May 9, 2007

Honorary Degree Recipient Pays May Visit to Kalamazoo College

KALAMAZOO, MI—Kalamazoo College will host three appearances by renowned activist, writer, and speaker Grace Lee Boggs. At 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 16, in Room 226 of the Dow Science Building, she will give a talk titled “Toward a Paradigm Shift in Education,” and at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 17, in Dalton Theatre, her topic will be “Another World is Necessary.” Both events are free and open to the public. On June 10, during the College’s Commencement ceremony, Boggs will receive an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Kalamazoo College.

For the past 60 years, Grace Lee Boggs’ political involvement has encompassed the major U.S. social movements of this century, and she is the recipient of numerous awards. On Wednesday evening, May 16, Boggs will be introduced by College President Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran, who considers Boggs as a major influence in her life: “In 1974, as part of my graduate work, I was introduced to the scholarship and thoughts of Grace Lee Boggs. Her works became a standard on my reading list. I am delighted that our students will have an opportunity to interact with this extraordinary woman.”

A daughter of Chinese immigrants, Boggs was born in 1915 in Providence, Rhode Island, and received her B.A. from Barnard College in 1935 and her Ph.D. in Philosophy from Bryn Mawr College in 1940. In 1953, she came to Detroit where she married James Boggs, a labor activist, writer and strategist. Working together in grassroots groups and projects, they were partners for more than 40 years until his death in 1993. In 1992, with her husband and others, she founded Detroit Summer, a multicultural, intergenerational youth program to rebuild, redefine and reinvigorate Detroit. Today, at age 91, Boggs remains active in numerous local and community organizations and also spreads her ideas by writing a weekly column in the Michigan Citizen. Her life continues to reflect an evolving perspective on our society. In a recent address entitled “We Are All Works in Progress,” she urged young activists to “Stop thinking in the polarizing language of the present system, in terms of inferiority/superiority, minorities/majorities, victimization/dominance, blame and guilt. Begin rejoicing in our diversity and celebrating our commonality, that each of us is a center of possibility, potentiality and power, and that we can do what has not yet been done!”

In 1998, The University of Minnesota Press published her autobiography, Living for Change. It is widely used in university classes on social movements and ethnic studies. Professor Robin D.G. Kelley of New York University believes “Living for Change might be the most important political memoir of the second half of the 20th century.”

Among numerous honors, Boggs has received the Distinguished Alumna Award from Barnard College; the Chinese American Pioneers Award from the Organization of Chinese Americans; and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Anti-Defamation League. A plaque in her honor is displayed at the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York. Over the years, she has worked with activists such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Ossie Davis, Cornel West, Coleman Young, and actors Edward James Olmos and Danny Glover.

A Fellowship in Learning: At Home in the World, Kalamazoo College is a national liberal arts college and the creator and home of the Kalamazoo Plan. By emphasizing scholarship, civic engagement, and foreign study, Kalamazoo College cultivates a fellowship in learning among students, faculty, and a community of scholars throughout the world. Its students shape elements of the Kalamazoo Plan—rigorous academics, career internships, study abroad, service-learning, and a senior individualized project—into an educational experience that provides insight into the meaning of the kind of citizenship that is at home in the world.