The recent Women’s March on Washington, D.C., by some estimates the largest protest march in American history, prompted journalists of different political bents to comment on its possible impact on policy and electoral politics. Whether the march—and the spirit of resistance and hope it galvanized among its participants—can maintain its forward momentum remains to be seen. Yet, as former teachers and current teacher educators who participated in the march, it is clear to us that such protests have the potential to influence our nation’s classrooms.
While the signs participants held during the Women’s March addressed human rights issues with a vibrant blend of cathartic humor, creativity and poignant pleas, we were taken by the educational value of the march’s chants. The signs spoke to salient reasons individual people were marching, but the chants seemed to speak more to the collective consciousness of the marchers.
One of the most common chants we heard used call and response:
One person calls, “Tell me what democracy looks like.”
Everyone else responds, “This is what democracy looks like.”
Started at different intervals and from different groups along the route, these chants crossed lines of race, class, gender, sexuality, creed and age, emphasizing the power all Americans have to make positive change in our society, no matter their social position. The chants created moments that countered the critique that identity politics will lead marchers adrift from their causes. The chants represented unity, not in spite of diversity, but because of it.
Careful analysis of the “Tell me what democracy looks like” chant in the classroom has the potential to disrupt the idea that activists are larger-than-life heroes, far removed from everyday people. As the Women’s March Youth Ambassadors can attest, children were an ever-present force during the march. Positioned in trees and sitting on the shoulders of friends and family members, children often had the broadest views of the crowd’s immensity and pluralism, and their voices could be heard confirming that they, too, are what democracy looks like.
During the civil rights movement, children weren’t merely in the shadows of history; they were often capable of setting the nation’s moral compass. For example, over 3,000 children marched as part of the 1963 Children’s March in Birmingham, Alabama. Broadcasted images of police using water hoses, dogs and arrests to quell the children’s protests sparked national controversy, eventually forcing Birmingham to negotiate an agreement with civil rights leaders to end the demonstrations.
There are other examples, of course, such as the participation of children in the Selma-to-Montgomery March of 1965 in the face of intimidation, threats and violence, including the infamous “Bloody Sunday.” These courageous children, along with other activists, completed a four-day, 54-mile march to the Alabama State Capitol to call for voting rights for African Americans in the South. Their young voices and small steps brought about change; the march is credited with spurring the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
As educators, we believe it is part of our role to prepare students to understand the power of their civic engagement to prevent and resist injustice. Our beliefs are supported by the National Council for the Social Studies C3 Framework, which promotes students’ active engagement in their communities through informed action.
Elementary educators interested in promoting such a vision in their classrooms could easily incorporate literature focused on children’s roles in American protests into their reading routines, including books such as Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose, We’ve Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March by Cynthia Levinson and Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909 by Michelle Markel. For additional readings, see the free texts in the K–12 curriculum tool Perspectives for a Diverse America.
Educators could also encourage students to create their own signs and chants that represent issues they care about at the classroom, school or community level. Teaching students about the role children have played in history, as well as the role children can continue to play in our current political environment, is just one of many ways teachers can bring protests such as the the Women’s March into the classroom.
Brittney Beck is a doctoral fellow in the University of Florida School of Teaching and Learning and a former first-grade teacher.
Stephanie Schroeder is a doctoral candidate in curriculum, teaching and teacher education at the University of Florida and is a former secondary English and social studies teacher.
