This nonviolent stuffll get you killed review

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 ·  548 ratings  ·  83 reviews

Start your review of This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed: How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible

Oct 27, 2014 Robert Wood rated it really liked it

I initially looked at the reviews of the book at amazon before I started reading, and it's pretty clear that the book is being embraced by some in the gun rights movement as a vindication of their political positions. However, this strikes me as a profound misunderstanding of the book. Rather than attempting to intervene in those particular debates, the text is primarily a critique of the dominant image of the civil rights movement, examining it as a top down phenomenon, tied to a small group of I initially looked at the reviews of the book at amazon before I started reading, and it's pretty clear that the book is being embraced by some in the gun rights movement as a vindication of their political positions. However, this strikes me as a profound misunderstanding of the book. Rather than attempting to intervene in those particular debates, the text is primarily a critique of the dominant image of the civil rights movement, examining it as a top down phenomenon, tied to a small group of spectacular images and charismatic men. Instead, Cobb brings the idea of armed self defense to look at how the civil rights movement could only be understood within the context of the larger Black freedom movement, and the self-organization of tenant farmers, former veterans and other groups and individuals who had no particular investment in the tactic of non-violence. Starting with a history of Black armed self defense from the beginning of U.S. history, Cobb maps out how these older groups were able to cooperate and organize with the newer non-violent civil rights movement to form a powerful social movement that was embedded into the everyday life of their communities. Cobb argues that the civil rights movement could not have succeeded without these organizations, and at the same time, these organizations recognized the importance of the non-violent movements despite their unwillingness to embrace their commitment to non-violence. In addition, despite the immense power of these forms of social organization, Cobb does not present the end of these movements in a triumphant light, capturing the ambiguities and sense of loss with the end of the movement, despite it's immense effect on the social structures it attempted to overthrow. In a certain sense, you could think of the text as operating within the long tradition of the genre of history from below more than anything else. It's very readable, as well. I highly recommend this text. ...more

On the positive side, this is an essential contribution to the literature of the Civil Rights movement, by someone who was there. Cobb documents the crucial role that armed self defense played in protecting the "nonviolent" actors from the threatened and actual violence of the Klan. Reliance on armed self defense was not foolproof, as the murder of Medgar Evers proved, but it deterred the Klansmen on enough occasions to create space for some genuine progress.

Now for the other side. Cobb is a sk

Jan 10, 2015 Hannah rated it it was amazing

I can't believe how much of this was new information to me. Some bits I marked with post-its:

"Sheriffs and white posses raided black homes to seize 'illegal' guns and declared that such seizures were not an infringement of blacks' Second Amendment right to possess guns as part of a militia. Blacks faced strong disincentives to own their guns legally, however, because applying for a license effectively informed local authorities - usually sheriffs - that the applicant had weapons. Blacks were pru

As author Charlie Cob states early in this book, there is no shortage of books about the Civil Rights movement (or as Cobb seeking to redefine the term calls it, the Freedom movement) during the 1950’s and 60’s. Many of them cover familiar territory, and even more are quick to extol non-violence as the reason for its successes.
While it is difficult to argue against the idea that seeing defenseless black men, women and children being brutalized on tv screens every night was not a major factor
As author Charlie Cob states early in this book, there is no shortage of books about the Civil Rights movement (or as Cobb seeking to redefine the term calls it, the Freedom movement) during the 1950’s and 60’s. Many of them cover familiar territory, and even more are quick to extol non-violence as the reason for its successes.
While it is difficult to argue against the idea that seeing defenseless black men, women and children being brutalized on tv screens every night was not a major factor in gaining the nation’s sympathy for the struggle, Cobb seeks to take a wider lens to this point of view and ask how people at all levels of the civil rights struggle were able to stay non-violent. For that matter, how is it that so many of its leaders (with prominent exceptions) were not simply shot down when they stepped foot outdoors?
Cobb’s answer and the thesis of this book is quite succinct.
Guns.
He cites numerous fascinating examples of armed, black, quasi-militias (that preceded the Black Panthers) that had no time for non-violence but were heavily invested in making sure that the people who came into their towns that were fighting for them stayed alive.
Groups like “The Deacons for Freedom and Justice” that started in Louisiana but would later expand across the South rarely initiated violence themselves, but would never be far away from a protest, a church, or a rally where there was the potential for violence against people in their community.
There was understandably at first, some tension between civil rights workers and these militias. For many, especially those who arrived from the North, non-violence was a non negotiable way of life that couldn’t accept weapons of any kind, even if the weapons were being wielded by someone else and for their own protection.
Most however with time, particularly after experiencing first hand just how dangerous working in rural backwoods in places like Alabama and Mississippi could be, settled into a kind of uneasy acceptance of their necessity.
Even for those who refused to accept the help of armed militias, the militias would often ignore them and be present with their guns anyway.
What many who came from the North to the South failed to understand was that guns were deeply woven into the fabric of Southern life, for black and white. Whites primarily for hunting, and blacks to protect themselves from whites.
While there were always attempts by white politicians to create new legislation effectively banning blacks from owning guns, they always managed to find their way in regardless (sometimes smuggled over state lines in the back of hearses even!). Even Martin Luther King’s home was once described by a colleague as “an arsenal”.

“Reverend King knew the risks. In fact, after the January 30, 1956, bombing of his home in Montgomery, he himself a man of the South, after all applied at the sheriff’s office for a permit to carry a concealed weapon. He was denied the permit, but this did not stop him from having firearms in his house (although it is not clear whether or not he owned them). Journalist William Worthy learned as much on his first visit to the King parsonage in Montgomery. Worthy began to sink into an armchair, almost sitting on two pistols. ‘Bill, wait, wait! Couple of guns on that chair!’ warned the nonviolent activist Bayard Rustin, who had accompanied Worthy to the King home. ‘You don’t want to shoot yourself.’ When Rustin asked about the weapons, King responded, ‘Just for self-defense.’”

What many Northern workers realized upon arrival is that in order to win the badly needed support of skeptical rural black men and women, they would have to make accommodations. One of these was that guns were and would always be present. Taking them away from people whose survival depended on them was not an option.

“As their involvement in the movement and with rural communities deepened, however, they found themselves in situations where they, their colleagues, and the people they were working with could get killed for even trying to exercise the ordinary rights of citizenship. What, then, would they do? This was in part a question of ethics and morality: Could you really kill someone? And at the same time it was also a question of responsibility: What obligations do you have to the people who are supporting you and whose lives are endangered because of it? But at its core, of course, it was also very much a question of practicality: What do you need to do to stay alive?”

One can imagine that more than a few non-violent workers probably appreciated having someone armed and looking out for them in often hostile, strange new terrain.
This is not to denigrate non-violence as an effective tactic. Cobb is very clear (as someone who was on the front lines of many of those battles) that it was. What he seeks to do with this book however is tell a more complete story than the one we usually here about non-violence being the sole force that won many of the freedoms from that era. As Julian Bond once summarized how that era is now viewed:

“Rosa sat down, Martin stood up; and then the white folks saw the light and saved the day.”

Simplistic maybe, but is it that far from the truth of how we view what happened?
Cobb argues that a lot of that non-violence was backed up by a whole lot of guns protecting them. As SNCC field secretary Worth Long once said:

“Now you can pray with them or pray for ‘em, but if they kill you in the meantime you are not going to be an effective organizer.”

Oct 11, 2017 Brian rated it really liked it

The Civil Rights Movement in America is often portrayed in basically Christological terms. Martin Luther King Jr. appeared and, with his disciples, began his ministry of racial healing. Though opposed by the authorities, through saintly forebearance and unwavering conviction, he brought healing to the country before dying for our racial sins. History is usually simplified in the popular conception, but in this case it's particularly egregious.

This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed is about non

Apr 14, 2014 Timothy rated it really liked it

Not so much a book analyzing armed struggle as it is of community defense tactics through anecdotal story telling during the 1940s-1960s. I find many are looking for the former and misunderstanding the title a bit.

The author starts off with a thorough analysis of racial construction in the early Americas, and the often ignored violent slave revolts. Later he ties the importance of blacks joining the military as an important tool of armed experience. These veterans were integral to the defense of

Sep 18, 2014 Chad rated it really liked it

“The decision of what to do centered not on the choice between nonviolence and violence but on the question of what response was best in each situation. Most often, moreover, there was very little time to decide. … What was always at play was the common sense of survival. Flight when necessary was not cowardice, just as shooting it out hopelessly in the name of 'manhood' was not always courage.”

Charles Cobb illuminates what you don't read in most history books: that the "nonviolent" struggle for

Jul 20, 2022 Lisa rated it liked it

I think this book makes an important historiographical intervention. But it’s challenging to read and make sure I’ve gotten the point. He uses the voices of those who participated (of whom he is one) rather than top down evidence of the civil rights movement. The argument seems to be that only a few people were ever fully nonviolent but that that element was vital. He ends the book by saying ultimately we all need to be more committed to ending the violence in our society which plagued those who I think this book makes an important historiographical intervention. But it’s challenging to read and make sure I’ve gotten the point. He uses the voices of those who participated (of whom he is one) rather than top down evidence of the civil rights movement. The argument seems to be that only a few people were ever fully nonviolent but that that element was vital. He ends the book by saying ultimately we all need to be more committed to ending the violence in our society which plagued those who are the most disadvantaged. But that very few of us can do the soul work to make it happen. However the majority of the book is telling the story of how many Black activists used arms to protect themselves and how effective it was. So the thesis and the majority of the evidence don’t line up. Yet the evidence he’s giving seems to be important and contradicts the larger narrative. I think a stronger editor could have made this a more accessible and unified book. I’m glad it was written. ...more

Some notes (not finished yet):

In the introduction, Cobb somewhat undermines the clickbaity subtitle ("How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible," which I wonder if the publishers rather than the author added), saying the book is an exploration of the choices movement activists made under the tensions between nonviolent tactics and armed self-defense. The fact that instances of armed self-defense and resistance resulted in mass destruction of communities (e.g. New Orleans and Memphis in 18

Sep 19, 2017 Andrew rated it liked it

I should begin by noting that had I known the subtitle -- "How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible" -- I probably would not have purchased this book to begin with. I was looking for a theoretical discussion of the shortcomings of nonviolence, not a chronicle of the compromises made by nonviolent activists in the Civil Rights era. Because of that ignorance, my rating of the book is necessarily lower than it would have otherwise been. However, this is an excellent history for people who a I should begin by noting that had I known the subtitle -- "How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible" -- I probably would not have purchased this book to begin with. I was looking for a theoretical discussion of the shortcomings of nonviolence, not a chronicle of the compromises made by nonviolent activists in the Civil Rights era. Because of that ignorance, my rating of the book is necessarily lower than it would have otherwise been. However, this is an excellent history for people who are curious about the role of guns in the Civil Rights movement.

Cobb's writing is engaging, and he's clearly an authority on the matter after his service during the formative years of SNCC. The organization of the book was lacking and it was thus difficult for me to discern concrete differences between the chapters. It sort of goes chronologically but also tended to jump geographically as well. It's fine for what it is.

At the end of the day, I wanted -- ahem -- ammunition against people who are wholly devoted to nonviolence. I've been intuiting of late that these advocates are lopsided in their emphasis, and this book did give some concrete examples of the necessity for armed self-defense. Nonviolence advocates love to cite the Greensboro sit-ins, for example, as proof of what nonviolence can accomplish. Yet they tend to omit the violence committed by the NCA&T football team in barreling through the white folks that blocked the door to Woolworth's.

Similarly, a big takeaway from the book is just how often the purportedly nonviolent organizers of SNCC, CORE and even MLK's SCLC simply outsourced their violence to community-organized vigilante groups like the Deacons. They couldn't enter these incredibly racist communities without protection, and because their values did not allow them to protect themselves, they had to rely on their hosts to arm themselves (which they had already done and couldn't be dissuaded from anyway) and keep watch. This doesn't strike me as the ringing endorsement of nonviolence that modern advocates tend to sing.

In the end, this is a solid vignette of an era that commonly gets misreported in hindsight. The Civil Rights narrative today gets twisted into some of the most frustratingly centrist arguments. These brave, sometimes armed souls were radicals, and they were vilified in their day even as they accomplished a helluva lot. We'd do well to remember it in the age of Antifa and Black Bloc. Don't be the white moderate that MLK (and Frederick Douglass, and Malcolm X, and James Baldwin, etc.) disdained.

Not Bad Reviews

@pointblaek

Charles Cobb Jr.'s book is based on an important premise, that if it were not for the ability of black Americans to defend themselves using their Second Amendment rights against violent white Americans exercising their rights, the African-American Civil Rights movement would not have been able to have the historical impact that it did. In This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed, Charles Cobb Jr. demonstrates the various ways in which, for instance, the nonviolent protests when hand-in-hand with Charles Cobb Jr.'s book is based on an important premise, that if it were not for the ability of black Americans to defend themselves using their Second Amendment rights against violent white Americans exercising their rights, the African-American Civil Rights movement would not have been able to have the historical impact that it did. In This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed, Charles Cobb Jr. demonstrates the various ways in which, for instance, the nonviolent protests when hand-in-hand with defence via firearm, especially in the American South. There was no call to proactive gun use but there was a strong belief in the use of guns as a defensive tactic in the movement.

An interesting anecdote illustrates the way in which Martin Luther King, the most vocal advocate for nonviolence, even believed in moving around with concealed weapons. He believed it fine to own several guns and keep them for protection. The book recounts how another of the Civil Rights' leaders came to visit King in his home, sat down on a cushioned chair, and noticed some discomfort. One of King's partners advised him to lift up the cushion because there were "a couple guns under there." Not only men like King, but ordinary people, needed guns to defend themselves, their homes, and their families during and prior to the Civil Rights era.

Something worth keeping in mind is this. The book works from the premise that the Second Amendment is important to the people of America. It's not making a claim for or against the Second Amendment. That's an issue for another book, another day. But given that the Second Amendment is enshrined in our Constitution, minority groups who are under threat are well within their right to protect themselves. And not only that, minority groups in America have historically done just that, as is evidenced by black Americans use of firearms for protection.

Aug 02, 2015 Lionel Taylor rated it really liked it

This book challenges the notion that the Civil Rights movements was a completely pacifist movement with all of the modern leaders accepting the nonviolent philosophy of Dr. King. The truth is that the Civil Rights movement was made up of many different organizations and people and all of them approached the work in a different way. This book examines the part of the movement that was not willing to be totally nonviolent and, while they did not advocate violence, they were also not willing to all This book challenges the notion that the Civil Rights movements was a completely pacifist movement with all of the modern leaders accepting the nonviolent philosophy of Dr. King. The truth is that the Civil Rights movement was made up of many different organizations and people and all of them approached the work in a different way. This book examines the part of the movement that was not willing to be totally nonviolent and, while they did not advocate violence, they were also not willing to allow themselves to be attacked indiscriminately. The author makes the strong argument that the two sides of the Civil Rights movements the nonviolent and self-defense side were actually two sides of the same coin and that one could not exist without the other. The author also point out the fact that many of the people living in the areas that the civil rights workers were going to help were not just passive recipients of their aid but actively took part in the activities and were more often than not the ones who provided the armed self defense and that the decision to defend oneself was carefully calibrated to fit the particular situation. This is a very good book that focuses more on the grassroots level of the struggle and the practical and philosophical decisions that had to be made on the ground among the many faceless activists and residents in the rural south as they worked to gain their rights as citizens. ...more

Feb 19, 2018 Michael Boyte rated it really liked it

Far from the nonviolence/violence dichotomy (or the good 60's/bad 60's approach) Cobb diligently, and rather beautifully illustrates that southern organizers affiliated with SNCC and CORE were only able to use nonviolent tactics in their struggle, because of the tradition of armed self-defense among southern black folks, and in all kinds of ways armed self-defense was able to defend the Southern freedom struggle from the armed terrorism of the Klan and the state. Cobb also dramatically illustrat Far from the nonviolence/violence dichotomy (or the good 60's/bad 60's approach) Cobb diligently, and rather beautifully illustrates that southern organizers affiliated with SNCC and CORE were only able to use nonviolent tactics in their struggle, because of the tradition of armed self-defense among southern black folks, and in all kinds of ways armed self-defense was able to defend the Southern freedom struggle from the armed terrorism of the Klan and the state. Cobb also dramatically illustrates how orthodoxy is challenged and mutates through political struggle, how many of the folks who were committed to tactical non-violence would come to embrace more militant liberation politics through the experience of struggling alongside armed sections of the black masses.

If there's a flaw to the book, it's that it tends to be repetitive, particularly in the first chapters. The depth and the personal narratives more than make up for that. Cobb frequently states that the combination of non-violent tactics, and armed self-defense was the key to shattering the white supremacist hold on the south; that more openly militant forms of struggle would have been crushed. Sitting 50 years after these events, as white supremacy has captured the white house, and is re-entrenched in the prisons and police departments across the country, this history is searing, and the question of house to smash white supremacy permanently is more pressing than ever.

Nov 16, 2014 Jo rated it really liked it

This highly readable book by former SNCC field secretary Charles E Cobb shines a light on a little-known aspect of Civil Rights movement history - the role of armed self-defense by local people in protecting civil rights workers. Cobb outlines the long history of armed self-defense by African Americans in the South, from slave rebellions on, along the way pointing out that the first gun control laws were designed to keep guns out of the hands of Black people.

The book contains good overviews of

Aug 25, 2014 Marcus M. rated it it was amazing

Like an archaeologist brushing dust off of artifacts that tell unknown stories, Cobb restores a side of the history that has been whitewashed -- how nonviolence and armed self-defense have historically collaborated to accomplish the objectives of civil rights and freedom movements in the United States.

This book could easily be used as a call-to-arms for oppressed peoples; however, while Cobb states throughout how nonviolence without armed self-defense could've undermined the movements, he respon

Jan 24, 2015 KA rated it it was amazing

Cobb was not only there, volunteering in the rural South for civil rights; he is also an engaging, nuanced writer. This book should help complicate anyone's view of both the civil rights movement and the tactic of nonviolent resistance. I found the chapter on the Deacons for Defense and Justice especially illuminating, as well as Cobb's depiction of the transition from nonviolence as the predominant tactic for civil rights, to "black power," which was often assumed (by whites and blacks alike) t Cobb was not only there, volunteering in the rural South for civil rights; he is also an engaging, nuanced writer. This book should help complicate anyone's view of both the civil rights movement and the tactic of nonviolent resistance. I found the chapter on the Deacons for Defense and Justice especially illuminating, as well as Cobb's depiction of the transition from nonviolence as the predominant tactic for civil rights, to "black power," which was often assumed (by whites and blacks alike) to be "militant." ...more

Aug 18, 2018 Carmilla Voiez rated it really liked it

This is a fascinating and often heartbreaking account of civil rights activism in the deep south and the importance of armed self-defense in the nonviolent struggle. It focuses on grassroots activists and personal struggles for survival in the face of white terrorism. It allows for a greater understanding of history, the complexities of competing philosophies and small victories won that informed the larger (and better reported) political picture of the mid twentieth century.

The topic is excellent. It's a great look at the civil rights movement from a different, lesser-seen angle, with a bit of the history guns have played in the black fight for freedom from the beginning of slavery onward. It's fascinating, and I strongly recommend it. My only complaints are that it's repetitive at times, and disjointed at others. The topic is excellent. It's a great look at the civil rights movement from a different, lesser-seen angle, with a bit of the history guns have played in the black fight for freedom from the beginning of slavery onward. It's fascinating, and I strongly recommend it. My only complaints are that it's repetitive at times, and disjointed at others. ...more

May 30, 2017 Philip Girvan rated it it was amazing

This is a tremendous read.

Cobb, who was involved in the civil rights movement particularly as it concerned registering voters, gives a compelling account of ways in which the Second Amendment and the southern culture of gun ownership provided the space necessary for nonviolent resistance to work as a strategy.

Jan 13, 2015 Ken rated it really liked it

Charles E. Cobb Jr, a veteran of the Civil Rights Movement, shares a much over-looked part of the history. The role of guns and armed self-defense in the mostly non-violent movement is not a contradiction, but a more full picture of complexity of the movement and the many organizations involved.

After reading this book, I now have a better understanding of what nonviolence really was and how important it was. I also see just how one can claim to be nonviolent while defending oneself. Amazing read filled with information and varying viewpoints.

Mar 30, 2018 sasha rated it it was amazing

effectively complicated my understanding of "nonviolence". rich and thoughtful. effectively complicated my understanding of "nonviolence". rich and thoughtful. ...more

“In every decade of this nation’s history, brave and determined black men and women picked up guns to defend themselves and their communities.” This book examines the relationship between “non-violent direct action” as a tactic in the Civil Rights movement, and armed resistance and self defense. Author and former SNCC organizer Charles Cobb contends that this relationship was symbiotic, rather than oppositional as most people tend to assume. In other words, Cobb argues that the effectiveness of “In every decade of this nation’s history, brave and determined black men and women picked up guns to defend themselves and their communities.” This book examines the relationship between “non-violent direct action” as a tactic in the Civil Rights movement, and armed resistance and self defense. Author and former SNCC organizer Charles Cobb contends that this relationship was symbiotic, rather than oppositional as most people tend to assume. In other words, Cobb argues that the effectiveness of non-violence as a tactic to achieve legislative gains in the civil rights arena was dependent on Black folks’ ability to defend themselves against white terror. In short, guns made the Civil Rights Movement possible, and guns have always been integral in the larger Black Liberation Movement, of which the struggle for Civil Rights was but one part of.

This book sheds light on on just how hell-bent the United States power structure has always been on to keeping arms out of the hands of Black people. From the fear of slave rebellions to the fear of revenge and outright revolution, whites have always seen the prospect of armed Black people as a doomsday scenario. However, due to Gun culture in the American South, many whites accepted as a reality the fact that Black folks kept arms. However, it took the return of Black veterans from war theaters abroad to spark both resistance and reactionary events on the party of Black people and their racist white Southern adversaries.

This is not just an account of armed resistance and self-defense, it is essentially the history of the origins of Civil Rights Movement in the South. Cobb situates this history firmly in the hands of Black veterans who returned home from WWI and WWII—equipped with arms and the ability to use them—who were committed to no longer tolerating the status quo in the South. In detailing this history, Cobb does a tremendous job contextualizing the terroristic conditions of the American South before defying the inaccurate notion that Black Southerners were “apathetic” in the face of those conditions. Black Southerners had always walked the line of individual and collective self-defense. Black Southerners knew how to survive, and out-of-town Civil Rights Movement workers had to learn how to navigate this terrain—a terrain that naturally involved guns.

Cobb produced numerous examples of Black folks’ organized and persistent engagement with arms and self-defense, showing how the white power structure was ultimately forced to change its relations with Black communities, as outfight terror through colonial and vigilante violence was no longer viable. Maintaining white supremacy became a more sophisticated and complex endeavor, resulting in material gains for segments of Black communities, and a modicum of self-respect for the masses of Black people. Finally, this book displays the complexities of movement work. Non-violent direct action was not a universal endeavor. Cobb explains that non-violence as a tactic only made sense in certain contexts, and it ultimately relied on the willingness of organizations like the Deacons of Defense and Justice to provide protection. Cobb also repeatedly stresses the differences between non-violence as a tactic and non-violence as a way of life, demonstrating that for the masses of Black Southerners, the later was simply unacceptable. This is a great book that dispels many myths about the Civil Rights Movement’s relationship to communal self-defense.

"Powerfully and with great depth, Charles Cobb examines the organizing tradition of the southern Freedom Movement, drawing on both his own experiences as a field secretary with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) working in the rural Black Belt South and contemporary conversations with his former co workers. While Cobb challenges the orthodox narrative of the ‘nonviolent’ movement, this is much more than a book about guns. It is essential reading."
— Julian Bond, NAACP Chairman "Powerfully and with great depth, Charles Cobb examines the organizing tradition of the southern Freedom Movement, drawing on both his own experiences as a field secretary with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) working in the rural Black Belt South and contemporary conversations with his former co workers. While Cobb challenges the orthodox narrative of the ‘nonviolent’ movement, this is much more than a book about guns. It is essential reading."
— Julian Bond, NAACP Chairman Emeritus

"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

"This Nonviolent Stuff’ll Get You Killed jostles us outside the ho hum frame of 'pick up a gun' vs. 'turn the other cheek.' Charles Cobb’s graceful prose and electrifying history throw down a gauntlet: can we understand any part of the freedom struggle apart from America’s unique romanticization of violence and gun culture? This absorbing investigation shows how guns are often necessary, but not sufficient, to live out political democracy." — Wesley Hogan, Director, Center for Documentary Studies, Duke University

"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

"Charles Cobb’s This Nonviolent Stuff’ll Get You Killed is a marvelous contribution to our understanding the modern black freedom struggle. With wonderful storytelling skills and drawing on his unparalleled access to movement participants, he situates armed self defense in the context of a complex movement and in conversation with both nonviolence and community organizing. Cobb writes from personal experience on the frontlines of SNCC’s voter registration work while also using the skills of journalist, historian, and teacher. The result is a compelling and wonderfully nuanced book that will appeal to specialists and, more importantly, anyone interested in human rights and the freedom struggle." — Emilye Crosby, author of A Little Taste of Freedom: The Black Freedom Struggle in Claiborne County, Mississippi

"What most of us think we know about the central role of nonviolence in the long freedom struggle in the South is not so much wrong as blinkered. Or so Charles Cobb says in this passionate, intellectually disciplined reordering of the conventional narrative to include armed self defense as a central component of the black movement's success. Read it and be reminded that history is not a record etched in stone by journalists and academics, but a living stream, fed and redirected by the bottom up witness of its participants." — Hodding Carter III, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

"This Nonviolent Stuff’ll Get You Killed is the most important movement book in many years. Charles Cobb uses long standing confusion over the distinction between violence and nonviolence as an entrée to rethinking many fundamental misconceptions about what the civil rights movement was and why it was so powerful. This level of nuance requires a disciplined observer, an engaged participant, and a lyrical writer. Cobb is all these." — Charles M. Payne, author of I’ve Got the Light of Freedom: The Organizing Tradition and the Mississippi Freedom Struggle

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

“This long overdue book revises the image of black people in the South as docile and frightened. It tells our story demonstrating that black people have always been willing to stand their ground and do whatever was necessary to free themselves from bondage and to defend their families and communities. This is a must read for understanding the southern Freedom Movement.” — David Dennis, former Mississippi Director, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and Director, Southern Initiative of the Algebra Project

"Popular culture washes the complexity out of so many things. Charles Cobb works mightily against that torrent. This Nonviolent Stuff’ll Get You Killed shows that the simplistic popular understanding of the black freedom movement obscures a far richer story. Cobb defies the popular narrative with accounts of the grit and courage of armed stalwarts of the modern movement who invoked the ancient right of self defense under circumstances where we should expect nothing less. This book is an important contribution to a story that is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore." — Nicholas Johnson, author of Negroes and the Gun: The Black Tradition of Arms

"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

I saw the author Charles Cobb Jr., a visiting professor from Brown at Duke, speak at the Durham County Library introducing the film, Freedom Summer, //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom...
about the freedom summer of 1964 in Mississippi in which Cobb was a participant. It was amazing to see the footage of the author and other participants at the time and then as adults. I recommend the movie to anyone interested in that time.

In his book Cobb’s thesis is that in the civil rights struggle black p

This is excellent work. Greatly showcases the intermingling of the non-violence philosophy and self defense philosophy for a term coined "unviolent." Also displays that fomented belief that the state has a Monopoly on violence... This is excellent work. Greatly showcases the intermingling of the non-violence philosophy and self defense philosophy for a term coined "unviolent." Also displays that fomented belief that the state has a Monopoly on violence... ...more

Cobb explains the vital role that armed self-defense played in the survival and liberation of black communities in the rural South, during the 1960s Freedom Movement, and convincingly argues how it made the nonviolents tactics of the Civil Rights Movement possible.

Jun 15, 2021 John rated it liked it

3.5 stars. This focuses on many stories that aren't told - albeit the stories all demonstrate the same theme which is the premise of the book. 3.5 stars. This focuses on many stories that aren't told - albeit the stories all demonstrate the same theme which is the premise of the book. ...more

A good enough book about how gun culture and the self-defense tradition applies to the freedom struggle. Given Cobb's experience in SNCC and his reputation for being one of the smartest guys in the room, I was hoping that "This Nonviolent Stuff" would be a definitive piece that added to the fascinating research by Lance Hill The Deacons for Defense: Armed Resistance and the Civil Rights Movement of the many writings by and about like Robert F. Williams: Self Respect, Self Defense & Self Determin A good enough book about how gun culture and the self-defense tradition applies to the freedom struggle. Given Cobb's experience in SNCC and his reputation for being one of the smartest guys in the room, I was hoping that "This Nonviolent Stuff" would be a definitive piece that added to the fascinating research by Lance Hill The Deacons for Defense: Armed Resistance and the Civil Rights Movement of the many writings by and about like Robert F. Williams: Self Respect, Self Defense & Self Determination and Negroes with Guns and Radio Free Dixie: Robert F. Williams and the Roots of Black Power. I'd recommend either of these first if you're just starting to think about the the interplay of violence/nonviolence in the civil rights era.

Instead of the capstone book on guns in the southern-based Movement, this is more of a survey text that goes all the way back to Reconstruction - in fact, you'll be a few chapters in before anything in the 19502 or 1960s really gets discussed.

Cobb's point: African Americans are not, and were not, pushovers who were cowering under white supremacy. They defended their homes and their honor, but this did not extend into retaliatory violence like house bombings. Occasional wild men could get away with flagrant breeches of racial etiquette, but sadly, many others did not.

I also have to say, I really hope Cobb writes a memoir someday. He's got a unique voice and experienced some powerful stuff.

Jun 23, 2014 Ryan Mishap rated it it was amazing

History from the ground up, written by a person who was there, that attempts to re-orient the nonviolent struggle for civil rights back into the context of a society with a gun culture--specifically the Deep South. This isn't a book about armed revolutionaries, but about normal folks who utilized armed self-defense--or, at least, didn't reject that option--but still participated in or experienced the nonviolent struggle. Trying to get away from the sanctified myth attached to Martin Luther King, History from the ground up, written by a person who was there, that attempts to re-orient the nonviolent struggle for civil rights back into the context of a society with a gun culture--specifically the Deep South. This isn't a book about armed revolutionaries, but about normal folks who utilized armed self-defense--or, at least, didn't reject that option--but still participated in or experienced the nonviolent struggle. Trying to get away from the sanctified myth attached to Martin Luther King, Jr. and other brave, important civil rights leaders, Cobb tells the stories of the stories of ordinary people and the voting rights organizers who encountered them.

This is a fabulous book, with a rare look at the era in context; that sidesteps the violent versus nonviolent dichotomy*; that brings the people and this period alive for the reader. Highly recommended.

+As he discusses in one section: simply because one does not commit to Ghandi-like nonviolence does not mean one is pro or prone to violence.

This in-depth look at the civil rights movement goes to the places where pioneers of the movement marched, sat-in at lunch counters, gathered in churches; where they spoke, taught, and organized; where they were arrested, where they lost their lives, and where they triumphed.

Award-winning journalist Charles E. Cobb Jr., a former organizer and field secretary for SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinati

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“Many black women also kept guns within easy reach. But it is important to mention that women & their use of guns present the historian of the southern Freedom Movement with a particular problem. Many of the women from this era (like the men) have passed away & cannot be interviewed. And although a few of the men have written or been extensively interviewed about their role in self-defense, the women have publicly left little record & have generally been ignored in the discussion & debate over armed self-defense...For the most part, we do not know what many women who were active in the movement were thinking, or whether & how they organized for self-defense. Historians are therefore dependent on males for portrays & interpretations of women's thoughts & actions.” — 5 likes

“And out in the rural, when Mrs. Laura McGhee--who if she thought it necessary, sat on the porch with her Winchester rifle--permitted movement workers to use her farm outside Greenwood for a rally, the sheriff came to warn her against holding it. She told him that *he* was on *her* property, that *he* was trespassing and hadn't ever offered any protection from the terrorists who kept threatening to shoot up her farms, and that he therefore had nothing to offer her now and had better leave, get off her land. And the sheriff left.” — 2 likes

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