AANHPI Heritage Month: Grace Lee Boggs

May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Grace Lee Boggs, activist, feminist, and author, is someone whose work aligns with the YWCA’s mission, which is empowering women and eliminating racism. Boggs, a child of Chinese immigrants, initially chose philosophy as her career path. However, even with a PhD, Boggs was continuously denied jobs due to her ethnicity and gender. After moving to Chicago from New York, Boggs found work within the philosophy library at the University of Chicago. Although she was now employed, her struggles were still prominent. She was not able to afford rent, and with little to no other housing options, she lived in a rat-infested basement for free. One day, Boggs witnessed a protest about inadequate living conditions among the poor. Boggs realized these living conditions mirrored her own, and eventually she joined the movement for tenants’ rights and the Workers Party. During the early 1950s, Boggs moved to Detroit, where she began editing the radical newspaper Correspondence, which supported a work-centered revolution. While working there, she met auto worker and activist James Boggs; they married in 1953. Together, they protested in support of many movements and efforts, such as civil rights, Black power, Asian American rights, feminism, the environment, and rejecting capitalism. Boggs was an organizer of the 1963 March for Freedom in Detroit and co-founded the Asian Political Alliance in Detroit, bringing together Asian Americans to explore their identities, study their histories, and protest the Vietnam War. In 1992, she co-founded Detroit Summer, a multi-racial, intergenerational collective to cultivate youth as local leaders and change agents through activities such as urban gardens and public art. Grace Lee Boggs was someone who was eager to show the youth the power they possess through activism and advocacy, which can bring about positive change and form the next generation of leaders. YWCA’s Youth 4 Peace program will assist youth participants to gain a stronger sense of identity, belonging, and collaboration through the program as well as social justice education, aiming to provide tools for nonviolent action. This program will be piloted during our Y-Girls Steam Ahead Camps in Youngstown and Warren. Just like Boggs, we are excited to help empower the youth because they are our future activists. For more information about the Y-Girls Steam Ahead Camps, please visit www.ywcamahoningvalley.org.