An essential guidebook to influential Black women from Chicagos South and West Sides and their social cultural and artistic contributions to movements both past and present.ampamp160Geographically historically and politically Lifting As They Climbed gives readers an indepth understanding of the numerous Black women from the nineteenth century to today who empowered their neighborhoods and communities. Structured as five selfguided tours with crisp maps and accessible narratives Lifting As They Climbed showcases seventyeight womenactivists artists musicians and moreampamp8212through sites and landmarks on Chicagoampamp8217s South and West Sides.ampamp160Including 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 presentday struggles for radical communitybuilding and solidarity. With no official landmarks to preserve the history of their social justice efforts this book is an intervention against their erasure.