Drawing on analysis of student work, we will discuss the ways in which literacy supported youth's civic engagement in the context of sustainable democracy projects that engaged students from an alternative high school in the Humboldt Park neighborhood of Chicago in the investigation of social issues relevant to their communities. Our presentation aims to discuss: (1) the range of issues that students addressed; (2) the kinds of literacy skills and practices that students engaged in as part of their projects; and (3) the affordances and challenges of understanding civic engagement activities as a site for critical literacy learning.