ROBERT F. WILLIAMS IS CREDITED WITH BEING THE FIRST LEADER, OF OUR CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT, TO ADVOCATE THE POLICY OF ARMED RESISTANCE TO RACIAL SEGREGATION & OPPRESSION.
BORN FEBRUARY 26, 1925 IN MONROE, NORTH CAROLINA, ROBERT F. WILLIAMS WAS THE FOURTH OF FIVE CHILDREN BORN TO EMMA CARTER WILLIAMS AND JOHN WILLIAMS. WILLIAMS WAS RAISED IN THE VERY DANGEROUS WORLD OF JIM CROW & KLU KLUX KLAN. IN MONROE, NC WAS ESPECIALLY KNOWN FOR THE REGULAR & ROUTINE BRUTALIZATION OF ITS BLACK CITIZENS AT THE HANDS OF THE KLAN.
INSPIRED BY HIS GRANDMOTHER, A FORMER SLAVE, WILLIAMS WAS TAUGHT THE IMPORTANCE OF STANDING UP FOR HIMSELF EARLY IN LIFE. FROM HIS GRANDMOTHER, WILLIAMS WOULD RECEIVE HIS FIRST RIFLE-PASSED DOWN FROM HIS GRANDFATHER. THE ITEM WOULD BE KNOWN AS A SYMBOL OF THE WILLIAM'S FAMILY'S RESISTANCE TO RACISM & OPPRESSION.
WILLIAM'S EARLY ASPIRATION WAS TO BECOME A JOURNALIST; THUS WILLIAMS JOINED THE MARINE CORP, HOPING TO BE TRAINED IN THAT AREA. AFTER RESISTING THE RACIAL CODES THAT WOULD LIMIT WILLIAMS TO COMMON SERVANT TASKS, WILLIAMS WOULD RECEIVE AN "UNDESIRABLE" DISCHARGE AND RETURN HOME.
AS A MEMBER OF THE EMBATTLED LOCAL NAACP, ROBERT WILLIAMS ROSE TO LEADERSHIP BY 1956. UNDER HIS WATCH, MEMBERSHIP ROSE FROM SIX MEMBERS TO MORE THAN 200. BUT WILLIAMS’S MOST SIGNIFICANT MOVE WAS TO FORM AN ORGANIZATION KNOWN AS "THE BLACK GUARD." THE BLACK GUARD WAS AN ARMED MILITANT ORGANIZATION TASKED WITH THE PROTECTION OF MONROE, NC'S BLACK RESIDENTS.
NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST OPPRESSION INCLUDE THE 1958 CASE OF TWO BLACK CHILDREN, AGED 7 & 9, WHO WERE CHARGED WITH RAPE AFTER BEING SEEN KISSING A YOUNG WHITE GIRL ON THE CHEEK. THE BOYS WERE SENTENCED TO REFORM SCHOOL FOR THE "CRIME;" AND WILLIAMS LED THE EFFORTS THAT WOULD EVENTUALLY LEAD TO THE BOY’S RELEASE. THE CASE GAINED INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES, AND WOULD LEAD TO PROTESTS AND CONDEMNATION IN PARIS, ROME, VIENNA AND OTHER EUROPEAN CITIES.
IN 1959, WILLIAMS’S EFFORTS TO PROTECT THE DIGNITY OF LOCAL CITIZENS ESCALATED TO AN ACTUAL POLICY OF ARMED RESISTANCE AFTER A WHITE MAN WAS ACQUITTED OF THE CHARGE OF ATTEMPTED RAPE OF A LOCAL BLACK WOMAN. FROM THIS POINT ON, WILLIAMS PROCLAIMED THAT "THAT NEGROES MUST DEFEND THEMSELVES EVEN IF IT IS NECESSARY TO RESORT TO VIOLENCE."
IN A LATER STATEMENT, WILLIAMS DECLARED THAT "HERE IS NO NEED TO TAKE THE WHITE ATTACKERS TO THE COURTS BECAUSE THEY WILL GO FREE AND THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS NOT COMING TO THE AID OF PEOPLE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, AND IT IS TIME FOR NEGRO MEN TO STAND UP AND BE MEN AND IF IT IS NECESSARY FOR US TO DIE WE MUST BE WILLING TO DIE. IF IT IS NECESSARY FOR US TO KILL WE MUST BE WILLING TO KILL.”
SEEKING TO DISTANCE THE ORGANIZATION FROM WILLIAM'S MORE RADICAL POSITION, THE NAACP IMMEDIATELY SUSPENDED WILLIAMS FROM HIS LEADERSHIP POST WITH THE LOCAL NAACP CHAPTER. THE FREEDOM RIDERS WERE DISPATCHED TO MONROE IN 1961, AND WERE VICIOUSLY ATTACKED BY MOBS OF KLANSMEN. AT THE REQUEST OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., WILLIAMS AND THE BLACK GUARD STEPPED IN TO PROTECT THE DEMONSTRATORS. THIS WOULD INCLUDE PROTECTING A WHITE COUPLE FROM AN ANGRY MOB OF BLACK CITIZENS. WILLIAMS & HIS WIFE TOOK THE COUPLE INTO THEIR HOME, FOR THEIR PROTECTION; BUT WOULD LATER BE ERRONEOUSLY CHARGED WITH KIDNAPPING. WITH THE THREAT OF DETAINMENT, IF NOT ASSASSINATION, FROM STATE & LOCAL POLICE-PLUS THE KLU KLUX KLAN-ROBERT WILLIAMS AND HIS WIFE MABEL FLED TO CUBA. ONCE IN HAVANA, THE WILLIAMS FAMILY WAS GRANTED POLITICAL ASYLUM FROM PRESIDENT FIDEL CASTRO.
OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS, WILLIAMS & HIS WIFE WOULD CONTINUE TO PROMOTE FREEDOM FOR ALL PEOPLE OF COLOR-VIA THE RADIO FREE DIXIE” PROGRAM AND VARIOUS WRITINGS. IN 1962, HE WROTE THE BOOK "NEGROES WITH GUNS." IN 1969 THE WILLIAMS FAMILY WOULD BRIEFLY MOVE ON TO CHINA, UNDER THE CARE OF CHAIRMAN MAO ZEDONG.
KIDNAPPING CHARGES WERE EVENTUALLY DROPPED AGAINST WILLIAMS; AND IN 1969 WILLIAMS WOULD RETURN TO THE STATES. ROBERT WILLIAMS WOULD BE TAPPED TO WORK AS AN ADVISOR TO THE US STATE DEPARTMENT'S EFFORTS TO NORMALIZE RELATIONS WITH CHINA, AND WOULD ALSO WORK AS A RESEARCH ASSOCIATE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN.
THOUGH A RARELY DISCUSSED FORCE IN THE HISTORY OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT OF THE 50'S & 60'S; ROBERT F. WILLIAMS IS CREDITED WITH BEING THE MOST IMPORTANT INTELLECTUAL INSPIRATION FOR HUEY P. NEWTON-CO-FOUNDER & CHAIRMAN OF THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY FOR SELF-DEFENSE.
WILLIAMS DIED OF CANCER, AT THE AGE OF 71, IN 1996. HIS STORY LIVES ON THROUGH THE BOOK "NEGROES WITH GUNS," AND A PBS "INDEPENDENT LENS" SPECIAL UNDER THE SAME NAME.
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