Rogers spent 33 years making “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” teaching children emotional literacy with radical gentleness. He talked about death, divorce, anger, fear—topics other children’s shows avoided. He moved slowly, spoke softly, and made every child feel seen. His radical message: You are special exactly as you are. He testified before Congress in 1969 to save PBS funding, melting a skeptical senator’s heart in six minutes. He was an ordained minister who never preached, a pacifist during Vietnam, and someone who practiced kindness as daily discipline. He showed compassion isn’t weakness—it’s practice.
