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Civil RightsLearning History and Activism from Veterans of the Civil Rights MovementIn the fall of 2006, students in third through sixth grade were asked what they thought was the most significant event of the twentieth century. They decided it was the Civil Rights Movement. We discussed the fact that since they saw its vital importance in history, they needed to know much more about it. So we spent that year studying the Civil Rights movement, watching the documentary film “Eyes on the Prize”, and consulting primary sources. Through their study of the Civil Rights Movement students decided to organize a “Civil Rights Day” in which they honored veterans of the movement. The program was conceived of, planned and run entirely by students. Nine Civil Rights workers were presented with student-designed medals which said “You gave us a better future”.  Daria gives her grandfather, Reverend Means, a medal for his civil rights work
As part of an ongoing Children’s Campaign Against Gun Violence which they had organized several years ago, students also spoke at City Council, where they presented petitions they had been collecting from children concerning gun violence. Their words were included in a report to the mayor. They also organized a children’s march against gun violence to City Hall, which took place last Spring. At the end of June, they made a presentation on their children’s campaign at a United Nations Conference on small arms. They had use of their own conference room at the UN, where they spoke to representatives from eight different countries. They were invited to write a report for a United Nations publication concerning small arms violence around the world, which was published by Cambridge University Press in the Spring of 2007. Jubilee’s Children’s Campaign Against Gun Violencewritten by students in grades 3 through 6 In 2007, almost 400 people were killed in Philadelphia. Most of the gun related homicides ended the lives of people in the age group of 11 to 30. The most dangerous ages to be are teenagers and young adults. Philadelphia is the only major city that has increased gun violence in the last five years. A former student of Jubilee was shot and killed right in front of his house. This inspired us to start a Children’s Campaign to end gun violence. We feel passionate about this campaign because we don’t want to be deprived of our future. We want our rights back. We want to know that we’re safe and secure. As part of our Children’s Campaign we wrote a petition. The petition says:
We went to schools and discussed gun violence with children. We wanted to get children’s point of view about handguns. We got almost 300 signatures on our petition by students from eight different schools. We presented the petitions to the Philadelphia City Council, the Governor of Pennsylvania, and a State Representative. We organized and participated in a Children’s March Against Gun Violence. We were trying to open the eyes of legislators from Pennsylvania, and show them the effects of gun violence on children. We wanted to take matters into our own hands and stress the impact of destruction that gun violence has on our community. We were put on this earth to make a difference in this world. Gun violence has killed so many kids and adults that we are tired of it. We want to get rid of gun violence for good. Our campaign went beyond what we thought it would. We were invited to a Small Arms Conference, held by the United Nations, to tell our experience with gun violence, and how the laws should be changed. Representatives from other countries listened to us, and treated us seriously and with respect. Although we are children, we want to do our part to make the world a safer place to be.
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