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Top Takeaways is a series of recaps from important conversations, town halls, webinars and virtual events about early learning.

On Thursday, June 18, Common Sense Media and the Commonwealth Club hosted a conversation titled, Parenting in Support of Black Lives: How to Build a Just Future for Kids (and How Media Can Help).

Dr. Allison Briscoe-Smith, a clinician, consultant and trainer, moderated the conversation, with Julie Lythcott-Haims, author of , and Ibram X. Kendi, author of , weighing in on a range of urgent issues for parents and, really, anyone concerned about the state of our union.

Here are five takeaways from the event.

1. Racism is about denial. Briscoe-Smith expressed dismay at white people who say, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 see race,鈥� when babies as young as 6 months are known to pay attention to racial queues. Denying race by claiming to be 鈥渃olor blind鈥� and avoiding conversations about it are behaviors that reinforce racist views by letting them go unexamined and unchallenged. (Read , from Common Sense Media.) 鈥淪laveholders and Jim Crow politicians also denied they were racist,鈥� added Kendi.

2. Media matters. Recalling her own emotional devastation over the shooting deaths of Trayvon Martin in 2012 and Tamir Rice in 2014, Lythcott-Haims argued that there should have been more extensive media coverage at the time. She asked, pointedly, what the news media decided was more important. 鈥淲hen you see a story,鈥� Briscoe-Smith recommended, 鈥渁sk yourself who鈥檚 getting paid for that.鈥�

3. State your mission. Briscoe-Smith urged parents to collaborate with their children on a .聽The words and concepts should be age appropriate. Kendi noted that while kindness and fairness may be easily understood, they are sophisticated concepts that engender important conversation.

4. Books rule! All three participants agreed that reading about racism independently and with children is one of the most important ways of understanding history, recognizing racism and learning how to build equity. It鈥檚 never too early. Kendi just published a board book titled Antiracist Baby. (Two lists to get started: from Social Justice Books and 聽from Common Sense Media.)

5. Look for the 鈥淲akanda Moments.鈥� Referring to the mythical African kingdom in the 2018 superhero film The Black Panther, Lythcott-Haims called upon parents to celebrate real and fictional examples of Black empowerment. While protests and advocacy are important, the participants noted that joy, too, is an act of resistance.

This story originally published on Early Learning Nation and is now archived on 麻豆精品. Learn more here.