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

On June 17, hosted a webinar featuring five young Black activists passionate about a range of issues affecting American children.

• Marshara Fross, Ph.D., perinatal justice scholar and post-doctoral fellow at the University of South Florida鈥檚
• Luis J. Hernandez, founder of
• Jha鈥橬iyah Holland, entrepreneur and community safety advocate at and
• Zonnie Thompson, housing justice project coordinator at
• Rachel Warren, coordinator of the

They spoke about their journeys, their motivations and their strategies, encouraging webinar participants to find a cause and join forces with others in their community. As Warren asserted, 鈥淲e need each other more than we鈥檙e allowed to believe.鈥�

Here are our 5 Top Takeaways

1. Start by centering Black experience. As a researcher trained in , Jha鈥橬iyah Holland prioritizes listening to people and making them feel they鈥檙e being heard. For example, ThreeCubed partnered with the United Way of Greater Knoxville, Tennessee and Tennesseans for Quality Early Education on the , an initiative designed 鈥渢o tap the power of communities across the state to collaboratively design, implement and scale high-quality early care and education systems locally, while informing and advocating supportive state policies.鈥�

In the course of her research, she realized 鈥渢he people doing the work are underfunded and the grant process needs more equity,鈥� and she expressed determination to address these chronic shortcomings. As a survivor of gun violence, Luis J. Hernandez understands that it takes 鈥減eople who are in crisis,鈥� as well as mental health professionals, to develop comprehensive community violence-prevention programs. They are closest to the problem, he said, so they are closest to the solution. Zonnie Thompson described a White House rally in support of a , where people told their own stories of their struggles to obtain and maintain housing.

2. Act on data-driven strategies. The evidence is clear on a uniquely American epidemic: . 鈥淲e need robust data,鈥� said Hernandez, 鈥渢o identify best strategies for interventions,鈥� adding that academic research bolsters activists鈥� credibility.

Thompson said that 鈥渂eing honest about who is unhoused鈥� means counting people who are couch surfing or living in motels, and this more inclusive data broadens the alliance advocating for reforms. Rachel Warren鈥檚 blunt viewpoint on research reflected a preference for action: 鈥淪top asking the same question over and over,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he community has given you the answer. The data is there. Use it.鈥�

3. 鈥淏e impeccable with your word.鈥� This dictum from Don Miguel Ruiz鈥檚 influential book resonated with all of the webinar participants. They spoke about the importance of choosing their words carefully and earning the trust of those affected by the overlapping causes they were fighting for. Warren called this the 鈥渢hrough line between all our work. We do what we say we鈥檙e going to do.鈥�

Dr. Marshara Fross stated, 鈥淲e shoulder not only our own burdens but the burdens of our families and communities,鈥� and Holland added, 鈥淲e need to understand how tied we are to our ancestors.鈥�

4. 鈥淒oing nothing is not an option,鈥� declared moderator Mavis Sanders, senior research scholar of Black Children and Families at Child Trends.聽 Driven by two traumatic birth experiences of her own,聽 Fross helped launch . 鈥淲e had to raise all our own funds,鈥� she recalled. 鈥淚 got an awesome group of people to support me.鈥�

Surrounded by systemic and historical racism, facing odds that seem insurmountable, today鈥檚 advocates have at least two advantages over their predecessors in the Civil Rights movement. First, they have the shoulders of those predecessors to stand upon. Second, they have social media, which connects them to allies down the street and around the world.

Ultimately, today鈥檚 social entrepreneurs take action to fight injustice and to advance well-being in their communities because they don鈥檛 feel they have a choice in the matter. In other words, as Holland urged, 鈥淚f you don鈥檛 do it, nobody else will.鈥�

5. Don鈥檛 underestimate the power of faith. All of the webinar participants cited God as their primary influence. Fross鈥檚 faith enables her to 鈥渟tand steadfast in my purpose: creating a better future for the families of the future.鈥� Hernandez, 23, who has been an anti-violence advocate since he was 14, is also inspired by young New Yorkers 鈥渨ho show up in spite of their pain.鈥�

Thompson, who started a career doing hair and makeup for celebrities before shifting to housing advocacy, spoke of 鈥渓etting God order your steps.鈥� He also cited the influence of his sister, who recently died of cancer. 鈥淚f it weren鈥檛 for wanting to make her proud,鈥� he said, 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 be doing this work anymore.鈥�

Warren invoked her faith in the context of a thought-provoking vocabulary word: which she defined as 鈥渢he thing that makes you, you.鈥�

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