While the history of reparations is not new, it has become an increasingly notable topic in recent years. Half of the entries on the Historical Timeline of Reparations Payments Made come from the last decade alone. Now, another group has thrown their support behind reparations for African Americans.
at 16, julia joined one of the boggs youth community programs. she said, what are we going to do about the future of detroit? reporter: bogs inspired putnam and two other women to start the detroit school. if we begin creating a whole new relationship between elders and youngsters, we ll be doing something very important. what was funny about jimmy and grace s dynamic was not the asian american and the black american, it was the way that they fought and struggled with each other. reporter: bogs became one of the few prominent women in the civil rights movement and an early icon in feminism. scott co-authored a book with boggs. she brought things to the table. and jimmy himself being from the south, being an auto worker, having the deep roots in the black community, it was the combination that made them fight strong and powerful. reporter: boggs demands people be thinkers and creators.
does breathing with copd weigh you down? don t wait to ask your doctor about spiriva. as we celebrate black history, you may not have heard about grace lee boggs. she was a big part of the black power movement and she is asian american. richard lui spoke with grace lee about her 70 years in civil rights work. reporter: two months before martin luther king s washington speech, detroit held the largest civil rights demonstration to date. mich michigan is where king actually gave his first i have a dream speech helping to energize activate grace lee bogs. all over the state. it was huge. reporter: she was well known in midwestern african-american
circles. she had an fbi case file 884 pages long. the world war i baby was married to james bogs. gloria house, professor at the university of michigan, was mentored by boggs in the 1960s. where else was she going to go, right? it s not until the 70s that you actually start to have an asian american movement. the amount of violence that erupted in our cities after 67, has taught us a lot about how violence does not create something new. reporter: as boggs listened to king s call for peaceful progress, she wanted revolution. this is about where dr. king stood 50 years ago when he gave an earlier rendition of his i have a dream speech. there s about 10,000 people earnestly listening to him. and like the arena is today, boggs believes that someday detroit will be new again. part of that newness, the james and grace lee bogs elementary school in its first full year. and its principal, julia putnam.