Black Rage is a book by psychiatrists William H. Grier and Price M. Cobbs. Released in 1968 after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr. assassination

Martin Luther King, Jr., a prominent American leader of the African-American civil rights movement and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, at the age of 39...

 and the subsequent riots

1968 Washington, D.C. riots

Five days of race riots erupted in Washington, D.C. following the April 4, 1968 assassination of Civil Rights Movement-leader Martin Luther King, Jr. Civil unrest affected at least 110 U.S...

, the book received significant attention immediately and in the years since, and led to an ABC

American Broadcasting Company

The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

 TV special in 1969 entitled "To Be Black."

The book

The book led to the legal concept of black rage, notably used in the trial of Colin Ferguson.

The authors

William H. Grier is the father of comedian David Alan Grier

David Alan Grier

David Alan Grier , also known as "D.A.G." , is an American actor and comedian known for his work on the sketch comedy television show In Living Color.-Early life:...

.

Price Cobbs wrote an autobiography entitled "My American Life: From Rage to Entitlement" about his experiences following Black Rage. ISBN 0743496221

New York Times review

After Kenneth B. Clark published a negative review of the book in the New York Times, the authors wrote an editorial, stating "after 62 highly favorable reviews, the 63rd and first critical comment came from a black brother."