An Unusual Suspect
Often working behind the scenes, Grace Lee Boggs has intrigued scholars and students with her lifelong mentoring of Black radicals.
By Lydia Lum
Dr. Wang Zheng wastes no words when it comes to discussing the person she most admires, a 91-year-old Chinese-American revolutionary activist whose life’s work Wang includes in her University of Michigan courses.
Wang says she knew very little about Dr. Grace Lee Boggs before the latter participated in an oral history project on campus a few years ago. Wang then read Boggs’ autobiography, and says she was amazed by Boggs’ dealings with Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights figures. Wang was also intrigued by the longstanding commitment Boggs and her husband, Jimmy Boggs, had to Detroit’s Black community.
“Grace is my idol,” Wang says. “I have a deep, profound respect for her. I never expected to encounter an Asian American woman like her. She is extraordinarily courageous for having crossed so many boundaries and departed from all the norms. She is a wonderful role model, not just for Chinese-Americans, but for all the younger generations.”
