[News] Friday 5/20, Robert F Williams CD Release

[News at freedomarchives.org]

FRIDAY, MAY 20TH
FREEDOM ARCHIVES, AK PRESS & EASTSIDE ARTS ALLIANCE present:
ROBERT F. WILLIAMS: Self-Defense, Self-Respect, and Self-Determination

Featuring: MABEL & JOHN WILLIAMS (the wife and son of Robert F. Williams)
AMIRI BARAKA: poet & playwright
DESTINY ARTS and the Howard Wiley Trio

$5-$25 donation
First Unitarian Church of Oakland | 685 14th Street | 7 pm
co-sponsored by Eastside Arts Alliance

Celebrating the release of Robert F. Williams, a new audio documentary 
produced by the Freedom Archives and published by AK Press. Also available: 
a Robert Williams resource guide

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.

ADVANCE PRAISE:
...the story of a family who fought together, struggled together and stayed 
together, united and strong in the face of racism and oppression... It is a 
story of human dignity and courage in the face of overwhleming odds... 
-ASSATA SHAKUR

Robert Williams was an extraordinary man, who has been largely lost in the 
history books. His story is dramatic and compelling and this audio record 
of his life is an important contribution to contemporary history. -HOWARD ZINN

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' courage, 
his unyielding internationalism, and the movement he helped to build. 
-ROBIN D. G. KELLEY

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

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


The Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 863-9977
www.freedomarchives.org 
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