After a wonderful Spring Break, is GCP back in action with this week's Thoughtful Thursday. Today we feature a classic Gwendolyn Brooks poem, "We Real Cool", written in 1960, and "The Golden Shovel", a poem written in response by Terrance Hayes in 2010. Hayes is a poet who considers themes of popular culture, race, music, and masculinity in his [...]
Could it be that here in NYC, where we have had crazy cold weather for what seems like forever, that Spring is in the air? The last couple of days with temperatures in the 50's has had us hoping that Spring is truly in the air. And so we offer a series of Spring poems: "Spring for Lovers" by [...]
GCP is back in the saddle after a wonderful trip to Miami, where among other things we sat on the beach and talked with a wonderful group of African American moms about parenting. (More on that in the next post.) At the end of the discussion one of the moderators read a poem which I hadn't heard in ages [...]
Happy Valentine's Day! In honor of this love-celebrating holiday, here are some love poems from Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906), renowned poet, novelist and playwright of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A native of Dayton, Ohio, Dunbar's first poems were published in a Dayton newspaper when he was 14 years old. While much of Dunbar's more well known [...]
Today's Thoughtful Thursday celebrates the work of Elizabeth Alexander--highly respected poet, essayist, playwright and teacher. Professor Alexander was recently named a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, as well as the inaugural Frederick Iseman Professor of Poetry at Yale University. She is the former Chair of the African American Studies Department at Yale University. In 2009, she composed [...]
Today being Dr. King's birthday, we will honor him with a few of his memorable quotes. Enjoy, and Happy Birthday to ya, Dr. King! Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase. We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope. The time is [...]
Today's Thoughtful Thursday is a link to a New York Times article in which journalist Nicholas Kristof invites readers to submit poems about race in America. He received more than 300 poems, and the ones he includes in the article are rich and thought provoking. Worth reading. You will find it here. We'll end this quick post as Kristof [...]
Today's Thoughtful Thursday will be not poetry or quotes but simply a thought for the New Year: May the year 2015 be a year of health, joy, discovery, wonder, learning, and tremendous growth for you and your children, especially those boys!!! Rather than ask for your resolutions, we'd like to make some for you: Resolve to practice conscious and [...]
Merry Christmas to all! Hope you and your family have had a great day. Here are a few Christmas quotes to keep you in the spirit. I know what I really want for Christmas. I want my childhood back. Nobody is going to give me that. I might give at least the memory of it to myself if I [...]
With Christmas a mere week away, some combination of school holiday programs, final exams, holiday prep and Christmas shopping are probably wearing many parents down. So for today's Thoughtful Thursday, here are a few holiday poems designed to lift your spirits and give you and your sons something to smile about during this pre-Christmas rush. Enjoy. The Boy Who [...]