When Rachel Griffin Accurso realized that her 2-year-old son had a speech delay, she took speech therapy lessons to learn how to help him reach crucial milestones.
She adapted those language strategies into songs and uploaded them to YouTube in 2019 as “Ms. Rachel,” laying the first brick for an online platform that would soon screen in millions of households around the world.
In a recent interview with Democracy Now!, broadcaster Juan González drew comparisons between Accurso and Mister Rogers, linking Rogers’ fight for racial justice to Accurso’s tireless dedication to platform Palestinian children during the war in Gaza.
“People say, you know, [Rogers] wasn't political. And he was political,” Accurso noted. “He had such deep care for children and he took media so seriously, that it should really serve children and that it's a big responsibility. I think about that responsibility all the time.”
"I see all children as precious and equal,” Accurso, who has raised over $1,050,000 for various aid efforts benefiting children in Sudan, Gaza, and Ukraine. “My deep care for children doesn't stop at any border.”
On February 28, the US-Israeli war with Iran resulted in civilian casualties when missiles reportedly destroyed a girl’s primary school in Minab, southern Iran, killing around 150 and wounding almost 100.
Hours later, Accurso took to Instagram to ask, “Can’t we all agree in this life not to kill children?”
“I HAVE said the Iranian government needs to stop killing children, too - everyone, everywhere — stop killing, starving, bombing, taking kids hostage & violating children’s human rights,” she wrote beneath a picture of text on a white background that read: “Stop killing children.”
“Give them school,” she continued. “Give them medical care, give them safe, warm homes, give them everything they need to thrive.”
A version of this article originally appeared in the 2025 Helpers Edition of the Goodnewspaper.
Header image via Ms. Rachel / Instagram
