The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First Century

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University of California Press, Apr 5, 2011 - Social Science - 224 pages
A world dominated by America and driven by cheap oil, easy credit, and conspicuous consumption is unraveling before our eyes. In this powerful, deeply humanistic book, Grace Lee Boggs, a legendary figure in the struggle for justice in America, shrewdly assesses the current crisis—political, economical, and environmental—and shows how to create the radical social change we need to confront new realities. A vibrant, inspirational force, Boggs has participated in all of the twentieth century’s major social movements—for civil rights, women’s rights, workers’ rights, and more. She draws from seven decades of activist experience, and a rigorous commitment to critical thinking, to redefine "revolution" for our times. From her home in Detroit, she reveals how hope and creativity are overcoming despair and decay within the most devastated urban communities. Her book is a manifesto for creating alternative modes of work, politics, and human interaction that will collectively constitute the next American Revolution.
 

Contents

Introduction
1
Chapter 1 These Are the Times to Grow Our Souls
28
Chapter 2 Revolution as a New Beginning
52
Chapter 3 Lets Talk about Malcolm and Martin
79
Chapter 4 Detroit Place and Space to Begin Anew
105
Chapter 5 A Paradigm Shift in Our Concept of Education
135
Chapter 6 We Are the Leaders Weve Been Looking For
159
Notes
179
Index
191
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About the author (2011)

Grace Lee Boggs, the recipient of many human rights and lifetime achievement awards, is an activist, writer, and speaker. She is celebrated in the National Women’s Hall of Fame. Boggs is the coauthor, with James Boggs, of Revolution and Evolution in the Twentieth Century and the author of Living for Change: An Autobiography. The daughter of Chinese immigrants, she is 95 years old. Scott Kurashige is Associate Professor at the University of Michigan and author of The Shifting Grounds of Race: Black and Japanese Americans in the Making of Multiethnic Los Angeles.

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