil rights not being all about pacifism. Guns were used to protect the civil rights workers. Peaceful means are a tactic to achieve a goal not the goal itself. Every year we hear about how MLK was all about being peaceful. No he was about civil rights and he tried to use peaceful means to achieve that end. There were a lot of arguments in the movement about the best tactics and this book talks about them. Definitely worth reading if you want to know more about the real history of the movement.

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

Matt

Good book. Interesting vantage point - the grassroots level ...

Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2015

Verified Purchase

Good book. Interesting vantage point - the grassroots level that you don't often read about in school books.
Interesting to hear about the "unsung heros" of the movement.
Would like to hear about the authors experiences, but as you will read, that is not the point of this book.

One person found this helpful

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