We Lost Another Of The Good Ones

“(CNN) -- Actress Alaina Reed-Amini, best known for her long-running roles as Olivia Robinson on the children's program "Sesame Street" and Rose Lee Holloway on the comedy "227," has died. Reed-Amini lost a two-year battle with breast cancer at St. John's Medical Center in Santa Monica, California, on Thursday, according to reports.”

With all the hype of shallow celebrities and famous athletes getting face time in the headlines it is sad that the passing of someone who did so much good will be a passing headline buried underneath the latest news of who else Tiger Woods was shagging or how drunk some Rodeo Drive princess got at the latest party.

“But Jefe” you say...”she was just another actress.” Je ne partage pas mon ami! She was an actress on Sesame Street, the pinnacle of all children’s programing. She helped bring to life a world of learning and understanding for generations of children. While the programing could be relevant to all children (and a few adults) it brought the world of inner city children into view and let them know that it was OK if the they weren’t rich, or couldn’t afford the latest toys. It help them understand that the world around them wasn’t always rosy, happy, and beset with joyful purple dinosaurs that could make everything alright by singing a song. It was a world that looked like the inner city world. It was brick and concrete, gray and worn down, but within its borders there were people who were colorful. People (and monsters) of all shapes and sizes. Characters that had problems just like them. There were kids (and monsters) from broken homes, that had problems, that were scared, that had trouble learning or didn’t speak English and had to cope. They even dealt with death and loss. Heck, they even have a character (Kami) that has HIV. Sounds horrible for a kids show but it is a reality of life, especially among poor inner city kids. There odds are that they know someone who has HIV or has died from AIDS.

The troubles of the world don’t go away just because the happy purple dinosaur sings a happy purple song. The world is real and the pain is still there when the TV turns off. Over the decades Sesame Street has addressed the things that creep into children’s lives and has tried to present them with copping skills. They have taught understanding, tolerance, love, acceptance, and patience along with a health dose of the A,B,Cs and 1,2,3s wrapped into fun songs and silly games that kept children engaged. Oh yes...and plenty of not-so-scary monsters!

As a college student studying for a BS in Elementary Education and parent of two teenagers who got their fair dose of Sesame Street when they were young, I still look to Sesame Street for inspiration and guidance. There is a high likelihood that I will teach at a Title I school with a mixed population. They will have the challenges that typically accompany any poor area and I will be faced with how to help them since the social resources to help are few and often times there own family may be part of the problem. I will have to find creative ways to guide them, to help them understand and learn to make good choices, all without over stepping my professional boundaries.

The actresses and actors who work on Sesame Street aren't getting paid millions per year to entertain. They may make a decent living but make far less than Brad Pitt did for his last film. I imagine Pitt has made more in one shallow meaningless film than all of the actors and actress (and probably the entire production crew) combined make in one year. Yet they have for decades and hopefully for many more decades, fed the minds and hearts of children from all walks of life in many countries.

Farewell Olivia, you will be missed but not forgotten.