Poet Amanda Gorman teaches Sesame Street's Grover a new word

On Monday, poet Amanda Gorman taught Sesame Street's Grover about a new word.

The first guest in a new video series is Gorman. The seriesharnesses the power of language to nurture children's positive and healthy senses of self, according to the announcement. Each short video will feature celebrity guests, including Samuel L. Jackson, who will introduce new words like "belonging" and "fairness."

Sometimes people are treated unfairly because of their race or religion, and that is why an upstander is someone who uses their kind words or actions to help them. Being an upstander is saying that all skin is beautiful, and if someone were to say something unkind about the color of Gorman, she would be an upstander.

The Coming Together initiative was created in 2020 after Sesame Workshop saw an increased need to help families talk about race, ethnicity, and culture with their children. The town hall with CNN and two full-length specials that include two new Sesame Street characters, Tamir and Ji-Young, are part of Coming Together.

We know that children are not colorblind, they absorb messages about their own and others from a very young age, from their own lives and the world around them.

Monday's video and upcoming Word of the Day videos will be featured on Sesame Street's YouTube channel.