This paper presents a case for reading and writing social justice poetry in the childhood educational curriculum. Social justice poetry uses verse to protest unfair and unjust living conditions in society. An historical case study shows how social justice poetry was used to combat social injustice in the United States. Specifically, it shows how young Chinese immigrants protested their incarceration at the Angel Island detention center in San Francisco Bay during the early decades of the 20th century. This case study is used as a model for implementing social justice poetry in the childhood education curriculum. Guidelines are suggested for the creation of other topics in which social justice poetry can be used for the development of democratic citizenship. (Contains 4 tables.)