Grace Lee Boggs, legendary civil rights activist from Detroit, died at the age of 100 on Monday, Oct. 5 during the morning hours. "Grace died as she lived: surrounded by books, politics, people and ideas," two of her trustees said in a statement released, according to The Huffington Post.
Most of Boggs' work was focused on civil rights, labor, feminism and black power. She was born to Chinese immigrants in Rhode Island, but grew up in New York City. She later moved to Detroit in the 1950s to write for a socialist newspaper, according to The Associated Press. While in Detroit she became an author and philosopher who planted gardens in vacant lots, founded community organizations and political movements, marched against racism, lectured widely on human rights and wrote books on her evolving vision of a revolution in America, according to The New York Times.
Boggs worked with civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. to organize a march in 1963. Along with her husband, James Boggs, Boggs offered Malcolm X a place to stay while he was in Detroit.
Boggs was renowned for her ability to effect change. President Barack Obama released a statement about Boggs: "The world needed changing, and she overcame barriers to do just that. Grace dedicated her life to serving and advocating for the rights of others - from her community activism in Detroit, to her leadership in the civil rights movement, to her ideas that challenged us all to lead meaningful lives."
