Raising Students’ Awareness of Social Justice Through Music and Literacy

“Voice Your Soul” teaches students about the power of music as a voice for social justice. Song lyrics are used in the classroom to engage students in quality discussions and explore historical concepts. By integrating relevant music from the ’60s—the voice of a movement— through today and connecting videos with traditional academic learning, we help students explore and analyze the meaning and message of the song. They delve into different songs’ historical and cultural contexts, compare social justice messages, and identify key themes. Students better understand our multicultural society and events in America’s history. By analyzing context clues and unfamiliar words in lyrics, they develop reading and language skills meaningfully.

At the end of the program, students create their own multimedia projects and creative writing—songs, poetry, rap, stories—and live performances to share their beliefs and hope for a better future in an engaging student showcase.