Teenage Rebels: Successful High School Activists from the Little Rock 9 to the Class of Tomorrow

(Paperback)

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Teenage Rebels provides a glimpse into the laws, policies and political struggles that have shaped the lives of American high school students over the last one hundred years.Through dozens of case studies, author Dawson Barrett recounts the strikes, marches and picket lines of teens all over the US as they demand better textbooks, start recycling programmes and protest the censorship of student newspapers. Using historically influenced artwork and accessible writing, this book is for anyone who has ever challenged the rules and wished for a better world.

Reviews

Cuts through the strange separateness, superficiality, and social disconnectedness commonly ascribed to teenagers to the underlying core truth that teens are people who are connected to their world. Every single astonishing story that Dawson relates, from 16 year-old Sybil Ludington's 1777 ride to alert the militia of a British attack, to the 21st century high school students fighting for gay and transgender rights and the rights of immigrants, illustrate the deep concern of young people about their society, and their willingness to act on that. --Mark Rudd, The Weather Underground

"It's nothing new that high school students are left out of the political process. They've even been left out of most histories of student movements, which focus on colleges--although they led many brave battles in the face of fire hoses in Birmingham and rifles in Johannesberg. In this lucid book, Dawson Barrett corrects that omission. Hopefully these stories will inspire a new generation to fight for their future and not settle for the present. Climate change, unemployment, inequality, all these injustices are stealing from the future." -- Tom Hayden, activist and author

"As someone who became active in high school--protesting the Vietnam War, fighting for Black Power, demanding more rights for students--I was thrilled with the publication of this work. It reminds the reader of the proud tradition of progressive student activism and that, far from being limited to college students, it has been a phenomenon crossing many age, gender, racial and ethnic boundaries." --Bill Fletcher, Jr., writer/activist; author of "They're Bankrupting Us" - And Twenty Other Myths about Unions

"Unlabeled and under-the-radar, teenagers create their political identities in Dawson Barrett's stories of young people successfully fighting the power. Righteous and inspiring!" --Jennifer Baumgardner, author of Manifesta, Grassroots, and Look Both Ways

"The timing of Dawson Barrett's Teenage Rebels couldn't be better. Now that standardized testing has been abolished, and Congress has diverted $500 billion per year to public education from the defense and homeland security budgets, and from taxes on the prison-industrial complex, we will finally have free, engaging, quality education for all American kids." --Senator Andy Bichlbaum (D-New Virginia)

Author Bio

Dawson Barrett: Dawson Barrett is an Assistant Professor of History at Del Mar College. He received his PhD in history from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His writings on punk rock, the 2011 Wisconsin labor crisis, and the history of US social movements have appeared in a various popular and scholarly pubs. Mark Rudd was a member of Students for a Democratic Society and The Weather Underground in the 1960s. He now teaches community college and is the author of Underground: My Life with SDS and the Weathermen.