We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance

Kellie Carter Jackson
Publisher: Seal Press (CA)
January 27 2026
EAN: 9781541601598
ISBN: 1541601599
Synopsis: 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

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 looks beyond 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. Force--from work stoppages and property destruction to armed revolt--has played a pivotal part in securing freedom and justice for Black people for centuries. But force 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.