**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.
