Grace Lee Boggs was an American thinker, author, social change campaigner, philosopher, and feminist who was born in Providence, Rhode Island, USA on June 27, 1915. She became a vocal advocate for social revolution in America in the 1940s and remained intensely politically active for the rest of her life. She married the fellow activist James Boggs in 1953, and the duo remained together until James Boggs died in 1993. She was also the subject of two documentary movies by the filmmaker Grace Lee: 2005’s “The Grace Lee Project” and 2013’s “American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs.” She died in Detroit, Michigan, in October 2015.

Grace Lee Boggs

The influential Asian-American author and social activist Grace Lee Boggs rose to prominence in the 1940s-1950s, when she advocated a Marxist-type Communist revolution in the USA. Her ground-breaking stance on issues such as feminism and politics galvanized generations of Americans of all ages. And as she grew older, she continued to embrace a number of new socially significant causes. The filmmaker Grace Lee follows her over a period of around a decade, tracing some of her most remarkable achievements including the founding of Detroit Summer, a youth-focused organization that attempted to bring about beneficial social change in Detroit.

Now an elderly woman in the autumn of her life, the director follows Grace Lee Boggs as she interacts with a range of notable individuals, including the Hollywood actor Danny Glover, fellow activist Shea Howell, and the rapper Invincible – also taking the time to delve into the archive with footage of Grace Lee Boggs’ historic achievements, and provide evidence of how the thinker’s beliefs have changed over time.

“American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs” is a 2013 American documentary film that was directed by Grace Lee.

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