WEBVTT - 111123 Way Black History Fact - The African American DNA in Sesame Street

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<v Speaker 1>Right now, it's time for the Way Black History Fact.

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<v Speaker 1>And Today's Way Black History Fact is sponsored by Underground

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<v Speaker 1>Beach Club. From the Streets to the Beach. For the

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<v Speaker 1>latest in beachware, visit Underground Beach Club dot com. And

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<v Speaker 1>Today's Way Black History Fact come from smithsonianmag dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>And we are going to be discussing the unmistakable Black

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<v Speaker 1>roots of Sesame Street. I did not know this. Wow. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>this is exciting. Okay. So. Making its debut in nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>sixty nine, the beloved children's television show was shaped by

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<v Speaker 1>the African American communities in Harlem and beyond. Sesame Street

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<v Speaker 1>arose from the Lyndon B. Johnson Administration's Great Society Agenda,

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<v Speaker 1>a series of federal programs that carried the ambitious goal

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<v Speaker 1>of eliminated poverty and racial injustice. As part of these aspirations, Johnson,

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<v Speaker 1>who had taught poor Mexican American children while a student

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<v Speaker 1>in college, created head Start in nineteen sixty five, seeking

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<v Speaker 1>to disrupt the multi generational cycle of poverty through early

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<v Speaker 1>education programs for disadvantaged preschool children. Joan Gaines Cooney, the

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<v Speaker 1>creator of Sesame Street, said in a nineteen ninety eight

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<v Speaker 1>interview that a documentary she produced on the Harlem pre

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<v Speaker 1>school program that would become Headstart led her to quote

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<v Speaker 1>become absolutely involved intellectually and spiritually with the civil rights

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<v Speaker 1>movement and with the educational deficit deficit that poverty created.

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<v Speaker 1>Soon thereafter, she teamed up with her friend Lloyd Morrissett,

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<v Speaker 1>a psychologist and Carnegie Corporation executive, who was looking to

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<v Speaker 1>back a preschool education model that could reach a great

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<v Speaker 1>number of inter city children. Moriset secured it additional private

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<v Speaker 1>sector and federal government support, and the Children's Television Workshop,

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<v Speaker 1>the entity that would produce Sesame Street, along with other

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<v Speaker 1>beloved educational programming, was born. While the cast of Sesame

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<v Speaker 1>Street today is diverse in almost every respect, even by

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen seventy one, Sesame Street took steps to hire more

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<v Speaker 1>Hispanic performers and talent, and later would cast actors with

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<v Speaker 1>physical disabilities. The on air talent for the pilot episode

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<v Speaker 1>was overwhelmingly black, included principal host Gordon and Susan and

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<v Speaker 1>included the principal host Gordon and Susan Sorry. Most of

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<v Speaker 1>the African American cast and crew came up through the

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<v Speaker 1>interconnected Black entertainment world of New York. In the late

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen sixties. Long had been the co host of Soul,

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<v Speaker 1>an unapologetic black power showcase of politics and culture on

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<v Speaker 1>New York Public Television, and heard about Sesame Street from Rosen,

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<v Speaker 1>the set designer who was also on the crew for Soul.

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<v Speaker 1>Rosenknu Long was a teacher and told her, according to

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<v Speaker 1>the Street Gang, the show is going to be about

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<v Speaker 1>teaching preschoolers, you need to know about it. In light

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<v Speaker 1>of the show's racially conscious casting, one cannot be faulted

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<v Speaker 1>for wondering whether any of Jim Henson's muppet creations, more

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<v Speaker 1>specifically the humani Ish and Ernie, have racial identities. No

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<v Speaker 1>fewer than three interracial pairs appear in the first six

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<v Speaker 1>minutes of the pilot, just before two muppets appear, and

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<v Speaker 1>as tempting as one might be to believe leave Sesame

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<v Speaker 1>Street is presenting children with another interracial pair, Hintson once

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<v Speaker 1>remarked the only kids who can identify along racial lines

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<v Speaker 1>with the muppets have to either be green or orange. Yet,

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<v Speaker 1>in its second year, Sesame Street did introduce a muppet

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<v Speaker 1>named Roosevelt Franklin, who the producers openly acknowledged as black,

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<v Speaker 1>created and voiced by Matt Robinson, the actor who played

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<v Speaker 1>Gordon Roosevelt speaks Black English. That's some quotes which Loretta

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<v Speaker 1>Long outlined in her dissertation as a way to make

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<v Speaker 1>him much more believable to the And these are the

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<v Speaker 1>words I want to say target audience. Wow. Yeah, and

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<v Speaker 1>so now a lot of what I know about Sesame

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<v Speaker 1>Street makes more sense. But also to have it be

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<v Speaker 1>framed in that light certainly does feel a little bit

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<v Speaker 1>special and intentional. Their interesting thing is filling this whole time,

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<v Speaker 1>my whole life, like Sesame Street was for us, even

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<v Speaker 1>before I knew that. Yeah, that's what I'm trying to

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<v Speaker 1>say to me. So I love that