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Havana Chapman-Edwards, also known as “the Tiny Diplomat” (currently living in Frankfurt, Germany with her parents as United States diplomats) agrees, telling us via email:

“The biggest thing kids and especially girls can do is work together. The best way to get involved and become more aware of social issues is form a sisterhood of friends who care about the same issues as you do. One girl is powerful, but a movement of girls is unstoppable.”

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While Havana may only be 8, she’s already well versed in activism. She garnered national attention as the only student at her school to participate in the national school walkout to honor the victims of the 1999 Columbine school shooting, and will today participate in the #MarchforSisterhood with Girls Who Code. And true to her nickname, Havana’s excited about the global impact her role with Kidbox can make.

“I love helping people, so I am so excited to partner with them to do even more for girls around the world,” she said, noting that she’s used the funds from Kidbox to donate clothes to the St. Bakhita Orphanage in Accra, Ghana.

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“These girls want to be engineers, teachers, athletes, business owners, and more,” she said. “My project with Kidbox means I get to help make sure they look as good on the outside as they are brilliant on the inside. This is important because all kids should feel confident about themselves and the way they look.”

And though she be but little, she is fierce.

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“I have learned that even though adults will underestimate us because we are young and especially because we are girls, we have the power to make change,” Havana told us via email.

Though both Havana and Franiya are years away from being able to cast a ballot, each girl has distinct hopes for how Washington can build a better future for kids everywhere.

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“I can’t vote for 10 more years, but I have stood on Capitol Hill and looked into the eyes of our government leaders and fought for myself many times because even though I am tiny, my voice is not,” said Havana. “All the problems we have—the solution starts with education. Education is the most important piece to the puzzle to international peace that must come first.

“If our government leaders say that they value the contributions of young Black girls like me in America to political, economic, and social development, they need to not be afraid to talk about racism,” she continued. “That includes racism in schools, environmental racism, and the racism of how gun violence affects too many Black families like mine.” (Havana’s cousin Tony was shot and killed when he was just 17.)

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Franiya Tiffany agrees, volunteering: “A major issue I would like to see our leaders address is better educational art programs to help keep the kids involved everywhere, so we can see less kids in the streets and see more kids reaching higher.”

“If our leaders really believe that the youth, and especially girls in America have experiences, innovative ideas, and creative solutions to address problems old and new, then their first priority should be education. When they read this article, I don’t want them to just say how inspiring I am at such a young age, I want them to take action,” concluded Havana, who hopes to be one of the first black women on Mars. “Like my forever first lady Michelle Obama says, “The future of our world is only as bright as our girls.”