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MUPPETS & MIGRATION: A LOOK AT SESAME STREET‘S GROUND-BREAKING SUPPORT OF REFUGEE CHILDREN

BY: JEN EVANS

In researching the interface of media and migration, I often find myself studying media portrayals of migrants and media
created by migrants. It is a rare occurrence to explore media created specifically for migrants. Yet this is the opportunity I now have as I investigate Sesame Street‘s new program which aims to bring its renowned educational media to refugee children.

Sesame Street has evolved considerably since you and I were children. In addition to learning about sharing and ABCs, Muppets now find themselves faced with issues ranging from homelessness and incarcerated parents to mass shootings and natural disasters. Offering supportive “toolkits” to caregivers and fictional depictions of coping processes to children, Sesame Street has proven that media is capable of teaching much more than basic literacy and numeracy—media is capable of providing the tools needed to face life’s most trying situations. In short, Sesame Street has become a leader in supporting children through traumatic experiences.

It is within this context that Sesame Street partnered with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) to launch the largest childhood development program in the history of humanitarian response. With the support of the MacArthur Foundation’s $100 million 100&Change grant, Sesame Street and IRC developed a pilot program which includes locally-produced television broadcasts, mobile content, community- and school-based activities, and in-home services to refugee children throughout Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Jordan. The program aims to mitigate the long-term traumatic effects of displacement by providing pre-school education and offering socio-emotional support to its audiences.

Sesame Street‘s refugee program is still in its infancy: the organization received its 100&Change grant less than one year ago. But the program’s success, and potential, has not gone unnoticed. Just this month, Sesame Street announced that they have received an additional $100 million in funding from the LEGO Foundation as part of the toymaker’s first major humanitarian effort. The new funding will support Sesame Street’s existing program in the Middle East; and facilitate its expansion into Bangladesh, where a partnership with BRAC promotes the delivery of programming to displaced Rohingya children.

The academic analysis of such a program is difficult. No humanitarian effort before has harnessed media in this way, delivering programming to a growing population of over 28 million refugee children. Without a doubt, Sesame Street‘s endeavor is ground-breaking, not only due to its scale but also due to its implementation: the program is delivered in regional dialects and using culture-specific rhymes, games, and learning objectives. The effects of this program—and of the current refugee crisis as a whole—will not be measurable for decades, when today’s displaced children have become adults. But one thing is clear: with a five-year funding commitment from the LEGO Foundation, this program is likely to continue expanding and innovating the interface of media and migration.

For more information on Sesame Street‘s refugee program, please visit https://refugee.sesameinternational.org.

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NOTES ON LATIN AMERICAN ACTIVISM IN MUSIC, PART II: LATIN AMERICAN GRAMMYS EDITION

BY: SOFIA SILVEIRA

So… Last time I wrote for MigrationMapping, I raised questions about Latin artists who can reach American audiences in time of anti-immigrant discrimination. Last month, the Latin Grammys knocked on our door and the question of what was being said to American audiences by Latino artists turns now to what is being said by Latinos to Latinos in times of open persecution.

The Latin Grammys were inaugurated in 2000, but the concept of a separate Grammy Awards for Latin music began in 1989. It was established by the Grammys organization that the Latin music universe was deemed too large to fit on the Grammy Awards. Spanish and Portuguese-speaking recordings from all over the world were to fit in over 39 categories that were from then on – the separate Latin Grammys.

Now, to understand who these awards are trying to reach it is important to understand who watches the Latin Grammys. The lack of categories for non Spanish and Portuguese-speaking music has been historically criticized, specially by artists from Haiti and Celtic musicians from the Galicia and Asturias regions of Spain, who consider their work to be “Latin” but are not eligible for a Latin Grammy. Watching solely the nominees one thing is clear: despite the category “Latin” being able to theoretically include people beyond the Americas, it is the Latin Americans who dominate performances, open categories, ratings, and even broadcasting. 8 million people tuned in to watch the 2018 Latin Grammys. Despite live coverage through social media, it is, after the show, impossible to find full coverage of the event for free – it all belongs to Univision Communications Inc. – the leading media company serving Hispanic America.

Basically, it is a show targeted at Latin Americans from Hispanic countries living in and out of the United States. The show – this year – was in Las Vegas. I was thirsty with curiosity: what type of political comment would these Grammys bring? The American army was called to circumvent the “invaders” at the border a few weeks earlier, sanctuary cities are facing an open debate. Fierce protectors of the huddled masses have been present in the streets (like the “families belong together” movement) while the trusted advisor to the President and mastermind of the separation policy, Stephen Miller, has gained more and more political space in the White House. Now, at year’s end, with 250 children still separated from their families, how would the awards most watched by one of the most targeted communities in the country respond?

The answer, as clickbait as this may seem, might surprise you. If I complained about the lack of critical engagement from Latin American artists who had reached the Billboard 100, I need to register my admiration for the statement made in the Latin Grammys. Calibre 50 performed, surrounded by neon cactus,  a rendition of Corrido de Juanito.

The part of the song that got me emotional goes like this:

 

Se murió mi madre                                                         My mother has died
Y dice mi padre                                                                And my father told me
Que ya está muy viejo                                                      He is too old
Y no quiere venir                                                               And he doesn’t want to come
Y yo sin poder ir                                                                And I cannot go there
Y yo sin poder ir                                                                And I cannot go there

Trabaje y trabaje                                                              I’ve been working and working,

Tengo muchos días                                                        There are many days
Que no miro el sol                                                           When I don’t see the sun

Mis hijos son grandes                                                     My children are grown ups now
Y no les entiendo                                                              And I can’t understand them
No hablan español                                                             They don’t speak Spanish

 

What an expression of a generational dilemma faced by almost every first generation immigrant parent: you came to this country to seek a proper future for your family, and then this vision of the future hits you in the face – you seem to be in an island of your own, without being able to return home, without seeing the sun and with children who speak English. Migration is a human right, a difficult choice – the simultaneous expression of human dreams and human tragedy. And I might have initially missed that the best way to discuss the pains and the joys of being part of these Interamerican transits might not be through a big sign – “Impeach Trump!” – but through art.

Maybe Univision shouldn’t be the sole guardian of the Emmys, and Mexican labels maybe should give more space to independent music entrepreneurs to expose their work to an audience of 8 billion people, despite all those short-comings… Go Latin Grammys.

Times of tension require a response and that response can be of celebration. Ideally more obscure categories – like Cumbia, Flamenco, Pagode… – should have their performance time of day, but then we are left with the question: What advertiser would help reach 8 billion people in an award ceremony that focuses on less mainstream rhythms?

And for all the marginalization already suffered by rhythms invented in the periphery of Cartagena, let the Régatton be the life of the party. Furthermore, mainstream hits have their social, political and cultural importance and they come with the bonus of allowing a lot of space for experimentation, cultural memory and cultivation of essentially Latin American rhythms to a broad audience. Ángela Aguilar performing the folk song La Llorona mixes with Will Smith, Bad Bunny and Marc Anthony jumping up and down singing Está Rico in a performance made with almost deadly use of smoke machines, all surrounded by the Flamenco inspired song of Rosalinda, Malamente. They are all important. The performances and nominees add and represent a small piece of this mosaic that is Latin America today. If that is being celebrated to both an American and a Latin American audience – we should praise, support, criticize and stand with the Grammys. The choice to watch awards like this was never more political.