TEEN GUIDE TO STUDENT ACTIVISM

A thorough guide for the next
generation of activists.

In 1963, images of policemen turning
fire hoses and dogs on young black students hit the nightly news, and a nation
was shamed into action. Generations later, teenagers are again mobilizing to
challenge the status quo regarding everything from racism and gun violence to
the environment. Armed with passion, impatience, and zeal, activists can reach
hundreds of thousands of people through social media in the time it takes to
fry an egg. Kallen (Trashing the Planet: Examining Our Global Garbage Glut, 2017, etc.) has tackled the
multifaceted world of activism and civic engagement in a handbook filled with
examples of young people who have identified causes that mattered and used
dogged determination to bring about change. Movements such as Black Lives Matter and #NeverAgain have risen to national
prominence, but the author gives attention to students who protested budget
cuts in the Boston public school system or sewed clothing for homeless kids at
the Los Angeles LBGT Center. Six chapters on a myriad of topics include advice
for educating oneself and doing research about issues, the rights of protesters,
and advice for dealing with setbacks and trolls. The diversity of the people
highlighted in the book mirrors the makeup of a country still trying to move
the noble ideals of democracy from platitudes to practice.