We all have a cousin who isn't actually our cousin.

Play cousins are one of the beautifully expansive and beneficial ways our people have defined family for ourselves for generations.

This is two minute black history.

What you didn't learn in school. Growing up many of us had play cousins who were biologically related to us, but were given those titles through relationships

our parents' value, usually with close friends.

For many, these bonds are one of the earliest forms of belonging that we experienced.

We know it takes a village to raise a child, and having play cousins strengthens familiarity,

maintains community connections, and gives children access to support circles.

Experts say that Play Family helps provide emotional support, guidance, and a sense of belonging that helps our children thrive.

Having play cousins isn't new to us either.

The concept is deeply rooted in our culture, likely extending back to West African beliefs

of our community and extended family networks.

During enslavement, fictive kin relationships helped our people compensate for the loss of biological ties intentionally torn apart by bondage. It's a tradition that thrives because we need each other.

Play cousins help children learn the importance of mutual support and cooperation principles they can carry into adulthood.

Poet Gwendolen Brooks said it best. We are each other's

harvest. We are each other's business. We are each other's magnitude and bomb.

We've always been communal people.

Togetherness is how we survived and will continue to thrive.

In order to move towards the future,

you've got to look to the past.

This has been two-minute black history, a podcast by Push Black.

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