Today's Thoughtful Thursday presents a cool poetry combo: "We Real Cool", a classic from Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000), our first national Black Poet Laureate, and a poem inspired by this classic, "Because it looked hotter that way" by Camille T.Dungy (1972-), an award winning poet who teaches at San Francisco State University. Dungy's poem is an acrostic which uses each [...]
Worried about how your kids are getting (or not getting) along? Sibling squabbling and rivalry are to be expected in the normal course of things, but you do want them to establish a bond that stays strong when they are no longer obligated to live together under one roof. I thought a lot about this when my three children [...]
Sixteen years ago we watched in horror as terrorists took the Twin Towers down, damaged the Pentagon and killed innocent people on American soil. We honor the memories of the fallen every 9/11 with prayers for their families and for our country, with monuments, with moments of silence. We remember. Noted poet Lucille Clifton (1936-2010) wrote "September's Song, A [...]
Did you know that this week --September 10-16--is National Suicide Prevention Week? While many of us are quick to say "Black people don't commit suicide", the data tells a disturbingly different story. Studies released in 2015 showed that there were more suicides among African American children ages 5 to 11 than among white children. And the Center for Disease [...]
It's September, time to head Back to School with GCP! Here is our Checklist of To-Do's and Don't Do's for all of you busy parents: CLASSROOM TO-DO's: • Meet the Teachers: If your son is in a single classroom all day, have you met his teacher(s)? If he is a middle or high schooler, do you know what he [...]
I began this process as I do with so many things for my youngest: follow the same game plan I worked out with my older two, minus the stress of trying to figure it all out. So off we went to Bed Bath & Beyond, list in hand, to collect the things he needed to make his college dorm [...]
Greetings GCP'ers! I'm back from a break from regular posting. This has been quite a busy time: Two of my three children had significant graduations in May: one son from high school, the other from college. The youngest is headed off to college in August, the other has already started his full time job and is moving to his [...]
Just writing this title makes me weary and sad. Yet again we must figure out how to talk to our sons and our daughters about the acquittal of a police officer who stopped and killed a Black man for no justifiable reason. As you undoubtably know, yesterday the jury in the manslaughter trial of Officer Jeronimo Yanez acquitted him [...]
Happy Mother's Day, GCP Moms! Whether you will be surrounded by family showering you with love and attention or just spending another Sunday doing all that you do to take care of your family, know that we at GCP are on our feet, giving you a screaming and shouting standing O today. Notwithstanding the "Hallmark holiday" nature of designating [...]
Last week GCP had the pleasure of attending Eagle Academy Foundation's annual awards breakfast where they celebrate the boys of their Eagle Academy schools and honor people who inspire their boys. The Eagle Academy Foundation supports a network of six all male, grades 6-12 college preparatory schools in challenged urban communities in the five boroughs of Manhattan and Newark. [...]