Negroes with Guns is a 1962 book by civil rights activist Robert F. Williams.[1][2] Timothy B. Tyson said, Negroes with Guns was "the single most important intellectual influence on Huey P. Newton, the founder of the Black Panther Party".[3] The book is used in college courses[4][5] and is discussed in debates.[6][7]
Negroes with Guns was Williams' experience throughout the Civil Rights Movement of Monroe, North Carolina. Because black rights were constantly violated, the self-defense policy was born, with Williams saying there was a need to "meet violence with violence."[8] However, Williams claimed that black militants were not promoting violence, but were combating it, believing in self-defense and not aggression.[9]
^Aronson, Jay. Guns in American History: Culture, Violence, and Politics. Carnegie Mellon University, Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Fall 2019.