Conversations in Maine: A New Edition

by Grace Lee Boggs, Jimmy Boggs, Freddy Paine, Lyman Paine, Shea Howell (Foreword by)

Overview

Meditations on activism following the turbulent 1960s—back in print

After the Detroit Rebellion of 1967, James and Grace Lee Boggs decided they should rethink what activism looks like. Pairing with trusted veteran activists Freddy and Lyman Paine, they ruminated on central questions emerging from their politics and activism, and they discussed the purpose and responsibilities human beings share for the future. The recorded dialogue among these four friends invites readers to consider the fundamentals of activism with tough, thought-provoking questions. Their conversations at the Paines’ home on Sutton Island, Maine, not only function as political act but also present unsettling truths and develop connections between philosophy, music, art, gender difference, family structure, Marxism, and more. Conversations in Maine is a call to all citizens to work together and think deeply about the kind of future we can create. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781517905842
Publisher:	University of Minnesota Press
Publication date:	11/20/2018
Edition description:	New
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Grace Lee Boggs (1915-2015) was a first-generation Chinese American philosopher activist. She is author of Living for Change: An Autobiography (Minnesota, 1998, 2016) and The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-first Century, with Scott Kurashige. 

James Boggs (1919-1993) was an activist, auto worker, and author of numerous books and articles, including The American Revolution: Pages from a Negro Worker’s Notebook. 

Freddy Paine (1912-1999) and Lyman Paine (1901-1978) were radical activists and members of the Johnson-Forest Tendency, a socialist splinter group founded by Grace Lee Boggs, Raya Dunayevskaya, and C. L. R. James.

Table of Contents

Foreword: Carry It On Shea Howell Stephen Ward vii

Conversations in Maine

Preface 3

Introduction Richard Feldman 5

Toward a New Man (1970) 13

Changing Ourselves (1971) 27

New Questions for an American Revolution (1972) 91

Projections, Not Rejections (1974) 185

Final Thoughts (1977) 305

Reflections, 2018 Michael Doan, Editor 311

Conversations in the Living Room at 3061 Field Street Frank Joyce 313

Remembering Jimmy; On the Passing of James Boggs, African American Revolutionary Gloria "Aneb" House 315

An Asian American Icon? Rob Yanagida 316

The Humanity of Conversation: Walking the Talk Together Bill Wylie-Kellermann 319

Revolutionary Humanism Larry Sparks 323

Teachings from Our Friend, Freddy Paine Janice Fialka 325

Conversations in the Age of Trump Scott Kurashige 327

A Good Time, and a Pretty Good Conversation Patrick Crouch 332

The Power of Words Tawana "Honeycomb" Petty 335

Organizing around the Human Desire to Grow Matthew Birkhold 337

Conversations on, in, and as Education Emma Fialka-Feldman 340

A Spot in the River Adrienne maree brown 343

Bibliography 345

Editorial Reviews

"Conversations in Maine was an essential text for my generation of radicals."—Robin D.G. Kelley

From the Publisher