ROBERT F. WILLIAMS: Self-Defense, Self-Respect, and Self-Determination

FRIDAY, MAY 20TH

FREEDOM ARCHIVES and AK PRESS present:

ROBERT F. WILLIAMS: Self-Defense, Self-Respect, and Self-Determination

Featuring: MABEL & JOHN WILLIAMS (the wife and son of Robert F. Williams)

AMIRI BARAKA: poet & playwright

DESTINY ARTS and the Howard Wiley Trio




$5-$25 donation

First Unitarian Church of Oakland | 685 14th Street | 7 pm

co-sponsored by Eastside Arts Alliance


Celebrating the release of ROBERT F. WILLIAMS: Self-Defense, Self-Respect, and Self-Determination, a new audio documentary produced by the Freedom Archives and published by AK Press. Also available: a Robert Williams resource guide.



ROBERT F. WILLIAMS marches in the company of Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, Kwame Ture, Martin Luther King, Jr., Ella Baker and other leading voices of Black liberation. He was one of the most important and controversial leaders of the freedom movement. Yet his work, words, and profound influence are absent in most historical accounts. With this CD, the Freedom Archives contributes to a growing body of recent scholarship, telling the story of Robert Williams through an exclusive interview with Mabel Williams, his widow, who was with him every step of the way. The program traces their journey from NAACP leadership and armed self-defense against the Klan in Monroe, North Carolina through exile and internationalist solidarity in Cuba, China, Africa, and back to the United States. It features rare speeches, interviews, and radio broadcasts of Radio Free Dixie, the short wave radio series Robert and Mabel broadcast from Cuba.



ADVANCE PRAISE:

...the story of a family who fought together, struggled together and stayed together, united and strong in the face of racism and oppression... It is a story of human dignity and courage in the face of overwhleming odds... —ASSATA SHAKUR



Robert Williams was an extraordinary man, who has been largely lost in the history books. His story is dramatic and compelling and this audio record of his life is an important contribution to contemporary history. —HOWARD ZINN



Robert Williams is one of the most important figures in the history of the black freedom movement... Thanks to the Freedom Archives and the work of his widow Mabel Williams, his story will be “heard” by many more people. And in these political times, we need to remember Rob Williams’ courage, his unyielding internationalism, and the movement he helped to build. —ROBIN D. G. KELLEY



This very human story told by Mabel R. Williams, a deeply admired and respected icon of the Civil Rights movement, will help young people of all backgrounds understand the people and their struggles...
—GWENDOLYN MIDLO HALL



With this CD, the Freedom Archives makes an important contribution to American history and politics. Countering superficial readings of U.S. democracy and Black freedom struggles, this narrative by Robert and Mabel Williams brings a deeper and newer perspective on 20th century civil rights and self-defense in Black liberation movements. This is a significant gift—a story that should be taught and debated in school and on the street. —JOY JAMES