People of the Revolution and the USSR

Activity
Any Social movements and organizing 1
Affiliation

Most people

Any

All 0 affiliations

Position(set)
Any Counter-revolutionary forces 1 Left critics of Bolshevism 1 Dissident 2 Marxism and communism 54 Liberalism and republicanism 1 Monarchy and royalism 2 Nationalism 2
Citizenship
Any United States 1
Background(set)
Any Russia 30 Poland 4 Ukraine 3 France 2 Georgia 2 Latvia 2 Armenia 1 Bulgaria 1 China 1 Germany 1 Hungary 1 Moldova 1 Netherlands 1 Spain 1 Trinidad and Tobago 1 United Kingdom 1 United States 1
Era
Any

People of the wider world

The Cold War and decolonization1945–현재 1
Left critics of Bolshevism Background: China Clear all

Grace Lee Boggs

Grace Lee Boggs
Left critics of Bolshevism United States China 1915–2015 ○ Natural causes

From first translator of Marx's 1844 Manuscripts to philosopher of Detroit's revolution

“We are the leaders we've been looking for.” — interviewed in her 90s in Detroit

Daughter of Chinese immigrants, she earned a PhD at Bryn Mawr but was barred from academia by racism and joined the Workers Party. With C.L.R. James and Raya Dunayevskaya she formed the Johnson–Forest Tendency triad, co-authoring State Capitalism and World Revolution and producing the first English translation of Marx's 1844 Manuscripts. In 1953 she married Black autoworker James Boggs, settled in Detroit, broke from Trotskyism, and turned toward community-based revolutionary praxis centered on Black liberation, writing into her 90s.

Career timeline
  • 1915Born in Providence, Rhode Island, to Chinese immigrant restaurateur Chin Lee; Chinese given name Yu Ping (玉平)
  • 1935Graduates from Barnard College, Columbia University
  • 1940Earns PhD in philosophy from Bryn Mawr College with dissertation on George Herbert Mead
  • 1940–1945Works as low-wage librarian at University of Chicago Philosophy Library; joins Workers Party through tenants' rights activism
  • 1945–1947Forms Johnson–Forest Tendency with C.L.R. James and Dunayevskaya; produces first English translation of Marx's 1844 Manuscripts
  • 1947Joins SWP with the tendency; writes under party pseudonym 'Ria Stone'
  • 1950Co-authors State Capitalism and World Revolution with James and Dunayevskaya
  • 1951Leaves SWP; helps form Correspondence Publishing Committee
  • 1953Marries Black autoworker and political activist James Boggs; moves to Detroit
  • 1962Breaks with C.L.R. James; leads Correspondence with James Boggs on independent Detroit-community orientation
  • 1964Attempts to persuade Malcolm X to run for US Senate, unsuccessfully
  • 1970Co-founds Detroit Asian Political Alliance
  • 1974Publishes Revolution and Evolution in the Twentieth Century with James Boggs
  • 1979Co-founds National Organization for an American Revolution (NOAR)
  • 1992Founds Detroit Summer, a multicultural intergenerational youth program
  • 1998Publishes autobiography Living for Change
  • 2011At 95, publishes The Next American Revolution with Scott Kurashige
  • 2015Dies in Detroit at 100; President Obama issues statement mourning her passing