Introduction: Student Engagement
Young people explore Civil Rights Movement history and make it relevant to their lives today.
Every year, Bruce-Monroe Elementary School at Park View (DCPS) dedicates six weeks to an in-depth study of the Black Lives Matter at School principles. Each grade researches a different principle, culminating in a schoolwide and community showcase of learning and activism. Photo by Erika Landberg.
In every section of this book and website, we have shared stories about the role of young people in the Civil Rights Movement. Young people’s hope, persistence, tenacity, joy and unyielding belief in creating change centers the Civil Rights Movement, the Black Power Movement, and contemporary fights for the eradication of endemic racism in the United States.
From the beginning of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, teenagers such as Mary Louise Smith and Claudette Colvin refused to relinquish their seats on the bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Young people understood the moral stakes. Most activists in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) were teenagers or in their early 20s, including Diane Nash, John Lewis, Marion Barry, Judy Richardson, Bernice Johnson Reagon, Charlie Cobb Jr., Lawrence Guyot, and many more who organized for social change in the Mississippi Delta, Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama. Their revolutionary vision challenged the oppressive conditions in these states.
In the late 60s and early 70s, young people continued to be at the forefront in struggles against racism, colonialism, and imperialism. Leaders such as Bobby Seale, Angela Davis, Elaine Brown, and Huey P. Newton critiqued institutions from the statehouse to the jailhouse in California. Students in colleges across the country demanded that universities and colleges include Black Studies, Chicano studies, and Asian American studies. In the 1980s, youth activists led the anti-apartheid movement. A constant theme in the history of the United States is the integral role that young activists play in creating change.
While the traditional narrative minimizes the role of young people, the pendulum should not swing to a focus on young people in isolation. The more nuanced and accurate narrative is one of a dynamic, intergenerational collaboration. In Mississippi, Ella Baker introduced the young SNCC activists to people like Amzie Moore, Hartman Turnbow, C. C. Bryant, and E. W. Steptoe who had organized in the face of brutal Klan terrorism. Their knowledge of who to trust, where not to go, and where to meet was invaluable. Likewise, they were encouraged by the young activists who rolled up their sleeves in a state that many national civil rights organizations had written off.
That is the same with education. This section highlights ways that teachers and young people can work together to learn about and document Civil Rights Movement history — and apply it to their lives today. Elizabeth Davis and Ken Giles describe how students have taken on struggles of their own for historic preservation and representation. Colleen Bell and Susan Oppenheim describe how to prepare for and facilitate a meaningful Civil Rights Movement history tour. There are stories about bringing this history and activism to the classroom, including the articles on the Algebra Project, Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action, Milo’s Museum, and the media. ■
