Sesame Street welcomed two new Black Muppets to its neighborhood this week: father and son Elijah and Wesley Walker. They join a colorful cast that already includes humanoid Muppets with realistic skin tones. What sets the Walkers apart is that they were intentionally created as a family.

As part of a new set of resources called the ABCs of Racial Literacy, Wes and his father tell Elmo that melanin is the reason for different colors of skin.

As Elijah explains in the video, “The color of our skin is an important part of who we are, but we should all know that it’s O.K. that we all look different in so very many ways.”