Did you know that November is Hip-Hop History month? Whether you are a huge fan, a mild enthusiast, or would prefer to hear anything else when your kids are controlling the music, you can't deny that hip-hop has had a significant influence on modern culture. Harvard University's Hip Hop Archive, which is devoted to the serious study of hip [...]
It is an ugly truth: parents of African American children live with the constant fear that our children, especially our sons, may have an encounter with the police that ends in their arrest, or even worse, in their bodily harm. We know we need to have “The Talk” with them about what to do if they are ever stopped, [...]
Yesterday's post focused on talking to babies; today we are talking about what happens when these babies grow up into young adults: college opportunities. African American economist Carolyn Hoxby, a Stanford economist in residency at Stanford's Hoover Institute, is focused on helping students expand their opportunities to attend college. She recently presented her research at a "master class" at [...]
Did you know that the number of words a child is exposed to between ages 0-3 is significantly related to that child’s ultimate intellectual and academic success? Studies have shown that the more parents talk to their children, the faster children’s vocabularies grow and the higher the children’s IQ test scores are at age three and later. These studies have [...]
GCP spent the last two days at NBC's Education Nation Summit 2013, which was held at the New York Public Library's main branch. This summit, produced by NBC News, gathered more than 300 of the country’s top thought leaders and influencers in education, government, business, philanthropy, and media to discuss ways to improve our nation's educational system. The [...]
Greetings GCP'ers! Today we focus on several opportunities to examine and explore the impact of race on our sons' education. American Promise: We hope by now you have heard about "American Promise", the Sundance Grand Jury prize winning documentary which follows the journeys of two African-American boys and their families from kindergarten through high school graduation. (Check out our [...]
GCP went to the movies last night, to see a screening of "The Watsons Go To Birmingham", a movie based on the award-winning young adult novel written by Christopher Paul Curtis. We had high expectations, considering the source material, but we were blown away by how good it was. Engaging, entertaining, moving, made us laugh and cry (literally). In [...]
GCP is back! After a brief hiatus to focus on family matters both sorrowful (the loss of my mom) and joyous (my oldest son's transition to college), GCP is back in action, ready to provide more information, inspiration and resources for parents of African American boys. Stay tuned for regular postings and please tell your friends to visit us [...]
Ebony Magazine has been running a series of special reports on "Saving Our Sons" in recent issues. Part three of this series in the July 2013 issue focuses on how parents can prime their sons for success in the classroom. Pick up this issue and read this report, as it is chock full of interesting and informative advice about [...]
If school is not out already for your sons, they (and you) are counting down the days until summer vacation begins. As you are locking in their schedules, don't forget to make time for summer learning. As we've noted in previous posts, research indicates that children lose learning skills over the summer, and summer learning programs can not only [...]