We Will Shoot Back: Armed Resistance in the Mississippi Freedom Movement

As as an activist of the civil rights movement and black power movement, I can attest to the fact that armed self-defense was necessary, and was always part of the debate. The mere fact that a non-violent movement required required and expected is prima facie evidence that violence was being perpetrated on people of African descent. The choice to incorporate armed struggle was merely a matter of time and tactic, because the local state and federal governments enforcement authorities or not willing to protect black lives. Local law enforcement and national security agencies where complicit in the denial of black citizens Constitutional rights, and cooperation with the klu Klux Klan and the white supremacist. This type of injustice happened not only in the south, because my experiences were in Berkeley, California and Seattle, Washington. Based on the current George Floyd murder this is a timely publication that needs to be understood. An oppressed people will rise to the necessity of bearing the burden that self-defense requires. Ultimately, politics is the art of war: when it is done in a civil manner with diplomacy it’s peaceful negotiations; when the political divisions are unable to compromise, violence and war become inevitable. “All Power to the People!”

Being armed for self-defense–and being willing to “shoot back”–is very much a continuing feature of African-American life in the Black belt regions of the Deep South. Exercise of gun rights was crucial background support to the successful use of aggressive political nonviolence in the face of traditional White Supremacist violence. This book also covers expanded and public support for Black armed self defense later in Black Power and Black Nationalist movements up through the 70’s. Students of American Civil Rights struggles and complex interactions of nonviolent, pacifistic, and armed self defense strands of the struggles for Black Americans’ Freedom will find much to ponder here.

I love reading detailed history that also allows you room to do further research. This book gives a very real and necessary view point on the barely taught era of Black history known as the Civil Rights Movement. The Movement is never taught in its totality, including the role women played, so this book is a treasure that needs to be more recognized.

Crucial content. Essential education. Required reading. Informed content that redefines the narrative and course corrects by shedding light on ignored history and showing the fuller context of liberation movements, particularly in the south. Armed defense and presence played a role in black liberation and even in the peace movement made famous by the likes of MLK! Brilliant and inspiring.

This is a historical, dense read on the Freedom Movement in Mississippi. I recommend this book to anyone interested in getting perspective from the writers extensive research on this little known history.

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