Mathematics can be defined as "the science of pattern and order" (Van de Walle, Folk, Karp, & Bay-Williams, 2009, p. 10). But because there is often a perceived spectrum of approachability to mathematics (based on common misconceptions that envision the subject as a sort of elitist wizardry) it is important to bear in mind different definitions of mathematics when exploring applications of mathematics in the classroom. This is especially true when considering the instruction of mathematics for social justice. In this article, the authors explain how the study of social justice is increasingly in need of empirical methods to describe, defend, and advise the critical analysis of the systems of domination and subjugation that permeate human power structures. The study of mathematics, which often needs a meaningful context in which abstraction and anxiety can be nullified, is the ideal symbiotic partner for the study of social justice in the greater pursuit of equipping students with the effective tools needed to thrive in the 21st century. Without a literacy of mathematics and social justice, students will be at the mercy of sociopolitical and economic systems of oppression.