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<h1>Remembering Grace Lee Boggs and the Revolution She Inspired in Us</h1> <p><em>Editor's note: We at YES! were saddened to learn that our dear friend and long-time collaborator Grace Lee Boggs passed away on Monday. </em><em>Here, we offer some remembrances, both from our staff as well as from others who knew and loved her. We invite you share your own thoughts in the comment section below, <em>or on social media with #RememberingGrace.</em></em></p> <hr><p>“Grace Boggs held an unshakable faith in the power of ordinary people to shape the future—especially when they come together across race, age, and all the divisions that normally separate us. Her eloquent articulation of that faith has inspired me for more than two decades. I will miss her voice and her presence. But her vision lives on in my heart—and the hearts of many, many others who will carry forth in love and struggle.”</p> <p><em>Fran Korten. Fran is publisher of YES! Magazine.</em></p> <hr><p>“Grace was a great soldier in the struggle for justice. Her loss is a painful one for all of us in that struggle.”</p> <p><em>Danny Glover. Danny is an actor, film director, political activist, and YES! board member.</em></p> <hr><p>“Rest well, dear friend. Millions of us have been enlivened and empowered by your wisdom and spirit. We’ll keep on asking ‘What time is it on the clock of the world?’ and we’ll keep on working to create a world where ‘growing our souls, rather than the economy, is our aim.’”</p> <p><em>Sarah van Gelder. Sarah is co-founder of YES! Magazine.</em></p> <hr><p>“I have such treasured memories of our conversations over the years. Each of her words was a gift that keeps on giving. Her legacy and spirit of ‘love and struggle’ will continue to inspire and challenge us to never tire in our efforts to bring about, what she called the [R]evolution. RIP, Amazing Grace!”</p> <p><em>Tanya Dawkins. Tanya is founder of the <a href="http://www.globallocallinksproject.org" target="_self" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer">Global‐Local Links Project</a> and a YES! board member.</em></p> <hr><blockquote> <p dir="ltr">The working class lost a champion today. Rest in Power, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GraceLeeBoggs?src=hash">#GraceLeeBoggs</a> <a href="http://t.co/y7LjW4yRVR">pic.twitter.com/y7LjW4yRVR</a></p> — Hampton Institute (@HamptonThink) <a href="https://twitter.com/HamptonThink/status/651218282389737472">October 6, 2015</a></blockquote> <script charset='“utf-8"' src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" type="text/javascript"></script><hr><p align="center">For Grace Lee Boggs’ 100<sup>th</sup> Birthday </p> <p align="center">June 26, 2015 </p> <p>A long curve of life,</p> <p>forging the dense tides of human strife</p> <p>in one era, celebrating victory,</p> <p>in another, marking time at an impasse,</p> <p>and seeking a way forward.</p> <p>Resilient, hardy of mind and heart,</p> <p>you have outlived</p> <p>the comrades you loved.</p> <p>Outlived the retreats to Maine and the ocean’s</p> <p>annual blessings.</p> <p>Outlived there in Maine and elsewhere</p> <p>the cacophony of contentious ideas,</p> <p>your own cantankerous certitudes, unrelenting and venting about all the rest --</p> <p>friends intent upon shaping a vision of a new America.</p> <p>Outlived your beloved books, even,</p> <p>whose theories you mastered ----</p> <p>those pages now brown and flaking</p> <p>dusting the desks and shelves</p> <p>of the Field Street rooms.</p> <p>These days, your persistent will,</p> <p>fierce consciousness,</p> <p>floats between two worlds –</p> <p>this world of comrades new and old,</p> <p>sliding in and out to care for you in</p> <p>daily rhythms of rising, eating, sleeping;</p> <p>the other one, a flood of bright, unfamiliar sightings that pull</p> <p>you away for a spell, then release.</p> <p>Daunted by that shifting, holy space</p> <p>of your present between worlds,</p> <p>I do not visit.</p> <p>I send prayers, a poem, wishes for your comfort.</p> <p>I do not venture to that space,</p> <p>but turn to my store of memories:</p> <p>moments on Field Street at the table with you, Jimmy, Stu and Max,</p> <p>in churches where we met and planned so many strategies,</p> <p>in circles with Detroit Summers’ young faces,</p> <p>on the streets in protest against the killing of our children in drive-by shootings,</p> <p>or the corruption of our neighborhoods by drugs;</p> <p>in loving gatherings where we nibbled and sipped and talked philosophy and the essential roles of art, spirituality and culture. <sub></sub></p> <p>In such moments, Grace, you gave</p> <p>energy, gesture, laughter, you gave flesh and bone to the <em>idea </em>of revolution.</p> <p>In your steadfastness we witnessed</p> <p>that being a revolutionary</p> <p>requires patience and faith</p> <p>to walk the evolutionary path</p> <p>day by day</p> <p>towards the beloved community.</p> <p>For your determination to live for change,</p> <p>and for your agitated bravery now</p> <p>in facing the change</p> <p>to which you can only surrender,</p> <p>you remain our treasured mentor and guide.</p> <p><em>Aneb Kgositsile (aka Gloria House). Aneb is a poet, university professor, and political activist living in Detroit since 1967.</em></p> <hr><p><iframe frameborder="0" height="366" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/y4hUTKb0xi8" width="650"></iframe></p> <hr><p style="text-align: center; "> 100 and sap still rising</p> <p>my woman asks me a poem</p> <p>this morning in the midst</p> <p>of our own upheavals and words</p> <p>--to be offered as a monument</p> <p>to a duration of hope etched</p> <p>in a face of resolve</p> <p>a graced bogg of burning pith</p> <p>an adamantine eloquence</p> <p>in a set jaw</p> <p>a gift of tongue clear to</p> <p>the roots of now</p> <p>plowing all our fictions and derelictions</p> <p>our fantasies of a new mission</p> <p>with raw truths</p> <p>as sharp as a spade on a clod</p> <p>of black bottom</p> <p>sowing seed, yet again at every</p> <p>year of digging toe into the soil of</p> <p>paradise valley derision, a house of</p> <p>incubation on a horizon of decimation</p> <p>a living womb of vision</p> <p>she is a medium now for 3 generations</p> <p>taking her talk in all 4 directions</p> <p>elders and youngers, colors as bold as</p> <p>the hunger in any eye starved by</p> <p>the colonial clamor and cry</p> <p>a detroit summer even in the winter</p> <p>of our collapse and wondering why</p> <p>a motown mama like a spirit-possession</p> <p>calling every jaded desire-for-change</p> <p>to full height</p> <p>laughing her rebuke</p> <p>muting hard logic only in the magic of compassion</p> <p>like a composted cucumber transforming</p> <p>brick-shard into table-top nutrition</p> <p>a beloved hallowing</p> <p>as simple as a gathering</p> <p>in an old house</p> <p>as stark as dawn</p> <p>on a january street</p> <p>in a detroit storm of sleet</p> <p>unrelenting as jimmy boggs</p> <p>heat for failing to sail</p> <p>the flag of transformation</p> <p>in the full wind of evolutionary revolution</p> <p>as tart as an invincible tongue</p> <p>shooting bullet-darts of incineration</p> <p>straight through the farts of old men</p> <p>high on department of correction</p> <p>defecation, flushed back downtown</p> <p>by a ron scott declamation</p> <p>shea howell howls of alternative education</p> <p>re-mediating the pollution, while</p> <p>rich feldman growls of exclamation</p> <p>excoriate union halls of any temptation</p> <p>to whitewash</p> <p>the situation today is a conflagration</p> <p>the end of industrialization</p> <p>apocalyptic desolation</p> <p>but in the ground of the pounded down</p> <p>a glimmer of a new round of</p> <p>resounding sounds of a hound of vitality</p> <p>on the rise</p> <p>small-sized</p> <p>nearly disguised</p> <p>as wise as a 95-year-old gaze</p> <p>looking straight into the dark</p> <p>and seeing the prize</p> <p>that has never not started up again</p> <p>. . . like a new beginning</p> <p>bursting from a harsh end. </p> <p><em><span>James W. Perkinson. James is an educator, activist, and poet living and working in inner-city Detroit.</span></em></p> <hr><blockquote> <p dir="ltr">Rest in power Grace Lee Boggs. Thank you for inspiring all of us. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GraceLeeBoggs?src=hash">#GraceLeeBoggs</a> <a href="http://t.co/gvs6hyJ2LB">pic.twitter.com/gvs6hyJ2LB</a></p> — AsianAmericansUnited (@AsAmUnited) <a href="https://twitter.com/AsAmUnited/status/651087201950953472">October 5, 2015</a></blockquote> <script charset="utf-8" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" type="text/javascript"></script><hr><p><span>“Unlike so many other left-wing stars, [Grace] genuinely spent a lot of time encouraging others to become more sophisticated political activists and organizers, to no benefit to herself. She did not try to cultivate sycophants or followers.”</span></p> <p><em>Spencer Sunshine, PhD. Spencer is an Associate Fellow at Political Research Associates."</em></p> <hr><blockquote> <p dir="ltr">Grace Lee taught me to not be afraid as I work to change myself, I'm still working on it, thank you Grace. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GraceLeeTaughtMe?src=hash">#GraceLeeTaughtMe</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GraceLeeBoggs?src=hash">#GraceLeeBoggs</a></p> — Amy K. Senese (@AmySenese) <a href="https://twitter.com/AmySenese/status/652528468912132096">October 9, 2015</a></blockquote> <script charset="utf-8" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" type="text/javascript"></script><hr><p>“Michelle and I were saddened to hear of the passing of author, philosopher, and activist Grace Lee Boggs. Grace dedicated her life to serving and advocating for the rights of others—from her community activism in Detroit, to her leadership in the Civil Rights movement, to her ideas that challenged us all to lead meaningful lives. As the child of Chinese immigrants and as a woman, Grace learned early on that the world needed changing, and she overcame barriers to do just that. She understood the power of community organizing at its core—the importance of bringing about change and getting people involved to shape their own destiny. Grace’s passion for helping others, and her work to rejuvenate communities that had fallen on hard times spanned her remarkable 100 years of life, and will continue to inspire generations to come. Our thoughts and prayers are with Grace’s family and friends, and all those who loved her dearly."</p> <p><em>President Barack Obama</em></p> <hr><p><em>How did Grace Lee Boggs touch your life? Share your stories in the comment sections below or in your social media posts with #RememberingGrace.</em></p> <p>This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.yesmagazine.org">Yes! Magazine</a> at <a href="https://www.yesmagazine.org/democracy/2015/10/08/remembering-grace-lee-boggs-and-the-revolution-she-inspired-in-us">https://www.yesmagazine.org/democracy/2015/10/08/remembering-grace-lee-boggs-and-the-revolution-she-inspired-in-us</a>.</p><link href="https://www.yesmagazine.org/democracy/2015/10/08/remembering-grace-lee-boggs-and-the-revolution-she-inspired-in-us" rel="canonical"/><p>Yes! Magazine is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of ... . Learn more at <a href="https://www.yesmagazine.org">Yes! Magazine</a></p><img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="https://www.yesmagazine.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=11910&ga4=G-74QJNNY44Z" style="width:1px;height:1px;">
Remembering Grace Lee Boggs and the Revolution She Inspired in Us Editor's note: We at YES! were saddened to learn that our dear friend and long-time collaborator Grace Lee Boggs passed away on Monday. Here, we offer some remembrances, both from our staff as well as from others who knew and loved her. We invite you share your own thoughts in the comment section below, or on social media with #RememberingGrace. “Grace Boggs held an unshakable faith in the power of ordinary people to shape the future—especially when they come together across race, age, and all the divisions that normally separate us. Her eloquent articulation of that faith has inspired me for more than two decades. I will miss her voice and her presence. But her vision lives on in my heart—and the hearts of many, many others who will carry forth in love and struggle.” Fran Korten. Fran is publisher of YES! Magazine. “Grace was a great soldier in the struggle for justice. Her loss is a painful one for all of us in that struggle.” Danny Glover. Danny is an actor, film director, political activist, and YES! board member. “Rest well, dear friend. Millions of us have been enlivened and empowered by your wisdom and spirit. We’ll keep on asking ‘What time is it on the clock of the world?’ and we’ll keep on working to create a world where ‘growing our souls, rather than the economy, is our aim.’” Sarah van Gelder. Sarah is co-founder of YES! Magazine. “I have such treasured memories of our conversations over the years. Each of her words was a gift that keeps on giving. Her legacy and spirit of ‘love and struggle’ will continue to inspire and challenge us to never tire in our efforts to bring about, what she called the [R]evolution. RIP, Amazing Grace!” Tanya Dawkins. Tanya is founder of the Global‐Local Links Project and a YES! board member. The working class lost a champion today. Rest in Power, #GraceLeeBoggs pic.twitter.com/y7LjW4yRVR — Hampton Institute (@HamptonThink) October 6, 2015 For Grace Lee Boggs’ 100th Birthday June 26, 2015 A long curve of life, forging the dense tides of human strife in one era, celebrating victory, in another, marking time at an impasse, and seeking a way forward. Resilient, hardy of mind and heart, you have outlived the comrades you loved. Outlived the retreats to Maine and the ocean’s annual blessings. Outlived there in Maine and elsewhere the cacophony of contentious ideas, your own cantankerous certitudes, unrelenting and venting about all the rest -- friends intent upon shaping a vision of a new America. Outlived your beloved books, even, whose theories you mastered ---- those pages now brown and flaking dusting the desks and shelves of the Field Street rooms. These days, your persistent will, fierce consciousness, floats between two worlds – this world of comrades new and old, sliding in and out to care for you in daily rhythms of rising, eating, sleeping; the other one, a flood of bright, unfamiliar sightings that pull you away for a spell, then release. Daunted by that shifting, holy space of your present between worlds, I do not visit. I send prayers, a poem, wishes for your comfort. I do not venture to that space, but turn to my store of memories: moments on Field Street at the table with you, Jimmy, Stu and Max, in churches where we met and planned so many strategies, in circles with Detroit Summers’ young faces, on the streets in protest against the killing of our children in drive-by shootings, or the corruption of our neighborhoods by drugs; in loving gatherings where we nibbled and sipped and talked philosophy and the essential roles of art, spirituality and culture. In such moments, Grace, you gave energy, gesture, laughter, you gave flesh and bone to the idea of revolution. In your steadfastness we witnessed that being a revolutionary requires patience and faith to walk the evolutionary path day by day towards the beloved community. For your determination to live for change, and for your agitated bravery now in facing the change to which you can only surrender, you remain our treasured mentor and guide. Aneb Kgositsile (aka Gloria House). Aneb is a poet, university professor, and political activist living in Detroit since 1967. 100 and sap still rising my woman asks me a poem this morning in the midst of our own upheavals and words --to be offered as a monument to a duration of hope etched in a face of resolve a graced bogg of burning pith an adamantine eloquence in a set jaw a gift of tongue clear to the roots of now plowing all our fictions and derelictions our fantasies of a new mission with raw truths as sharp as a spade on a clod of black bottom sowing seed, yet again at every year of digging toe into the soil of paradise valley derision, a house of incubation on a horizon of decimation a living womb of vision she is a medium now for 3 generations taking her talk in all 4 directions elders and youngers, colors as bold as the hunger in any eye starved by the colonial clamor and cry a detroit summer even in the winter of our collapse and wondering why a motown mama like a spirit-possession calling every jaded desire-for-change to full height laughing her rebuke muting hard logic only in the magic of compassion like a composted cucumber transforming brick-shard into table-top nutrition a beloved hallowing as simple as a gathering in an old house as stark as dawn on a january street in a detroit storm of sleet unrelenting as jimmy boggs heat for failing to sail the flag of transformation in the full wind of evolutionary revolution as tart as an invincible tongue shooting bullet-darts of incineration straight through the farts of old men high on department of correction defecation, flushed back downtown by a ron scott declamation shea howell howls of alternative education re-mediating the pollution, while rich feldman growls of exclamation excoriate union halls of any temptation to whitewash the situation today is a conflagration the end of industrialization apocalyptic desolation but in the ground of the pounded down a glimmer of a new round of resounding sounds of a hound of vitality on the rise small-sized nearly disguised as wise as a 95-year-old gaze looking straight into the dark and seeing the prize that has never not started up again . . . like a new beginning bursting from a harsh end. James W. Perkinson. James is an educator, activist, and poet living and working in inner-city Detroit. Rest in power Grace Lee Boggs. Thank you for inspiring all of us. #GraceLeeBoggs pic.twitter.com/gvs6hyJ2LB — AsianAmericansUnited (@AsAmUnited) October 5, 2015 “Unlike so many other left-wing stars, [Grace] genuinely spent a lot of time encouraging others to become more sophisticated political activists and organizers, to no benefit to herself. She did not try to cultivate sycophants or followers.” Spencer Sunshine, PhD. Spencer is an Associate Fellow at Political Research Associates." Grace Lee taught me to not be afraid as I work to change myself, I'm still working on it, thank you Grace. #GraceLeeTaughtMe #GraceLeeBoggs — Amy K. Senese (@AmySenese) October 9, 2015 “Michelle and I were saddened to hear of the passing of author, philosopher, and activist Grace Lee Boggs. Grace dedicated her life to serving and advocating for the rights of others—from her community activism in Detroit, to her leadership in the Civil Rights movement, to her ideas that challenged us all to lead meaningful lives. As the child of Chinese immigrants and as a woman, Grace learned early on that the world needed changing, and she overcame barriers to do just that. She understood the power of community organizing at its core—the importance of bringing about change and getting people involved to shape their own destiny. Grace’s passion for helping others, and her work to rejuvenate communities that had fallen on hard times spanned her remarkable 100 years of life, and will continue to inspire generations to come. Our thoughts and prayers are with Grace’s family and friends, and all those who loved her dearly." President Barack Obama How did Grace Lee Boggs touch your life? Share your stories in the comment sections below or in your social media posts with #RememberingGrace.
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