Lifting As They Climbed
A Mapped History of Chicago's Black Women Trailblazers
An essential guidebook to influential Black women from Chicago’s South and West Sides, and their social, cultural, and artistic contributions to movements both past and present.
Geographically, historically, and politically, Lifting As They Climbed gives readers an in-depth understanding of the numerous Black women, from the nineteenth century to today, who empower(ed) their neighborhoods and communities. Structured as a self-guided walking tour, with crisp maps and accessible narratives, Lifting As They Climbed showcases seventy-five women—activists, artists, musicians, and more—through sites and landmarks on Chicago’s South and West Sides.
Including Margaret Burroughs, Gwendolyn Brooks, Mahalia Jackson, and many others, this updated and extended edition is a testament to women whose stories have gone largely untold, and whose lives reveal powerful connections between their endeavors and present-day struggles for radical community-building and solidarity. With no “official” landmarks to preserve the history of their social justice efforts, this book is an intervention against their erasure.
Mariame Kaba is the founder and director of Project NIA, a grassroots organization with a vision to end youth incarceration, the author of We Do This ‘Til We Free Us as well as the children’s books Missing Daddy and See You Soon, and the recipient of the Cultural Freedom Prize from the Lannan Foundation.
Essence McDowell has worked with numerous national and local entities including Illinois Humanities Council, Chicago Torture Justice Memorials, Incite National, the Chicago Public Library, and Chicago Teachers Union, and is currently collaborating with organizers in Chicago to develop a resource hub for a national Black Women's Organizing Coalition.
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