THE FUNDRAISER

Over the PAST DECADE we have been filming AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY: THE EVOLUTION OF GRACE LEE BOGGS, a feature documentary about legendary Detroit activist and philosopher Grace Lee Boggs. 

We have nearly 100 HOURS of material, which includes interviews with Grace, archival photographs, and documents from Grace's personal collection as well as footage of Grace with activists, youth, and scholars around the country, and with members of her vibrant community in Detroit.  We ask for your help to get this film finished this year!  As Grace is now 96, we'd love for her to be part of the film's release plan.

Thanks to more than 200 backers, a previous Indiegogo campaign in March raised enough money for us to jumpstart the editing process. We are so grateful to the folks who helped get the word out and hope that this second fundraising campaign can get us to the finish line. We sincerely appreciate your support on any level. 

No amount is too small to donate. If you prefer to make a fully tax-deductable donation please contact us for details.  

Grace Lee Boggs has dedicated her life to the next American Revolution. Born to Chinese immigrants in 1915, she earned a PhD in philosophy at age 25 before committing herself to a life of ideas, action, and the promise of change and social justice from within the African-American community. Moving to Detroit in the 1950s and marrying African-American autoworker/activist James Boggs, she saw that Detroit embodied both the failures and possibilities of the American dream, and was thus an enormously fertile place to work. At 96, Grace continues to engage audiences everywhere in a process of re-imagination, conversation and action -- reminding us that revolution is not only possible and necessary, but already happening.

Although Grace's biography is part of our story, this is not a traditional biopic or historical film. This story is about how a visionary thinker and doer grapples with the looming questions confronting humanity and sustains her commitment to that work.  The driving narrative transports Grace through the major social movements of the last century -- from labor to civil rights, from Black Power to feminism, identity politics and beyond -- and shows how she emerged with a philosophy that is almost radical in its simplicity and clarity: revolution is not an act of aggression but an ongoing, evolving series of living conversations.  It is about the willingness to shift tactics, reflect upon and embrace contradictions. "Revolution," Grace says, "is about the ability to change yourself to change the world."   

In a world plagued by seemingly endless wars, environmental disasters, rampant consumerism and economic collapse,  people everywhere are asking: How can I make a difference? How do we create meaningful change? And how do we sustain ourselves so we can continue evolving our humanity?  American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs explores how a lifetime of thinking, advocating, and grassroots action has culminated in powerful approaches to these elusive questions and how Grace's ideas are inspiring a new generation of young people and activists to rebuild and revitalize their corner of the world, in Detroit. 

For more detailed information about the project, please visit our official website www.americanrevolutionaryfilm.com. We'll continue to update that site with news, video clips, and photos as the project evolves. Stay tuned!

Please help us SPREAD THE WORD about this campaign with your friends via FACEBOOK, TWITTER, EMAIL, and just plain word-of-mouth.  Your personal endorsement to your network of friends and colleagues means so much to this project and to the legacy of Grace Lee Boggs.  She has always been about the grassroots so we are hoping that the grassroots will help generate an audience and following for the completed film.   

ALL FUNDS (minus Indiegogo's administrative fee) will go directly toward finishing the film.  Thanks to a previous online fundraiser, we are working with a fantastic editor and post-production team.  But we still have a lot of archival footage to acquire, animated sequences to produce, music rights and a sound mix to pay for.   While we are pursuing other grants and partnerships for the film, we would love for this film to be funded by the people who want to see it most. YOU! This fundraising campaign is a chance to engage in dialogue with our audience -- just as Grace Lee Boggs has been doing her entire life.  

The film will air on national and international television. We will also distribute the film to the educational market (universities, schools, and libraries), on home video, video-on-demand, and the internet. Most importantly, we will conduct a full-court grassroots outreach campaign to activist and youth groups around the country who can use the film as a tool for organizing. If you're part of a student or community group that would like to participate in this effort, please let us know.

Please contact Producer/Director Grace Lee at grace@gracelee.net . We'd love to hear from you!