Tika Sumpter and husband Nicholas James are being intentional about discussing race with their daughter.
The Knuckles star, 44, and James, 41, are parents to Ella-Loren, the 7-year-old at the heart of their latest venture, a new children’s podcast called Adventures of Curiosity Cove, debuting on Sept. 9. These days, Ella’s curiosity knows no bounds, and her parents are filling her up with important information about her culture and the world.
“We’re already talking to Ella about race,” Sumpter tells PEOPLE. “Nick actually went to the library the other day and got a bunch of books on Pharaoh and Africa, and then one on civil rights. He’s reading this civil rights book out loud and he’s like, ‘This is infuriating!’ And Ella can’t even imagine that time. She’s like, ‘How could people do such a thing?’ ”
Courtesy Tika Sumpter
Says Sumpter, “You don’t want to scare her, but you want to inform her in a way that is age-appropriate.”
Ella’s parents first met as costars while filming Tyler Perry’s long-running drama series The Haves and the Have Nots. They welcomed Ella in 2016, and in 2022 they tied the knot in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, with Ella serving as flower girl.
Photo by Jana Williams Photographer / Design by Tiana Crispino
“We’re excited to be together and continue the journey,” Sumpter told Brides in May 2022 of her wedding day. “We both walked down the aisle with clear eyes, knowing that the wedding wasn’t just for the party. It was really for us.”
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Recently, Ella reflected on her parents’ love. “One day she said, ‘I’m just so happy that you guys can be together nowadays,’ ” Sumpter recalls of her daughter alluding to past laws preventing interracial marriages like her parents’.
She says Ella continued, ” ‘Thank God, because, like, you guys had me and you love each other.’ ”
Photo by Jana Williams Photography
That comment nearly moved Sumpter to tears. “I was like, ‘Girl. You are so aware.’ ” When it comes to Ella’s questions about her own mixed-race identity, “I’m just like, ‘You are both,’ ” says Sumpter. “I’m super grateful that she feels like she’s a part of both of us. She doesn’t have to choose at all.”
And the star believes that Ella’s generation, commonly known as Generation Alpha, is better equipped to embrace diversity than any other. “I just feel like they’re growing up in such a different world,” Sumpter tells PEOPLE. “They’re just more accepting, for everyone to be whoever they are. And they’re so loving.”
Courtesy Tika Sumpter
With her family’s new children’s podcast, Sumpter is hoping to speak directly to that demographic, using young Ella as a prime example.
“I created a series within Adventures of Curiosity Cove called ‘Ella the Curious’ about this little girl just trying to figure her life out through her drawings and school and all the things,” explains Sumpter. “We really created a special place for kids.”
Season 1 of Adventures of Curiosity Cove is available on Sept. 9, wherever you listen to podcasts.
