One club, started last year that is still fairly new to students, is Students for Social Justice. The Social Justice Club is not only a club, but a place where students can go to discuss their opinion on social justice issues. They do so every Tuesday and will attend workshops out of school at other times.

Students for Social Justice have many goals and tasks as a group and they participate in as many learning opportunities as possible. They involve themselves in the community and learn about the world and what is currently happening in todays society. The clubs main intention is to focus on social justice issues.

Senior Sofia Mattson said, “Students for Social Justice is a group that aims to promote awareness of social justice issues and discuss certain social justice movements that are happening in the world. We also participate in direct action events where we will attend rallies, protests or just community meetings as a team.”

The club teaches new ways to look at problems and events not only happening in the United States, but all around the world. The students discuss large issues and give their opinion on the subject, free of judgement from others. The discussion setting opens a pathway for new valid opinions to be presented while allowing them to see it through someone else’s eyes.

“The club has taught me new ways of looking at certain issues and how other people might feel about them. This has showed me other opinions and opened a new view on issues that I might not have seen before. It is cool to get a new outlook on issues that are controversial.” said junior Jack Franz.

For being created only one year ago, the club has already participated in plenty of community events. Junior Owen Johnson played a large role in creating the club, as he was disappointed with the lack of knowledge in students when it came to justice issues.

“Conor Murphy, Sam Schivar and I were frustrated with the quiescence in the student body when it comes to opposition to oppressive, hierarchical structures. We made the club in an attempt to radicalize students, or at least divert some students’ ideology from the stagnation of centrist politics,” said Johnson.

This club is unique and special because it is not like any other organization. Students for Social Justice is not sponsored by any teacher or figure of authority, it is student led. There are also no presidents or leaders because the main focus of the club is to be sure that every member plays an important role in meetings.

Johnson said, “Being affiliated with some sort of professional institution can restrict the effectiveness of a social justice organization. We are interested in politicizing students and I don’t know of any other clubs that offer opportunities to attend direct  action events.”

Recently, the club has done a lot of work with other schools in the Twin Cities to create a strong central youth movement in the social justice world. The schools work together and discuss topics just like a normal meeting alone would happen. Doing this creates a tight bond between students of alternate schools and lets the students see how other schools may interpret issues happening in the world.

“We recently held a workshop on the education system and how that in itself is a social justice issue. Many schools in the Twin Cities often come together with us to hold workshops and go to direct action events,” said Mattson.

Students for Social Justice is not only a club about issues, but a club for forming friendships. Students interact with each other, other schools and different organizations. Doing so creates many relationships that are formed off of discussion and talking to one another about world issues.

“We’ve actually formed a great alliance with Young Peoples’ Action Coalition, a youth led organization based in Northfield, Minnesota. We have held workshops on critiquing the education system that are really fun. They’re all really nice people and I look forward to meeting with them more in the future,” said Johnson.

This is a club that opens your eyes to new events and allows students to express their opinion in an open, nonjudgmental setting. Social justice issues are major in today’s society and students are taking a stand against them.