Learning from the Past, Walking for the Future

LA School of Global Studies empowers our students to become anti-Genocide activists

“I chose to do this walk to create an awareness and stop the genocide of innocent human beings. With every step we take, we are making a difference.” These words were spoken by Ana Rodriguez, a 10th grade student and National Honors Society member at the Los Angeles School of Global Studies (LASGS) in Downtown Los Angeles, which participated for the third time in “>Walk to End Genocide this spring.

I’m a social studies teacher at LASGS. We offer an experientially-based curriculum to inform and inspire our students, virtually all of whom come from very low-income communities and will be the first in their families to go to college. It is one thing to read history in a textbook, but quite another to apply its lessons in the real world. During the school year, there is nothing that facilitates this experience quite like the Jewish World Watch Walk to End Genocide.

In 10th Grade, our students study World War II, learning about its causes, events, and implications. In examining that history, they hear a firsthand account from a Holocaust survivor, who helps them to see that the lessons of past genocides can help to heal our world today – and advance the fight against intolerance, violence, and racism.

As part of that unit, I ask my students to reflect on the question: To what degree is it our responsibility to take care of one another?

They have answered this question every year in their resounding commitment to the Walk to End Genocide. This year, our students were very active fundraisers in the months leading up to the event. They were powerfully inspired by the idea that they could make a difference for those facing genocide at the other side of the world – and asked friends and family to contribute. We held Penny Wars to raise money. Collectively, we contributed $427 to the cause. We actually raised more; however, two jars from the Penny War and about $10 in cash were stolen from our classrooms. Despite the theft, which disheartened all of us, I’m incredibly proud of their fundraising success.

On the day of the Walk, 30 of our students rose very early on a Sunday morning, taking public transportation so that they could be on site by 7 AM. Despite being teenagers, the early wakeup didn’t faze our group, which worked all morning to help set up for the event.

I was powerfully moved as I watched our students stand shoulder-to-shoulder with genocide survivors and church groups, synagogues and mosques – and thousands of other Angelenos of all ages and races. As we marched two miles through the streets of L.A, they carried LASGS banners in solidarity with genocide survivors around the world.

The experience of walking together with people of all backgrounds in Los Angeles sends a clear message that the fight for equality and justice cuts through ethnic, religious, and racial identities – and across generations. This is not always a message that comes through in today’s media or in the neighborhoods where our students live.

By learning to speak out for today’s victims of genocide, the young men and women of LASGS discover voices that I know will be powerful forces for good and healing in our world for many years to come.

Nicole Solig is a 10th Grade World History Teacher at Los Angeles School of Global Studies
nicole.solig@lasgs.lausd.net