In today's Thoughtful Thursday we continue our month long tribute to women poets in honor of Women's History Month. Today we shine a spotlight on the four African-American female poets who have been appointed by the Library of Congress to serve as the U.S. Poet Laureate, our nation's chief poetry consultant. Originally called the "Consultant in Poetry to the Library of [...]
Today's Thoughtful Thursday continues the celebration of Women's History Month, featuring women poets from a variety of cultures and generations. Today we offer a delightful assortment of poems about women by women. First Patricia Smith (b.1955) gives us a "Hip Hop Ghazal" celebrating femininity. A ghazal, originally an Arabic verse form dealing with loss and romantic love, consists of couplets [...]
It's Thoughtful Thursday, and in honor of International Woman's Day (which is tomorrow, March 8), today we are featuring a diverse slate of fantastic women poets. From June Jordan we have "Oughta Be a Woman", a poem that pays special tribute to mothers of color but is an ode to mothers everywhere. Chilean poet and visual artist Celia Vicuña gives [...]
As it is the last day of Black History Month, today's Thoughtful Thursday features several poems celebrating notable Black figures in American history and one in commemorating the history of Black people in America. GCP hopes that parents share Black American history with their sons and daughters throughout the year, (not just for one month, every month), but we are not [...]
As you've probably heard, this year's Best Picture Oscar went to the film “Green Book” on Sunday. This is the story of a white limo driver who discovers the existence of racism when he drives a touring black classical pianist around the Jim Crow era South. (A collective groan went up around our TV when this award was announced, [...]
Fifty four years ago today, on February 21, 1965, activist and religious leader Malcolm X was assassinated by a member of the Nation of Islam while addressing his Organization of Afro-American Unity at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City. Today's Thoughtful Thursday pays tribute to Malcolm X, first with the stirring eulogy Ossie Davis delivered at his funeral. Then, [...]
On Tuesday, the Obama Foundation’s first national My Brother’s Keeper Alliance convening, MBK Rising!, began in Oakland, CA. This two-day event brought together civic leaders, young men of color and representatives of the MBK organizations that are supporting these young men nationwide. The opening session of the convening featured a session with President Obama and Steph Curry answering questions [...]
Baseball legend Frank Robinson passed away this week at 83. Robinson broke records throughout his long illustrious career. As a player, he was National League Rookie of the Year for the Cincinnati Reds. He was the only winner of the Most Valuable Player Award in both the National League (when playing with the Cincinnati Reds in 1956) and the American [...]
For today’s Thoughtful Thursday we celebrate a wonderful African American poet whom we at GCP have only recently discovered: Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911). In addition to being a poet, Harper was a journalist, fiction writer and activist. Born in Baltimore to free African American parents, she learned to read and write at the Academy for Negro Youth run [...]
So here we are in February, Black History Month. As I have noted for many years in this space, parents should celebrate Black History every month. We should regularly talk with our children all year long about the the critical roles that Black people played in the shaping of America. Our bookshelves at home should provide easy access to information about [...]