[Marxism] Film Review: "Negroes with Guns: Rob Williams & Black Power"

["Charles Brown" <cbrown@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Film Review: "Negroes with Guns: Rob Williams & Black Power"

The above is from the official Web sit of the Documentary Institute, a part
of the University of Florida's College of Journalism .
<http://www.michigancitizen.com/clients/michigancitizen/12-30-2004-3-56-47-P
M-3407800.guns.gif>     
        

By Cheryl A. Alston
Special to The Michigan Citizen

"Negroes with Guns: Rob Williams & Black Power," a new documentary film by
Sandra Dickson and Churchill Roberts, provides a personal perspective into a
man who inspired many with his violent stance on obtaining civil rights for
African Americans in the 1950s.

Williams believed in meeting violence with violence, and considered a
non-violent response masochistic. Although he was active in his hometown of
Monroe, North Carolina, with the NAACP, a group that espoused non-violence,
in 1957 he and associates formed an armed group called the Black Guard.

The film begins with one of Williams' first recollection of injustice. The
incident happened in 1936 in his hometown when he was a boy. He saw a very
large white policeman riding a motorcycle dragging a Black woman down the
street by her feet. The Black men who were present just quietly hung their
heads and walked away. He never forgot it.

The Kissing Case in 1958 was another incident that had a powerful impact on
Williams' life. Two Black boys, eight and ten years old, were arrested and
tried for playing a game that included kissing a white girl. They were found
guilty and sentenced to be held in jail until their 21st birthdays. After
Williams' newsletter brought so much attention to the case, they were
released after four months.

The element that made the movie so compelling was the glimpse into Williams'
family life. We are introduced to his wife, Mabel, and their two sons, John
and Bobby.

In 1961, when Williams had to flee to Cuba, Mabel and the boys were right
there. When he started a radio program entitled "Radio Free Dixie," to call
attention to social injustice, Mabel broadcast with him.

The entire family lived in various locations around the globe, like in China
and Viet Nam before 1969 - when the U.S. government allowed Williams to
return home.

In 1970 the Williams family moved to Baldwin, Michigan.

But Williams wanted to go home. He compared himself to Pres. George
Washington, the gentleman farmer who fought - and then went home to Mt.
Vernon.

He considered Monroe, North Carolina to be his Mt. Vernon. When Williams
died in 1996, his homegoing service was in Monroe, North Carolina.

"Negroes with Guns: Rob Williams & Black Power" was shown at the Detroit
Docs Film Festival.

http://www.michigancitizen.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=73&twindow=Defaul
t&mad=No&sdetail=1372&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restat
us=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=









_______________________________________________
Marxism mailing list
Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism