Learning for Justice centers the education and well-being of all young people—particularly those from historically marginalized and excluded communities. As part of this goal to be a catalyst for racial justice in public education, we are intentional in prioritizing communities of color in five key Southern states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi. If you live and work in these five states, we invite you to be a part of our community of educators, parents and caregivers, and community members who support inclusive education for all our young people.
Sign Up For Our Magazine
Learning for Justice offers a free annual printed publication with articles and content on a range of social justice and human rights issues affecting public education and the learning and well-being of young people. When you create an account, you’ll have the option to subscribe to our award-winning annual magazine as well our monthly email newsletter. You’ll also have the ability to access our full library of student texts and bookmark your favorite resources.
As a special gift, while supplies last, anyone who signs up from our five key states, chooses the option to subscribe to the magazine, and provides a valid mailing address will receive an introductory package that includes some of our most recent publications.
Featured Resources
Alabama
The Power of Place: Art as a Tool for Social Justice
Alabama artists are depicting honest history and challenging historical invisibility—reshaping public narratives of justice in their communities.
What Is Our Collective Responsibility When We Uncover Honest History
Local history advocates say preservation, education and healing should include community redevelopment and respecting the agency of descendants of enslaved people.
Expanding Democracy Through Intersecting Movements
The connections between past and present intersecting movements in the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Civil Rights Memorial Center educate and inspire individuals to continue the fight for justice.
Youth Activism: End Poverty. Period.
Breanna and Brooke Bennett, student activists and founders of Women in Training, explain the impetus for their work to provide free menstrual products to all menstruating students.
Down the Hall: The Relationship Aspect
Elementary school counselor Nicole Morales says that, after two difficult school years, the way forward is to build relationships with intention.
A Museum. A Memorial. A Message.
Montgomery, Alabama, is home to two new attractions focused on the history of racial terror. Share the lessons of the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice with your students.
A Student’s Take On Sugar-Coated History
This Black Alabama teen and her family had to fill the gaps in her education at home. Here’s her advice to teachers.
Florida
Changemakers for an Inclusive and Just Future
LGBTQ+ youth activists from the ChangeMakers Leadership Institute advocate for inclusive education and community resilience in the face of oppressive legislation in Florida.
Building a Just Future
Four transgender high school activists courageously share their stories and explain how educators and allies can help them amid the hostile attacks on their human rights.
Dear Young Person, You Are Valued
Activists Nikole Parker and Brandon Wolf from Equality Florida emphasize the need for each of us to advocate for safer schools where all young people are valued.
Why I Serve: Belonging
Podcast host Erica Young tells of her family’s multi-generational experiences of otherness and the goals of storytelling on ‘Belonging.’
A Refuge for LGBTQ+ Young People
Student-run Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA) clubs are a federally protected space for young people to survive and thrive in the increasingly hostile anti-LGBTQ+ climate in schools and across the country.
Why I Serve: Fighting for Inclusive Schools
Activist Carol Lerner advocates for children’s rights in Florida to reclaim the public education narrative from groups with discriminatory agendas.
They Didn’t Back Down
Florida educators were targeted for standing up for LGBTQ students. Here’s how they stood strong.
Power of the Vote: Lifting the Veil of White Supremacy from the Ocoee Massacre to January 6
Civics education must include complete, honest histories and encourage young people to use their right to vote.
Georgia
Youth Activism: For Students, By Students
Youth activists co-create a scalable anti-racist curriculum with an emphasis on action to aid in the national fight for justice.
Video: JADE Summit 2022
In October 2022, Students, teachers, parents, and community leaders came together to reaffirm the importance of anti-racist education at the JADE summit.
Decarceration Begins With School Discipline Reform
Educators have a role in ending discipline that criminalizes youth. Reforms, including trauma-informed and restorative practices, can disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline.
Down the Hall: Embracing a Limitless Mindset
Elementary principal Jamilah A. Hud-Kirk says SEL isn’t something her school does—it’s who they are.
Louisiana
Survival, Resistance and Resilience
Honoring the lives of enslaved people, the Whitney Plantation’s learning tour deepens our understanding of slavery in the United States, the people who survived it and their legacies.
Community Organizing Uplifts Immigrant Students
Tapping into their own agency and communities, immigrant students and their families are finding ways to mitigate serious obstacles.
Imagining a World Without White Supremacy
Meet two innovative educators who help students face their communities’ painful histories and envision brighter futures.
Mississippi
Why I Serve: Where I’m From
Lolita Bolden reflects on history and the love of community while sharing a poem.
Freedom Schools for Today’s Justice Movement
To confront current education censorship and voter suppression, modern social justice projects build on the foundations of the historic 1964 Freedom Schools.
Healing Through Restoration and Transformation
A community Freedom School model in Mississippi embraces transformative practices to strengthen relationships and disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline, illustrating the power of communities to effect change.
Toolkit: Peace Building Circles
Transforming discipline practices requires commitment to processes that strengthen relationships among individuals and connections within communities.
Video: Rosedale Freedom Project
The Rosedale Freedom Project (RFP) is an after-school and summer program for middle and high school students modeled after the 1964 Freedom Schools started by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Mississippi.
A Chorus of Reasons Why We Teach
The dedicated teachers and staff at a Jackson, Mississippi, elementary school share what keeps them committed to teaching.
Learning Together: Building Connections Across Communities
In recognizing a meaningful moment with educators, LFJ Associate Director for Learning in Schools, Sarah-SoonLing Blackburn, Ed.D., explains how “This work is more sustainable when we share it with others.”
Rural Schools and Hard History
The rich history and diversity of rural communities have largely been erased. Appreciating both charts a promising path forward.
