By: Kalin Goble
Last week, Sesame Street launched a new suite of recourses developed on racial justice. Sesame Street’s new Coming Together initiative focuses on discussions around racism. Sesame Street has introduced two new characters, Wes and his father Elijah, as part of their new “ABC’s of Racial Literacy” series.
In one of their introductory videos, Elmo, Wes, and Elijah have a conversation explaining what race is. During the conversation, Elijah tells Elmo,
“The color of our skin is an important part of who we are, but we should all know that it’s okay that we all look different in so very many ways.”
The free, open-access digital resources are constructed to address racism, racial literacy, and how racism impacts everyone. Sesame Street continues its commitment to a research-based curriculum for strengthening individual, family, and community resilience and empathy. Resources include:
- Videos
- Printable activities
- Guiding conversation prompts
- Articles
- And workshops
These lessons and resources have been carefully created using a Racial Justice educational framework.
A LIFELONG JOURNEY
Anti-racist work is a lifelong journey and we all play a role in addressing and standing up against racism. Patricia Taylor, mom, educator, and activist emphasizes this message: “For the rest of our lives, we get to partner together to make it a better place for everyone.”
Having conversations on these important topics can often be tough, and Sesame Street has worked to create workshops focus on skills for parents to talk about racism. Visit the Helping Parents Talk About—and Stand Up Against—Racism to watch discussions from experts to guide parents in becoming comfortable with these discussions.
Continuing to create a kinder, more fair world…
Sesame Street will continue to provide new resources as this ongoing Coming Together initiative continues to grow! This series is a part of Sesame Street in Communities. For professional development opportunities from our OneOp collaboration with our friends at Sesame Street for Military Families, visit our Kids Serve Too! Series homepage here! You can also view our most recent webinar, Sesame Street and You: Caring for Each Other During COVID-19 and Other Emergencies, and obtain free continuing education credit!
And stay tuned, as our OneOp team will be continuing our collaboration with Sesame Street. We’ll welcome back the Sesame Street team to discuss the Coming Together initiative and resources for military families and communities!
