5 - Launching Points

Summary

Young Black changemakers identified many factors and influences that sparked their journeys into changemaking. In this chapter, we emphasized three salient launching points: (1) Influential people across many contexts and who ranged from personally known to nationally recognized serve as models, encouragers, recruiters, and inspirations for young Black changemakers; (2) The promise of fun and social interactions get young people in the door, where they build deeper connections and have a cascade of meaningful experiences; (3) Youth’s own agency leads them to decide to become changemakers and seek out changemaking opportunities that enable them to pursue passions and chart their own trajectories. Our description of these three launching points builds on our prior discussions of experiencing racism and developing Black identity in Chapters 3 and 4 that also spark changemaking.