Students from Lower Merion and Harriton's Students Advocating for Greater Equality (SAGE) organizations taught their classmates about activism at this year's SAGE Conference, which the students called "Resistance 101."

The student-organized event started off with a zoom panel comprised of current college students who were involved in SAGE when they attended Harriton and Lower Merion high schools. Panelists included:

• Nick Barr-Bono, a second-year student studying Linguistics, Art History and Spanish at Oberlin College. At Oberlin Nick's involved in Obies for Undocumented Inclusion, Students for Energy Justice, Covid Safe Oberlin, Writers in Residence, which brings creative writing programs to youth in juvenile detention centers.
• Julia Dubnoff, a sophomore at Brown University majoring in Literary Arts and Statistics. At college, Julia organizes sexual health workshops with Brown's Sexual Health Awareness Group and serves as a student ambassador for the Workers Circle.
• Alex Greenblatt, a junior at the University of Pennsylvania studying English and creative writing. At Penn, Alex is involved in Hillel, the West Philadelphia Tutoring Project, Camp Kesem and the After School Arts Program.
• Charissa Howard, a junior at the University of Pennsylvania, where she is majoring in English with minors in Political Science and French. Rissa is passionate about working to reduce educational inequalities (in Philadelphia and beyond) and about telling underrepresented stories through journalism and research. She teaches ESL classes, writes magazine articles and works as a campus tour guide.

The college students shared how they met others at their schools who had similar interests, and advice for students who might not want -- or be allowed by their parents -- to protest about other ways they can impact their communities for good. They also discussed how college offered opportunities for them to listen to and learn from people who have backgrounds and viewpoints that differ from their own. 

After the panel discussion, the participating students attended two workshops from the following list: 

• The Authoritarian Playbook: Misinformation and Misdirection: In this workshop, students looked at the history and tactics of both historical and modern Authoritarian governments, from propaganda to "flooding the zone," to get a better understanding of how to recognize and combat political misinformation.
• Breaking Barriers: A Workshop on Racism, Bias, and Discrimination: In this workshop, students discussed how to recognize bias that can impact what they watch, listen to and purchase. They discussed racial stereotypes In American culture’s sports teams, products, comics, books, newspapers, advertisements and mascots.
• Melting ICE: Immigrant Rights Advocacy: In this workshop, students learned about the past, present and future of immigration. They explored the challenges immigrants have faced historically and how to advocate for immigrant rights to be a voice for change.
• What we can and can’t say: The Politics of Education: In this workshop, students explored the boundaries of free speech and the limitations of institutional power, from college campuses to courtrooms. They also learned about how knowledge can become a tool for change.
• How we win: the basics of movement building: In this workshop, students learned about tactics that were used by social movements in the past and how they can be applied today, including strategies such as mutual aid and civil disobedience.

To see photos from this student-led day of learning about activism, please click through the slide show below.