Capital Offense: At Issue with the Death Penalty
Mary Scott’s English Language Development class at Skyline High School read Ernest Gaines’ book, "A Lesson Before Dying." After reading the book and studying issues around capital punishment, students decided to express their views and make an argument against the death penalty.

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Eduquality
Do you know your 26:2? That’s article 26 Section 2 of the United Nations Universal Human Rights Document. Ed Mestre’s students stayed after school at Dewey High School, studied the document and selected what they believe to be the two most important human rights. They chose to focus on the right to education and the right to equality. They share their views about the quality of their education at Dewey compared to other schools in Oakland.

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Learning about Human Rights, Emiliano Zapata Street Academy
Monica Vaughan’s World Cultures class could not decide on a single human rights issue for their video. Since the entire curriculum at Emiliano Zapata Street Academy is based on human rights, these young activists discuss what they have been doing to improve human rights conditions and how they educate themselves and their community about human rights issues.

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Old School/New School, Tech in the 40’s and Now
History is more than just information in a textbook. Hearing about the past from someone who experienced it brings history alive. That’s what Elizabeth Lay’s 9th Grade Multicultural Education class discovered while making their video. They were studying California History from the 1940’s to the present when “Lucky” Ramsey, a graduate of Oakland Tech in the 40’s visited their classroom. Students document his interview and compare his experiences “back in the day,” to their own.

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The Music, The Message
Historically, music has played an important role as a form of expression and a powerful form of protest in struggles for Social Justice. But what about today? The message now is violent, filled with “bling, bling,” sex and cars. Students from Linda Halpern’s English class at Castlemont High School investigate what has happened to the message in the music.

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The Right to Side
We see politicians and police in the media talking about the crackdown on Side Shows, a popular, yet illegal and dangerous weekend activity preferred by teens. How do youth feel about the issue? Students from Larry Felson’s Drama class at Oakland High discuss their civil right to attend Side Shows with students, youth activists, community members, reporters and the OPD.

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Reparations
Do African Americans deserve reparations? Students from Ron Robinson’s U.S. History class at McClymonds High School believe that they do. They’ll tell you why in this well researched documentary about a very controversial subject. African-American students, community members and activists express their views about this unsettling issue.

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¡Si Se Puede!
Michael Jackson’s Fremont High School Media Academy students documented the work of young people to rename a park in honor of Cesar Chavez. Students from all grade levels participated in the effort. They presented at City Council meetings, planted trees, painted tiles and studied the life of Cesar Chavez. Their hard work culminated in a successful community effort to rename the park.

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Young Sisters on the Street
Students from Nadirah Moreland and Jonas Zuckerman’s Education Academy & World Cultures classes participated in a Sister Cities project at Oakland Technical High School. They researched youth issues in various developing countries where Oakland has a Sister Cities relationship. The groups chose the issue of child prostitution in Brazil as their focal point for action and research because of the extremity of the issue and its overarching impact on AIDS, health care, lack of educational opportunities and child labor.

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