Two new characters recently made themselves at home on, arguably, the most famous street in the world.

Elijah Walker and his son, Wesley, have arrived on Sesame Street via the website sesameworkshop.org as part of the featured learning space “Coming Together: Talking to Children about Race and Identity.”

Wesley and his dad are African-American puppets - or Muppets, to use Jim Henson’s term for his characters, which include Kermit, Elmo, Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy, Oscar the Grouch, Abby, Big Bird, Gonzo, Cookie Monster, and the list goes on.

The Walkers, with deep brown plush felt skin, talk with their Sesame Street neighbors, especially children, about racial difference.

Henson’s Muppets have tackled such topics as homelessness, death, divorce, HIV/AIDS, food insecurity, autism and more. The Muppets are particularly adept at addressing tough complex subjects, especially for children, in times of crisis - times like these.

And the Muppets are not alone.

In a special feature on the DVD release of the 2015 film “The Peanuts Movie,” viewers learn the character Franklin debuted July 31, 1968, three months after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

According to the book “Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography,” by David Michaelis, Franklin’s father was serving in Vietnam at the time the two characters met.

“Charlie Brown and Franklin first met on the beach and they started to have a conversation,” Marleik “Mar Mar” Walker, the voice of Franklin in the 2015 movie, explained in an interview in the special feature.

“I think it’s a real good relationship because it shows that it doesn’t mater what your skin color is. Everybody can be friends,” Walker said.

Harriet Glickman, of Sherman Oaks, Calif., is credited with corresponding with Peanuts creator Charles Shulz about responding to King’s assassination.

“I had this feeling I want to do something,” Glickman recalled while seated next to Maleik Walker in the short feature.

Those of us of a certain vintage will remember Sesame Street’s debut in 1970 of Roosevelt Franklin, a Muppet who taught viewers the days of the week, numbers and letters. He briefly had his own school where he taught, among other lessons, the difference between here and there and loud and soft when speaking in the classroom as well as a lesson about Africa.

“Even though he was purplish, I could tell that’s a black Muppet,” multi-hyphenate creative Questlove said in the recent ABC network television special “Sesame Street: 50 years of Sunny Days.”

“That’s my tribe right there,” Questlove continued when talking about Roosevelt Franklin.

“Roosevelt Franklin was the direct answer to why Sesame Street should have, at that time, an African-American puppet,” Sonia Manzano explained.

Manzano wrote for the show and also played Maria. Yes, Sesame Street fans - THAT Maria.

Roosevelt Franklin was soon retired, however, after concerns arose about presenting the African-American experience in the United States to children.

“That would have been a game changer for me, had his character been allowed to grow and develop with the show,” Questlove said.

The arrival of the Walkers may be a game changer for current and future viewers.

So far, the Walkers have talked with Elmo about the differences of the colors of falling leaves as red like Elmo’s fur and brown like Wes’ skin. Wes also is among the featured performers in the song “I am Somebody.” Songs, as viewers know, are instrumental, no pun intended, in the world of Sesame Street.

Sesame Street in Communities offers a list of resources, videos and other information at ssic.org/racial-justice.

April Peterson

editorial assistant

East Penn Press

Salisbury Press