Did you celebrate Juneteenth with your family this year? My father's family is from Texas, so I grew up hearing about Juneteenth celebrations from Texas relatives, but my family didn't celebrate it in NYC. Fast forward to yesterday–Juneteenth celebrations were everywhere! Some companies gave their employees the day off, social media exploded with Juneteenth graphics, memes and hashtags, and [...]
HUGE NEWS!!!! Our new podcast, Ground Control Parenting with Carol Sutton Lewis, has launched! In this weekly series, I’m talking about the joy and the job of raising Black children with fascinating folks who have valuable parenting experience, perspectives and advice to share. I’ve been writing about parenting Black boys and girls in this blog for so many years; [...]
Today's Thoughtful Thursday presents the poem "What Shall I Tell My Children Who are Black (Reflections of an African American Mother)" by artist, poet, author, and educator Margaret Burroughs (1915-2010). It was written in 1968, but could well have been written this week. In it Burroughs addresses the issue of how to raise black boys up to be confident [...]
Are you old enough to remember the 1960's rallying cry of "Black is Beautiful"? A recent conversation with a young Black mom lets me know it is time to bring it back. This mom is looking for uplifting reading material for her 8 year old daughter, whose class has been discussing George Floyd's death and how poorly Black Americans [...]
Have you or your children been getting a lot of requests from your white friends for resources about Black history and the struggle for racial justice these days? It is exhausting, trying to deal with your own and your family's reactions to everything going on AND having your well meaning but less [...]
Here we find ourselves returning yet again to the question of how we should talk with our children, especially our sons, about another horrifying murder of a black man at the hands of a police officer. What should we say to them about the death of George Floyd, and about the protests that have followed? Children of All Ages: [...]
More power to your child who wants to join a peaceful demonstration. Just make sure that she knows some basic rules: Your child has the right to peacefully protest. She can say whatever she wants during the protest as long as it is not a threat. She should be prepared to be arrested at the protest, for a [...]
Whenever some racially based fresh hell befalls a Black person we at GCP, along with so many others, are compelled to cry out. Sometimes we write about how to talk to our children about the latest horror, trying to walk that fine line between telling them the way of the world to help build their armor and scaring them [...]
What will your children be doing this summer? After a Spring of remote learning, no organized sports, no extra-curriculars and no playdates, they are facing a summer of cancelled activities and continued social distancing. Many parents who made camp plans for their children last year or early 2020 are now trying to figure out a new plan. A new [...]
Memorial Day is a few days away. While we are usually celebrating it as summer's official start, this year it makes much more sense to think about what the holiday is really about: honoring those who have died during war while serving the U.S. Honoring our war heroes. These days our war heroes have expanded beyond members of the [...]