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We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance
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We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance Hardback - 2024

by Kellie Carter Jackson

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This seller has earned a 4.51 of 5 Stars rating from internet customers.
4.51 / 5 (1320 total reviews)

Reader reviews for We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance

Review summary

This seller has earned a 4.51 of 5 Stars rating from internet customers.
4.51 / 5 (1320 total reviews)

Readers widely praised Kellie Carter Jackson’s We Refuse as a powerful, timely, and accessible history that reframes Black resistance beyond the simplistic nonviolence/violence binary. Many highlighted its rigorous research, vivid storytelling, and clear organization into Revolution, Protection, Force, Flight, and Joy, along with its focus on women, lesser-known episodes, and the author’s family history. The argument that force and self-defense have been necessary alongside everyday refusal and joy resonated strongly, with many calling it essential for classrooms and public debate; the author-narrated audiobook also drew acclaim. A few noted occasional repetition or a more academic tone, but overall reception was emphatically positive.

Readers say this book is:
powerfulwell-researchedthought-provokingessentialaccessibleprovocativetimelyeye-openingmovingwell-organized

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From the publisher

An "unsparing, erudite, and incisive" (Jelani Cobb, staff writer, The New Yorker) reframing of the past and present of Black resistance--both nonviolent and violent--to white supremacy

Named a Best Book of 2024 by Smithsonian * Kirkus * Chicago Review of Books * Emancipator * Ms. Magazine

Black resistance to white supremacy is often reduced to a simple binary, between Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s nonviolence and Malcolm X's "by any means necessary." In We Refuse, historian Kellie Carter Jackson urges us to move past this false choice, offering an unflinching examination of the breadth of Black responses to white oppression, particularly those pioneered by Black women.

The dismissal of "Black violence" as an illegitimate form of resistance is itself a manifestation of white supremacy, a distraction from the insidious, unrelenting violence of structural racism. Force--from work stoppages and property destruction to armed revolt--has played a pivotal part in securing freedom and justice for Black people since the days of the American and Haitian Revolutions. But violence is only one tool among many. Carter Jackson examines other, no less vital tactics that have shaped the Black struggle, from the restorative power of finding joy in the face of suffering to the quiet strength of simply walking away.

Clear-eyed, impassioned, and ultimately hopeful, We Refuse offers a fundamental corrective to the historical record, a love letter to Black resilience, and a path toward liberation.

Winner of the Organization of American Historians' 2025 Darlene Clark Hines Award

Details

  • Title We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance
  • Author Kellie Carter Jackson
  • Binding Hardback
  • Pages 304
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Seal Press (CA)
  • Publication date 2024-06-04
  • Features Bibliography, Index
  • ISBN 9781541602908 / 1541602900
  • Weight 1.07 lbs (0.49 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.51 x 6.27 x 1.08 in (24.16 x 15.93 x 2.74 cm)
  • Themes
    • Ethnic Orientation: African American
    • Sex & Gender: Feminine
    • Topical: Black History
    • Topical:
    • Topical: Women's Interest
  • Category History - U.S.
  • Library of Congress subjects African Americans - Politics and government, African Americans - Civil rights - History
  • Library of Congress Catalogue Number 2023046379
  • Dewey Decimal Code 323.119

Media reviews

Citations

  • Kirkus Reviews, 04/01/2024, Page 0
  • Publishers Weekly, 04/01/2024, Page 0

About the author

Kellie Carter Jackson is the Michael and Denise Kellen '68 Associate Professor and Chair of Africana Studies at Wellesley College. Her book Force and Freedom was a finalist for the Frederick Douglass Book Prize and the Museum of African American History Stone Book Award. She is the cohost of the Radiotopia podcast "This Day in Esoteric Political History." She lives outside of Boston with her husband and three children.
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