Resistance 101 in Law Class

At Thurgood Marshall Academy in D.C, eleventh grade students explore how laws and policies are created and evaluate the impact on different communities through a legal lens in an Introduction to Law class. Their teacher, Sam Chiron, used the Resistance 101 lesson during Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action. Chiron wrote:

It was a great way to connect the themes of Black Lives Matter with the work we've been doing. It allowed students to see that many of the injustices we’re exploring in our policy work aren’t new and that activists have been fighting, in so many different ways, for social justice for generations.

During the lesson mixer, students were bouncing around the room introducing themselves (in character) to other activists and asking questions about their work, advocacy strategies and life.

They were surprised to see so many young activists represented and were most interested in discussing the effective strategies to use.

They ultimately agreed that combining several advocacy efforts would be most effective today.

This activity also provided another opportunity for students to see themselves reflected in the curriculum as changemakers and highlighted the countless possibilities of ways to be an advocate.