We celebrate Labor Day, the first Monday in September, as the end of summer, and the return to work or school. But how did it come to be? Labor Day is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It was established in 1894 as a holiday to pay [...]
In honor of this being the first day of African-American Music Appreciation Month, Thoughtful Thursday is dedicated to poetry about Black music. We've got a tribute to the blues by Langston Hughes (and yes, that rhyme was on purpose); award-winning poet Quincy Troupe commemorating the day Duke Ellington ascended to the pearly gates; and poet and composer James Weldon [...]
The youngest son in my family is graduating high school tomorrow. So proud of this guy! In honor of all the graduates on this Thoughtful Thursday, GCP would like to dust off an old favorite, "If for Boys" by Rudyard Kipling. The words of this poem never fail to inspire, and its wisdom is timeless. Enjoy. Congrats to the [...]
While we at GCP have never been super hyped for the "Hallmark Holiday" aspect of Mother's Day, we certainly believe that mothers should be heralded, and not just on the second Sunday in May. So, we will take this Thoughtful Thursday opportunity to pay tribute to mothers with the poetry of two of our legends, Langston Hughes and Nikki [...]
In celebration of two graduations in May in our household (one son from high school, one from college), today's Thoughtful Thursday presents poems for graduation from some very well known poets: Langston Hughes, Rudyard Kipling and Marge Piercy. These poems focus on dreams, give advice about becoming a man, and contemplate the new beginnings that graduations bring. Share them [...]
Today's Thoughtful Thursday celebrates Earth Day with poems from three wonderful and accomplished poets: Jane Yolen, Joy Harjo, and Lucille Clifton. In addition to being a celebrated poet, Jane Yolen (b.1939) is a science fiction and fantasy writer, editor and children’s author, whose stories use rhythm and rhyme in conjunction with elements of folklore and fantasy. Critically acclaimed poet [...]
Today's Thoughtful Thursday celebrates the poet Kevin Young, who is now the Director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York City. The Schomburg, located on 135th Street and Malcolm X Boulevard in Harlem, is a leading research institution focusing exclusively on African-American, African Diaspora, and African experiences. Its collection includes letters, papers and other [...]
Today's Thoughtful Thursday is a solo show by the poet Ross Gay. Gay is the author of three poetry collections, most recently “Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude,” winner of the 2015 National Book Critics Circle Award and the 2016 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. He is a founding editor, with Karissa Chen and Patrick Rosal, of the online sports magazine Some [...]
It's officially Spring! To celebrate the season, the Spring Breaks some of our children are enjoying this week, the worst of the winter storms behind us (we hope), this Thoughtful Thursday offers some Spring poetry. Today's we have odes to Spring from several masters: two poems by the great African American poet Claude McKay, one by the renowned Puerto [...]
March 17th is St. Patrick's Day. While skimming through poetry relating to St. Patrick's Day, frankly expecting to find nothing to hit my fancy, I was pleasantly surprised to run across a poem celebrating motherhood which, while written about an Irish mother, has universal application. I also found a couple of lovely Irish blessings which we all can use. [...]