Synopsis: Pushing back against prevailing narratives of the “nonviolent” civil rights movement, this book shows us the crucial role played by firearms, and those who were willing and able to use them, in the black liberation movement in the US. Drawing on his own experiences at the time, as well as those of others, Cobb gives voice to the black gun owners who aided the movement – who patrolled their neighbourhoods, garrisoned their homes, and formed armed self-defence groups to protect themselves and others from the violence of white supremacy.
Reading Schedule:
- Intro, Prologue, Chapter 1 – Sunday 6th February
- Chapter 2 & 3 – Sunday 13th February
- Chapter 4 & 5 – Sunday 20th February
- Chapter 6, Epilogue, Afterword – Sunday 27th February
Where to Access the Book:
- Free EPUB on Libcom.org
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Supplementary Material:
This book seems pretty good so far! I really enjoy just how much the contradiction of espousing freedom while maintaining slavery weighed on the minds of Americans and how they could never feel truly comfortable. The rise of white supremacist paramilitary organizations during reconstruction was also an interesting read. One quote that jumped out at me was “A typical example of this early wave of anti-black terrorism and black people’s responses to it occurred in New Orleans on July 30, 1866”… I had never heard of this incident of course, but the word “typical” just kind of marks this as unimportant in just how common and widespread it was. Like, 34 people were killed and 119 were wounded in this specific incident and Cobb Jr just shrugs and says this kind of thing was normal during reconstruction. Absolutely buckwild. Salute to the black folks who had to endure that. Hope to see this legacy of emancipation carry on in the rest of the book (and beyond)!
Yeah, reading about the reconstruction period was wild. Black militias and Klansmen/police taking over towns, armed to the teeth with guns and cannons, and fighting it out in what was essentially just a continuation of the civil war.
The reconstruction bit is infuriating, (the speak more about it in the second chapter I think.) White northern liberals showed how little they cared about slavery or emancipation and just washed their hands and left them out to dry. Also shows that if you really want to revolutionize you can’t leave any remnant of reactionary groups anywhere near power.
Southern liberals too. Like there’s the part with the dodgy mayoral (I think?) election where they’re arguing over who won. During this period the republican candidate essentially washed his hands of a group of blacks and anti racists nearby who were under siege from and in armed conflict with a bunch of Klansmen, and refused to do anything until it was confirmed that he’d won.
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