You probably have a “Gracie’s Corner” on your TikTok for You page, Instagram reels, YouTube shorts, or whatever platform you use to consume media. The popular animated sing-along series featuring Gracie, an adolescent Black girl singing and dancing to catchy beats has captured the interest of children and adults alike. Gracie’s Corner offers more than just entertainment, its programming educates and empowers children from all over the world. With over $3 billion views and over 4 million subscribers, the channel curated by the Hollingsworth family is revolutionizing the edutainment space.
“During the pandemic, like most parents, we were juggling our work from home and homeschooling with our children. One day while watching and searching for content we identified a notable gap; there was not a lot of representation of Black and Brown children in the space. Instead of remaining upset about it, we took things into our own hands and decided to create educational and empowering content that featured children of color,” Javoris Hollingsworth explained.
The idea behind Gracie’s Corner came about during the pandemic. Javoris Hollingsworth, Arlene Gordon-Hollingsworth, and their children spent more time together and watched a lot of content. The couple noticed that there was a lack of Black representation in online educational children’s videos. They struggled to find appropriate videos for their children to watch and were confounded by the situation. Their oldest daughter, Graceyn came up with a solution, she asked her parents to start a channel.
The Hollingsworths built a rudimentary home studio, found a freelance animator and began the content creation process. They named the channel and its titular character after Graceyn, who goes by Gracie and is the singer. She initially recorded her verses in a closet, with her father using a blanket to drown out background noise. The first few videos on Gracie’s Corner got around a hundred views, most coming from family members. Although many people expressed doubts about whether the channel would catch on, the Hollingsworths continued producing content.
The rise of Gracie’s Corner has been meteoritic. From a YouTube subscriber base of around 50,000 subscribers in December of 2021, the channel hit the 1 million subscriber mark in October 2022. What started as a family activity is now a thriving family business. Hollingsworth, a chemist and former musician left his job as a professor to focus on growing Gracie’s Corner. He has since hired an animation team and a publicist to take the channel to the next level.
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Gordon-Hollingsworth, a licensed psychologist with a private practice has incorporated elements to help with child development and confidence into the content. The “ABC Song” on Gracie’s Corner accompanies each letter with an affirmational phrase to build esteem in children. Videos on the channel highlight Black culture such as the the animation on “Count to 100” which resembles HBCU marching bands. Unlike other children’s content on the internet, Gracie’s Corner keeps children engaged as they learn and practice skills such as counting to 50, reciting the months of the year in English and Spanish, and brushing their teeth.
Gracie’s Corner’s online footprint speaks to its impact and reach. Parents have shared videos of their children wide-eyed with joy at the representation they are seeing. Other videos of parents, aunties and uncles dancing along to the catchy beats and songs have gone viral. 3 billion views, 4 million subscribers, and growing, the Hollingsworths have unleashed a global movement.
“Honestly, it’s been unreal. As an educator, I was aware of the impact I was having in the classroom setting. But, to see how this content has been able to resonate with people on a global scale, it’s just been crazy,” Arlene Gordon-Hollingsworth said about Gracie’s Corner’s impact.
