Photo credit: American Revolutionary
A revolution that is based on the people exercising their creativity in the midst of devastation is one of the great historical contributions of humankind.
-Grace Lee Boggs
Our condolences and love go out to Detroit, and to all of Grace’s close family, friends, and comrades. We are grieving with you. May Grace find light and love wherever she is, and may her legacy continue with the many of us who found such power in her guidance.
In this moment on Earth, when our generation steps forth into a scary future in crisis, Grace Lee Boggs was a beacon. One of the strongest we have. A beacon that transcends generational gaps, we are grieving the death of a woman that represented for us much more than a brilliant mind. Grace Lee Boggs taught us how to straddle the complexities of this moment in time – to face a daunting economic and ecological crisis while maintaining hope in and dedication to transforming ourselves to transform our world.
We are a younger generation trying to grab a torch passed on to us. What Grace brought us was the wisdom and the tenacity to tighten our grip. With humility, she injected a deep understanding that we have all that it takes to build a revolutionary movement. With ferocity, she pushed us to stay evolving and to always be authentic.
Grace Lee Boggs is one of Movement Generation’s greatest teachers and inspirations. Her political understanding of a planet and of people in crisis, and her call out for our movements to radically lead with vision, are pinnacle concepts that we have deeply infused into our own theory of change. We’ve had the honor to meet and speak with her in Detroit and in the Bay Area. But most of all, it has been who she is as a person, modeling for all of us how to never stop innovating yourself and your thinking, and to maintain meaningful connections to grassroots movements, that have grounded us and motivated us to be who we are.
As Detroit, as the country, and as the world mourns the death of Grace Lee Boggs, we would like to simultaneously celebrate and give thanks for the invaluable role she has played in the fight for a just and more beautiful future. We take this moment to reflect on how we are growing our souls, and to sit with the wisdom that Grace blessed us with, to call us into action. We carry her legacy on through continuing to grow our work, and to nurture radical movements built from the ground up, leading with vision.