Filmmaker Grace Lee serves up a portrait of charismatic now-98-year-old Chinese-American author and activist Grace Lee Boggs (no relation to the filmmaker), who is known particularly for her work with African American civil rights leaders beginning in Chicago in the mid-20th century. Filmed over a 12-year period, Boggs tells her own story via interviews (with occasional narration from the director), which are illustrated with archival photos and film clips, including TV appearances and speaking engagements. American Revolutionary traces Boggs' career over seven decades, touching on the theories of philosophers Georg Hegel and Karl Marx, Boggs' involvement with Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, her work with Leninist C.L.R. James and the Socialist Workers Party, her activism within the Black Power movement, and her continuing meetings with young people and others. Interviews with Boggs, late husband James, activists, and friends emphasize Boggs' favorite theme: “conversation as a crucible for change and development of revolutionary ideas.” Boggs is resolutely optimistic, a woman who after 70 years of political activity is happily looking ahead to the next, as yet unknown, revolution. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (M. Puffer-Rothenberg)
American Revolutionary
(2013) 82 min. DVD: $179: high schools & public libraries; $349: colleges & universities. Good Docs (avail. from www.gooddocs.net). PPR. Volume 29, Issue 2
American Revolutionary
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