…THE PHILOSOPHY OF ROBERT F. WILLIAMS PROVIDED THE INTELLECTUAL FOUNDATION FOR AMERICA'S MOST MILITANT ADVOCATES OF RACIAL AND SOCIAL JUSTICE. FROM HIS ACTIONS, SPEECHES, AND WRITINGS EMERGED THE FOUNDATION FOR THE BLACK POWER MOVEMENT…

1. RBG Communiversity Page 1 of 11
RBG Communiversity
Intro to the RBG Collection Video
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD THE FULL SIZE GRAPHIC
…THE PHILOSOPHY OF ROBERT F. WILLIAMS PROVIDED THE INTELLECTUAL
FOUNDATION FOR AMERICA'S MOST MILITANT ADVOCATES OF RACIAL AND “A project in evolution and always
SOCIAL JUSTICE. FROM HIS ACTIONS, SPEECHES, AND WRITINGS EMERGED
THE FOUNDATION FOR THE BLACK POWER MOVEMENT…
under construction”
ROBERT F. WILLIAMS MULTI-MEDIA STUDIES PORTAL

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Free Mix Radio mp3 Icebreaker:
“BLAKADEMICS”
Play the mp3: The Story of Robert and Mable Williams
An Interview with Mable Williams regarding Her Documentary
“Negros with Guns”
ROBERT F. WILLIAMS MULTI-MEDIA STUDIES PORTAL

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Interview with the Honorable Robert F. Williams
ROBERT F. WILLIAMS MULTI-MEDIA STUDIES PORTAL

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"A Brief Bio of the Original RBG Lion King & Brave Heart"
THE PHILOSOPHY OF ROBERT F. WILLIAMS PROVIDED THE INTELLECTUAL
FOUNDATION FOR AMERICA'S MOST MILITANT ADVOCATES OF RACIAL AND
SOCIAL JUSTICE. FROM HIS ACTIONS, SPEECHES, AND WRITINGS EMERGED
THE FOUNDATION FOR THE BLACK POWER MOVEMENT.
STUDYING WITH ROBERT F. WILLIAMS IS ESSENTIAL FOR ALL RBG STREET
SCHOLARS THINK TANK LEARNERS WHO INTENDS TO DRAW LESSONS FROM
THE 1960’S LIBERATION STRUGGLE. HIS WORKS WILL INFORM YOU ON THE
CIVIL RIGHTS AND BLACK POWER MOVEMENTS, AND AMERICAN
RADICALISM, AND ON ONE OF THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY POLITICAL
CAREERS IN AMERICAN HISTORY.
IF ONE COULD ASK THE LEADERS COMMONLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE
BLACK POWER AND BLACK NATIONALIST MOVEMENTS OF THE 1960S--
MALCOLM X, KWAME TORUE (STOKELY CARMICHAEL) , JAMIAL AL-AMIN
(RAP BROWN), AMIRI BARAKA (LEROI JONES) , AND BLACK PANTHERS HUEY
NEWTON, BOBBY SEALE AND ELDRIDGE CLEAVER--WHAT INDIVIDUAL HAD
THE GREATEST INFLUENCE ON THEIR POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT, SURELY
ONE OF THE FIRST TO BE NAMED WOULD BE ROBERT FRANKLIN WILLIAMS.
ROBERT F. WILLIAMS MULTI-MEDIA STUDIES PORTAL

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ONE OF THE MOST UNDERESTIMATED FORCES IN AMERICAN POLITICAL
HISTORY:
ROBERT F. WILLIAMS, BORN IN UNION COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA, IS ONE
OF THE MOST UNDERESTIMATED FORCES IN AMERICAN POLITICAL
HISTORY. TO AN EXTENT THIS IS UNDERSTANDABLE BECAUSE HIS MOST
INFLUENTIAL YEARS WERE LIVED IN EXILE IN CUBA AND CHINA. HIS PUBLIC
COMMUNICATIONS WERE SUPPRESSED BY THE CIA AND THE U.S. POSTAL
SERVICE, AND HIS IDEAS OF ARMED STRUGGLE TOO MILITANT FOR THE U.S.
NEWS MEDIA TO TREAT OBJECTIVELY.
WILLIAMS'S LIFELONG PARTNER IN POLITICS WAS HIS WIFE MABEL, WHO
JOINED HIM IN ARMED DEFIANCE OF RACIST ASSAULTS, CO-HOSTED HIS
RADIO PROGRAM, AND NETWORKED FOR HIS SOCIAL CAUSES. ROBERT AND
MABEL WILLIAMS PROVIDE AN EXTRAORDINARY RECORD OF A HUSBAND-
WIFE PARTNERSHIP IN THE CAUSE OF SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION.
A DARING STRATEGY OF LETHAL FORCE AGAINST VIGILANTE VIOLENCE:
WILLIAMS'S PHILOSOPHY WAS INITIALLY FORGED BY THE LABOR
MILITANTS HE HAD MET AS A MIGRANT INDUSTRIAL WORKER IN NORTHERN
CITIES, BY HIS EXPERIENCE IN THE U.S. MILITARY, AND BY THE RURAL
SOUTHERN TRADITION OF ARMED SELF-RELIANCE. AFTER LIVING OUTSIDE
THE SOUTH FOR SEVERAL YEARS, WILLIAMS RETURNED HOME TO NORTH
CAROLINAMONROEUNION COUNTY. HIS TALENTS AS AN ORGANIZER LED TO
A SURGE IN MEMBERSHIP. WHEN HIS MILITANCY PROVOKED A MASSIVE
BACKLASH BY THE KU KLUX KLAN, WILLIAMS LED ARMED AND
DISCIPLINED NAACP BRANCH MEMBERS AGAINST THE KLAN ASSAULTS.
AT ODDS WITH THE MAINSTREAM CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT:
WILLIAMS'S ADVOCACY OF THE USE OF FORCE RESULTED IN SERIOUS
DIFFERENCES WITH BOTH THE LONG STANDING LEADERSHIP OF THE
AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT AND WITH THE NEWLY EMERGING
NONVIOLENT DIRECT ACTION MOVEMENT OF MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.
HAVING UNNERVED THE NAACP NATIONAL OFFICE BY HIS WILLINGNESS TO
WORK WITH COMMUNISTS AND MARXISTS TO DRAMATIZE CASES THE
NAACP DEEMED TOO HOT TO HANDLE, WILLIAMS WAS REMOVED FROM THE
LEADERSHIP OF THE NAACP BRANCH BY ANXIOUS NATIONAL LEADERS.
ROBERT F. WILLIAMS MULTI-MEDIA STUDIES PORTAL

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COUNTERPOINT TO THE NONVIOLENT STRATEGIES OF KING:
BY 1961, WILLIAMS SEEMED DESTINED TO STAND AS A NATIONAL LEADER
WHO ADVOCATED AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE NONVIOLENT DIRECT ACTION
SUPPORTED BY MARTIN LUTHER KING. BUT WILLIAMS WAS DETOURED
FROM NATIONAL LEADERSHIP BECAUSE OF AN EPISODE INVOLVING THE
FREEDOM RIDERS IN WHICH HE WAS ACCUSED OF KIDNAPPING A
KLANSMAN AND HIS WIFE. IN ONE OF THE GREAT ESCAPES IN AMERICAN
HISTORY, THE WILLIAMS FAMILY, INCLUDING TWO SMALL CHILDREN,
ELUDED THE FBI, KLAN VIGILANTES, STATE POLICE FROM NORTH
CAROLINA TO NEW YORK, AND THE ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE.
TO THE CHAGRIN OF NORTH CAROLINA OFFICIALS, THEY RE-EMERGED IN
CUBA IN THE FALL OF 1961.
"THE CRUSADER":
THE PROTOTYPE OF THE BLACK POWER AGENDA EVOLVED IN WILLIAMS'S
NEWSLETTER, THE CRUSADER, FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1959. ENGAGINGLY
WRITTEN AND INCLUDING A COLUMN BY MABEL, THE CRUSADER
DISSEMINATED THE WILLIAMS'S HOMESPUN RADICALISM AND CHRONICLED
THE RACIAL STRUGGLE IN NORTH CAROLINA AND THROUGHOUT THE
SOUTH. THE CRUSADER'S DARING CONTENT BEDEVILED MONROE'S
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM, ESPOUSED MILITANT ARMED
RESISTANCE, AND CHASTISED MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. AND THE
PROPONENTS OF PASSIVE RESISTANCE.
"RADIO FREE DIXIE":
IN CUBA, ROBERT BECAME A CELEBRITY AND FRIEND OF CUBAN LEADER
FIDEL CASTRO. THE CUBAN GOVERNMENT PROVIDED HIM WITH A
TRANSFORMER CAPABLE OF BROADCASTING TO THE ENTIRE CONTINENTAL
UNITED STATES. SEIZING THE OPPORTUNITY, ROBERT AND MABEL CREATED
THE WEEKLY PROGRAM, "RADIO FREE DIXIE." THEIR BROADCASTS
INCLUDED AN INFLUENTIAL MIX OF PROGRESSIVE BLACK JAZZ (MUCH OF IT
SHIPPED TO CUBA BY LEROI JONES IN NEW YORK); COMMENTARY ON
GLOBAL LIBERATION MOVEMENTS, AND ROBERT WILLIAMS'S SCATHING
COMMENTARY ON AMERICAN POLITICAL HYPOCRISY. HE CONTINUED TO
PUBLISH THE CRUSADER, WHOSE CIRCULATION GREW TO 15,000 IN SPITE OF
OBSTRUCTION BY THE U.S. POSTAL SERVICE.
ROBERT F. WILLIAMS MULTI-MEDIA STUDIES PORTAL

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"NEGROES WITH GUNS":
IN 1962, WILLIAMS PUBLISHED THE MANIFESTO, NEGROES WITH GUNS. THIS
TRACT RECOUNTED THE HISTORY OF HIS ARMED STRUGGLES AGAINST THE
KLAN AND ARTICULATED HIS PHILOSOPHY OF THE PLACE OF ARMED SELF-
DEFENSE IN THE FREEDOM STRUGGLE. NEGROES WITH GUNS IS AN
AMERICAN POLITICAL CLASSIC, ON PAR WITH THOMAS PAINE'S COMMON
SENSE, OR MARTIN LUTHER KING'S "LETTER FROM BIRMINGHAM JAIL." IT
ENGAGED MANY OF THE BEST MINDS IN THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT,
SUCH AS BAYARD RUSTIN AND MARTIN LUTHER KING, WHO ASSAILED IT AT
LENGTH. HUEY P. NEWTON DREW HEAVILY ON NEGROES WITH GUNS IN
DRAFTING THE ORIGINAL CONSTITUTION OF THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY.
IT WAS EXTREMELY INFLUENTIAL IN TURNING STUDENT NON-VIOLENT
COORDINATING COMMITTEE LEADERS FROM PACIFISTS TO BLACK POWER
MILITANTS. WILLIAMS WAS ONE OF THE VERY FEW CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS
WHOM MALCOLM X OPENLY PRAISED.
ANTIWAR ACTIVITY IN VIETNAM:
WILLIAMS' JEREMIADS AGAINST AMERICAN SOCIETY INTENSIFIED WITH
THE ESCALATION OF THE VIETNAM WAR. HE VISITED WITH HO CHI MINH IN
NORTH VIETNAM AND JOINED IN VARIOUS ANTI-WAR ACTIVITIES TO
DISCOURAGE AFRICAN AMERICANS FROM FIGHTING.
YEARS IN CHINA:
WILLIAMS RELOCATED TO CHINA IN 1966 DURING THE HEIGHT OF THE
CULTURAL REVOLUTION. THERE AS IN CUBA WILLIAMS ENJOYED A
CELEBRITY STATUS AND FRATERNIZED WITH MAO ZEDONG AND CHOU EN
LAI. HIS INTEREST IN MAOIST REVOLUTIONARY THOUGHT FOUND ITS WAY
INTO THE CRUSADER, WHICH CONTINUED TO REACH AN INFLUENTIAL
UNDERGROUND AUDIENCE AMONG BLACK POWER MILITANTS IN THE
UNITED STATES.
PROFOUND INFLUENCE ON THE BLACK POWER MOVEMENT:
IN SPITE OF HIS EXILE, ROBERT WILLIAMS'S INFLUENCE WAS PROFOUND.
HIS EMPHASIS ON SITUATING THE AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS STRUGGLE IN
THE CONTEXT OF INTERNATIONAL LIBERATION MOVEMENTS GAINED WIDE
ACCEPTANCE, AS DID HIS PHILOSOPHY OF ARMED RESISTANCE. HIS
ROBERT F. WILLIAMS MULTI-MEDIA STUDIES PORTAL

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MILITANT RHETORICAL STYLE-VIGOROUS, COLORFUL, AND VITRIOLIC-WAS
EMULATED THROUGHOUT THE MOVEMENT. A DEDICATED NETWORK OF
WILLIAMS'S FOLLOWERS IN AMERICAAFRICA TO PROMOTE HIS MILITANT
PHILOSOPHY AMONG INTELLECTUALS AND ACTIVISTS. THE BLACK
PANTHER PARTY'S PUBLIC POSTURE OF THE ARMED MILITANT WAS
CONSCIOUSLY INFLUENCED BY WILLIAMS'S VISION.
WITHDRAWAL FROM LEADERSHIP AFTER RETURNING TO THE UNITED
STATES:
IN 1969, ROBERT WILLIAMS RETURNED TO THE UNITED STATES WITH THE
QUIET ACQUIESCENCE OF NONE OTHER THAN PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON.
THIS WAS DONE AS A GESTURE OF GOODWILL IN THE PRESIDENT'S EFFORTS
TO CULTIVATE THE CHINESE LEADERSHIP FOR HIS HISTORIC VISIT TO
CHINA, EVEN THOUGH THE FBI HAD WARNED NIXON THAT WILLIAMS
COULD LIKELY FILL THE ROLE OF ASSASSINATED CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS,
MALCOLM X AND MARTIN LUTHER KING. BUT AFTER ASSESSING THE STATE
OF THE MOVEMENT IN 1970, RIFE WITH MADDENING INTERNECINE
IDEOLOGICAL DIVISIONS, AND MURDERS AND INCARCERATION OF
NUMEROUS BLACK MILITANTS, WILLIAMS, NOW DISILLUSIONED,
WITHDREW FROM ALL BUT NOMINAL LEADERSHIP IN THE MILITANT
GROUPS THAT WERE FOUNDED IN HIS NAME. THE MATERIAL ON HIS
DISILLUSIONMENT WITH THE MOVEMENT IS A SUBJECT OF VAST RESEARCH
SIGNIFICANCE IN AND OF ITSELF.
WILLIAMS BECAME A RESEARCH ASSOCIATE AT THE INSTITUTE FOR
CHINESE STUDIES AT UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN. HE AND MABEL MOVED TO
THE REMOTE, HISTORICALLY INTEGRATED, MICHIGANTOWNSHIP OF
BALDWIN, WHERE THEY REMAINED FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE. IN BALDWIN,
THE WILLIAMSES CONTINUED THEIR DEDICATION TO SOCIAL
TRANSFORMATION, FOCUSING ON THE LOCAL LEVEL. HIS ROLE AS A
NATIONAL LEADER SUBSIDED, BUT HIS IMAGE AMONG THE SUCCEEDING
GENERATION OF BLACK POWER ADVOCATES REMAINS PROFOUND. LIKE
THE BLACK FOLK HERO "JOHN HENRY," ROBERT F. WILLIAMS OUTWITTED
AND TORMENTED THE OPPRESSORS OF AFRICAN AMERICANS.
ROBERT F. WILLIAMS MULTI-MEDIA STUDIES PORTAL

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RBG Honorable Robert F. Williams Studies Collection
79 p.
Robert Williams and the Black Power Movement
13 p.
Robert F. Williams Negroes With Guns
4 p.
Radio Free Dixie-Robert F. Williams and His Wife, Mabel Broadcasting From Cuba
ROBERT F. WILLIAMS MULTI-MEDIA STUDIES PORTAL

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22 p.
I Will Not Crawl Exceprts From Robert F Williams on Black Struggle and Armed Self-
Defense in Monroe N.C., RFW
23 p.
Listen Brother: A Pamphlet by Robert F Williams
28 p.
Robert Franklin Williams and Mabel Wlliams, Dar Es Salaam 1968
Video Enhanced Version /Robert Franklin Williams and Mabel Wlliams, Dar Es Salaam 1968
http://www.slideshare.net/rbgstreetscholar1/robert-franklin-williams-and-mabel-wlliams-dar-es-
salaam-1968
ROBERT F. WILLIAMS MULTI-MEDIA STUDIES PORTAL

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LET IT BURN - The Coming Destruction of the USA?
"The prospect of peaceful integration is dead. White sanity is dead.
The American Dream is dead and the cringing nigger is dead.
All were killed by the White man's satanic hatred and violence."
- Robert Franklin Williams, May 1968 (comment on assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.)
On You Tube from: Radical Films
http://www.radfilms.com/Let_It_Burn.html
ROBERT F. WILLIAMS MULTI-MEDIA STUDIES PORTAL