Grace Lee Boggs (1915-2015) was a philosopher and activist who worked tirelessly from her adopted home town of Detroit to push for transformative social change. Over her years in the civil rights, black power, labor, environmental justice, and feminist movements, she refrained from becoming dogmatic in her political beliefs, evolving with generational shifts and with a view to the future.
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The daughter of Chinese immigrants, Grace was born in Providence and grew up in New York City amid the social upheaval of the Great Depression. Though she achieved her doctorate in philosophy at Bryn Mawr in 1940, Grace found that no university at the time was willing to hire an Asian-American woman. After moving to Chicago to find work, she began building connections with local black communities through shared struggle and protest over poor living conditions. She continued gravitating toward social activism, moving to the organizing hub of Detroit in 1953. There, she and her husband, autoworker and organizer James Boggs, were deeply engaged in movement activism through the 60s and 70s. In her later years, Grace advocated for a vision of sustainable activism, nurturing individual and community growth through the planting of community gardens and educating youth leaders.