{"product_id":"pure-fire-self-defense-as-activism-in-the-civil-rights-era-paperback","title":"Pure Fire: Self-Defense as Activism in the Civil Rights Era - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eChristopher B. Strain\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003ePure Fire\u003c\/i\u003e is a history of self-defense as it was debated and practiced during the civil rights era of the 1950s and 1960s. Moving beyond the realm of organized protests and demonstrations, Christopher B. Strain reframes self-defense as a daily concern for many African Americans as they faced the continual menace of white aggression. In such circumstances, deciding to defend oneself and one's family was to assert a long-denied right and, consequently, to adopt a liberating new attitude. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eTo grasp the subtleties of this activist approach to self-defense in the struggle for black equality, Strain says we must break down the dichotomies of the movement constructed by journalists, scholars, and even activists: a pre-1965 era versus a post-1965 era, nonviolence versus violence, integration versus segregation, Martin Luther King Jr. versus Malcolm X. These and other oversimplifications have led to a blurring of distinctions between the violence of racial animosity and the necessary force of self-defense, and to the misinterpretation of nonviolence as passivity. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003ePure Fire\u003c\/i\u003e looks anew at such familiar figures as Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, and Huey Newton, as well as issues and events including gun ownership, the Watts riot of 1965 in Los Angeles, and the rise of the Black Panther Party. It also profiles Robert F. Williams of North Carolina, Charles Sims of the Louisiana-based Deacons for Defense and Justice, and other outspoken black advocates of armed self-defense. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis provocative new study reveals how self-defense underpinned notions of personhood, black advancement, citizenship, and \"Americanness,\" holding deep implications for civil rights, civil liberties, and human rights.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eChristopher B. Strain is an associate professor of history and American studies at the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College of Florida Atlantic University.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 264\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.69 x 8.88 x 6.64 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e February 21, 2005\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51757855703328,"sku":"9780820326870","price":59.87,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/7eabac7d77de138b9ba7a9895d70b849.webp?v=1780113269","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/pure-fire-self-defense-as-activism-in-the-civil-rights-era-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}