Alternatives Library Collection: Black Rage

The largest theme of Black Rage is, of course, the titular theme of the entire book: rage. More specifically, that the grief and stress that Black Americans constantly face has no other outcome than to ultimately manifest as rage. At its very core, the foundations that the US is built upon has been designed to put black people at a disadvantage. Grier and Cobbs reiterate that these systematic disadvantages are psychologically taxing. Not only as psychiatrists themselves, but Black American psychiatrists practicing in the 60s, they are very familiar with how mental stress affects all parts of one’s existence. Whether this dissonance manifests as grief, pain or frustration, the assertion is that it will ultimately become rage. Grier and Cobbs were very aware of the mournful and desolate feeling that the contents of their chapters invoked. According to them, “This dismal tone has been deliberate. It has been an attempt to evoke a certain quality of depression and hopelessness in the reader and to stir these feelings. These are the most common feelings tasted by black people in America” (Grier and Cobbs 174). They make no attempt at exaggeration with this comment, as reading this book will undeniably open your mind to new feelings of grief, whether you are a black american or otherwise. This directly leads into the second theme of the book: Not only is the rage across Black Americans ultimate, but it is inevitable and irreversible. This rage is a pervasive feeling that, although the source of it may not be immediately obvious, it is ever present. Through this, Grier and Cobbs make inferences of the near future where the rage that Black Americans feel will continue to build until a breaking point is reached. As they put it, “No matter what repressive measures are invoked against the blacks, they will never swallow their rage and go back to blind hopelessness. If existing oppressions and humiliating disenfranchisements are to be lifted, they will have to be lifted most speedily, or catastrophe will follow” (Grier and Cobbs 179).

As all the chapters outline, it doesn’t matter where Black Americans find themselves in society. Man, woman, rich, poor, educated, uneducated, married or poor, it doesn’t matter. The system will continue to do as it is designed until the collective rage simply becomes too much to bear. What happens when that rage reaches its ultimate peak will be dependent on the circumstances that an individual Black American finds themselves in. However, Patrisse Khan-Cullors is a perfect example of when rage turns to activism. In her memoir “When they call you a terrorist,” Khan-Cullors reflects on her moments hearing that Trayvon Martin’s killer would be acquitted of all charges. “I cannot stop myself from crying. As much as I want to. I weep hard. We all do. And then I get angry. Once again my world is defined by cognitive dissonance…” (Khan-Cullors 179). Soon after, from this rage, she resolves that she is going to make change, one way or another. In her case, her grief in the US incarceration system actively allowing the murder of young black men had become rage. This rage then fueled her to take stronger, more direct steps in her activism.

The copy of Black Rage that we have in the alternative library has a 1975 bermuda authority dollar stored within the pages that has been there for an unknown amount of time. The intention of storing a bermuda authority dollar is unknown, but in the meantime it is being used as a bookmark for anyone who checks out the book.

3 years after his "I Have a Dream" speech, Dr. Martin Luther King discusses in an interview rage among black americans and rioting. He discusses the mindset and rage behind why some black americans choose to riot, and why he disagrees with the method.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K0BWXjJv5s

Grier and Cobb’s points are entirely relevant to our modern day sphere, but the core of their writing finds a much greater context when considering the time period that they were writing this book in. The book was first published and printed in July of 1968, exactly three months after Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated. The public response to his death is probably the most poignant example of black rage in recent Black American history. According to The Library of Illinois, nearly the entire week after MLK’s death was filled with national public unrest, but the epicenter of the rage took place in Chicago. There were over 30 major fires reported in the afternoon and evening of April 5th 1968 alone. That weekend brought the climax of the riots. “By Saturday, April 6, however, 6,000 National Guard troops had arrived in Chicago to suppress the riots and to protect firefighters in the field. The following day, 5,000 U.S. Army troops arrived to further curtail the rioters and by Monday the riots had dissipated and the fires were extinguished” (Groves). The riots resulted in 12 civilian deaths and 170 destroyed buildings. When Grier and Cobbs wrote of the “catastrophe” that would follow an unmended abrasion against Black Americans, it’s possible they could have not even known that these riots would happen, as MLK’s death is only mentioned at the very end of the book. Yet, it still remains entirely relevant even in the modern day. George Floyd’s murder happened only 4 years ago, giving a very recent example of a national feeling of grief transfering into rage. According to the BBC News, public unrest after Floyd’s death lasted for weeks, and public protests mirrored some of the actions of the Chicago riots in 1968, breaking windows and setting fires. Los Angeles was among one of the most affected cities. “Numerous shops have been looted, including on the famous retail avenues… …while overhead footage showed fires burning. Earlier police fired rubber bullets and hit protesters with batons. Hundreds of arrests have been made” (George). The institutional blind spot that allows black men to be murdered without repercussion has previously and currently caused rage among Black Americans, and Grier and Cobbs’s book predicts more unrest to be inevitable if nothing continues to change.

This right here is the most prominent and poignant point made in the book, and my own takeaway that I will remember above the rest. Everyone hears at one point that history will repeat itself if things don’t change, but after reading Black Rage by Grier and Cobbs, I now know that this is only half of the truth. It’s not only that history will repeat itself, it’s that history has repeated itself due to stagnancy and will continue to repeat itself if the pattern continues. Public unrest turned to rage when Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated, and again when police targeted black trans women during the stonewall riots, and again when police murdered George Floyd. Changes need to happen not only quickly but also effectively, because otherwise the rage amongst Black Americans will only grow.

The week following Dr. Martin Luther King's death, Chicago was faced with some of the most violent riots in the history of the city. 

William H. Grier and Price M. Cobbs are interviewed on the street of San Francisco. 
https://youtu.be/gdbTJiMwUhQ?si=sepkPqCDn2XLtQbH