In love and struggle :

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Title :

In love and struggle : the revolutionary lives of James and Grace Lee Boggs / Stephen M. Ward.

Title:

In love and struggle :

Author:

Ward, Stephen M., 1970-

Format:

Books

Series:

Justice, power, and politics

Justice, power, and politics.

Physical Description:

xix, 433 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm

ISBN:

9780807835203

Production / Publication Information:

Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, [2016]

Contents:

Making a way out of no way: Jimmy's Southern roots and urban groundings -- Black radical Detroit: Jimmy, the Labor Movement, and the Left -- Embracing contradictions: Grace's philosophic journey and political emergence -- Revolutionary Marxism: Grace, black protest, and the Johnson-Forest tendency -- Marxism and marriage in Detroit -- Building correspondence -- Facing multiple realities -- Only one side is right -- An ending and a beginning -- The American revolution.

Summary:

"James and Grace Lee Boggs were two largely unsung but critically important figures in the black freedom struggle. James Boggs was the son of an Alabama sharecropper who came to Detroit during the Great Migration, becoming an automobile worker and a union leader. Grace Lee was a Chinese American scholar who studied Hegel, worked with Caribbean political theorist C. L. R. James, and moved to Detroit to work toward a new American revolution. As husband and wife, the couple was influential in the early stages of what would become the Black Power movement, laying the intellectual foundation for labor and urban struggles during one of the most active social movement periods in modern U.S. history. Stephen Ward details both the personal and the political dimensions of the Boggses' lives, highlighting the vital contributions these two figures made to black activist thinking"--

Bibliography note:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Language:

English

Genre:

Biographies.

Personal Subject:

Boggs, James.

Boggs, Grace Lee.

Subject Term:

African American political activists -- Michigan -- Detroit -- Biography.

African American radicals -- Michigan -- Detroit -- Biography.

Chinese American women -- Michigan -- Detroit -- Biography.

Political activists -- Michigan -- Detroit -- Biography.

Civil rights workers -- Michigan -- Detroit -- Biography.

Black power -- United States -- History -- 20th century.

Socialism -- United States -- History -- 20th century.

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Material Type	Library	Call Number	Item Barcode	Location
Book	Searching... Tewksbury Public Library	GOVERNMENT / CIVIL RIGHTS / WAR	32132002875584	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

James Boggs (1919-1993) and Grace Lee Boggs (1915-2015) were two largely unsung but critically important figures in the black freedom struggle. Born and raised in Alabama, James Boggs came to Detroit during the Great Migration, becoming an automobile worker and a union activist. Grace Lee was a Chinese American scholar who studied Hegel, worked with Caribbean political theorist C. L. R. James, and moved to Detroit to work toward a new American revolution. As husband and wife, the couple was influential in the early stages of what would become the Black Power movement, laying the intellectual foundation for racial and urban struggles during one of the most active social movement periods in recent U.S. history.

Stephen Ward details both the personal and the political dimensions of the Boggses' lives, highlighting the vital contributions these two figures made to black activist thinking. At once a dual biography of two crucial figures and a vivid portrait of Detroit as a center of activism, Ward's book restores the Boggses, and the intellectual strain of black radicalism they shaped, to their rightful place in postwar American history.

Reviews (2)

Choice Review

Ward (Michigan) examines the intersections among Marxism, socialism, communism, Pan Africanism, labor activism, and civil rights in the 20th century. Jimmy Boggs, an African American, grew up during the Depression amid unspeakable racial violence in Alabama. He fled to Detroit's automotive industry, gaining a street education in racial politics through labor activism. Chinese American Grace Lee earned a PhD in philosophy from Bryn Mawr, learning grassroots politics to confront social injustice and influence community transformation. When the 1940s March on Washington Movement led her to activism in the black community, she moved to Detroit, where she met and married Jimmy. Together, they pursued revolutionary change through myriad organizations and publications. Ward introduces many other influential radicals, including C. L. R. James, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Bertrand Russell, James Baldwin, and Malcolm X. Agreeing with W. E. B. Du Bois on the importance of the color line, when the Boggses saw how negatively technology, materialism, and automation impacted African Americans, the couple provided a philosophical base for black power. Never wavering from grassroots social activism, they engaged in urban revitalization, working to restore strength and dignity to cities such as their beloved Detroit. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries. --Duncan R. Jamieson, Ashland University

Library Journal Review

Ward (Afroamerican & African studies, Univ. of Michigan) presents a detailed dual biography of Detroit activist couple James (1919-93) and Grace Lee Boggs (1915-2015). During their long marriage, the Boggs were highly active in black radical politics, left-wing circles based in Marxist revolutionary thought, and organizing against racial discrimination. Their intellectual and philosophical work formed an important part of the eventual development of the Black Power movement. Utilizing James's background in trade unionism and Grace Lee's scholarly philosophical knowledge, the couple campaigned throughout their lives. Their considerable legacy is carried on through the James and Grace Lee Boggs Center to Nurture Community Leadership in Detroit. This deeply researched and well-written academic work provides valuable historical and philosophical background to current-day activism such as the Black Lives Matter movement, while clearly depicting the multilayered personal, political, and intellectual dimensions of the Boggs' achievements. VERDICT This book will intrigue readers interested in the history of Detroit, black radicalism, civil rights, antidiscrimination efforts, social justice work, and urban activism. Also consider Grace Lee's The Next American Revolution and James's Pages from a Black Radical's Notebook.-Ingrid Levin, Salve Regina Univ. Lib., Newport, RI © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.