Curtis Austin, Up Against the Wall: Violence in the Making and Unmaking of the Black Panther Party U. of Arkansas Press, 2006
Ordinary People Living Extraordinary Lives: The Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi
Why did the Black Panther Party use violent rhetoric? Was the Panthers' struggle for liberation enhanced by their commitment to armed self-defense, or hurt by it? Curtis Austin argues that the Panthers' violent rhetoric both influenced the organization's growth and helped to justify the massive police repression directed against it.