Living for Change: An Autobiography

Overview

Autobiography/Politics

“More than a deeply moving memoir, this is a book of revelation. Grace Lee Boggs, Chinese American, middle class, highly educated, discovers through her encounters with remarkable rebels, blue collars as well as philosophers, where the body is buried: who is doing what to whom in our society. It is an adventure that is truly liberating.” Studs Terkel

“Living for Change might be the most important political memoir of the second half of the twentieth century. Grace Lee Boggs has written a brilliant, crucial memoir. This book is a jewel.” Robin D. G. Kelley, New York University

“Through these pages walk causes, gatherings, confrontations, movements, and the men and women who made them: workers and students and committees of the People; Christians, Black Muslims, Black Panthers, labor unions; C. L. R. James, Rev. Cleage, Rev. Franklin, Coleman Young, Malcolm and Martin; artists, musicians, poets, actors, strikers, and seekers of revolution.” Ossie Davis, from the Foreword

Living for Change is a sweeping account of the life of an untraditional radical from the end of the thirties, through the cold war, the civil rights era, and the rise of Black Power, the Nation of Islam, and the Black Panthers to the present efforts to rebuild our crumbling urban communities. This fascinating autobiography traces the story of a woman who transcended class and racial boundaries to pursue her passionate belief in a better society.

Grace Lee Boggs is a first-generation Chinese American who has been a speaker, writer, and movement activist in the African American community for fifty-five years.

University of Minnesota Press
Printed in U.S.A.
Cover design by Daniel Leary

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