EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

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[00:00:00] How To Support Queue Points
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[00:00:50] What's Poppin Penny? Pre-Roll Ad
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[00:01:20] Opening Theme (Music by Danaya Vodovoz)
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[00:01:50] Welcome to Queue Points Podcast: A Deep Dive into Sesame Street's Impact
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DJ Sir Daniel: Greetings and welcome back to another fun filled episode of Queue Points podcast. I am DJ Sir Daniel.

Jay Ray: And my name is Jay Ray, sometimes known by my government as Johnny Ray Cortege the third. What's happening, people? I'm turning down my mic because it's doing a lot.

DJ Sir Daniel: Well, okay. And well, I want to welcome everybody again and say Queue Points podcast is the, is the podcast is dropping the needle on black music history. And also to let you know that today's episode of Queue Points is brought to you by the letter. Q stands for quality, quality programming, co hosts, and of course, products.

Queue Points we have intentionally aligned ourselves as a, not only an entertainment podcast, but a learning podcast as well. this particular episode, listener of Queue Points. It's about learning and about an institution that has rooted itself in the empowerment, the, the, the, the growth and development of our children, the children in the United States around the world, actually, because Sesame Street. Is a global phenomenon. And, um, to this day that is still affecting children around the world.

[00:03:15] The Urgent Need for Sesame Street's Lessons in Today's World
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DJ Sir Daniel: And, you know, this episode couldn't come around at a better time, Jerry, because as you and I were talking before we started recording, our children are at, oh my God, they are at such a high risk these days. They are adultified.

They are parentsified and they are full of anxiety because. In this day and age, you can't go to school or stand at the school's bus stop without the fear of getting shot at, which is something that just recently happened in Philadelphia.

Jay Ray: Absolutely. Um, it has been rough. Honestly, y'all yesterday, I didn't know what to say. And you're right, Sir Daniel. This is an apropos time for us to have this conversation about Sesame Street because there are lessons in Sesame Street that I couldn't have imagined this, right? These were young people that were shot, um, standing, waiting for the bus to come.

When the folks were shooting, the bus was there and there were people not, not involved in any of this, who were also, uh, at risk of being shot. None of those people were, but the young people were shot. Um, It's just a lot y'all. And so sending love out to those families of those young people. But in Philly leading up to that, that was the fourth shooting in as many days.

DJ Sir Daniel: And it's an all too, it's all too familiar. It's all too, um, it's happening too often, um, from schools and now bus stops. And that's why this episode. is so important because we feel like there are some things, some lessons that the kids aren't receiving, or even the adults could probably do with a good refresher course from Sesame Street.

And you're probably wondering, so I thought this was like a show about, you know, Black music and,

Jay Ray: It is

DJ Sir Daniel: hip hop and whatnot, and dropping the needle on Black music history. Well, guess what? Sesame Street is both. Sesame Street is super black. It is black history, right? And Jay Ray's about to school us on that.

And it is chock full of music, musical performances by a lot of your faves. So Jay Ray, let's, um, I know, you know, Jay Ray is our resident historian.

[00:05:49] Exploring the Black Roots of Sesame Street
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DJ Sir Daniel: So please run it down on the super quick black history facts of Sesame Street.

Jay Ray: Y'all. So, um, so Daniel is absolutely right. Sesame Street. in our lives is one of those things that we could look to, to see a reflection of ourselves. And that's by design. So I'm going to run through some interesting facts about the history of Sesame Street, specifically from its black roots. Um, but here we go.

So Sesame Street premiered in, uh, on November 10th of 1969. So this year is Sesame Street is 55 years old. Sesame Street has grown

DJ Sir Daniel: Yeah. Almost, I was almost retirement

Jay Ray: almost retirement age, right? So what's interesting about Sesame Street is it was so groundbreaking that it inspired, um, other shows. So we talked about another show that. was inspired by Sesame Street last year when it was celebrating 50 schoolhouse rock, of course. So if you've never seen that show, go and watch our schoolhouse rock show because it's totally cool, which is also black history too.

Um, so Sesame Street was co created by, um, a man named Lloyd Morissette, who was a psychologist. The idea of Sesame Street was brought to him by Joan Gantz Um, and so Joan and Lloyd worked together to kind of bring, uh, get the funding to be able to do Sesame Street. So what was really cool about Sesame Street is, um, you had this combination of, uh, the adults and the children and the Muppets, right?

So it used Jim Henson's Muppets as well, um, as part of Sesame Street. And that's one of the things that made the show really dynamic, is you had these Muppets interacting with the adults and the children. So what, one of the things that made Sesame Street so groundbreaking, Sir Daniel, and I didn't realize this is, It was a show that it used music to teach children in a way that wasn't really done before Sesame Street.

Of course, music was used in kids programming, but what Sesame Street did and what their composers did was create songs that really brought the lessons into them. And And what's really interesting about that is that's where the Black history kind of comes in. So, in a 1998 interview, this is from the Smithsonian Magazine, this is available online.

Joan Ganz Cooney said that she had produced a Harlem preschool program documentary. That program eventually became Head Start, what we now know as Head Start today, right? But, what that did for her Is, quote, She became, she, uh, it led her to quote, become absolutely involved intellectually and spiritually with the civil rights movement and with the educational deficit that poverty created, right?

So Joan Gants Cooney's goal was to combat the, the challenges that come with poverty. In particular, as it was affecting, um, young black folks, young folks of color, um, led her to kind of come up with this idea with Lloyd for Sesame Street and, um, Harlem. Interestingly enough, I did not know this. Harlem, Sesame Street was kind of, the idea of Sesame Street was built around the community of Harlem.

So it makes perfect sense. When I read it, I was like, Oh, I get it now. So yes, Harlem served as like the inspiration for how Sesame Street was constructed, right? So, and if y'all don't know, Sesame Street is a fictional street. Uh, in New York City, and the address of Sesame Street is 123 Sesame Street. It's a great address, right?

So, part of the unspoken curriculum of Sesame Street was to show depictions of Black folks in a positive light on television. Of course, they couldn't say that they were doing this, right? But they were doing it just by the work. One of the examples I wanted to pull out, I have two points I want, I want to make before we jump into the discussion.

Um, so Susan, who was one of the hosts, there was two hosts that I remember as a kid, there was Susan and there was Gordon. And then I think was Maria came late Maria was around

DJ Sir Daniel: and Luis

Jay Ray: So these was our people, right? As kids, you knew these folks, right?

DJ Sir Daniel: and Mr. Hooper

Jay Ray: and Mr. Hooper,

DJ Sir Daniel: Yeah.

Jay Ray: So Susan of the Gordon and Susan, she had a husband named Peter.

So here's what Peter did. Peter, uh, according to the Smithsonian, Peter worked at the Apollo theater in Harlem.

DJ Sir Daniel: Mm

Jay Ray: And he helped to provide the musical talent for the first show. So they brought in a 16 member youth ensemble. Get into this name. The youth ensemble was called Listen My Brother.

DJ Sir Daniel: hmm.

Jay Ray: they brought them in for the Sesame Street pilot.

Check this out, Sir Daniel. Fronting the group,

DJ Sir Daniel: Huh?

Jay Ray: which would make appearances in the first season of Sesame Street, were three vocalists. Luther Vandross.

DJ Sir Daniel: Mm-Hmm?

Jay Ray: Who of course is Luther Vandross, I don't have to explain who

DJ Sir Daniel: You don't have to explain who that is.

Jay Ray: Robin Clark, who would also go on to sing with David Bowie. So that means Robin and Luther went on to sing with David Bowie.

And Fonzie Thornton, Fonzie Thornton would form Chic with Nile Rodgers, right?

DJ Sir Daniel: Go.

Jay Ray: Isn't that crazy? So they were part of this, the first group of performers in that first season 1969 included one Luther Vandross, Robin Clark, and Fonzie Thornton. Um, one more thing and then we can talk about this because it's amazing.

So in 1972, this couldn't happen in 2024. So I don't know how they pulled this off in 1972. remember I talked about kind of the secret, the unspoken, um, a curriculum was to show black folks on TV and Nina Simone came to Sesame Street, sat on the stoop with four young black children and sang young, gifted and black.

At one, two, three, Sesame Street,

DJ Sir Daniel: Look at that. I mean, black history, y'all. We told you. We told you. Can you imagine at the very foundation of Sesame Street are three individuals that basically formed are the reason for a lot of the music that is built our lives, that our lives are built around. Wow. That's amazing. Thank you for the, for those facts, uh, which you can always get here on Queue Points because that's just what we do, what we say, dropping the needle on black music history.

[00:13:34] Personal Reflections: The Enduring Influence of Sesame Street
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DJ Sir Daniel: And so as we get into the discussion about Sesame Street, um, J. Ray and we, we talk about You mentioned, um, about the needs that it fulfills in a young person's life. And I just think about my own life as a child and just how I remember Sesame Street was, I could kind of tell what time of day it was.

Cause when I was in nursery school at Hanson Place, um, Seventh Day Advantage School in Brooklyn, I knew that it was getting close to, to, to It was after nap time and it meant that soon we were getting ready to go home. And so they would turn on Sesame Street and we would gather as a classroom to sit and watch Sesame Street.

And I just remember feeling, just being gleeful and singing as a, as a group with my classmates, the theme song, how to get to Sesame Street and, and just being enthralled by seeing our friends. These became our friends. Each and every day that we would watch them, the adults, the Muppets. And the thing about Sesame street, um, it, even as a little person, you felt seen as a whole person.

When you would watch Sesame Street. And that is the feeling it, cause it still lives within me that I took away watching Sesame Street as a child. Um, do you have any, um, recollections or feelings around Sesame Street that you can pull, pull on Deray?

Jay Ray: Yeah. You know, Sesame Street. Is one of those things and for y'all in the chat also what, um, what needs did Sesame Street feel? What memories do you have of Sesame Street? Let us know because we definitely want to know. Um, I remember being able to watch young people that looked like me on TV. Um, and because I was so connected to music, it was also easy to retain the lessons.

So I think the funny thing about Sesame Street is, I don't have a specific memory like you, but I do. I know, I remember the colors. I remember sitting and watching Big Bird. I remember hearing Grover's voice. I remember Oscar coming up out of that trash can. I, they're just, it was all so present for me. And I know that there are lessons that were in Sesame Street that I still just kind of carry.

So when I go back and I watch some of the musical performances, I was like, oh yeah, that makes sense. That makes sense that, that I would understand that, you know what I'm saying? And I probably came from just watching Sesame Street and having those lessons, um, just kind of bestowed upon me. So yes, it was important.

It was

DJ Sir Daniel: very important. And shout out to, to PBS, you know, for, for laying that groundwork or create having that platform specifically for educational program and blocking out that much time for young people, for children specifically, because one of my fond memories is that, you know, It wasn't just Sesame street.

We also got, it was like a one, two, three punch. We got Mr. Rogers neighborhood. And then for the older kids, we had electric company right after that. Hey, you guys, you know where we got, we saw, um, what is his name? The actor? Um,

Jay Ray: Who

DJ Sir Daniel: ah, just, just, um, slipped my mind that quick. Um, Morgan,

Jay Ray: Morgan Freeman?

DJ Sir Daniel: Morgan Freeman, Morgan Freeman and Rita Moreno.

A lot of

Jay Ray: Oh yeah.

DJ Sir Daniel: They were on, they were on electric company. And, um, you know, there was a lot of children's, uh, we were talking about three, two, one contact. And especially if you were from the Northeast, there was romper room, wonder Rama, um, a lot of, a lot of great new zoo review. Um, what's the one that you talked about that you remember finally,

Jay Ray: Oh, oh, wow. So this came way later. So, um, when I was in seventh and eighth grade, PBS, um, had new programming. Irene Carroll was apparently on Electric Company 2. I did not know that. Kipper just put that in the chat. Shout out to Kipper Jones, who's over on YouTube. If y'all are wondering why y'all didn't see that on Facebook, but um, Ghost Rider who in the chat remembers Ghost Rider.

So that was a group of like preteens or like right in teen, right?

DJ Sir Daniel: Uhhuh.

Jay Ray: Yeah, they were like tweens and they would solve mysteries Because they had a ghost that would write them messages to help them solve like different issues. So Ghostwriter would help the team solve these things. So, yeah, I, once again, to your point, shout out to PBS.

I don't think there is a day that went by that I did not watch Mr. Rogers go into that closet and switch into, you know, zip up his sweater and sit down and talk to us as young people. Um, fond memories.

DJ Sir Daniel: Very fond memories that a lot just being taught. You don't even know. You're being taught how to regulate your emotions as a child and how to, how to switch gears just by him. Changing his sweater and changing his sneakers. You're teaching kids that it's time to switch gears. It's time to, to move on to some, to transition to something else, which is a very important lesson to learn.

And for my, and for my, um, Jen, what Gen Z's and my millennials, you know, um, it's a, something very sad. The creator of the Backyardigans, Janice Burgess, who was a black woman passed away at the age of 72, but she created the Backyardigans, which was in that same lineage of a Sesame Street and Gullah Gullah Island that, that, um, programming created for children specifically, um, to, to teach them life lessons and to create worlds.

So as we talk about Sesame Street, Sesame Street. We also want to speak miss Burgess's name who passed away at the age of 72 for creating the backyard against which I know resonates with a lot of Millennials who grew up, you know, they didn't necessarily Have three to one contact like me and you you know Gen Xers, but definitely You know, shout out to her for creating that world.

And, you know, we've created a world over here on Queue Points. Um, Jay Ray, we've created a community and we put out a call to our community and we asked them a specific question. We asked our Queue Points community. We asked you what lessons have adults forgotten from Sesame Street that can make us better humans?

What lessons have adults forgotten from Sesame Street that can make us better humans and J. Ray, the, thQueue Pointsts fam did not disappoint, and I believe we have a special clip that features a very special narration by some, by a very special, um, voiceover actor. Well, let's check that out and then we'll talk about it on the other side.

Jay Ray: yo, thank y'all so much for hanging with us. Let's watch this video. We'll be right back

[00:21:44] Queue Points Question of the Week: What lessons have adults forgotten from Sesame Street that can make us better humans?
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Jay Ray: well folks, thank you so much For tuning in for that video Sir, Daniel, what did you think?

DJ Sir Daniel: Listen, I am beyond thankful to our Queue Points family, like you guys really showed up and responded. Your responses were perfect. I was thinking, um, when we first came up with the question, what lessons have adults forgotten from Sesame Street that can make us better humans? Um, Immediately I thought of empathy and everybody had the same response.

It's learned Sesame street was a mirror. It was a mirror that was held up to us to, and to see not only ourselves, but to see each other. We have woo boy. We have strayed way long and far away from Sesame Street. I don't even know if you anybody could tell me how to get to Sesame Street. No, you can tell me, but there's a lot of people that have forgotten.

And when we say forgotten to how to find Sesame Street, that's Sesame Street is a place in your heart. Sesame Street is, Sesame Street resonates in your heart and a place in your psyche where you, you know, you learn those, you learn how empathy, that's what it boils down to is that empathy that we are all missing and have have kind of learned to, to forget.

And that's why it's so easy to, to go on the social media tirades. It's so easy to, to decry, um, you know, talk bad about immigrants, to, to be running on a platform as big as the presidency and to say the craziest things, and it's just, it's just nonsense that we're living in now. And I really. You know, according to thank you to Kipper Jones, who is in the chat, who mentioned that the government specifically the GOP is trying to defund PBS, but with the insidious intention of destroying the harmony that programs like Sesame Street created.

And, um, so yeah, but before we go any further, I was talking about different programs, J Ray, remember Romper Room?

Jay Ray: I loved romper room. Yes.

DJ Sir Daniel: Rapper Room was so dope, but you know what, J Ray? I would always be sad at the end because she never said my name. She, I don't know, there was never, uh, for those who don't know my name, my first name was

Jay Ray: like, you can see me.

DJ Sir Daniel: you see me, I know you see me. There has to be other Adrians in the world and she never, ever said Adrian. And that used to have me a little bit distraught, but Back to our topic of Sesame Street. What, for you, J. Ray, what, what kind of, um, sticks with you when, when that question came up about lessons learned from Sesame Street?

Jay Ray: I think this goes directly to. Sesame Street showed us the importance of difference. And I think that helped us to make better connections with folks. So one of the things that Matthew mentioned in his response that resonated with me so much is because no one Or no thing, you know, on Sesame Street kind of looked the same.

They kind of existed in their own worlds and were different, but could still exist at Sesame Street. Right. And so I feel like the, the lesson that. We have forgotten and Kipper says this all the time at the end of his shows is that as humans we have to remember that we are more alike than we are different.

And I think Sesame Street for me, when I think about how Sesame Street helped us make better connections with both, you know, adults and children is just that understanding that our difference doesn't change our sameness, right? And it's our sameness that really unite us. So. Yeah, yeah. Grateful. I see that Wani Love It just joined.

I'm so sorry that YouTube wasn't letting her chat, but she brought in the comment after she switched over to Facebook. I love, love, love. Um, And most agree that kindness is missing.

[00:32:34] The Power of Music in Sesame Street's Educational Approach
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Jay Ray: So thank you so much, Wani, for moving from YouTube to Facebook to be with us tonight, but yeah, so for me, that's what, what I mentioned, what I remember, Sir Daniel, and I'm curious for you now, because music is foundational to Sesame Street, these lessons that we learned were often delivered to us through music.

Um, so. Let's talk about that for, uh, for a second. So we of course have mentioned Luther Vandross is one of the early season. One had when season one has Luther on it, that sets the stage for everything.

DJ Sir Daniel: That's the legion dairy. That's I mean, come on Luther Vandross and you know, but no, go ahead. Continue.

Jay Ray: no, I was just going to say, so who are some musicians that you remember or some of your favorite performances from Sesame Street? I'm curious. One or two.

DJ Sir Daniel: Okay. So off bat, I remember, and I was much older. I was way out of the watching Sesame street age range when I, when this particular, um, performance. Came on, but I remember distinctly when, and Vogue was at, I mean, at the height of their superpowers. I think this might've been around the first album and they were on Sesame Street and I don't remember how I came across it, but I saw it and they were singing a song called Adventure.

And I remember this plainly. They were singing a song about let's have an adventure and about, um, imagination and going to different places in different countries. And the video montage, I'll never forget that accompanied. It was just so dope because in vogue, of course, was known for their vocal ability and not being shy about showing their vocal ability, definitely saying, and it was singing live.

on their Sesame Street performance. But another performance that stood out for me is one of the first rap artists that I ever saw on Sesame Street was Queen Latifah. And of course she was, she, she was busting a rhyme. I can't remember which Muppet she was with, but she was rhyming with somebody on Sesame Street.

So those two stand out to me. Who do you have on your list?

Jay Ray: So one I just discovered in researching for the show, but one I remember from when I was a kid. So fact, if you don't know, I think I've said it on this show before. Um, Diana Ross is kind of like my barometer for like my entry barometer for like divas. It's my obviously gay trait is I loved Diana Ross as a kid. My OGT is Diana Ross. So, in 1982, so this is after Why Do Fools Fall In Love. This is the Why Do Fools Fall In Love era. So mirror, mirror, era, Diana. She appears on Sesame Street and I remember she did picture a world like it was and the kids had to do the motion. So Diana, she wasn't right. She wasn't with and that's a very Diana kind of motion to do right.

So she wasn't with a Muppet. I only remembered that she was wearing red and there was like a lot of kids. But so I went and I found the video as it turns out, Chudney is, is sitting in between. I'm sure Chudney was probably like nervous and like, I don't want to go nowhere else. So Chudney is moving around and doing the thing.

Tracy is right next to Diana with these glasses on, like her glasses is like our size on

[00:36:16] Diving into Sesame Street's Musical Magic
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DJ Sir Daniel: Uh huh.

Jay Ray: like a child and Miss Rhonda is holding court. I didn't even know this at the time, right? So you see Rhonda holding court. She's like the biggest kid there. So it's like the two older children are at the top and Diana's at the center surrounded by all of the, you know, uh, multicultural group of children talking, telling them to picture a world.

And it is beautiful. Fun fact, by the way, the composers for Sesame Street had to produce songs for 130 episodes a year. That's a lot of compo, it was somewhere I

DJ Sir Daniel: That's a lot of

Jay Ray: the number, it's a lot of work. I think I read that they were doing like 2000 compositions a year. It's a lot of compositions

DJ Sir Daniel: man.

Jay Ray: and working with stars in some of them, right?

So, One is Diana Ross, picture, picture a world where Diana's doing her Diana thing.

[00:37:13] The Power of Yet: Lessons from Janelle Monae on Sesame Street
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Jay Ray: As I was researching though, I was like, who's contemporary and child, Janelle Monae came through. So this is, um, uh, uh, first bad boy album, Janelle. So the arch angel with the bouffant.

DJ Sir Daniel: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Mm-Hmm?

Jay Ray: And she's with Bert. So Bert is trying to sing.

And of course, Bert doesn't know the lyrics. Yet. So, Janelle is singing this song called, called the power of yet. And let me tell y'all how this song got me together as an adult this week, because what the power of yet is talking about is oftentimes we. are thinking that something needs to happen, but it hasn't happened yet.

It doesn't mean it's not going to happen or won't happen. It hasn't happened yet. And that's the power of yet. Right.

DJ Sir Daniel: That's a, that's a, um, that's a mini, that's a sermon right there. 'cause you ministering. Right Now

Jay Ray: Mm

DJ Sir Daniel: we might need to

Jay Ray: Thinking about Queue Points, Because when we talk about Queue Points, and I was thinking about it even for the work that we do very specifically, where it's like, we haven't done this, and we haven't gotten that, we don't have a million downloads yet.

DJ Sir Daniel: yet

Jay Ray: have a million downloads yet.

DJ Sir Daniel: Huh?

Jay Ray: That's the power

DJ Sir Daniel: Amen, somebody. The power of yet. Amen. Turn to your neighbor and say the power of yet. Please. Hello, somebody. That's powerful, J Ray. That is very powerful. And whoo, Sesame Street. Sesame Street, Sesame Street was ministering to us and still ministering to us and we don't even know it. So yes, you're, you're welcome.

You're welcome. Key points listeners for, for bringing all of this up to the forefront.

[00:39:15] Reflecting on Favorite Sesame Street Characters
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DJ Sir Daniel: And, um, so we cannot go, we cannot talk Sesame Street and not talk about our favorite characters. And just off the top of my head, I, you know, who, who resonated with me a lot. And I mean, because he was the breakout star, but Big Bird, Big Bird resonated on a physical level with me because I was always taller than all the other kids.

And so a lot of them resorted to calling me Big Bird because I was taller than them. And there was a. Big Bird, of course, was created to, as a child, like Big Bird chronologically was like four years old, so he, he resonated with us because he was learning a lot. He was learning about himself. He was learning about the being different from everybody else.

And those things still resonate with me. I love Mr. Snuffleupagus. Snuffleupagus was, um, imaginary.

Jay Ray: Yes, I did not know that for years.

DJ Sir Daniel: He was he Big Bird was the only person only one that could see Mr Snuffleupagus and that was a huge though. I remember that was like a two part episode of why people couldn't see Mr Snuffleupagus and the importance of children's imaginations and how it's okay.

And as an only child that resonated with me as well because as the only child you, you know, you, you have to play by yourself. And you create worlds, you create, um, imaginary friends to play with, or you have, and what imaginary friends basically is, is inner dialogue, and that, and those people that can carry on inner dialogue are known to be more highly intelligent.

You know, people that can do that, that can create, have a dialogue with themselves. And so, and of course I love Grover. Grover was blue and, you know, and so misunderstood, kind of awkward, you know, I, I resonated that he resonated with me a lot as well. Who

Jay Ray: So it's funny. So for one, Grover, it's so funny. So all the characters that I resonated with the most are kind of built from the same cloth. So everybody I'm going to mention is kind of like the same character in a different version. So Grover for one, the voice. You know, the voice, um, for Grover, but also, um, kind of his shyness, um, Grover was kind of like a shy character, which I really resonated with.

Um, even though people don't know that, you know, this, and I think people who know me well, I'm an introvert when I get around, like when I get around a bunch of folks, I'm real good one on one child, listen. But, you know, don't get me around a group. Anyway, Grover. Um, I love Oscar the grouch.

DJ Sir Daniel: same.

Jay Ray: He lived in that trash can.

He would come up out of that. He was grumpy. He wanted you to be quiet. Okay, I just liked him.

DJ Sir Daniel: Isn't it, but listen, shout out to Oscar the Grouch because quite a few of us have turned into Oscar the Grouch as we get

Jay Ray: Yes.

DJ Sir Daniel: God knows I love my quiet. And when people are disturbing my peace, I pop up and I have a unibrow like Oscar the Grouch and I'm looking like What the hell is going on? Part of my language.

I know we started talking Sesame

Jay Ray: Yes.

DJ Sir Daniel: But yes, Oscar kept it real. Thank you, Jason. Oscar definitely kept it real and was,

Jay Ray: Yes. And I have one more. One shout out to my line brother, Jason. Thank you for joining, man. Um, and my last character, uh, is my fun character. I love the cookie monster. The cookie monster was unhinged.

DJ Sir Daniel: nom nom

Jay Ray: He was unhinged. He was into cookies, kids. If you don't know what the cookie monster was into, it's in his name.

And I, once again, when you start talking about like the power of imagination, just to kind of have a character, that's just kind of like this character does one thing,

DJ Sir Daniel: Yes,

Jay Ray: cookie, you know, it was like really about these cookies, kids.

DJ Sir Daniel: I mean, you're talking about somebody that you find out what somebody's, um, I guess what you could use is bargaining chips for kids. Cause that's important for children too is learning what, you know, what they like and what you can use to barter with children. Cause sometimes you got to barter with kids and.

Cookies! Cookies was definitely, yes, Cookie Monster's thing. We can't, okay, so we can't not talk about Elmo,

Jay Ray: We have to, even though we were way older when Elmo came, Elmo changed the game.

DJ Sir Daniel: Elmo was a, Elmo was a bonafide, he might have been, is he? No, cause Kermit is, is still like the number one superstar, breakout star of it all Muppet fandom. But Elmo is right there. Elmo is close. And then when we found out Elmo was voiced by a black man that made even all the more, you know difference to us, but Elmo just had a gravitas at his very young age and Nowadays you all have dumped all of your emotions on Elmo and it's sickening you all

Jay Ray: Why y'all,

DJ Sir Daniel: have aggravated Elmo

Jay Ray: Elmo has been nothing but good to y'all and y'all got up on Tina Knowles's internets and y'all done told Elmo all your foolishness. Elmo didn't come to the Twitter for that.

DJ Sir Daniel: At all, but Jerry, okay. Before we move on, I got to share this story. So it back in, I think this either had to be like 95 or 96. Elmo was at the height of his superpowers and tickle me. Elmo was, was the toy to have

Jay Ray: Remember Tickle Me Elmo.

DJ Sir Daniel: tickle me. Elmo was a funner. If you were old enough to remember cabbage patch kids. And how much of a craze that was when you were a kid took me, Elmo had the same effect on the children of that generation.

And so I'll never forget. Um, my, my good, good friend, angel. She and I, we had to be like 20 and 21. She and I went out to Lennox mall. For those of you who are familiar with Lennox mall in here in Atlanta, they had KB toys. Was it KB? Yes. Or was it F. A. L. Schwartz? No, it was K. B. Toy Story. It was K. B. Toy Story. Children, this is when there were actual toy stores in the mall. And first of all, do y'all even know what a mall is? Anyway, we'll talk about it at

Jay Ray: a whole other thing.

DJ Sir Daniel: That's a whole nother show. So we went to KB toy store with the full intent of going to the tickle me Elmo display. And setting off each and every Tickle Me Elmo at the same time.

Jay Ray: awful.

DJ Sir Daniel: And at our big ages, we sat there and cracked up looking at, listening to all the Tickle Me Elmos just laughing. We sat up there and cracked up and just walked out of the store and Tickle Me Elmos, like, 50 of them are having a fit because they would set each other off once they started laughing. And that was just, that was like the highlight of our day.

We went there specifically to set off the Tukomi Elmos.

Jay Ray: Okay. So what it looks like Mark McPherson did the same thing. Y'all are a mess. Y'all are a mess torturing them. People that work dumb people that worked in the KB was probably like no, ma'am. Um,

DJ Sir Daniel: sick of it. I'm sure they were sick of it.

Jay Ray: Shout out to Joshua Alston who's cookies at the YouTube. Shout out to Joshua. Um, so. Yeah, Elmo was a thing.

Um, as we, we kind of wind down y'all.

[00:47:44] The Impact of Music in Learning and Development
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Jay Ray: So one, thank y'all again for just being here with us, but it makes me wonder, sir. Daniel. Or just reflect on music is so critical to learning and I don't know what my life would have been like one had I not been exposed to shows like Sesame Street, um, and Schoolhouse Rock and all these other shows that we've talked about that, that have music seamlessly interwoven into it because who can forget 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,

DJ Sir Daniel: 9, 10, 11, 12. Thank you, Pointer Sisters.

Jay Ray: thank you. Right? So having this music so interwoven made learning easier. Um, and I just don't know what that would be. So I think that having music in learning music in schools. is critical. Um, it's just missing and the kids absolutely need it because I think it would make a world of difference.

Why do you think music is so important in learning?

DJ Sir Daniel: Well, I mean, it's scientifically proven that music. Um, helps to improve our brain function. Uh, now when you're talking about children, music, um, it increases the, the, the, the shooting off of the synapses in our brains that, that information travels through and, you know, our, our frontal lobes are developing at that time.

So music is there to help that along and help us along in making. More executive decisions as our frontal lobes, um, uh, develop. And so, so music is definitely, like I said, scientifically proven to help that and to, to create, uh, rhythmic ways of us learning things. You know, you learn your ABCs are taught to you in a.

A rhythm, you know, the one, the, the pinball machine song with the point of sisters that's done in a rhythm and guess what you remember each and every single one of those things and they're imprinted in our brains. I think to this, um, they're using music now as a means to help people with dementia. And Alzheimer's because music, music, there's something about music that even in that state where your, your, your mind functions are deteriorating at that age, music helps unlock those memories or, or gives comfort.

So we cannot. as Queue Points podcast, dropping the needle on black music history. We have to wave the banner of music and the importance of music when it comes to learning. As you go vote,

Jay Ray: Yes.

DJ Sir Daniel: keep these things in mind, you know, as we go vote. And voting on a local level for, you know, it's so important about what happens in your schools.

You know, there's teaching teachers and education books. They're all at stake now in this election year, and there are real forces that are making real efforts to help remove those things because they realize that an imaginative mind. is a powerful thing. And when somebody has imagination and can read, you are not, you, you question things and you are not a slave to other people, to what people want you to believe.

And so that's the crux of what they're trying to do. To take away from us. So keep that in mind as you, you know, as you go along and you think you listen to this podcast, hopefully you're on your way to the voting polls and you make your decision about what you want for. If you're bringing children into this world, you know, what does you want for your children?

Who do you want your children to be? You know, if you want your children to be. Um, good human beings. If you want your Children to be able to talk to you and relate to you as a human being, because Jerry, a lot of kids are missing that component. I don't want to get off on this too quick, but you saw the thing that happened with Cam Newton and how, and, and the young people that were, that felt that way.

We're fighting him at his own football camp. There had been, um, videos of children disrespecting cam before in the past. You send videos of children, disrespecting Kat Williams. There is because there's a disconnect. I believe there's a disconnect in how a lot of children see the adults in their lives.

And that's because we're not treating each other like human beings. So then what we as adults look at as disrespect is actually a breakdown in children believing that we are actually both human beings and deserve respect and empathy for each other. And so I think as we wrap up this

Jay Ray: Mike, that's a mic drop first, Sir Daniel. I need Sir Daniel just mic dropped. I'll have nothing to add to that.

DJ Sir Daniel: Well, yes, you do. Because we got to tell all the fine people that are watching and we love you. Shout out to that librarian. His name is Michael. Um, he's been all over the social media. People like him. You know who I'm talking

Jay Ray: I don't know who I don't know this. I have

DJ Sir Daniel: He is, he was a librarian. He left the library to go work for PBS. As a matter of fact, and he became very famous on social media and infamous at the same time, because there were some people who just couldn't believe that somebody would exude such kindness and, and happiness for reading and for learning and for other in each and people as human beings.

So there were people that would start attacking him and his character. And of course, you know, that. Led to other things, but he's now working for PBS, which is great. So that means that, um, PBS is continuing to do great work and, and, and do great things for, for us and our listeners and our listeners, children.

[00:54:08] Queue Points Podcast: A Call to Action and Closing Thoughts
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DJ Sir Daniel: And so what I want Jerry to do is to talk to all the fine people that are watching us right now. If you, if you've never watched Queue Points before, cause I think there's a lot of brand new people here. Tell them Jerry, what they need to do from here on out.

Jay Ray: Yo, so check it. So first of all, if you love interesting conversations about music history, you are in the right place. If you love having conversations about Black music and Black culture, um, in a way that is loving, And, uh, we do our best to, to, to, to not tear folks down and give you poor information. If you like folks that do that, you're in the right place.

If you at any point saw a video soul or video LP or YomTV raps the day, the weekday or the weekend, you are in the right place. Okay. So thank you for being here with us. And tuning in wherever you are tuning in from subscribe. If they have a notification bell, do that too is really helpful. Also share the show with folks, let folks know that you watch, let folks know that you had a good time and definitely go ahead and listen to Queue Points.

We are a podcast that is absolutely everywhere. If there's a podcast at platform, we're on it and drop us a review. We love five star reviews. We love them. So you can leave us one and leave us a comment. We, we read comments. We put them on our social media. It's awesome. So do that. That's absolutely free.

Follow our newsletter at magazine. Queue Points. com. That's one step further. That's also free, but it gives you some additional information. And you can also visit our store at store. Queue Points. com and buy you some fresh gear from Queue Points. I wish I had like a mug or one of my hoodies around, but I don't.

DJ Sir Daniel: I got my buttons.

Jay Ray: you got your button?

We got buttons now, y'all. So you can order

DJ Sir Daniel: of them.

Jay Ray: See, so slow jams can heal

DJ Sir Daniel: dance healers. So yes,

Jay Ray: yes, please get some merch and yeah, all the things, but thank y'all for just being here. Thank y'all for rocking with us. We have surpassed 15, 000 downloads and we can't wait to just keep delivering this. Yo, we did that.

Sir. Daniel. five, bro.

DJ Sir Daniel: high five. Yes, we did. We did. Thank you for those 15, 000. And here's to 15, 000 more. But Jerry, what do I always say in this life, you have an opportunity, you can either pick up the needle or you can let the record play. I'm DJ Sir Daniel.

Jay Ray: I am J Ray.

DJ Sir Daniel: And this has been Queue Points podcast, dropping the needle on black music history.

We will see you on the next go round. Bye.

Jay Ray: Bye.

[00:57:08] Closing Theme
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television

Sesame Street’s Harmony, Lessons and Black Music History