4.5
We Refuse
ByPublisher Description
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
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
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesWe Refuse Reviews
4.5
“I learned so much! This should be required reading for everyone. Wow wow wow.”
“Kellie discusses means of refusal to white supremacy through revolution, force, protection, resistance, flight and joy. It is a wonderful reminder of the work that has been done and the work we must continue to survive and eventually thrive. This is a such a timely book with an abundance of gems. I highly recommend reading it.
“The work of resistance must be clever.””
“If you're interested in learning true history, then this is a must read. The book is full of historical information that should be dug into deeper but also not sugar coating actual events. Highly recommend!!”
About Kellie Carter Jackson
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.
Other books by Kellie Carter Jackson
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