‘Sesame Street’ tackling racism
The children’s TV show is teaching kids to stand up to racism.
“Sesame Street” has always pressed for inclusion. Now, in the wake of the national reckoning on race, it’s going further — teaching children to stand up against racism.
Sesame Workshop — the nonprofit, educational organization behind “Sesame Street” — will later this month air the half-hour anti-racist special “The Power of We” and hopes families will watch together.
The special defines racism for younger viewers and shows how it can be hurtful. It urges children who encounter racism or hear someone else be the victim of it to call it out.
“When you see something that’s wrong, speak up and say, ‘ That’s wrong’ and tell an adult,” 6-year-old Gabrielle the Muppet advises.
The special, composed of little skits and songs in a Zoom-like format, will stream on HBO Max and PBS Kids and air on PBS stations beginning Oct. 15.
In one animated skit, a Black Muppet is told by a white Muppet that he can’t dress up like a superhero because they’re only white. Though hurt, the Black Muppet nevertheless refuses to stop playing superheroes, saying they can come in all colors.
The white Muppet soon apologizes. “Racism hurts and it’s wrong,” is the message.
Rapper charged with shooting Megan Thee Stallion
Los Angeles prosecutors on Thursday charged rapper Tory Lanez with shooting Megan Thee Stallion during an argument earlier this year.
Lanez is accused of shooting at Megan Thee Stallion’s feet, hitting her, after she left an SUV during a fight in the Hollywood Hills on July 12, according to a release.
He faces two felony charges — assault with a semiautomatic firearm and carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle. The complaint states Lanez “inflicted great bodily injury” on Megan Thee Stallion.
Lanez, a 27-year-old Canadian rapper and singer whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, is due to be arraigned Tuesday in Los Angeles. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of roughly 23 years.
Pixar’s ‘Soul’ goes direct to Disney+
In the latest domino to fall as the film industry continues to reel from the coronavirus pandemic, the Walt Disney Co. announced it will shift its upcoming Pixar animated film “Soul,” which was originally slated to hit theaters on Nov. 20, to an exclusive Dec. 25 streaming release on Disney+.