Happy Black History Month, BET fam, and welcome to your weekly installment of: The Blackest Moment of the Week! This series will explore fun, informational, silly, and or incredible revelations in the zeitgeist every week this month.

The second installment is all about Black hair education on a street many of us grew up on: Sesame Street! The show quietly turned a routine social media post into an affirmation: hair is history, identity, and joy — and the neighborhood taught kids that lesson loud and clear. 

The show’s Black History Month series spotlights iconic Black hairstyles like box braids, cornrows, and Zulu (Bantu) knots and explains the stories behind them, who wore them, where they come from, and what they signaled for communities through time. 

“Hair is an important part of who we are,” read the caption, adding that hair “helps us express ourselves, and can tell important stories about a person’s culture and heritage.” The image carousel (posted across Sesame Street’s social channels) translates those lessons into kid-friendly language and colorful muppet illustrations, turning hairstyle history into tiny, teachable moments. 

The effort was produced in partnership with Dove and teamed with Gen-Alpha creator collaborations to help the message land with younger viewers. The partnership comes off as more than just a PR moment; it's an educational push to normalize Black hair for children who are still learning what “normal” looks like. One short clip even features social-media kid rapper VanVan joining the muppets to sing about morning routines and hair pride. 

Sesame Street has a track record here. The show first tackled the subject more than a decade ago with the viral “I Love My Hair” campaign and later episodes like “Wash Day,” which centered routine, care, and familial rituals around Black hair. The series dropped after the powers that be recognized how young Black kids were internalizing negative messages about texture and style. This year’s posts extend that thoughtful insight into historical context, celebration, and pride. 

That combination of culture and context matters because representation without protection can ring hollow. Commentators praised Sesame Street’s new series, however, some observers also used the moment to highlight an uncomfortable reality: children are still punished in schools for Black hairstyles, and legal protections like the CROWN Act haven’t reached every classroom. As one comment put it, teaching kids their hair is a “crown” matters most when schools and workplaces are required to treat it that way year-round, not just during a curated Black History Month moment. 

Still, the reaction on social platforms has been overwhelmingly warm: parents, educators, and Black influencers called the posts “the Sesame Street I needed,” and many said the clips gave caregivers a simple tool to start conversations with children about ancestry and self-worth. In parenting circles, viewers praised the decision to pair colorful muppets with historical facts and credited the show for modeling pride in ways kids can understand. 

For a generation growing up in an attention economy where image and identity are constantly curated, “Sesame Street’s” message has high impact. It teaches history, names the lineage, and lets children see themselves in the lesson.