Our Voice for Children
February 2021
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Catch up on the rest of Marian Wright Edelman's recent Child Watch columns:
Be sure to sign up to receive Marian Wright Edelman's Child Watch column directly to your inbox every Friday.
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