If you’re close to someone under five years old then you’ve probably heard of the viral YouTube Netflix star, Ms. Rachel. The early childhood educator and musical performer has now reached 20.4 million followers on YouTube and gotten 16.4 billion views. Babies and toddlers all over the world access educational content and feel connected to the bubbly performer.
Ms. Rachel, whose real name is Rachel Griffin Accurso, has been called the Mr. Rogers of our time. Just as Mister Rogers before her, Ms. Accurso is a charismatic, sweet musical artist who has built connections with children across the globe. Mr. Rogers was also a political advocate in his time for education, public television, racial equality, and peace. Ms. Accurso has followed in his footsteps and fights for children across the globe, as well as the inclusion of marginalized peoples in her TV show.
The @MsRachel account launched in February 2019 after Ms. Accurso’s son was born. She has said she created the series after her son experienced significant speech delays. The “Ms. Rachel” website states she holds two master’s degrees in education — one in early-childhood development and one in music education.
In 2023 Ms. Accurso included actor Jules Hoffman in her videos. Hoffman, a musician who identifies as nonbinary, has spoken publicly about their gender transition. This was the first time Ms. Accurso came under the scrutiny of the right-wing, who dubbed her content woke and controversial. Later she created a children’s song for her channel criticizing the actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), further thrusting her under the spotlight of parents questioning if her videos and songs might be inappropriate for little ones, and politicians trying to censor educational material across the nation.
Ms. Accurso really came under fire after she started a fundraiser for the nonprofit Save the Children, aiming to help children in several conflict zones, including Gaza. But her advocacy on behalf of Gazan children has led some supporters of Israel to accuse her of treating Palestinian children with more sympathy than Israeli ones. The group StopAntisemitism labeled Accurso the “Antisemite of the Week,” and The New York Post sent a letter urging then Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate whether Accurso is receiving funding to further Hamas’ agenda.
Accurso does not dispute that she posts more about Gazan children. “The painful reality,” she said, “is that Palestinian children in Gaza have been killed by the thousands and continue to be killed, maimed and starved right now. The idea that caring about one group of children prevents us from caring about another group of children is false.” And Accurso has expanded her advocacy to push for universal child care and an end to geopolitical crises that harm children. This includes the children connected to the detained immigrants at the Delaney Hall immigration detention center in Newark, New Jersey. Her social media posts are nearly daily. She implores the federal government to end what she describes as the traumatizing of children by immigration enforcement.
Ms. Accurso’s advocacy is impactful, important, and also brave. She has a wide network that reaches all over the globe and her political videos and messaging is mostly directed to parents. In doing so, she makes herself a target for all forms of attacks, and yet she continues to advocate her views.
Each generation appears to have one or two celebrities who consistently devote their time to political advocacy throughout their careers, such as Mr. Rogers and Jane Fonda. Ms. Accurso is one of the few celebrities of our time bravely doing that work.
