This year in Social Studies, our eighth graders are exploring the “evolution” of the U.S. justice system, from the Articles of Confederation to the Constitutional Convention to the Bill of Rights to the Civil Rights Movement, as well as contemporary legal issues. Recently, students are researching the impact of a specific Civil Rights foot soldier of their choosing in order to better understand the historical, political and social realities that led to the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, as well as how the struggle continues in a modern context. Eighth graders are actively discussing what constitutes justice, fundamental rights, and the nuances that differentiate equality and equity. For this reason and to further explore their conversations around rights, the eighth grade class went on a field trip to visit the Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power 1963–1983 art exhibit at the de Young Museum.
“Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power 1963–1983 offers a survey of diverse artistic responses to the most seismic years of Black social activism, 1963 to 1983. The exhibition is divided into sections which address important artistic collectives, the rise of the Black Power movement, the greater social impact of the 1965 Watts Rebellion in Los Angeles, and the distinct expressions of the Black Power movement which coursed through artistic engagement with photography, abstraction, figuration, painting, sculpture, assemblage, textile arts, and poster design.”
