The article deals with the issue of violence and manhood among militants in the Civil Rights and the Black Panther Movements. It first addresses the articulation of African American manhood in a context of fierce white slavery. Then, Simon Wendt gets unto the rise of the non-violence approach to protest from the 1920s, with African American leaders heavily influenced by the Indian decolonization example. Non-violence became a fundamental principle of the struggle against segregation and racism during the Civil Rights Movement.

With the disappointment of the aftermath of the Civil Rights Movement and the development of the Black power movement, the author notices a shift in the approach to violence. Violence appeared to be necessary as a means to directly oppose the racial status quo but also as a fundamental element of masculinity. The issue was that this reformulation of masculinity, expressed in the machismo, armed bravado and martial rhetoric, was often done to the expense of Black women.

“‘They Finally Found Out that We Really Are Men’: Violence, Non-Violence and Black Manhood in the Civil Rights Era” offers an in-depth analysis of the gender articulation in the Black militancy, and especially in the Black Panther Movement. It allows to link the gendered meanings of Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song to the broader context, especially since its view was defined by Huey P. Newton as a necessary prerequisite before entering the Black Panthers. A parallel is thus drawn between the new masculinity of the Black militancy articulated to challenge white supremacy, and the depiction of masculinity in Van Peebles’ movie.