Robert F. Williams: Self-Defense, Self-Respect, & Self-Determination

President of the NAACP in Monroe, North Carolina, he led the Black community in preventing Klan attacks and opposing the racism of governmental agencies. He was falsely accused of kidnapping charges by the FBI and was forced into exile. Williams lived in Cuba and China from 1961-1969. From Cuba he broadcast Radio Free Dixie, which aired the message of Black Liberation to the Southern US. He built strong relationships with world leaders like Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and Mao Tse Tung, and organized international support for the human rights struggles of African-Americans. This audio documentary chronicles Williams' life through his interviews, and speeches and is narrated by his widow, Mabel Williams.

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.

“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, African Heritage Studies Society

“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’s courage, his unyielding internationalism, and the movement he helped to build.” —Robin D. G. Kelley, author of Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination

“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, editor of Imprisoned Intellectuals

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