"In the dominant civil rights era narrative there is the popular conception of the civil rights movement as a peaceful and nonviolent expression of civil disobedience that aimed to integrate Black people into civil society. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference's version of pacifism is generally accepted as the moral and ideological foundations of the civil rights movement.
But the movement was more than one person or one movement, and it was more than just nonviolence and civil disobedience. This understanding of the civil rights era simplifies the variety of tactics and strategies present during those times."
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But the movement was more than one person or one movement, and it was more than just nonviolence and civil disobedience. This understanding of the civil rights era simplifies the variety of tactics and strategies present during those times."
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John Brown Type Beats •
People like Medgar Evers and Robert F. Williams, as well as groups like the Deacons for Defense and Justice, were members and leaders in civil rights groups throughout the South that practiced armed self-defense in their communities. Additionally there were scores of Black civilians, who were not members of any formal organization and who fought back with arms to protect organizers, their neighbors, and themselves. An understanding of armed self-defense and its role in the civil rights era allows us to analyze our own current political moments and the strategic questions facing us currently."
- Lamont Carter and scott crow, "Other Stories from the Civil Rights Movement: A Spectrum of Community Defense", Setting Sights: Histories and Reflections on Community Armed Self-Defense, pages 131-132
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#SettingSights #ScottCrow #CivilRights #CommunityDefense #Nonviolence #Pacifism #CivilDisobedience
LukefromDC •