If we could change the world

If We Could Change the World brings out the voice and experiences of participants who are rarely heard. Here, familiar events from the black freedom struggle are examined in new ways, and the explanations and motivations for getting involved and taking action are told, often in the words of young people themselves. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, de Schweinitz argues that examining the concept of childhood and the roles children have played in history changes the way one understands the past. With de Schweinitz's analysis, young people--elementary age, adolescent, and young adult--take their place as significant historical and political actors in the civil rights movement.