Having challenged student resistance scholarship for glorifying forms of resistance that tend to be self-destructive to students, the field has shifted to supporting and advancing more transformational forms of resistance, such as organizing campaigns for social justice issues. While this is a welcome advance, the conception of transformative employed by researchers tends to be limited to reformist agendas. Situating student resistance in a historical context through a re-reading of Marx and Lenin offers a deeper framework for understanding and organizing student resistance. Making these points, I draw on the Mexican American historical and contemporary context for illustrations.