Robert F. Williams: Civil Rights Activist & Revolutionary Nationalist
Faculty Sponsor
Marc Robinson, History Professor at Whitworth University (mrobinson@whitworth.edu)
Session Type
Poster Presentation
Research Project Abstract
Robert F. Williams (1925-1996) was an African-American civil rights activist and revolutionary known for encouraging black communities to practice armed self-defense and resistance against groups like the Ku Klux Klan. He is also known for his views regarding black separatism and violent revolution. With evidence and biographical information from several primary source newspaper articles, from Williams’ own writings, and from historians like Timothy B. Tyson, this presentation argues that Williams identified with the revolutionary component of Marxian-communist theory, and that it reinforced a view of himself as a “freedom fighter” in a line of historic American revolutionary nationalists.
Session Number
PS3
Location
HUB Multipurpose Room
Abstract Number
PS3-a
Robert F. Williams: Civil Rights Activist & Revolutionary Nationalist
HUB Multipurpose Room
Robert F. Williams (1925-1996) was an African-American civil rights activist and revolutionary known for encouraging black communities to practice armed self-defense and resistance against groups like the Ku Klux Klan. He is also known for his views regarding black separatism and violent revolution. With evidence and biographical information from several primary source newspaper articles, from Williams’ own writings, and from historians like Timothy B. Tyson, this presentation argues that Williams identified with the revolutionary component of Marxian-communist theory, and that it reinforced a view of himself as a “freedom fighter” in a line of historic American revolutionary nationalists.
