Feeling overwhelmed by the high school application process for your son or daughter? You are certainly not alone. Here are a few tips to keep you and your child sane during the process: 1. Understand and Respect That the Process Takes a LOT of Work and a LOT of Time. And you will be responsible for the vast majority [...]
In the wake of the tragic Las Vegas Shooting, for today's Thoughtful Thursday we offer inspirational poems of survival. We begin with "little prayer" by Danez Smith, a call for healing. We move on to classic celebrations of survival, "Life is Fine" by Langston Hughes and "And Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou. We end with "Shoulders", in which [...]
Another mass shooting, this time at an outdoor concert in Las Vegas. How do we talk to our children about this tragic event? GCP has discussed this issue before, after Newton and Charleston . And now we must talk about Las Vegas. But what should we say? Experts say it depends on how old our children are: Preschool:Discuss only [...]
Today's Thoughtful Thursday brings poetry of the resistance. Generations of African American poets have given us clarity, purpose and direction in times of political crisis. Here are poems from three of our great poets: Claude McKay (1889-1948), Langston Hughes (1902-1967), and Nikki Giovanni (1943-). We need this poetry now more than ever. Share with your children and enjoy. I [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]