In honor of GraceLee Boggs.
Stop. If you only
have three minutes, please read the above profile of an astounding and
inspiring woman instead. Otherwise, read about her and then come back. Please
and thank you.
I’d been writing
this post on advocacy and activism (topics dear to the Full Spectrum heart) when I heard that
Grace Lee Boggs had passed. A fellow Mawrtyr (graduate of Bryn Mawr College:
Ms. Boggs was a Bryn Mawr Ph.D.), she was known for a lifelong commitment to
justice and equality for ALL. In a time in which all of the following combinations
were practically unimaginable, she was a *Chinese-American *female *scholar
married to a *Black man. She was a lifelong feminist, worked hard for labor and
the environment and her community, and advocated powerfully and effectively for
universal civil rights –HUMAN RIGHTS.
My original post
explored how we come to activism: how I’ve watched people with cancer (or loved
ones with cancer) become cancer activists, people with sensory processing
differences become SPD activists, autistic people and their families and loved
ones become autism activists...
But my main point
was and is that I believe and hope that people whose hearts and minds are
opened up by the particular, personal
injustices of the world are inclined to open those hearts and minds further to
include the desire for justice, fairness, equality, and inclusion for ALL.
Grace Lee Boggs represented this beautiful tendency.
She had the vision
to see the humanity and worth in all
people. Knowing what I know of that vision, I know implicitly that she would
have embraced the concept that autistic and neurodiverse people are inherently worthy
of equal rights and respect, and that families of mixed ethnicity are simply,
and fully, families, and that people with sensory processing differences
experience the world in completely valid ways, and...and...
Perhaps it’s this
little word, “and,” that’s key. We choose “and” instead of “or:” because there
are enough rights to go around. We
don’t have to choose whether it’s race OR ability OR sexuality OR identity OR whatever particular “type” that “gets”
to have rights.
We ALL do.
Those with big, generous hearts remind us of the world's potential, sometimes-hidden bigness and generosity, even when it is hard for others to see. Those of us with growing hearts can look to people like Grace Lee Boggs and take hope.
Figure I – When We
Become Rainbows of Inclusion in a Sometimes Limited-Vision World
I’ve wondered why
some people come to activism on their own, through a strong sense of more
generalized compassion, or whether most come only through experiences of
difference, discrimination, challenge...
I’ve also
considered how – let’s face it – TIRING it can be to see injustice everywhere,
never mind to combat it with all you’ve got. Grace Lee Boggs (okay, she didn’t
have children; however she did care a great deal about them!) managed to truly live her commitment to justice for 100
years!
What is your cause?
Particular, universal, or both...? And even when you don’t have the time or
energy or opportunity to advocate, activate, etc., do you have a broader vision
of who should be considered fully equal and human and why? I dare to hope so.
Love,
Full Spectrum Mama
