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After reports on the content of some controversial videos aimed at elementary school children, a left-wing education activist says they have been threatened and targeted "by the far right."
Woke Kindergarten founder Akiea Gross, who goes by "Ki" and uses the pronouns they and them, took to social media to push back against scrutiny that grew over a child-oriented video from the group declaring "I feel safe when there are no police."
The video, titled "Woke Kindergarten 60 Second Texts: Safe," was shared by a Virginia school district in a document on summer reading for second-graders. Officials dubbed its inclusion an "error" and took the link down.
VIRGINIA SCHOOL SHARES ‘WOKE KINDERGARTEN’ VIDEO: ‘I FEEL SAFE WHEN THERE ARE NO POLICE’
Friday afternoon, Gross tweeted that they were experiencing "an uptick of threats & violence" and accused a district parent and education activist who helped expose the Woke Kindergarten videos of being a "violent, unhinged, sociopathic agent of White supremacy."
"I’m asking that folks refrain from sending me article links & other s--- that might continue to traumatize me," a message shared to Instagram and Twitter reads.
The tweet included headlines screenshot from Fox News, the New York Post and the National Review – but no examples of threats.
"They are mobilizing to dislike & report everything I’ve created," Gross wrote.
The post urged Gross’ supporters to "report the social media profiles of everyone involved in these attacks" and advised them to "find their names in the articles."
Several other tweets referenced threats and hate mail, but they included no examples.
Gross did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A section of the Woke Kindergarten website titled, "Yerr, It’s Ki," describes the founder with the following: "Ki (they/them) is an abolitionist early educator, coach, consultant and creative entrepreneur currently innovating ways to unlearn, heal, liberate and create with their pedagogy."
Early education applies to children 8 years old and younger, according to the National Association for the Education of Young Children, a nonprofit group for teachers, parents and other educators.
Social media accounts attributed to Gross and Woke Kindergarten often use the words "f---" and "s---." Gross even claimed complaints about the swearing caused organizers to drop them from a paid speaking appearance earlier this year.
But the word "police" was censored in another video titled "Who Keep Us Safe" and in other posts.
"Today’s 60 Second Text is called, ‘We Keep Us Safe’ & explores the many ways that people in our communities—not p*lice—organize and come together to keep us safe," the caption reads.
Gross has also called for police to be defunded and abolished, condemned capitalism, said the government should "free them all" from prisons and accused the former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang of supporting genocide.
Woke Kindergarten describes its 60-second clips as "big concepts for little people." Another, titled "Good Trouble," leans on the famous line from the late civil rights icon and Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga.
"Sometimes it's good to get into trouble," the narrator states, later hinting that Black and Indigenous Americans are not "free" and need to "get into trouble" to change that.
"These are babies, other people's babies, and schools are burdening them with content saturated in ideology and bias that is too mature, too complex, too confusing and hyper-political," Erika Sanzi, the director of outreach at Parents Defending Education, said in a statement.
The Woke Kindergarten YouTube channel had just about 5,500 subscribers Thursday and had grown to over 6,400 two days later, although several of the videos have racked up tens of thousands of views.
The most popular, titled "Black Joy," is just over a minute long and includes rhymes about childhood activities.
In addition to appearing on public school materials in Fairfax County, Va., where the district removed the link and called its use an error, Woke Kindergarten has been highlighted in other schools in different parts of the U.S.
The Los Angeles Unified School District used Woke Kindergarten materials twice during its Black Lives Matter week in February, according to Parents Defending Education, a grassroots group that opposes the influence of left-wing activists over U.S. schools.
A digital flyer available on the district’s website includes a link back to a Woke Kindergarten YouTube video included as an "elementary resource" on a document that also encourages students to establish GSA clubs in their schools.
Other districts that have referenced Woke Kindergarten videos include Seattle and Gig Harbor in Washington, Buffalo N.Y., and the Wheeler School in Rhode Island, according to Parents Defending Education.
And Ki announced on Twitter Thursday that Woke Kindergarten had secured its first "yearlong school contract" without going into further detail.
"Nobody has any right to be pushing this ideology, or any other ideology, on young children," Sanzi said. "There is a solid argument to be made that burdening 5- and 6-year-olds in this way is emotionally and psychologically abusive."
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Sanzi called Woke Kindergarten’s programming inappropriate.
"Teaching children that we must be kind to everyone and treat others the way we'd like to be treated is appropriate," she said. "Teaching them to never be cruel or make fun of someone for being different is appropriate. The content on the Woke Kindergarten platform is not."
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