Amid shifting politicans and policies, students need to know how to thrive in a world that doesn’t always prioritize their needs.

In today’s turbulent political climate, civic engagement is not just a responsibility — it’s a lifeline. For communities relying on government support, discussions around cutting social safety nets, enforcing restrictive immigration policies, and removing protections for LGBTQ+ individuals, particularly trans people, raise serious questions about their future well-being.

This is not a matter of partisanship, but an honest acknowledgment of the real-life implications that policy shifts have on vulnerable communities. For educators, parents, and community members, this moment brings an urgent responsibility to equip young people—especially children from historically marginalized communities—with the tools to navigate and shape a world that may not always prioritize their needs.

Achieving this level of engaged citizenship requires a meaningful civic education that strikes a delicate balance: nurturing young people’s aspirations while giving them the resilience and awareness needed to confront the world’s complexities.

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and author Ta-Nehisi Coates have powerfully illustrated this balance in their writings and speeches, offering complementary perspectives on how to engage with the challenges of an imperfect world.

In his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Dr. King spoke of the “isness” of human nature and the “oughtness” that forever confronts us, rejecting the idea that humanity is incapable of striving for a better future. Coates, in Between the World and Me, urges his son to embrace the difficult truths of his “vulnerability” as a young Black man and grow into a “conscious citizen of this terrible and beautiful world.” His message emphasizes the importance of understanding harsh realities—not to surrender to them, but to remain actively engaged in the struggle to shape a more just and compassionate society.

Where Coates challenges us to confront the present with honesty, King inspires us to work toward the aspirational: a world of justice, dignity, and equality. Together, their insights encapsulate the dual purpose of civic education: helping young people see the world as it is while empowering them to imagine and work toward the world as it ought to be.

This kind of education engages with the painful truths of history and the hope that democratic ideals can be realized. It equips young people to understand the workings of government, the legacy of social struggles, and the realities of race, identity, and power that shape the world. By fostering this understanding, civic education empowers them to actively push back against any attempt to diminish the rights and dignity of vulnerable communities while preparing them to be agents of positive change.