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

Williams' ideas came to fruition in l%2 with the publication of Negroes With
~, in which he gave his version of what had happened in Monroe, and also outlined
his philosophy of self-defense. Marc Shaeffer ofNBC News arranged for the publication
of Neg~+oes with Guns with Marzani and Munsell . The book was later translated into
French (Des N~¢res avec des fusils) and published by Fran~ois Maspero in 1966.
Mohammed Speaks, the voice of the Nation of Islam, called the book "powerful,"
"provocative ;' "inspiring," and "fascinating," in addition to "the most significant and
prophetic book since The Souls of Black Folk .' as Ahead of its time, the book was
received quietly, but grew to become an underground classic, particularly among black
militants . Renewed interest in the book would lead to a second edition published in 1973
by Third World Press .
As evidenced by the roview of Negroes With Guns in Mohammed Sneaks,
Williams' ideas resonated with the Nation of Islam, whom C. Eric Lincoln would
characterize in 1961 as "America's fastest growing racist sect ."~e The "Black Muslims,"
as they were known, comprised a church-based movement founded in Detroit in L930 by
the self-proclaimed prophet Wallace D . Ford. Ford was quickly succeeded by Elijah
(Poole) Mohammed, who mixed the church's message of African pride with black
separatism and hostility toward whites . The Black Muslims were soon to produce a
spokesman whose words regarding self-defense would ring in the ears of black and white
~ gSylvester Leaks, "`Negroes With Guns' Powerful, Provocative : Author Attacks
Credo of Passive Resistance," MohammedS~ (January 31, 1%3) : 14-15 .
19C . Eric Lincoln, The Black Muslims in America (Boston : Beacon Dross, 1%1), 4.
65