Friday Video for August 19th, 2011: American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs.

Grace Lee Boggs, from Americans Who Tell the Truth. http://americanswhotellthetruth.org/pgs/portraits/grace_lee_boggs.php

This morning I was so excited to see that  Americans Who Tell the Truth Project posted this portrait of community leader, Grace Lee Boggs.   (If you’re not familiar with the work of  Americans Who Tell the Truth please take a moment to check out their site.  It’s amazing and a constant source of inspiration).

For year’s I’ve greatly admired Bogg’s work, and the work and concept behind the  Boggs Center in Detroit.  Her emphasis on working in community, the need for gaining a deep understanding of history, and grassroots organizing for change, is a model from which we all can learn. Now in her nineties, Boggs is still working hard and engaging younger generations.

Alongside the portrait is information about her life and work:

Grace Lee Boggs embraces a philosophy of constant questioning – not just of who we are as individuals, but of how we relate to those in our community and country, to those in other countries, and to the local and global environment. Boggs has rejected the idea of the stereotypical radical as one who only views capitalist society as something to be done away with, believing more that “you cannot change any society unless you take responsibility for it, unless you see yourself as belonging to it and responsible for changing it.” It is in smaller groups, working together, that positive social change can happen, rather than in larger revolutions where one group of power simply changes position with another. That is why, in 1992, she and her husband founded Detroit Summer, a community movement bringing people of all races, cultures, and ages together to rebuild Detroit – a city Boggs has described as “a symbol of the end of industrial society…buildings that were once architectural marvels, like the Book Cadillac hotel and Union Station, lie in ruins…and in most neighborhoods people live behind triple-locked doors and barred windows.” Working literally from the ground up, Detroit Summer’s activities include planting community gardens in vacant lots, creating huge murals on buildings, and renovating houses. Be sure and read the entire write-up by clicking here.

Equally exciting is the link they posted to upcoming film, American Revolutionary:  The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs. Here’s a little bit of what the filmmakers have to say about the film:

AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY: THE EVOLUTION OF GRACE LEE BOGGS is a feature-length documentary that includes biographical elements, but it is not a biopic. Grace is less a protagonist than a conduit for ideas and this is a film about the power of ideas and the process of building community. It’s also a film that will channel the elusive spirit and energy of a woman who has given herself over completely to ideas, community and revolution. The driving narrative is how one person traversed the major social movements of the last century – from labor to civil rights, to Black Power, feminism, and beyond – and emerged with a philosophy that is almost radical in its simplicity and clarity: revolution is not an act of aggression, but a series of dialectical conversations. It is a willingness to change tactics, reevaluate strategy, and embrace contradictions. “Revolution,” Grace says, “is about the ability to transform oneself to transform the world.” The same issues facing Detroit are the same ones facing people from Wisconsin to the Middle East. People everywhere are asking themselves, “Where do we go from here? How do we create justice? And how do we sustain ourselves so that we can continue fighting for change. AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY explores how a lifetime of thinking, advocating, and grassroots doing has culminated in powerful approaches to these elusive questions.

I can’t embed a link to the film here, so please visit the film’s webpage and watch the preview of the  film.  You can also watch a clip of the film by clicking here.

If you are so inclined, consider donating to the film to help them complete the project.

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