3. Strain, Christopher Barry. “Civil Rights and ... - Freedom Archives

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Self-defense, in relation to black history and black thought, underwent a
transformation during the period 1955-l%8 . In conjunction with a heightened interest in
the possibilities of nonviolence, the period in question delineated the re-establishment of
self-defense as an operating principle in the souls of twentieth-century black folk . In a
relatively short time, nonviolent direct action gained favor as the preferred method of
protest by black activists during 1955-56 . It also became sacrosanct within civil rights
circles as a morally righteous demonstration of faith in humanity ; however, resistance to
nonviolence concurnently grew from 1957 to 1%2. In the next two years, 1%3-64,
Malcolm X launched a frontal assault on the nonviolent ideal that led many to question
openly its sacrosanct nature . In the following two years, 1%5-66, the practical virtues of
self-defense became apparent with the actions of the Deacons for Defense and Justice ;
however, by 1968, other nationalist groups such as the Black Panthers had clambered
along the slippery slope between justifiable self-defense and naked aggression, and
fomented the politicization of self-defense . Intensified by the two-steps-forward, one-
step-back progress of civil rights agitation, the frustration of battered activists, and the
emotional energy of Black Power, self-defense became even more imperative in the quest
for black equality during this period . U it became more central to the black freedom
struggle at this time, then it also strayed from conventional notions of what self-defense
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