Global Activism in an American School : From Empathy to Action

When twelve-year-old Iqbal Masih, former child laborer in a Pakistani carpet factory came to Boston in 1994 to receive Reebok’s Youth in Action Award, he asked to meet youth his own age. Reebok selected Broad Meadows Middle School in Quincy, Massachusetts because of its Human Rights curriculum and reputation for student activism. Iqbal’s inspirational visit and untimely murder five months later, on his return to Pakistan, inspired the middle school students to start a grassroots activist campaign to build a school in his memory. Due to the campaign’s success Broad Meadows was chosen as a pilot school for Operation Day’s Work, USA, (ODW, USA) an American adaptation of Norway’s highly effective youth global social action program. ODW has been operating successfully as an after school program at Broad Meadows since 1996. Global Activism in an American School: From Empathy to Action analyzes the evolution of the Kid’s Campaign and Operation Day’s Work at Broad Meadows. It demonstrates how teacher facilitator, Ron Adams, in conjunction with his students created a democratic after school community and provides teachers with unique field tested strategies they could use to promote student activism at the global or local level. Twenty percent of the royalties for this book will be donated to GoodWeave International.