Cynthia Griggs Fleming. Soon We Will Not Cry: The Liberation of Ruby Doris Smith Robinson. Lanham, Md: Rowman and Littlefield, Inc., 1998. xiii + 224 pp Cynthia Griggs Fleming. Soon We Will Not Cry: The Liberation of Ruby Smith Robinson. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1998. x + 228 pp. $24.95, cloth, ISBN 978-0-8476-8971-2. Reviewed by Marian B. Mollin Published on H-Women (August, 2000) Cynthia Griggs Fleming's Soon We Will Not der and race that defined civil rights activism dur‐ Cry: The Liberation of Ruby Doris Smith Robin‐ ing the early and mid-1960s. son, brings much needed attention to the life of an Robinson is certainly a worthy subject of important, yet largely overlooked, activist and or‐ study: a courageous activist, she quickly became ganizer in the modern black freedom struggle. one of SNCC's most powerful administrators. Fleming's book carefully recounts the short but Fleming chronicles Robinson's involvement in full life of Ruby Doris Smith Robinson, who joined early sit-ins, marches and pickets, her willingness the civil rights movement in 1960 as a young Spel‐ to go to jail for her convictions, and her growing man College coed and who played a critical role in administrative responsibilities within SNCC. the development and evolution of SNCC, the Stu‐ Through Robinson's life, the reader gains an un‐ dent Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, until derstanding of the emotional turmoil that ac‐ her death from cancer in 1967. The work relies tivism entailed (from optimism to determination, heavily on oral interviews with Robinson's family, and ultimately to frustration), the risks involved co-workers, and friends, and thus provides a very in militant action, and the difficulties in running personal look into the complex dynamics of gen‐ an organization like SNCC, where few people were willing to devote themselves to the unglam‐ H-Net Reviews ourous, but critical, behind-the-scenes work. spite their 'unladylike' behavior, Fleming persua‐ Fleming notably places Robinson's story within a sively argues that most young female activists wider historical context of African-American ur‐ "did not completely abandon ... notions of proper ban migration, community-building within At‐ black womanhood"(p.51). They simply trans‐ lanta's black neighborhoods, local and national formed them to suit the movement's needs. resistance to racism, and the tradition of black Fleming's analysis of this interplay between women's higher education. race, gender, respectability, and activism is one of It is within this context that the meaning of the books most important contributions. Fleming Robinson's life takes shape. From Fleming's per‐ goes to great pains to describe the many opportu‐ spective, Robinson's family and community histo‐ nities that black women had for leadership and ries inevitably led her to civil rights activism and self-expression within the student movement. into SNCC. Like many other blacks in the early SNCC was an organization that clearly gave talent‐ twentieth century, Robinson's mother and father ed young women like Robinson the room to grow migrated from the rural to the urban South as a and mature, and standing up for one's principle's way to improve their lives. Atlanta provided edu‐ and beliefs ultimately became the most powerful cational and economic opportunities that could source of dignity and respect. Fleming's work also not be found in the Georgia countryside, and its reveals how women like Robinson worried about vibrant and close-knit African American commu‐ their hair and personal appearances even as they nity helped insulate the Smith family from some put their bodies and their freedom on the line. of the daily humiliations of racism and Jim Crow. Personal conduct was important, and black wom‐ Given this background, the Robinson family's en's adherence to seemingly traditional moral middle-class aspirations -- and the emphasis they standards may have served as a counterweight to placed on religious morality, education, and cul‐ the radical challenges that these women, and ture (even in the form of much dreaded piano their male cohorts, were making to America's so‐ lessons!) -- can clearly be interpreted as a form of cial and political landscape. Nevertheless, it resistance to racial oppression.[1] would be a mistake to characterize these women Robinson's resistance went several steps fur‐ as quiet and demure. Many became powerful and ther, even as it drew upon the traditions that had outspoken leaders who were known for their shaped her life. Despite the virulence of Southern courage, tenacity, and no-nonsense approach to racism, Robinson grew up in an environment that social change. And while Robinson had a uniquely helped "produce a self-assured young woman"(p. influential administrative role within SNCC, she 38). Robinson's sense of confidence and dignity was not the only black woman to wield authority was nurtured by Spelman College's tradition of and influence within the freedom struggle. creating educated and virtuous women, and at Power and authority came at a price. As Flem‐ the same time it pushed her into militant action. ing explains, many black women found it difficult As Fleming describes it, African American college to balance their social lives with their commit‐ women of the 1950s and early 1960s faced a mod‐ ment to the movement. "Those [women] with ern version of what Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham leadership responsibilities often felt the need to calls "the politics of respectability."[2] But "re‐ cultivate a tough assertive image," she writes. spectability" began to take on a different meaning "Some were convinced that dating a SNCC man as confident young college women like Robinson could compromise that image and ultimately di‐ risked attack and arrest when they sat-in at lunch minish their effectiveness" (p.102). Political com‐ counters and marched through the streets. De‐ mitment always came frst, even if it came at the 2 H-Net Reviews expense of one's sexual persona. In Robinson's the civil rights movement and beyond, emphasize case, even marriage and motherhood did not al‐ the difficulties that women faced while working low her to regain her full identity as a woman. with men.[4] Women's political priorities were not "People in SNCC," Fleming quotes one former ac‐ valued, many argue, or female activists became tivist as stating, "didn't view [Robinson] as a man invisible because they devoted themselves to or a woman; they viewed her as a strength." Or, in what sociologist Charles Payne calls "the slow re‐ the words of another, "I think that everyone ac‐ spectful work that made the dramatic moments cepted her as one of the boys" (p.124). possible."[5] If gender created one set of problems for civil Ruby Doris Smith Robinson's life, however, rights activists, race created another -- especially lays bare the myth that women disappeared sim‐ for the movement's black and white female volun‐ ply because they were relegated to behind-the- teers. Fleming notes how Robinson, in particular, scenes work. If Robinson was known for her ad‐ developed a reputation for hating the white wom‐ ministrative skills and commitment to communi‐ en in SNCC. An important and lengthy section of ty-based feld work, she was also known for her the book deconstructs this myth and analyzes the courage and bravery on the front lines of the sexual politics that emerged during the summer struggle. Yet, Fleming emphasizes, this militant of 1964, when large numbers of northern white stance was not enough to save Robinson from his‐ college students descended upon the South to as‐ torical and political obscurity. Sexism within sist in the Mississippi voter registration campaign. SNCC may have played a role, although Fleming Numerous scholars and historians have pointed insists that such attitudes existed but did not dom‐ to sexual liaisons between white women and inate the organization. Robinson, herself, may black men as the key source of tension between have contributed to her anonymity: she repeated‐ black and white women.[3] Fleming agrees that ly shunned personal notoriety and believed "that such tensions existed, but argues that the conflicts the interests of the movement could be best ad‐ were not about political power or spurned ro‐ vanced by dedicated workers who would not al‐ mance. Instead, she insists, most of the problems low themselves to be singled out for media atten‐ stemmed from cultural differences and racial tion" (p.191). In an ironic twist, just as Robinson's naivete. Despite their good intentions, many militant activism made her invisible as a woman, white women did not seem to appreciate the polit‐ her race and her gender made her invisible as an ical ramifications of their personal behavior, the important political player. Militant women in oth‐ psychosexual dynamics of Southern racism, or er movements have shared the same fate. As simply "that their mere presence might endanger Fleming's work suggests, the obstacles to female the movement and the lives of their coworkers"(p. recognition and acclaim are numerous and com‐ 137). Black women, on the other hand, found such plex. No solutions are provided, but the dilemma details impossible to ignore. For Robinson and cannot be overlooked. others, Fleming argues, interracial relationships Ultimately, this book is a story of triumph, not per se were not the problem, but the chaos and failure. Fleming portrays Robinson's life as the disruption that they generated were. source of powerful personal liberation. "She had," Fleming's account of Robinson's life and ca‐ Fleming writes, "defied all of society's efforts to reer also raises a number of questions about how categorize her and circumscribe her ambitions" gender shapes the nature and perception of wom‐ (p.190).