Since the pandemic started, our family has incorporated a lot more music into our day. It’s a great antidote to sadness, loneliness, and the tendency to sit on the couch too long. When we started homeschooling earlier this month, I decided to put together a playlist of social justice songs for kids. We listen to a couple of different songs each morning as we start our day.
My 8 year old also loves to listen to these songs while he draws. Taking dance party breaks between subjects also keeps both of us from getting cranky.
I’d like to offer special thanks to Britt Hawthorne and other members of the Montessori for Social Justice community who helped me discover a number of these songs.
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“Redemption Song” by Bob Marley and the Wailers
“Redemption Song” is one of Marley’s most well-known songs. This anthem draws on the words of Marcus Garvey, telling listeners to “emancipate yourself from mental slavery/None but ourselves can free our minds.”
This song can be found on B is for Bob album, which Ziggy Marley compiled as a way to share his father’s music with children.
Related Post: 11 anti-bias and social justice podcasts for kids
“If I Was President” by Las Cafeteras
This is the perfect song to awaken kids’ imaginations about how they would work for justice if they were President. This tune is part hip-hop and part Mexican folk music, and imagines a world where education is truly free and 3 strikes laws no longer keep Black and Brown people in prison.
“Solartopia” by Pete Seeger and Dar Williams
The first time we listened to Seeger’s Tomorrow’s Children album, my 8 year old became obsessed with this song about green energy. Seeger was a true troubadour for justice and peace, whose music was backed up by his activism.
Although almost all of Seeger’s music is appropriate for children, I particularly like the Tomorrow Children’s album because children are singing with him, and some of the songs include him teaching kids the lyrics. This makes them perfect for morning meetings and circle time.
Related Post: 9 ways kids can protect the planet
“This Train” by Ella Jenkins
Ella Jenkins has rightly been called “the first lady of children’s folk song.” Many of her albums feature social justice songs for (and sung by) children, while others are playful tunes.
Because we’ve been talking about enslavement and the Underground Railroad a lot lately, “This Train” has been in frequent rotation at our house, along with some of the other songs on the album You’ll Sing a Song and I’ll Sing a Song.
Related Post: More than Martin – 15 children’s books about the civil rights movement
“We Royal” by Alphabet Rockers
Do yourself a favor and purchase the entire album The Love by Alphabet Rockers. I love every song on this Grammy nominated, justice-themed hip hop exploration of queer liberation, Black liberation, and honoring the land the artists occupy.
“We Royal” encourages kids to hear the stories of trans, gender non-conforming, and two spirit heroes. It’s also great for dancing!
Be sure to check out their podcast and other resources for activist kids.
“Glory” by Common and John Legend
This theme song from Ava Duvernay’s Selma moves me every time I listen to it. It’s an excellent addition to lessons on the civil rights movement and the struggle for voting rights.
Related Post: 21 powerful books about race and racism for kids and teens
“When Will We Be Paid” by The Staple Singers
This classic social justice song can be used to explore many issues with children, from enslavement and reparations to living wage jobs to perhaps even the unpaid emotional labor white people often except people of color to do.
Listen to my entire social justice songs for kids playlist on Spotify
“I’m gonna sit at the welcome table” by Bill Harley and Wazir Peacock
Whenever our spirits have become bogged down by the injustice that’s everywhere, I listen to my I’m Gonna Let It Shine CD. My spirits are always lifted by the civil rights songs on the album, especially “I’m gonna sit at the welcome table.” This is a wonderful song to teach children about embracing hope while we struggle for justice.
“Wavin’ Flag” by K’naan
This song has been a favorite in our house ever since we read K’naan’s book When I Get Older: The Story Behind Wavin’ Flag, about his childhood in Somalia.
The song expresses his hopes of freedom for refugees and the people of Somalia, while also exploring the power that young people have.
“Free to Be You and Me” by The New Seekers
As a Gen X parent who wants my boys to never feel confined by their gender – or confine others – I had to include this classic!
When the Ms. Foundation released the Free to Be…You and Me album in 1974, there weren’t many messages encouraging children to reject gender stereotypes. I love the celebratory feel of the title track!
“Step by Step” by Sweet Honey in the Rock
“Step by step, the longest march can be run,” this historic song from the labor movement reminds us. There are so many versions of this song, by the simple and starkly beautiful version by Sweet Honey in the Rock is my favorite. It’s also a very easy song to teach even young children because there aren’t many lyrics.
You can find the song on a tribute album to Pete Seeger, Where Have All the Flowers Gone?
“Say It Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud” by James Brown
Long before the Black Lives Matter movement, there was a movement for Black Pride and Black Power. I love the chorus of children who sing along with Brown on this song!
“No Es Mi Presidente” by Taina Asili y La Banda Rebelde
This Latinx song of protest against Donald Trump is so powerful. If like me, you don’t speak Spanish, you can read the translated lyrics here.
No matter what the outcome of the 2020 presidential election is, children need to hear songs of resistance like this one. As Asili reminds us, it is the work of her ancestors to fight injustice.
“I’ll Rise” by Ben Harper
This beautiful song based on a poem by Maya Angelou is one of my all-time favorite songs. My 8 year old and I listened to it last week on Black Poetry Day. The lyrics proclaim the dignity of Black women, no matter how many lies are told about them, or how many injustices they face.