America's sense of community is broken down; its sense of connectedness and the collective is "collapsing." That these senses ever existed is a matter for considerable debate. But, as the new millennium gains momentum and neoliberalism seeks expansion, the author argues that a focus on rekindling these concepts of community, connectedness, and the collective is central to the thesis of social justice. That is, a hopeful path toward justice depends on the extent to which Americans can (re)invigorate solidarity and a more active, participatory democracy. Recently, the author has posited a "hopeful curriculum", which pivots around three vertices: community, praxis, and courage. As a way of making this hopeful curriculum more practical, joining a conversation that Paulo Freire (1970) started decades ago and using Klein's (2007a) new discourse, the author offers five 21st century "shocks" (the Iraq War, the genocide in Darfur, Hurricane Katrina, NCLB, and corporate globalization) as pedagogical possibilities from which resistance might emerge. After introducing each shock, toward the author's aim of practicality, he provides connection to a local context and then offers questions that might drive teaching and learning in the schools. To conclude the article, the author offers a closer look at the theoretical framework of the hopeful curriculum and, again, provides practical possibilities, particularly through the lens of activities he has completed with his students. (Contains 14 notes.)