On the day after Independence Day, today's Thoughtful Thursday offerings give us food for thought about celebrating these United States at a time where we feel so far from united. The first is a series of excerpts from Frederick Douglass' "What to the Slave is The Fourth of July", a powerful speech he gave to a group of New [...]
This has been a rough week for social justice lovers. Today's Thoughtful Thursday offers a few thoughtful poems to help you get through, beginning with a classic poem from Langston Hughes in honor of Independence Day. Enjoy. Let America Be America Again Let America be America again. Let it be the dream it used to be. Let it be [...]
Hello GCP'ers! Yes, it has been a while, and while it is not actually Thursday, (let's call it "Thursday Plus") here is a lovely Thoughtful Thursday poem for you all, "Blessing the Boats" by the renowned African American poet Lucille Clifton (1936-2010). Born in Depew, New York in 1936, Clifton's first book of poetry was published in 1969. She [...]
Today's Thoughtful Thursday pays homage to the thousands of students across the nation who are making their voices heard in their fight against gun violence in schools and on our streets. May we all be inspired by these wonderful poets--Haki R. Madhubuti, Langston Hughes, and Claude McKay--and their poems which have energized activists everywhere over the years. Share these [...]
Today is International Women's Day, where we honor and celebrate the social, political and cultural achievements of women, and encourage awareness of gender inequality on a global scale. Wow, that is a tall order for one day--good thing it's Women's History Month so we don't have to have to do it all in one post! In honor of International [...]
Yesterday we said bye to February's Black History Month, and today we say hey to Women's History Month. While we at GCP are not the biggest fans of the designation of just one month out of the year to focus on the great contributions Black people and women have made to our nation's history, for now we'll take the [...]
Today's Thoughtful Thursday offers a break from the sadness and sorrow that surrounds us in the aftermath of the horrific Florida school shooting. Here are a delightful hodgepodge of poems to read aloud to your little ones as you tuck them in at night. We hope you have shielded them from the bulk of the coverage, but even the [...]
Unless you have been hiding under a rock, you must know that the "Black Panther" movie is opening on February 16th, just a few days away. This is the EAGERLY anticipated film, based upon a very popular Marvel comic book character, which stars Chadwick Boseman, Academy award winner Lupita Nyong'o and Michael Jordan, and is directed by Ryan Coogler [...]
In honor of Valentine's Day next week, today's Thoughtful Thursday features love poetry from an array of poets. We begin with a couple of love poems from Langston Hughes, whom poet Elizabeth Alexander rightly calls “'our' poet laureate, our'Shakespeare in Harlem.'" Then on a poem from Nikki Giovanni, one of the world's best known African American poets, who speaks [...]
Today begins Black History Month! Actually, we like to think of every month as Black History Month here at GCP, as we want our children to learn about their history all year long. Today is also Langston Hughes' birthday, so on this Thoughtful Thursday we honor him by featuring a few of this great poet's works. We begin with [...]