“Can you provide me titles of songs about social justice for my school students?”

A teacher in Piscataway school system in New Jersey asked me for song titles for her grammar school art students around which they can design some works on the theme of social justice. Here is what I told her:

“We Shall Over Come” is always a great choice. And how about “If I Had a Hammer.” It’s a great song and certainly about social justice.

Another choice is “This Land is Your Land.” But even better might be the lyrics in the song “This Land was Made for Your and Me.”

Also a very simple song is “This Little Light of Mine.” Why this relates to social justice may not be obvious but the idea is that our acts of self dignity and inner strength are just as important. In other words, how we see ourselves and conduct ourselves is as important as how others treat us – maybe more important. A good line from that song is “Everywhere I go – I’m gonna let is shine!”