10 Quotes to Celebrate the Life of Revolutionary Activist Grace Lee Boggs

By Kenrya Rankin Oct 05, 2015

Longtime activist Grace Lee Boggs died this morning at the age of 100. She had been in hospice care since September 2014. “She left this life as she lived it: surrounded by books, politics, people and ideas,” friends and caretakers Shay Howell and Alice Jennings told Democracy Now!

The Providence, Rhode Island-born child of Chinese immigrant parents, Boggs’ advocacy spanned several movements, including Civil Rights, Black Power, labor, feminist and environmental justice. She got her start as an activist in Detroit in the 1940s and continued to work well into her advanced years, founding the Detroit Summer multicultural youth program in 1992. “American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs” details her work and is available on Netflix and Hulu.

In celebration of her life, here are 10 quotes—one for each decade of a life well lived—that touch on themes Boggs explored in her work.

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