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. [...]
By now we have all heard about Jordan Reynolds, the Black high school freshman honor roll student and athlete who was shot and killed by a police officer while leaving a party in a car with his brothers and friends last Saturday night in Balch Springs, Texas. No one in the car was armed, no one had been drinking [...]
Our children are spending a lot of time with screens these days: computers, phones, ipads. Experts suggest that spending too much time looking at screens can lead children to develop computer vision syndrome and eye problems related to overexposure to harmful blue light. What can we do to prevent this? Here are some tips from the American Optometric Association [...]
How important is it for our kids from lower-income households to have a Black teacher? Very important, it turns out. A recent study conducted by researchers at American University, U.C. Davis and Johns Hopkins reveals that having just one Black teacher in third, fourth or fifth grade reduced low-income Black boys' probability of dropping out of high school by [...]
I was having a conversation with a wise mom recently about the eternal quest to raise children with good values, and we acknowledged 1) how much tougher it is to expect them to know these values if you haven't been clear about what you want to encourage and what you won't tolerate, and 2) it is important to get [...]
The stigma of talking about mental health issues is alive and well in the Black community. We've heard the comments: "Black people don't do therapy", "Nothing wrong with that boy that a little __________ (spanking, time out, grounding, fill in the blank) won't fix", and even "Black people don't commit suicide". But recent stats show we need to be [...]