Children's Defense Fund
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Our Voice for Children
February 2021
Image of young people during the Civil Rights Movement
Celebrating Black History Month
The Children's Defense Fund is founded, powered, and inspired by the
legacy of Black heroes-it is the through-line that has carried
our work for children for almost 50 years, since Marian Wright Edelman
founded the organization she calls "the grandchild of Dr. King's Poor
People's Campaign." This February, join us in honoring the Black
leadership that got us here and celebrating the community of child
advocates who continue to fight for Black children to have everything
they need to thrive.
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Image of young CDF Freedom Schools scholars
Black History Month Heroes
The CDF Freedom Schools® program is rooted in the history and
vision of the Civil Rights Movement, and every day at CDF Freedom
Schools, young scholars learn about, reflect on, and apply the lessons
of real-life Black heroes. We asked some of our fantastic CDF Freedom
Schools partners to tell us who inspires them as they serve our
country's children, and here's what they had to say:
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Constance J. Rush's hero: Claudette Colvin
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Dani Parker Moore's hero: Anna Julia Cooper
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Denise Dean's hero: Malcolm X
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Image of two children smiling
Our Advocacy for Children
February was a short month, but there was no shortage of opportunities
to fight for our country's children. Here are some of the ways we
advocated for children and their families this month:
Child Poverty: We highlighted how a child allowance would help the
more than 10 million children living in poverty in this country and
analyzed the child allowance proposals that are finally gaining steam.
Learn more.
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Youth Justice: We condemned the recent, horrific example of our
country's adultification and overcriminalization of Black children
when a nine-year-old experiencing a mental health crisis was chased,
handcuffed, and pepper-sprayed. Learn more.
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Equity: In a recent op-ed, CDF-NY urged state leaders to embrace the
urgency this moment demands and the opportunity 2021 holds to advance
a holistic equity agenda for New York's children. Learn more.
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Child Poverty: Our President and CEO, the Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson,
spoke at Robin Hood's national conference about the need to harness
the widest consensus we have ever seen for adopting a poverty-fighting
child allowance. Learn more.
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Child Welfare: We applauded the Biden Administration's actions to halt
a Trump-era rule that would have allowed taxpayer-funded
discrimination in foster care. Learn more.
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Gun Violence Prevention: We shared a Valentine's Day call-to-action
from activist Jessica Kurzban urging our community to hold leaders to
account and demand meaningful action to protect children, not guns.
Learn more.
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Child Health: We called for culturally relevant messaging, funding,
and equitable access to the COVID-19 vaccine in the most marginalized
communities of color as a way to address understandable vaccine
hesitancy while emphasizing that vaccines are safe, effective, and
vital for slowing the spread of the virus. Learn more.
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Help ensure every child in America has what they need to thrive.
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Image of Beverly E. Smith, National President and CEO of Delta Sigma
Theta Sorority, Inc., reading a book
CDF Freedom Schools® Family Book Club Night
This month, CDF Freedom Schools® premiered our first ever CDF
Freedom Schools at Home Family Book Club Night! This engaging,
interactive event brought the one-of-a-kind CDF Freedom Schools
experience to children across the country and invited them to read,
learn, and discover along with us. Rewatch our February premiere and
be sure to join us again for Family Book Club Night on Wednesday,
March 17, at 7:00 PM ET, live on Facebook.
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Of a young child and two caregivers with the text ''Kids can't wait.
Their promise is our future. #KidsAreEssential.''
Just Launched: #KidsAreEssential
Our country is at a tipping point, and we can't allow the converging
crises of COVID-19, racial injustice, and economic instability to
threaten our children's futures. That's why we joined with several
partners to launch #KidsAreEssential, calling on leaders to invest in
children and their families as early as possible and to address the
economic and health disparities made worse by the pandemic. Learn more
and join us.
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Image of smiling boy
Child Watch Roundup
In a Child Watch column published this month, Marian Wright Edelman
celebrated the advocacy and leadership of her Spelman College sister
and champion for a fair democracy Stacey Abrams. Read the column here.
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Catch up on the rest of Marian Wright Edelman's recent Child Watch
columns:
* Remembering Wonderful Mississippi Governor William Winter
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* Proud Shoutout to My Spelman College Sister Rosalind Gates
Brewer
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Be sure to sign up to receive Marian Wright Edelman's Child Watch
column directly to your inbox every Friday
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