Grace Lee Boggs
Encyclopedia
Grace Lee Boggs is an author, lifelong social activist and feminist. She is known for her years of political collaboration with C.L.R. James and Raya Dunayevskaya
in the 1940s
and 1950s
. She eventually went off in her own political direction in the 1960s
with her husband of some forty years, James Boggs
, until his death in 1993. Still active at 95 with new book The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First Century, written with Scott Kurashige and published by University of California Press
.
, she was the Chinese-American daughter of a restaurant owner. Her mother acted as an early feminist role model. She studied at Barnard College
on a scholarship and graduated in 1935 where she was influenced by Kant
and especially Hegel. She received her PhD from Bryn Mawr College
in 1940 where she wrote her dissertation on George Herbert Mead
. Facing significant barriers in the academic world as a woman of color in the 1940s, she took a job at low wages at the University of Chicago
Philosophy Library. As a result of their activism on tenants' rights, she joined the far left Workers Party (US)
, known for its Third Camp
position regarding the Soviet Union
which it saw as bureaucratic collectivist. At this point, she began the trajectory that would follow her for the rest of her life: a focus on struggles in the African-American community.
She met C.L.R. James during a speaking engagement in Chicago and moved to New York. She met many important activists and cultural figures such as Richard Wright
and Katharine Dunham. She also translated into English many of the essays in Karl Marx
's Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844
for the first time. She soon joined the Johnson-Forest tendency
led by C.L.R. James, Raya Dunayevskaya and Lee. They focused more centrally on marginalized groups such as women, people of color and youth as well as breaking with the notion of the vanguard party. While originally operating as a tendency of the Workers Party (US)
, they briefly rejoined the Socialist Workers Party (United States)
before leaving the Trotskyist left entirely. The Johnson-Forest tendency also characterized the USSR as State Capitalist. She wrote for the Johnson-Forest tendency under the party pseudonym Ria Stone. She married African American auto worker and political activist James Boggs
in 1953 with whom she politically collaborated for decades and moved to Detroit in the same year. Detroit would be the focus of her activism for the rest of her life.
When C.L.R. James and Raya Dunayevskaya split in the mid-1950s into Correspondence Publishing Committee
led by James and News and Letters led by Dunayevskaya, Grace Lee Boggs and James Boggs supported Correspondence Publishing Committee which C.L.R. James tried to advise while in exile in Britain.
In 1962, the Boggses broke with C.L.R. James and continued Correspondence Publishing Committee along with Lyman Paine
and Freddy Paine, while C.L.R. James' supporters, such as Martin Glaberman
, continued on as a new if short-lived organization, Facing Reality
. The ideas that formed the basis for the 1962 split can be seen as reflected in James Boggs' book, The American Revolution: Pages from a Black Worker's Notebook. Grace Lee Boggs unsuccessfully attempted to convince Malcolm X
to run for the United States Senate in 1964. In these years, Boggs wrote a number of books, including Revolution and Evolution in the Twentieth Century with James Boggs and focused on community activism in Detroit where she became a very widely known activist.
She founded Detroit Summer, a multicultural intergenerational youth program, in 1992 and has also been the recipient of numerous awards. As recently as 2005, she continued to write a column for the Michigan Citizen newspaper.
Raya Dunayevskaya
Raya Dunayevskaya was the founder of the philosophy of Marxist Humanism in the United States of America. At one time Leon Trotsky's secretary, she later split with him and ultimately founded the organization News and Letters Committees and was its leader until her death.-Biography:Of Jewish...
in the 1940s
1940s
File:1940s decade montage.png|Above title bar: events which happened during World War II : From left to right: Troops in an LCVP landing craft approaching "Omaha" Beach on "D-Day"; Adolf Hitler visits Paris, soon after the Battle of France; The Holocaust occurred during the war as Nazi Germany...
and 1950s
1950s
The 1950s or The Fifties was the decade that began on January 1, 1950 and ended on December 31, 1959. The decade was the sixth decade of the 20th century...
. She eventually went off in her own political direction in the 1960s
1960s
The 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe...
with her husband of some forty years, James Boggs
James Boggs (activist)
James Boggs was an American political activist, auto worker and author. He was married to feminist activist Grace Lee Boggs for forty years until his death in 1993.-Biography:...
, until his death in 1993. Still active at 95 with new book The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First Century, written with Scott Kurashige and published by University of California Press
University of California Press
University of California Press, also known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish books and papers for the faculty of the University of California, established 25 years earlier in 1868...
.
Biography
Born Grace Lee in Providence, Rhode IslandProvidence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
, she was the Chinese-American daughter of a restaurant owner. Her mother acted as an early feminist role model. She studied at Barnard College
Barnard College
Barnard College is a private women's liberal arts college and a member of the Seven Sisters. Founded in 1889, Barnard has been affiliated with Columbia University since 1900. The campus stretches along Broadway between 116th and 120th Streets in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in the borough...
on a scholarship and graduated in 1935 where she was influenced by Kant
KANT
KANT is a computer algebra system for mathematicians interested in algebraic number theory, performing sophisticated computations in algebraic number fields, in global function fields, and in local fields. KASH is the associated command line interface...
and especially Hegel. She received her PhD from Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College is a women's liberal arts college located in Bryn Mawr, a community in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, ten miles west of Philadelphia. The name "Bryn Mawr" means "big hill" in Welsh....
in 1940 where she wrote her dissertation on George Herbert Mead
George Herbert Mead
George Herbert Mead was an American philosopher, sociologist and psychologist, primarily affiliated with the University of Chicago, where he was one of several distinguished pragmatists. He is regarded as one of the founders of social psychology and the American sociological tradition in general.-...
. Facing significant barriers in the academic world as a woman of color in the 1940s, she took a job at low wages at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
Philosophy Library. As a result of their activism on tenants' rights, she joined the far left Workers Party (US)
Workers Party (US)
Not to be confused with the modern Marxist-Leninist party, Workers Party, USA.The Workers Party was a Third Camp Trotskyist group in the United States. It was founded in April 1940 by members of the Socialist Workers Party who opposed the Soviet invasion of Finland. They included Max Shachtman,...
, known for its Third Camp
Third camp
The third camp, also known as third camp socialism or third camp Trotskyism, is a branch of socialism which aims to oppose both capitalism and Stalinism, by supporting the organised working class as a "third camp"....
position regarding the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
which it saw as bureaucratic collectivist. At this point, she began the trajectory that would follow her for the rest of her life: a focus on struggles in the African-American community.
She met C.L.R. James during a speaking engagement in Chicago and moved to New York. She met many important activists and cultural figures such as Richard Wright
Richard Wright (author)
Richard Nathaniel Wright was an African-American author of sometimes controversial novels, short stories, poems, and non-fiction. Much of his literature concerns racial themes, especially those involving the plight of African-Americans during the late 19th to mid 20th centuries...
and Katharine Dunham. She also translated into English many of the essays in Karl Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
's Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844
Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844
Economic & Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844 are a series of notes written between April and August 1844 by Karl Marx. Not published by Marx during his lifetime, they were first released in 1927 by researchers in the Soviet Union.The notebooks are an early expression of Marx's analysis of...
for the first time. She soon joined the Johnson-Forest tendency
Johnson-Forest Tendency
The Johnson–Forest tendency, sometimes called the Johnsonites, refers to a radical left tendency in the United States associated with Marxist theorists C.L.R. James and Raya Dunayevskaya, who used the pseudonyms J.R. Johnson and Freddie Forest respectively...
led by C.L.R. James, Raya Dunayevskaya and Lee. They focused more centrally on marginalized groups such as women, people of color and youth as well as breaking with the notion of the vanguard party. While originally operating as a tendency of the Workers Party (US)
Workers Party (US)
Not to be confused with the modern Marxist-Leninist party, Workers Party, USA.The Workers Party was a Third Camp Trotskyist group in the United States. It was founded in April 1940 by members of the Socialist Workers Party who opposed the Soviet invasion of Finland. They included Max Shachtman,...
, they briefly rejoined the Socialist Workers Party (United States)
Socialist Workers Party (United States)
The Socialist Workers Party is a far-left political organization in the United States. The group places a priority on "solidarity work" to aid strikes and is strongly supportive of Cuba...
before leaving the Trotskyist left entirely. The Johnson-Forest tendency also characterized the USSR as State Capitalist. She wrote for the Johnson-Forest tendency under the party pseudonym Ria Stone. She married African American auto worker and political activist James Boggs
James Boggs (activist)
James Boggs was an American political activist, auto worker and author. He was married to feminist activist Grace Lee Boggs for forty years until his death in 1993.-Biography:...
in 1953 with whom she politically collaborated for decades and moved to Detroit in the same year. Detroit would be the focus of her activism for the rest of her life.
When C.L.R. James and Raya Dunayevskaya split in the mid-1950s into Correspondence Publishing Committee
Correspondence Publishing Committee
Correspondence Publishing Committee was a radical left organization led by C.L.R. James and Martin Glaberman that existed in the United States from approximately 1951 until it split in 1962.-History:...
led by James and News and Letters led by Dunayevskaya, Grace Lee Boggs and James Boggs supported Correspondence Publishing Committee which C.L.R. James tried to advise while in exile in Britain.
In 1962, the Boggses broke with C.L.R. James and continued Correspondence Publishing Committee along with Lyman Paine
Lyman Paine
George Lyman Paine, Jr. , known as Lyman Paine, was an architect and radical left activist. He is known for his work with the Correspondence Publishing Committee with his wife Freddy Paine, and was closely associated with Grace Lee Boggs.Paine was born in New York City in 1901. His father George...
and Freddy Paine, while C.L.R. James' supporters, such as Martin Glaberman
Martin Glaberman
Martin Glaberman was an influential American Marxist, teacher, and autoworker.-Biography:Glaberman was associated with the Johnson-Forest Tendency, a radical left group that split from the Trotskyist Socialist Workers Party, which understood the Soviet Union as a state capitalist society rather...
, continued on as a new if short-lived organization, Facing Reality
Facing Reality
Facing Reality was a radical left group in the United States which existed from about 1962 until 1970.-History:Facing Reality originated in the Johnson-Forest Tendency led by C.L.R. James and Raya Dunayevskaya. It has its origins in the Trotskyist left but regarded the Soviet Union as state...
. The ideas that formed the basis for the 1962 split can be seen as reflected in James Boggs' book, The American Revolution: Pages from a Black Worker's Notebook. Grace Lee Boggs unsuccessfully attempted to convince Malcolm X
Malcolm X
Malcolm X , born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz , was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its...
to run for the United States Senate in 1964. In these years, Boggs wrote a number of books, including Revolution and Evolution in the Twentieth Century with James Boggs and focused on community activism in Detroit where she became a very widely known activist.
She founded Detroit Summer, a multicultural intergenerational youth program, in 1992 and has also been the recipient of numerous awards. As recently as 2005, she continued to write a column for the Michigan Citizen newspaper.
Video
- Grace Lee Boggs interviewed on Democracy Now!, January 20, 2008
- Grace Lee Boggs interviewed by Bill Moyers, June 15, 2007
- Boggs on the Financial Meltdown and Social Change - video report by Democracy Now!Democracy Now!Democracy Now! and its staff have received several journalism awards, including the Gracie Award from American Women in Radio & Television; the George Polk Award for its 1998 radio documentary Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship, on the Chevron Corporation and the deaths of...
- "The Only Way to Survive is By Taking Care of One Another" - video report by Democracy Now!Democracy Now!Democracy Now! and its staff have received several journalism awards, including the Gracie Award from American Women in Radio & Television; the George Polk Award for its 1998 radio documentary Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship, on the Chevron Corporation and the deaths of...