The University of Maryland is hosting an event this fall on “black feminist sexual politics” this fall inspired by the late Grace Lee Boggs, a known Marxist and proud member of the Communist Party.
Despite Boggs’s ties to communism, the University of Maryland’s Department of Women’s Studies will host a daylong event in celebration of Boggs’s legacy called “Reimagining Everything.” The name of the event references a Boggs quote, “the time has come for us to reimagine everything … we have to reimagine ourselves.” The event will feature 12 professors from schools across the United States.
The event promises to be “a transformative interdisciplinary conversation between emerging dynamic scholars in the fields of Gender and Sexuality Studies, American Studies, Asian American Studies, and African American Studies.”
Not only will the University of Maryland’s event honor the late Marxist, but it will be free of charge to the public, which means that it is possibly funded in some capacity by taxpayer dollars.
A PBS film about Boggs described her as having a “thick FBI file and a surprising vision of what an American revolution can be,” according to Accuracy in Media, who initially reported about the University of Maryland’s event honoring her.
The University of Maryland is not alone in showing appreciation for Grace Lee Boggs’s contributions to society. President Obama also released a statement praising Boggs after her passing in October 2015.
“Michelle and I were saddened to hear of the passing of author, philosopher, and activist Grace Lee Boggs. 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 … Grace learned early on that the world needed changing, and she overcame barriers to do just that. She understood the power of community organizing at its core – the importance of bringing about change and getting people involved to shape their own destiny,” Obama said.
