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“The civil rights movement offers a blueprint for creating meaningful social change,” writes Hasan Kwame Jeffries, Ph.D. Making connections for young people between past movements and present circumstances is imperative, as is having meaningful support in place for honest conversations that can sometimes be difficult. These LFJ resources can help.

Young people have always fought to create a future that is safer and more just—for themselves and for all of us. As students around the globe walk out this Friday to support environmental justice, we hope you’ll find ways to celebrate and support student action during the climate strike and beyond. Here’s how to start.

As an onslaught of anti-LGBTQ efforts—particularly targeting trans and nonbinary youth—continues at the start of the new school year, it’s imperative for educators, parents and caregivers to help young people understand that justice requires an appreciation for the value of identity and diversity among individuals, and that there are actions to take to ensure equity. These LFJ resources can help foster such understanding. 

We can teach young people the honest history of the United States in age-appropriate ways and help them understand commonalities across cultures to develop a strong sense of self and identity as they honor diversity. To support these conversations and learning experiences, we offer parents, caregivers and educators teaching strategies, talking points and activities.

As we continue to celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, we hope educators commit to uplifting the diversity of AAPI identities year round. These resources offer ideas for including AAPI stories and valuing the lived experiences of AAPI people in our learning spaces, regardless of our own identities and those of our students.

The systemic devaluation of Black people that originated during slavery continues today in punitive practices that disproportionately push Black children and other children of color out of schools and into the criminal legal system. To ensure equitable education for all youth, educators and communities must play a role in decarceration, which begins with school discipline reform.