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'We Need a 'Song'': Sustaining Critical Youth Organizing Literacies through World Humanities

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Title: 'We Need a 'Song'': Sustaining Critical Youth Organizing Literacies through World Humanities
Language: English
Authors: Butler, Tamara
Source: Equity & Excellence in Education. 2017 50(1):84-95.
Availability: Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 12
Publication Date: 2017
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: High Schools
Secondary Education
Grade 9
Junior High Schools
Middle Schools
Descriptors: Citizen Participation, Youth, Activism, Critical Literacy, Humanities, Females, High School Students, African American Students, Minority Group Students, World History, Social Justice, Grade 9, Sexuality, Adolescents, Violence, Advocacy, Consciousness Raising
DOI: 10.1080/10665684.2016.1250233
ISSN: 1066-5684
Abstract: This article intervenes in the long-standing conversations around which youth activism, literacies, and civic engagement take place. In an effort to expand the boundaries of activism to include the work of youth critical literacies within the classroom, this article highlights the work of four female high school students of color as they bring attention to human sex trafficking. Findings show that students are introduced to and given the space to engage in "critical youth organizing literacies" through their class project. Therefore, through similar projects, classrooms become sites where young people learn to select and critique texts in order to mobilize peers and community members.
Abstractor: As Provided
Number of References: 54
Entry Date: 2017
Accession Number: EJ1131041
Database: ERIC
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  Value: <anid>AN0121393121;eie01feb.17;2019Feb20.13:34;v2.2.500</anid> <title id="AN0121393121-1">“We Need a Song ”: Sustaining Critical Youth Organizing Literacies Through World Humanities. </title> <p>This article intervenes in the long-standing conversations around which youth activism, literacies, and civic engagement take place. In an effort to expand the boundaries of activism to include the work of youth critical literacies within the classroom, this article highlights the work of four female high school students of color as they bring attention to human sex trafficking. Findings show that students are introduced to and given the space to engage in "critical youth organizing literacies" through their class project. Therefore, through similar projects, classrooms become sites where young people learn to select and critique texts in order to mobilize peers and community members.</p> <p>According to the World Programme of Action for Youth (United Nations, [<reflink idref="bib53" id="ref1">53</reflink>]), "Young people in all countries are both a major human resource for development and key agents for social change, economic development and technological innovation. Their imagination, ideals, considerable energies and vision are essential for continuing development of the societies in which they live" (p. 10). The original document, adopted by the General Assembly in 1995, highlights how to engage in issues that impact the lives and livelihood of young people across the globe. For critical literacy scholars, where and how young people engage in acts of being, speaking, reading, writing, and meaning-making are intricately connected to these young people's lives and livelihood. In some cases, such acts performed by youth are efforts to save their lives and the lives of others (Kinloch, [<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref2">26</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref3">27</reflink>]; Kirkland, [<reflink idref="bib29" id="ref4">29</reflink>]; San Pedro, [<reflink idref="bib48" id="ref5">48</reflink>]). I am particularly interested in how young people's "imagination, ideals, considerable energies and vision" inform how they use classrooms to bring attention to injustices and inequities that are beyond the classroom.</p> <p>In drawing upon the work of scholars focused on the intersections of critical literacy and youth organizing (Bishop, [<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref6">4</reflink>]; Ginwright, Cammarota, & Noguera, [<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref7">14</reflink>]; Gordon, [<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref8">18</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref9">20</reflink>]), I entered a ninth-grade World Humanities classroom to examine how critical youth organizing literacies are provoked, enacted, and sustained. I define critical youth organizing literacies as acts of critiquing texts and co-creating new meanings around texts in mobilizing efforts. Critical youth organizing literacies are significant to literacy education because they: (<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref10">1</reflink>) reposition youth as contemporary change agents and (<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref11">2</reflink>) highlight classrooms as sustainable spaces to engage in social justice work.</p> <p>In this article, I rely on a critical narrative inquiry approach to examine specific ways four female high school students of color engage in critical youth organizing literacies.</p> <hd id="AN0121393121-2">Entering the Social Justice Capstone projects</hd> <p>Chika looked over at me and spoke directly into the camera, "You see Ms. B how they never like my idea." Tay quickly chimed in, "No, I don't like your ideas." Josefina jokingly co-signed with Tay and said, "Cause they're so <emph>bleh</emph>." This was possibly the third or fourth dispute that happened within the last ten minutes. Since I was not sure what was going to happen next and I wanted them to pick a song soon, I attempted to alleviate some of the tension with an off-camera comment. "Love one another."</p> <p>"We love one another," Josefina assured me. No fights—at least not in this group—were going to break out today.</p> <p>Tay, Chika, Catalia, and Josefina[<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref12">1</reflink>], four ninth grade girls enrolled in a World Humanities class, are debating which song to select for their Revolutionary/Social Justice Music Project, which is due the following week. According to the directions (see below), students should to choose a song that best depicts some aspect of the social justice issue they are studying.</p> <hd id="AN0121393121-3">Revolutionary/social justice music project instructions</hd> <p>Directions: Working with a partner, choose a song that shares your perspective about a certain social justice issue about which you are both passionate. You will discuss your song to the rest of the class in a presentation no longer than 3 minutes but no less than 2 minutes. Be sure to do the following:</p> <p></p> <ulist> <item> 1. Display the lyrics of your song.</item> <p></p> <item> 2. Identify the social justice issue(s) and the author's message.</item> <p></p> <item> 3. Describe the tone of the song (include evidence for this).</item> <p></p> <item> 4. Upload your presentation to Blackboard.</item> </ulist> <p>The opening dialogue is from one of the Social Justice Capstone days in the library at Justice High School. Throughout the academic year, the Humanities teachers allotted a few class periods to the Social Justice Capstone projects (refered to as Capstones), so that students could use the computers to research their topics, consult with teachers about obstacles they were facing, design pieces of their projects, or contact community organizations. For the ninth grade World Humanities class, students worked in groups of four–five to explore a social injustice issue of interest through yearlong research on their Capstones (see Table 1).</p> <p>Table 1. Four stages (grading periods) of research study.</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><thead><tr><td /><td /><td>Data/Artifacts</td></tr><tr><td>Grading Period</td><td>Observation Location</td><td>Researcher</td><td>Focal Narrators</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><bold>First</bold>: August 22 to October 26, 2012</td><td>Humanities Classroom</td><td>▪ Researcher journal and fieldnotes from classroom observations</td><td>▪ Non-fiction reading journal</td></tr><tr><td /><td /><td>▪ Audio recordings of class discussions</td><td>▪ Photographs or digital versions of "non-fiction" book talk assignment</td></tr><tr><td /><td /><td>▪ Class handouts</td><td /></tr><tr><td><bold>Second</bold>: October 27, 2012 to January 11, 2013</td><td>Humanities Classroom & Local Community Organization</td><td>▪ Mock notebook (contains class handouts & field notes)</td><td>▪ Social Justice Project documentation journal</td></tr><tr><td /><td /><td>▪ Digital photographs and audio/video recordings of class discussions/activities</td><td>▪ Digital versions of "Explain" PowerPoint presentations</td></tr><tr><td><bold>Third</bold>: January 14 to March 15, 2013</td><td /><td>▪ Researcher journal about classroom observations and Social Justice Capstone community engagement</td><td>▪ Video recordings of student interviews of community members</td></tr><tr><td /><td /><td /><td>▪ Student-generated photographs of community site & engagements</td></tr><tr><td><bold>Fourth</bold>: March 16 to May 31, 2013</td><td>School (Humanities Classroom and After School)</td><td>▪ Mock notebook (contains class handouts & field notes)</td><td>▪ Social Justice Project documentation journal</td></tr><tr><td /><td /><td>▪ Researcher journal about classroom and after school observations</td><td>▪ Digital versions of "Social Justice/Revolutionary Music" PowerPoint presentations</td></tr><tr><td /><td /><td>▪ Audio recordings of "Social Justice/Revolutionary Music" presentations</td><td>▪ Focus group discussion about Social Justice project</td></tr><tr><td /><td /><td>▪ Video recordings of "Art in Action" night presentations</td><td>▪ Audio/video recordings from group discussions</td></tr><tr><td /><td /><td>▪ Digital photographs from "Art in Action" night</td><td>▪ Pamphlet from "Art in Action" night</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>During the first grading period (September–October 2012), students selected groups and wrote a research proposal about how and what they would learn about their social justice issue. Students were asked to present three potential social justice issues and then consult with Humanities' teachers about the issue that they would research. Students expressed interest in an array of topics including divorce, homelessness, and animal abuse. The teachers often offered feedback on topics throughout the first grading period. For the group of girls who were interested in divorce, the teachers asked the students to articulate why they believed the topic was a social justice issue. After several conversations, the students decided to abandon divorce and investigate the causes and impacts of environmental racism. By the end of the grading period, groups were focused on LGBTQ rights, cyberbullying, foster care, factory farms, domestic violence, environmental racism, and human sex trafficking. For the second grading period (November–December 2012), students conducted Internet research about their social justice topic. They also contacted or visited community organizations whose mission focused on their selected topic.</p> <p>For the third grading period, students conveyed, through in-class presentations for their classmates, what they learned from their internet research and community engagements. For the fourth and final grading period, students shaped the information into an artistic representation of their social justice issue, which they presented at an end-of-year event for members of the school and local community. I draw from this larger yearlong qualitative study into youth literacies and community engagements and focus on one class assignment that occurred during the third grading period—The Revolutionary/Social Justice Music Project. I am interested in how critical youth organizing literacies are enacted through the students' use of popular culture to raise awareness. Therefore, this inquiry is guided by the following questions: How do youth use popular culture texts to mobilize others in social justice efforts? What might we hear and see when young people engage in social justice work within a classroom?</p> <hd id="AN0121393121-4">Critical literacies, youth crossings, and activism</hd> <p>As a framework, critical literacy explores how acts of reading, writing, speaking, being, and meaning-making relate to power, place, and identities. Critical literacy and language scholars (Baker-Bell, [<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref13">2</reflink>]; Green, [<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref14">22</reflink>]; Kinloch, [<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref15">25</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref16">27</reflink>]; Muhammad, [<reflink idref="bib38" id="ref17">38</reflink>]) and their participants/co-researchers highlight how youth, community members, and educators' physical movements often reflect or initiate epistemological shifts in their understandings of power, identity, literacy, and social issues. For example, the young people involved in the radio collective, Youth Voices (Green, [<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref18">22</reflink>]), learned about history and culture outside of their traditional classrooms. Instead, the youth gained insight into "power and oppression, racism and liberation, as well as community building" (Green, [<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref19">22</reflink>], p. 321) through "culturally relevant places and spaces," such as workshops, retreats, field trips, and a summer institute (p. 320).</p> <p>By focusing on the relationships among cross-generational collaboration and dialogue and community change and larger social issues (i.e., racism, globalization, immigration), scholars highlight that contexts for literacy research is limited to neither classroom nor community contexts. Their projects often take up Gere's ([<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref20">13</reflink>]) challenge to engage in work that "encompasses the communities on both sides of the classroom wall" (p. 1094) where participants physically and metaphorically cross boundaries (Kinloch, [<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref21">26</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref22">27</reflink>]). Crossing boundaries may require traveling into seemingly familiar neighborhoods to "make the familiar strange" (Fecho, [<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref23">8</reflink>]; Kaomea, [<reflink idref="bib24" id="ref24">24</reflink>]; Kinloch, [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref25">27</reflink>]; Moss, [<reflink idref="bib37" id="ref26">37</reflink>]). For example, when Philip, a youth co-researcher at Harlem High School, interviewed a White community resident, the exchange challenged his alleged familiarity with White residents who recently moved into Harlem (Kinloch, [<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref27">25</reflink>]). He originally believed that the influx of coffee shops, pharmacies, and White people at the Apollo Theater marked the "white-fication of the hood" (Kinloch, [<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref28">25</reflink>], p. 92). However, through his interviews with White residents, dialogues with Kinloch, visits to Columbia University, and video journaling of neighborhood change, he began to reconsider gentrification of the historically Black Harlem as an influx of people from different racial, class, and cultural backgrounds. In this research project, physical crossings included Justice High school students traveling back and forth between their ninth grade Humanities classroom and community organizations to gather information for their Capstones. Metaphorical crossings—such as moving from the role of student to the role of advocate or educator—often occurred when students presented information to their classmates or community members. Scholar-researcher-youth collaborations begin to dismantle one-dimensional social constructions of youth as passive consumers and raise questions about what additional roles might youth play, or what additional identities might they perform within and beyond classrooms.</p> <p>Youth activism scholarship focuses on young people's involvement in community and after school organizations. For example, social movement scholars are invested in how individuals become members of a "viable 'we'"(Glass, [<reflink idref="bib17" id="ref29">17</reflink>], p. 524). Therefore, their discussions about youth activism and identity often centralize factors that hinder young people's ability to join adult movements. Through her work with young people in Portland, Oregon and Oakland, California, Gordon ([<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref30">18</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib19" id="ref31">19</reflink>]) explores how ageism and gender inequalities are often barriers to youth activism. She attempts to address the silences in sociological literature around "adolescent political activism" that explores "young people's conscious and collective responses" to these barriers (Gordon, [<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref32">18</reflink>], p. 632). She argues that parental concern, roles within family life, and gender inform levels of participation and commitment among youth. Due to their "greater mobility and familial autonomy relative to girls," White middle-class boys in the Portland group, Coalition of Student Activists (CSA) were "able to form alliances with adult social justice groups and access larger social movement networks" (Gordon, [<reflink idref="bib19" id="ref33">19</reflink>], p. 50). With their mobility the boys were able to "attend coalition meetings, acquire new organizing skills, form relationships with adult social justice groups, learn about new developments in local city politics, and eventually speak to adult publics as community organizers" (Gordon, [<reflink idref="bib19" id="ref34">19</reflink>], p. 50). In Oakland, for the girls in the multi-racial organization, United Youth (UY), their participation "in social movement activities was much more consistent than White, middle-class girls' participation in Portland community politics" (p. 51). The higher levels of young females' involvement in community politics can be connected to the presence of youth allies within the organization as well as an emphasis on historical foundations. Through youth-facilitated discussions and activities, young people come to see their contemporary efforts as part of a history of social and political activism.</p> <p>Emerging literature on youth activism raises concerns about how space, place, race, class, and gender impact youth social and political action. Scholars (Ardizzone, [<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref35">1</reflink>]; Bishop, [<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref36">4</reflink>]; Ginwright, Noguera, & Cammarota, [<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref37">15</reflink>]) focus on youth participation in community politics via organizations and out-of-school activities. Bishop ([<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref38">4</reflink>]) focuses specifically on the critical literacy practices that are cultivated and sustained through youth organizing. She identifies five major tenets of critical literacy that are enacted in young people's community organizing efforts: (a) mobilizing learners, (b) engaging in research, (c) identifying issues that are important to learners, (d) taking action on social justice issues that are outside of the classroom, and (e) reflecting on the actions (pp. 6–7). While Bishop is advocating for scholars to take seriously the literacies of youth organizers <emph>outside</emph> of classrooms, which have been understudied and mislabeled as disjointed or misguided, I am advocating for scholars to take seriously the youth organizing literacy practices that are being cultivated <emph>within</emph> the classroom. Such work is important to reimagining classrooms as sites for social change to occur.</p> <p>Aside from being positioned as spaces where young people are subjected to structural and direct violence (Ferguson, [<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref39">9</reflink>]; Fine, [<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref40">10</reflink>]), schools and Humanities classrooms are rarely discussed as sites of youth activism. Beyond the Civil Rights movement, scholarship in sociology and education rarely position schools as sites of contemporary activism. For example, in her research with youth in Portland, Gordon ([<reflink idref="bib19" id="ref41">19</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref42">20</reflink>]) observes that the school-sanctioned group, CSA, was the only option for activism in the lives of White middle-class female participants. Unfortunately, the young women's "school-sanctioned activism" is not discussed to the same degree as their male peers' out-of-school endeavors. However, her work presents opportunities to consider how schools and classrooms can become sites where youth develop interests and projects invested in social justice.</p> <p>In an effort to envision schools as sites of social and political transformation and civic engagement, this work turns to classrooms to see and hear how youth organizing and activism emerges through a class project. I enter into a Humanities classroom and begin to listen to the students' efforts as they develop Social Justice Capstone Projects alongside teachers and community organizations. I am interested in critical youth organizing literacies that are enacted within the classroom, specifically the "range of activities [students] engage in to create, present, and sustain personal identities" (Snow & Anderson, [<reflink idref="bib51" id="ref43">51</reflink>], p. 1348) as activists as they develop their Capstones. Therefore, I rely upon critical methods and methodologies to hear how youth construct, discuss, and understand their roles as social justice workers. Through critical narrative inquiry, I am able to learn how the students analyze information, make decisions, and raise awareness about local and global injustices.</p> <hd id="AN0121393121-5">Critical narrative analysis: To see and hear youth</hd> <p>As a relatively new methodology in educational research (first cited in Lander, [<reflink idref="bib31" id="ref44">31</reflink>]; Oliver, [<reflink idref="bib42" id="ref45">42</reflink>]) that merges critical frameworks (Freire, [<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref46">11</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref47">10</reflink>]; Giroux, [<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref48">16</reflink>]; Gramsci, [<reflink idref="bib21" id="ref49">21</reflink>]; Shor, [<reflink idref="bib50" id="ref50">50</reflink>]) and methodologies (Madison, [<reflink idref="bib34" id="ref51">34</reflink>]; Willis, Montavon, Hall, Hunter, Burke, & Herrera, [<reflink idref="bib54" id="ref52">54</reflink>]) with narrative research (Clandinin & Connelly, [<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref53">5</reflink>]), critical narrative inquiry places issues of power and identity at the center of research into teaching and learning. Scholars (Lander, [<reflink idref="bib31" id="ref54">31</reflink>]; Norton [<reflink idref="bib39" id="ref55">39</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib40" id="ref56">40</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib41" id="ref57">41</reflink>]; Oliver, [<reflink idref="bib42" id="ref58">42</reflink>]; Rivera Maulucci, [<reflink idref="bib46" id="ref59">46</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib47" id="ref60">47</reflink>]) who engage in critical narrative inquiry seek to create more equitable educational spaces (i.e., K-20 classrooms, college campuses, after school programs) by listening to the experiences and stories of women, people of color, the working class, LGBTQ communities, individuals from different spiritual and religious beliefs, and individuals with additional historically marginalized identities. As a critical multicultural researcher, I use critical narrative inquiry to listen to stories of historically marginalized people (i.e., female high school students of color and human sex trafficking survivors) in order to challenge marginalization and see the personal as political. By placing emphasis on the stories of those who have been marginalized, critical narrative inquiry incorporates new voices—students, teachers, community members, people of color, and more—into conversations about equitable education.</p> <p>For this inquiry, I served as participant observer who collected class documents, maintained a researcher journal, and digitally collected student artifacts (i.e., photographs of artwork, scanned pamphlets and in-class assignments, digital versions of their PowerPoints and Prezis, etc.). I audio- and video-recorded the students' in-class presentations and discussions, as well as group planning and designing sessions (see Table 1). The narrative inquiry emerges when I look for connecting elements that the students have embedded in various stages of their Capstone. For example, students had to conduct internet research and connect with community organizations in order to learn about their social justice issue. In the case of the four girls who are central to this inquiry, they conducted online research about human sex trafficking and spoke with two community members about trafficking. In analyzing their Revolutionary/Social Justice Music Project, I listened for <emph>what</emph> they incorporated from the internet and the community members to tell a story about human sex trafficking.</p> <p>The <emph>critical</emph> element of critical narrative inquiry is concerned with <emph>how</emph> the students construct and convey the stories about human sex trafficking. In reviewing transcripts and student-generated visuals (e.g., pamphlets, presentation slides), I was attentive to the language and images that students used in order to raise awareness. For example, students did not use stock photos of human sex trafficking survivors in any of their Capstone materials; instead, they used photographs of themselves. In most of their presentations and conversations, the students often used the word survivor rather than victim. Such moves are important in critical narrative inquiry because it not only informs the story that students are telling about the social injustice of human trafficking, but it also informs the story that students are telling about who they are as advocates and activists.</p> <hd id="AN0121393121-6">Context of the study</hd> <p>In an effort to understand how and why young people engage in critical youth organizing literacies, I accepted a World Humanities teacher's (Mr. Logan) invitation to hang out at Justice High School. Focused on excellence and collaborative learning, Justice High has received state, national, and international recognition and numerous awards since it opened in the late 1980s. Located in a midsize Midwestern city, the 50-acre campus is minutes away from a historically African American community undergoing urban renewal. Justice High, like its neighboring community, continues to face expansion, development, and change. During the 2003–2004 school year, the school's student population of 570 was 62.0% African American, 34.1% White, and 2.5% Asian American or Pacific Islander. The percentage of American Indian or Native Alaskan, multi-racial, and Hispanic were not calculated because less than ten students in these group attended Justice (Department of Education, [<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref61">6</reflink>]). By the 2012–2013 school year, 670 students attended Justice High School. There also were changes in the student body's racial and ethnic demographic: 80.3% of the students were Black (non-Hispanic), 3.0% Hispanic, 13.0% White (non-Hispanic), and 2.2% identified as multi-racial. As a lottery school, Justice High School's students often came from different neighborhoods across the school district. Since 70% of the students are considered "economically disadvantaged," Justice High is considered a "medium-high poverty school."[<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref62">2</reflink>] I realize that reported demographics only account for a small part of the story about Justice High and its students.</p> <p>Of Justice High's 200-plus ninth grade students who are from ethnically and linguistically diverse backgrounds, 52 were enrolled in the World Humanities course I observed. The class was instructed by four teachers—Mr. Logan, Mrs. Munro, Ms. Prince, and Mr. Sapien—who team-taught World History and English Language Arts. I met Mr. Logan, the History teacher, through my doctoral program. We often took similar classes, where we would exchange stories about our interests in local histories and connections to the state of South Carolina—where I'm from and where he once lived. My interest in local history was the entry point into his classroom, as his students were studying the history of the African American community neighboring Justice High School.</p> <p>During his third period study hall, which was a mixture of ninth, eleventh, and twelfth grade students, Mr. Logan often invited me to hang out in his classroom. Usually, I used the time to talk with students, review or expand some of my field notes, or talk with him about his reflections on the Humanities class or my experiences as a participant observer. Since I missed the class when the students first read Shaun Tan's ([<reflink idref="bib52" id="ref63">52</reflink>]) <emph>The Arrival</emph>, Tay, one of the students in the Humanities class, used the study hall time to talk with me and share her insights about the book. This interaction pointed to the concept of "dialogic selection" in which participants choose to work with the researcher and vice versa (Paris, [<reflink idref="bib43" id="ref64">43</reflink>], p. 141). As a member of the group exploring human sex trafficking for their Social Justice Capstone, Tay took on the role of my unsolicited liaison to the group. Once they invited me to the group, the girls would ask me questions about my research, greet me when we passed one another in the school hallways, ask for assistance with class assignments, or invite me to stay after school as they completed their project. Through these informal interactions, I learned that Tay was an inquisitive 15-year old Nigerian American[<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref65">3</reflink>] who aspired to be fashion designer. I came to see Chika, a 15-year-old Mexican American student, as a teenager who was never lost for words and "loved a challenge" (her words). Josefina was a playful 15-year-old African American volleyball player who used humor to diffuse hostile debates or escalating disagreements among group members. As the soft-spoken group member, Catalia, was a 15-year-old Hispanic student who enjoyed playing the violin and often interjected group conversations with witty comments. Collectively, we negotiated times to talk during the school day about their Capstone. As a result, I was able to conduct semi-structured group interviews throughout the third and fourth grading period with students. For this article, I analyzed conversations and presentations related to the four girls' music project for their group's Capstone. I focus on these conversations and presentations because they highlight spaces where students engage in critical youth organizing literacies through the Capstone. According to Bishop ([<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref66">4</reflink>]), critical literacy and youth organizing intersect when youth "participate in campaign development, community outreach, strategic action, and intentional reflection" (p. 8). While the Capstone pushes students to develop an awareness campaign, and engage in community outreach, action, and reflection, the Revolutionary/Social Justice Music Project is a space where students are actively engaged in intentional reflection and strategic action.</p> <hd id="AN0121393121-7">Findings</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0121393121-8">Battle for a mixtape: Inside the revolutionary/social justice music project</hd> <p>During the Capstone Day in the library, I joined the girls at a table near the library door. They were looking at several flyers and pamphlets that Chika collected about local human trafficking awareness programs and upcoming events. She was sharing information with her group members as they read and exchanged the documents across the table. Placing her finger on the flyer lying in front of Josefina, Chika explained: "On the 20th, there is this lady who's talking and I talked to Ms. J, creator of 'Stories Behind Their Eyes.' " She picked up the pamphlet for "Stories Behind Their Eyes," which is a local after school service learning initiative created by a school counselor. The initiative was designed for young people to learn about and advocate to stop human sex trafficking. Chika continued speaking, "She said she could give us an interview with her [nods at the flyer laying on the table] and we could probably get an interview with the survivors."</p> <p>Josefina pointed to the woman on the flyer and asked, "Is she one of the sur—was she sex trafficked?" She immediately started singing, "<emph>I'm a survivor."</emph> She then paused, made eye contact with her group members and laughed. Tay smiled, "We should use that song," she declared as she pointed at Josefina. "Don't we have to choose a song? That's the song." The song she was referring to was "Survivor," a 2001 single and album from the R&B group, Destiny's Child (Knowles, Dent, & Knowles, [<reflink idref="bib30" id="ref67">30</reflink>]). The idea was quickly derailed when Chika began reciting the chorus of "Not Afraid" by Eminem, which turned into a debate about the songs lyrics. Tay attempted to get the group back on task: "Okay so what are we supposed to be doing? Can you turn to that page [with the directions]?"</p> <p>The students shared various ideas for the music project, ranging from using lyrics to create a slogan to editing and compiling songs for a mixtape, or a compilation of songs or snippets of songs. From Tyler the Creator to Nicki Minaj to Chaka Khan and Mary J. Blige—they sped through a list of artists. Josefina suggested Justin Bieber. We even had a Natasha Bettingfield sing-along with students from another table. The dialogue and negotitating process echoes Bishop's ([<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref68">4</reflink>]) assertion about the critical literacy practices of youth organizers: "When youth engage in campaign development, outreach and peer education, they exercise practices of critical literacy for local civic action, learning about and navigating their complex surroundings while building relationships with their peers and adult allies" (pp. 7–8). Therefore, I position the Capstone as the larger campaign that they are developing around human sex trafficking. Within that campaign, they must engage in strategic actions, such as selecting a song that best represents their issue, to effectively raise awareness.</p> <p>Although the students' efforts are rooted in a class assignment, they are still cultivating youth organizing literacies of audiencing that can be used in inciting "local civic action" (p. 7). For example, the girls debated in hopes of selecting the "perfect" songs to create a slogan that would bring attention to human sex trafficking. Although the assignment called for one song, the girls decided they would create a mixtape for this assignment, and only wanted songs that aligned with the issue of human sex trafficking, as noted in the following exchange:</p> <p>Josefina: And we can do Mary J. [sings: <emph>Runawaaayy</emph>]</p> <p>Chika: Runaway Love? [Tay: Yes, we can] No, no, that's more like domestic violence.</p> <p>Josefina: Oh it is. True.</p> <p>Each time they thought of a song, a group member would locate the song in her phone's playlists or on YouTube, listen, and then pass the phone or headphones to the other group members for feedback. The girls were adamant about originality. Josefina started singing then stopped, "That's Nicki Minaj. No." "[That song] would work. They used that last year," Chika suggested. "No. We're not using nothing nobody used last year," Josefina declared. As each song suggestion went through a quick analysis and vote, the girls began to solidify their criteria for the type of song that would best convey their message. Therefore, the girls were focused on originality, relatability, and tone. When Josefina suggested a song that a classmate wrote for a performance, she was focused on originality (none of the students in the class had heard the song) and tone (the lyrics focused specifically on human sex trafficking). However, Chika shared that she did not want to use a "yo yo what's up" song, or one that would not be known by their classmates (not performed by a more famous artist) or could be interpreted as cheesy or not serious enough. The mixtape debate highlights how students negotiated intentionality—focusing on familiarity to evoke proximity to the issue, as well as tone, via sound and lyrics, to convey the seriousness of their issue.</p> <hd id="AN0121393121-9">"You thought": Rethinking social injustice through popular culture</hd> <p>The following week, the girls stood in the front of the classroom to present their "Revolutionary/Social Justice Music Project." The sound of fast paced stringed instruments blared from the overhead speakers followed by a syncopated drum. Three distinct female voices followed. The students selected "Survivor" by Destiny's Child (Knowles, Dent, & Knowles, [<reflink idref="bib30" id="ref69">30</reflink>]). Once the song ended, the students offered their literary and social justice analysis:</p> <p>Chika: The tone for our song is brave because she's, like, taking a stand for herself and, like, coming out of human trafficking.</p> <p>Tay: Another tone is confident because she show[ed] that she could become something without like the so-called "pimp" because they draw them with ... like "I'll give you a gift" and ... start a relationship with you.</p> <p>Catalia: Basically, the message in the lyrics was that now that she is free. She has survived the one that did all the things to her. He thought she wouldn't be good, but then she's proving him wrong. She's singing this to him, "thought I would be down, wouldn't survive, but look at me now."</p> <p>Instead of selecting a song that focused on abuse, trauma, and helplessness, themes that are often associated with human sex trafficking, they chose a song that focused on the survivor's bravery, confidence, and freedom. As a result, the girls incite a series of defamiliarizing (Kaomea, [<reflink idref="bib24" id="ref70">24</reflink>]) events, or strategies, among their audience, events where the familiar become strange. For example, listeners are invited to engage in the song "Survivor" because of its familiarity; however, they are encouraged to reorient themselves to the song through the lens of human sex trafficking—an unfamiliar topic. Therefore, the lyrics "You thought that I'd be weak without you, but I'm stronger/You thought that I'd be broke without you, but I'm richer" (Knowles, Dent, & Knowles, [<reflink idref="bib30" id="ref71">30</reflink>]), which could be read as refering to end of a romantic relationship or friendship are to be re-read as the end of a duplicitious and almost fatal situation as indicated by Tay's reading ("something without like the so-called pimp because they draw them [in] with").</p> <p>The group members' selection and analysis of the song was informed by information they gained through internet research and an interview with a community member. One month before the music assignment, the girls interviewed Ms. Jeter, a representative from a local organization that helped survivors of human trafficking. Because each group was required to "experience their social justice issue and document this experience" (assignment directions) as part of their Social Justice Capstone Projects, the girls in the human sex trafficking group visited The Alliance, where they "helped serve food to the victims ... They told us about their stories" (Catalia) and served in the food pantry. Through the experience, the girls learned about the obstacles that survivors' faced upon escaping sex trafficking (e.g., inability to find work or secure housing; fear of being forced back into trafficking; overcoming drug addiction or alcoholism; physical and psychological abuse). They also learned about local organizations and resources (e.g., employment training and assistance; food banks; clinics) that were available to help survivors transition back into society.</p> <p>The girls' Revolutionary/Social Justice Music presentation is multilayered production that raises awareness by challenging audience members to reconsider their understanding of human sex trafficking. Their choice of song and analysis call "into question the dominant ideologies and hegemonic processes that are used to sustain them" (Willis et al., [<reflink idref="bib54" id="ref72">54</reflink>], p. 33). In a later interview, Josefina shared with me that she had not heard of human sex trafficking before the World Humanities class. The other girls shared similar sentiments, noting that seeing examples of previous Capstones, especially the student-created mini-film on human trafficking is what piqued their interest in the topc. They were even more intrigued by the fact that their city ranked relatively high on the list where trafficking occurs. Therefore, the girls used the popular culture text of "Survivor" to "peel back familiar dominant appearances and expose previously silenced and potentially disturbing accounts" (Kaomea, [<reflink idref="bib24" id="ref73">24</reflink>], p. 15) of oppression. They used the song to: (a) introduce the audience to the topic through a familiar text, (b) to share their knowledge about the closeness and oppressive nature of human sex trafficking, and (c) disrupt the audience's conceptualization of trafficking as only trauma. By highlighting that the songwriter is "brave," "confident," and "survived the one that did all the things to her," the girls did not focus on the trauma of trafficking, but instead celebrated the resilience, strength, and determination of the survivor. As a result, they attempted to rewrite how their audience understands trafficking.</p> <p>In addition to rewriting how the audience saw survivors (more than victims), the girls also rewrote themselves as activists. In her research on autobiographical texts of female activists, Perkins ([<reflink idref="bib44" id="ref74">44</reflink>]) asserts, "Activists use life-writing to re-create themselves as well as the era they recount. Many things are at stake for them in this process ... [including] control over their own public images" (p. xiii). I argue that like the historical female activists, the girls in the human sex trafficking group also engage in "life writing" by highlighting how people have turned their trauma into stories of freedom and sources of strength. Their Revolutionary/Social Justice Music presentation begins to reshape the "public image" of survivors. In listening to individuals affected by this social injustice (community outreach), selecting a song that best represents what they learned (intentional reflection), and representing their learnings to an audience (strategic action), the girls engaged in critical youth organizing literacies to raise awareness and possibly mobilize their peers.</p> <hd id="AN0121393121-10">Conclusion</hd> <p>Chika, Catalia, Tay and Josefina—the girls in this study—push teachers, researchers, community groups, myself, and others to think deeply about how we conceptualize and engage with young people. We must not only envision, but also create, more spaces for young people to take ownership of their learning and make critical decisions about how to represent their learning (Green, [<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref75">22</reflink>]; Kinloch, [<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref76">26</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref77">27</reflink>]). By taking ownership, the girls listened to their stories and repositioned community volunteers as teachers and communities as sites of knowledge. Through the girls' conversations and presentations, I was able to listen to those stories and to the girls' meaning-making process as they sifted through the information they gathered. In order to determine how they would represent their learning, young people dialogue with adults and their peers about the relevancy, impact, and timeliness of their chosen topic(s). In witnessing and analyzing the girls' process, I came to understand the importance of dialogue in their collaborative activities.</p> <p>Critical narrative inquiry allows researchers and research participants to embrace transformative elements of dialogue and storytelling for social justice (Bell, [<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref78">3</reflink>]). In reflecting on the title of Bishop's ([<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref79">4</reflink>]) work "Becoming Activist," Green Meadows (a participant in the study) asks, "How do you become an activist?" (p. 45). Although classrooms do not hold all of the answers to Meadows' question, classrooms like the World Humanities class at Justice High School can offer some insight. Projects that focus on multiple voices serve as platforms for youth, community members, researchers, and educators to begin to share their own stories and seek out others. As the girls learned more about individuals who survived trafficking, I became interested in their curiosity and desire to find more answers. The work that emerged from their curiosity begins to illustrate connections among youth activism, social justice, and critical literacies in ways that seek to advocate for classrooms to be spaces to cultivate activist practices and literacies. Currently, in American K-20 classrooms, students are introduced to the historical stories about young people engaged in activism. Historians (Levinson, [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref80">32</reflink>]; Marshall, [<reflink idref="bib35" id="ref81">35</reflink>]; McGuire, [<reflink idref="bib36" id="ref82">36</reflink>]) continue to unearth narratives about youth activism, and in this way, activism becomes historicized—activism is something that <emph>people did back then</emph>, and that <emph>we currently study</emph>. However, this study attempts to mobilize and reinvigorate activism in our collective conscious. By discussing what young people are doing in a twenty-first century classroom and local community, I am pushing forward the discussion of youth activism as a continuum, not as isolated events that only occurred during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.</p> <p>From their debate in the library to their presentation in class, the girls raised not only their own consciousness, but also the consciousness of their classmates (Bishop, [<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref83">4</reflink>]; Freire, [<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref84">12</reflink>]/1970). Freire ([<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref85">12</reflink>]/1970) defines critical consciousness as the ability "to perceive social, political, and economic contradictions" (p. 12). I argue that the girls not only developed the ability to "perceive" contradictions, but they also engaged in addressing those contradictions. By intentionally designing their Capstone Project to reflect what they learned in interviewing Ms. Jeter and serving at The Alliance, the girls were working toward <emph>embodied</emph> consciousness, which I define as the ability to act in response to awareness of social, political, and economic contradictions. The more the girls engaged in the process of creating their Social Justice Capstone, the more involved they became in the community, and the more time and creativity they invested in the Project. Future research will consider how the girls moved toward embodied consciousness through their representations of human sex trafficking.</p> <p>Issues of representation also extend into the pedagogical implications of this study. In the era of Common Core standards and high stakes testing, classroom projects that focus on community issues can transform negative public perceptions and representations of students, teachers, and communities into positive ones. Such projects can create dialogic spaces where students, community members, educators, and researchers can begin to see each other as human beings. Students should not be seen as empty vessels (Freire, [<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref86">12</reflink>]/1970), who are apathetic to the world around them (Ginwright, Cammarota, & Noguera, [<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref87">14</reflink>]). Instead, they should be seen as investigators and problem-solvers, as individuals who are invested in the communities in which they live, attend school, and are deeply connected (Levinson, [<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref88">33</reflink>]; Sanders, Martinez-Alba, & White, [<reflink idref="bib49" id="ref89">49</reflink>]). When provided with the resources (e.g., administrative support, financial support, time, materials, and networks), teachers can develop projects that encourage classroom-community dialogue (Kinloch & Smagorinsky, [<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref90">28</reflink>]). Such projects promote the professionalization of teaching as teachers move away from scripted curriculum and move toward more creative agency in their classrooms and in the surrounding communities.</p> <p>In the afterword of <emph>The Voice of Children</emph>, June Jordan and Terry Bush ([<reflink idref="bib23" id="ref91">23</reflink>]) call attention to the violence that we inflict upon young people: "But in general, our children have no voice—that we will listen to. We force, we blank them into the bulge/bell regulated lineup of the Army/school, and we insist on silence" (p. 93). When students work with community members and educators, within and beyond their local classrooms, they co-construct sites for cross-generational dialogue, community engagement, and critical analysis. Youth-community-researcher collaborations can begin to raise questions about what additional roles might youth play, or what additional identities might youth perform within and beyond classrooms. Literacy scholars remind us that young people resist negative depictions through their art, inquiry, and, most importantly, their narratives (Baker-Bell, [<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref92">2</reflink>]; Green, [<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref93">22</reflink>]; Muhammad, [<reflink idref="bib38" id="ref94">38</reflink>]; Kinloch, [<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref95">26</reflink>]; Oliver, [<reflink idref="bib42" id="ref96">42</reflink>]). Through this critical narrative inquiry, the girls and I challenge the boundaries of social justice work. According to Phillion and He ([<reflink idref="bib45" id="ref97">45</reflink>]), narrative inquirers must "think about experience narratively," which would allow us to "create new ways to think about, talk about, and write about our inquiries, our lives, and the lives of our participants" (p. 255). By teaching, reading, learning, speaking, and defamiliarizing, the girls take up the same practices to create their Capstone Project as did their activist predecessors, their Black and Brown female activists from the twentieth century (Perkins, [<reflink idref="bib44" id="ref98">44</reflink>]). I "think about, talk about, and write about" Tay, Catalia, Josefina, and Chika as new branches in the genealogy of youth and women of color activists. In reflecting upon their work, I am honored to have had the opportunity to learn with them on their journey to becoming critically-conscious teachers, learners, storytellers, social researchers, and, in some cases, activists.</p> <ref id="AN0121393121-11"> <title> Notes </title> <blist> <bibl id="bib1" idref="ref10" type="bt">1</bibl> <bibtext> Names of places and people are pseudonyms. 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Retrieved from <ulink href="http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unyin/documents/wpay2010.pdf">http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unyin/documents/wpay2010.pdf</ulink></bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Willis, A., Montavon, M., Hall, H., Hunter, C., Burke, L., & Herrera, A. (2008). On critically conscious research: Approaches to language and literacy research. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.</bibtext> </blist> </ref> <aug> <p>By Tamara Butler</p> <p>Reported by Author</p> <p></p> <p>Tamara Butler is an assistant professor of English Education at Michigan State University. Her research, which focuses on the connection between storytelling and activism, is situated in the intersections of critical literacies, culturally-sustaining education, and ethnic studies.</p> </aug> <nolink nlid="nl1" bibid="bib53" firstref="ref1"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl2" bibid="bib26" firstref="ref2"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl3" bibid="bib27" firstref="ref3"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl4" bibid="bib29" firstref="ref4"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl5" bibid="bib48" firstref="ref5"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl6" bibid="bib14" firstref="ref7"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl7" bibid="bib18" firstref="ref8"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl8" bibid="bib20" firstref="ref9"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl9" bibid="bib22" firstref="ref14"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl10" bibid="bib25" firstref="ref15"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl11" bibid="bib38" firstref="ref17"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl12" bibid="bib13" firstref="ref20"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl13" bibid="bib24" firstref="ref24"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl14" bibid="bib37" firstref="ref26"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl15" bibid="bib17" firstref="ref29"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl16" bibid="bib19" firstref="ref31"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl17" bibid="bib15" firstref="ref37"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl18" bibid="bib10" firstref="ref40"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl19" bibid="bib51" firstref="ref43"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl20" bibid="bib31" firstref="ref44"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl21" bibid="bib42" firstref="ref45"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl22" bibid="bib11" firstref="ref46"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl23" bibid="bib16" firstref="ref48"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl24" bibid="bib21" firstref="ref49"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl25" bibid="bib50" firstref="ref50"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl26" bibid="bib34" firstref="ref51"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl27" bibid="bib54" firstref="ref52"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl28" bibid="bib39" firstref="ref55"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl29" bibid="bib40" firstref="ref56"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl30" bibid="bib41" firstref="ref57"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl31" bibid="bib46" firstref="ref59"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl32" bibid="bib47" firstref="ref60"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl33" bibid="bib52" firstref="ref63"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl34" bibid="bib43" firstref="ref64"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl35" bibid="bib30" firstref="ref67"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl36" bibid="bib44" firstref="ref74"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl37" bibid="bib32" firstref="ref80"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl38" bibid="bib35" firstref="ref81"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl39" bibid="bib36" firstref="ref82"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl40" bibid="bib12" firstref="ref84"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl41" bibid="bib33" firstref="ref88"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl42" bibid="bib49" firstref="ref89"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl43" bibid="bib28" firstref="ref90"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl44" bibid="bib23" firstref="ref91"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl45" bibid="bib45" firstref="ref97"></nolink>
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Items – Name: Title
  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: 'We Need a 'Song'': Sustaining Critical Youth Organizing Literacies through World Humanities
– Name: Language
  Label: Language
  Group: Lang
  Data: English
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Butler%2C+Tamara%22">Butler, Tamara</searchLink>
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  Label: Source
  Group: Src
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22Equity+%26+Excellence+in+Education%22"><i>Equity & Excellence in Education</i></searchLink>. 2017 50(1):84-95.
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  Data: Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
– Name: PeerReviewed
  Label: Peer Reviewed
  Group: SrcInfo
  Data: Y
– Name: Pages
  Label: Page Count
  Group: Src
  Data: 12
– Name: DatePubCY
  Label: Publication Date
  Group: Date
  Data: 2017
– Name: TypeDocument
  Label: Document Type
  Group: TypDoc
  Data: Journal Articles<br />Reports - Research
– Name: Audience
  Label: Education Level
  Group: Audnce
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22High+Schools%22">High Schools</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Secondary+Education%22">Secondary Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Grade+9%22">Grade 9</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Junior+High+Schools%22">Junior High Schools</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Middle+Schools%22">Middle Schools</searchLink>
– Name: Subject
  Label: Descriptors
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Citizen+Participation%22">Citizen Participation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Youth%22">Youth</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Activism%22">Activism</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Critical+Literacy%22">Critical Literacy</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Humanities%22">Humanities</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Females%22">Females</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22High+School+Students%22">High School Students</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22African+American+Students%22">African American Students</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Minority+Group+Students%22">Minority Group Students</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22World+History%22">World History</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Social+Justice%22">Social Justice</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Grade+9%22">Grade 9</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Sexuality%22">Sexuality</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Adolescents%22">Adolescents</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Violence%22">Violence</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Advocacy%22">Advocacy</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Consciousness+Raising%22">Consciousness Raising</searchLink>
– Name: DOI
  Label: DOI
  Group: ID
  Data: 10.1080/10665684.2016.1250233
– Name: ISSN
  Label: ISSN
  Group: ISSN
  Data: 1066-5684
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: This article intervenes in the long-standing conversations around which youth activism, literacies, and civic engagement take place. In an effort to expand the boundaries of activism to include the work of youth critical literacies within the classroom, this article highlights the work of four female high school students of color as they bring attention to human sex trafficking. Findings show that students are introduced to and given the space to engage in "critical youth organizing literacies" through their class project. Therefore, through similar projects, classrooms become sites where young people learn to select and critique texts in order to mobilize peers and community members.
– Name: AbstractInfo
  Label: Abstractor
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  Data: As Provided
– Name: Ref
  Label: Number of References
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  Data: 54
– Name: DateEntry
  Label: Entry Date
  Group: Date
  Data: 2017
– Name: AN
  Label: Accession Number
  Group: ID
  Data: EJ1131041
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        Value: 10.1080/10665684.2016.1250233
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      – Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 12
        StartPage: 84
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Citizen Participation
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Youth
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Activism
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Critical Literacy
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Humanities
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      – SubjectFull: Females
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: High School Students
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: African American Students
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Minority Group Students
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: World History
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Social Justice
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Grade 9
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Sexuality
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Adolescents
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Violence
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Advocacy
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      – SubjectFull: Consciousness Raising
        Type: general
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      – TitleFull: 'We Need a 'Song'': Sustaining Critical Youth Organizing Literacies through World Humanities
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            NameFull: Butler, Tamara
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            – TitleFull: Equity & Excellence in Education
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