Ms. Rachel on advocating for Gaza's children: 'I wish leaders would hear their voices'

Transcript

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Amna Nawaz: She’s a preschool teacher to millions of children, though most of her students have never set foot in her classroom.

Rachel Accurso, known to the world as Ms. Rachel, is the creator of the wildly popular YouTube series “Songs for Littles” that’s a lifeline for parents. But she’s been making headlines and facing scrutiny for taking a stand on her social media platforms on current events.

Geoff Bennett spoke with her yesterday.

Geoff Bennett: Her videos, built on repetition, music, and respect for young minds, have helped countless toddlers share their first words and make their first connections.

But Ms. Rachel’s reach now extends far beyond sing-alongs and story time. She’s now using her platform in a different way, speaking to adults about the crisis in Gaza, highlighting the experiences of children there and sparking conversations that transcend the world of children’s media.

Rachel Accurso, “Ms. Rachel,” Educator and Children’s Content Creator: We can’t let children starve. That is not who we are.

Geoff Bennett: Rachel Accurso joins us now.

Thanks so much for being with us.

Rachel Accurso: Thanks for having me, Geoff.

Geoff Bennett: So let’s start at the beginning. You started “Songs For Littles” after your son experienced a speech delay and you had a hard time finding suitable resources for him. When you first pressed record and launched this account, what was your intention?

Rachel Accurso: I wanted to create videos for him, and I thought maybe some other moms and dads and parents were looking for videos like this for their little ones, since I saw a need, but I had no idea anything like this would happen.

Geoff Bennett: Your style has been compared to Mister Rogers, the gentle pacing, the respect for children, the genuine connection. What about his approach first inspired you and how are you making that your own?

Rachel Accurso: So, Mister Rogers, the way he felt media and kids programming, that we have such a big responsibility, I learned that he imagined speaking to one child or to children through the camera.

And since I worked in a classroom and I have children and I have worked with children for a long time, I just imagine one child, and I show that genuine care. And I think that deep care for all children is felt by the audience.

Geoff Bennett: And when you mention the deep care for all children, you have taken a public stand on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, sharing stories, raising funds, speaking out.

What responsibility do you feel that you have to address that crisis, given your platform?

Rachel Accurso: My deep love and care for children doesn’t end at my children, at children I know, at children in this country. It is for all children in this world.

And it’s so important for me to speak out for children whose human rights are being violated. That’s our responsibility as grown-ups, is to stand up for kids when they’re being denied access to food, water, education for two years; 18,000 children have been killed. Everyone should be saying something.

It’s a good thing to care about all kids.

Geoff Bennett: When did you first know that this was something that you had to do?

Rachel Accurso: Well, I prayed a lot about it. I’m a religious and spiritual person. And I think I realized that there’s not another children’s media person that is — all of them are a character.

And so I said, I think I need to speak out for kids in this world. The zero to 3 brain development is so crucial. And if you have a malnourished child who’s traumatized and losing family members and displaced, what is that doing to the brain? We know what that does to the brain, and that’s not right.

Geoff Bennett: Your advocacy, we should say, lives on Instagram, which is separate from your children’s programming. How do you draw that line, that distinction?

Rachel Accurso: Well, I really serve children on my program zero to 3 primarily, and it does go up to about 5. So we are having Rahaf on our show, and I’m really excited about that.

Geoff Bennett: This is a 3-year-old double amputee whom you met. How did that meeting happen? How did you meet her?

Rachel Accurso: So the Palestine Children’s Relief fund reached out to me when they saw my advocacy and asked to do a meeting.

Let’s go back to sleep, Rahaf.

And then they told me Rahaf loved the show, and then they said, would you want to meet her and have her on the show? And I said, I’d love to.

Geoff Bennett: Knowing that there are children in Gaza watching your videos, perhaps as one of few moments of joy, how does that make you feel?

Rachel Accurso: There really aren’t words to express how that makes me feel.

I’m so honored that I could be helpful or I could provide a moment of relief or joy in the midst of genocide.

Geoff Bennett: And there has been backlash, as you well know. This past spring, the pro-Israel group, it’s called Stop Antisemitism, they published an open letter calling on the attorney general, Pam Bondi, to investigate whether you were acting as a foreign agent who was being paid — this is a quote — “to disseminate Hamas-aligned propaganda to her millions of followers.”

What is your response to that? And how have you been navigating the criticism?

Rachel Accurso: I think it’s sad to take someone’s dedication and love for all children and try and make that wrong. It’s not wrong. It’s wonderful to be an advocate for all children.

And deeply caring for a group of children who are in an emergency situation, who are starving doesn’t mean you don’t care equally about all children. That’s false. And it’s painful. But no amount of pain is going to compare to what people in Gaza are going through.

Every time I got worried about it, I just thought about a mom in Gaza who — I have a baby who’s 6 months old. She takes formula. I breast-fed my first son. When you have a baby who is crying because they are hungry and you’re looking at them and you’re feeding them and nourishing them, it’s just a wonderful thing.

And the thought for a minute that you would have formula miles away that can’t get to them — and I told my son today: “I’m going on ‘PBS News Hour’ to try and help the kids in Gaza get food.” And I said: “It’s miles away from them and they can’t get it.”

And he said: “Do they have cars?”

We talk to kids. Another kid came up to me today and said: “Ms. Rachel, keep help — trying to help the kids in Gaza.”

Our kids are looking at us. They’re saying, why can’t these children have food? It’s miles away. Why can’t you drive it to them? And the mothers are too malnourished to breast-feed. I just shared a poem by a Palestinian mother. She was one of the top 10 teachers in Gaza. And she — her husband is a novelist and professor, and they’re living in a tent, and they have four children.

One had a dream to be a surgeon. One had a dream to be a dentist. They — she said: “We’re not living in Gaza. We’re waiting. We’re waiting for food. We’re waiting for water. We’re waiting for our kids to come home and wondering if they’re going to be one less child in the morning.”

As a mother, she’s not different than me. They’re so dehumanized. They — people have made up stories about them. And it’s an excuse to conduct a genocide. And I just wish people could — I wish leaders would hear their voices and sit with Rahaf and her mom and see that Rahaf doesn’t have legs anymore.

And this girl is so bright. And every 3-year-old I have worked with across all communities, they’re all different and unique and beautiful, but they’re all the same. And to look at her, and for people to think that it doesn’t matter that they’re the largest cohort of amputees in history, it doesn’t matter that 18,000 children have been killed, it doesn’t matter that there’s that new acronym, wounded child no surviving family.

Like, it matters.

Geoff Bennett: What do you hope is the most enduring impact of Ms. Rachel on the children and families who watch your work?

Rachel Accurso: I hope they all know that they’re welcome, and that they’re valuable, and that they’re worthy, and that they’re loved, and that they belong, and that they’re equal.

Geoff Bennett: Rachel Accurso, better known as Ms. Rachel, thanks so much for being with us.

Rachel Accurso: Thank you so much for having me.