Author Description

Revolutions are made out of love for people and for place. This was a core belief of activists and married couple James Boggs and Grace Lee Boggs. James Boggs was a worker from rural Alabama in the segregated South. Grace Lee Boggs was a philosopher from urban Rhode Island and New York City. Both found their life’s work, and each other, in Detroit. James and Grace were drawn to civil rights—and the labor, social, and political organizations through which people struggled for better living conditions for all. What they created together was more than a marriage, it was a partnership. They fought with others for fair housing, jobs, food, labor unions, urban gardens, and more to make the world a better place for all. Their wide-ranging activism spanned the second half of the twentieth century. Authors Sun Yung Shin and Mélina Mangal present the lives and ideas of James and Grace in an inspiring collection of paired poems with bold mixed-media artwork by debut picture book illustrator Leslie Barlow.