Ground Control Parenting with Carol Sutton Lewis

Carol hones in on the critically important parent-teacher relationship this week. She talks with expert educator and Co-CEO of Excellence Community Schools, Dr. Charlene Reid, about how teachers have fared over the past few years of educational tumult, and what teachers want parents to know to help children recover from the pandemic slide. They discuss the importance of having educators who represent, affirm, and uplift Black stude...

Carol brings back this archived episode of her conversation with Deval Patrick, the former Massachusetts Governor and 2020 Presidential candidate. He and Carol discuss how his journey—growing up in the South Side of Chicago and making his way to the corridors of power—influenced his parenting methods and goals for his family. Deval shares his efforts to raise resilient and socially conscious children and tells Carol what it took to...

Carol sits down with author and historian Rita Roberts to talk about the importance of preserving African-American history and passing it on to future generations. Rita shares insights from her latest book, "I Can't Wait to Call You My Wife: African-American Letters of Love and Family in the Civil War Era", which tells the stories of Black men and women through letters written in the mid-1800’s. She details the courage and resilien...

Carol talks with Dr. Yasmin Hurd, Director of the Mount Sinai Addiction Institute, about the complex landscape of drug use today. With marijuana available recreationally or medically in most states and new synthetic drugs regularly hitting the market, parents need to know when and how to discuss drugs and drug use with their children.  Dr. Hurd shares her insights on two drugs currently making headlines: cannabis and fentanyl. She ...

How can we help our children develop a moral compass to guide them through life? In this insightful episode from the archives, minister, professor,  and former President of Morehouse College Dr. Robert M. Franklin, Jr. explains the importance of helping children think about faith and morality and offers a framework for starting these discussions at an early age. Dr. Franklin shares his own personal stories and memories of witnessin...

Carol continues the conversation with mother-son duo Angelique and Sage about parenting Black LGBTQ youth with love and support. They discuss the difference between gender and sexuality, and why this distinction is so important to make and understand. They also talk about the use of non-gendered pronouns, the need for grace when it comes to unlearning gender-specific language, and the need to work towards an inclusive, nonjudgmenta...

Carol dives into parenting LGBTQ children with producer and radio show host Angelique Francis and her son Sage. Angelique talks with Carol about her journey to support her LGBTQ children, including Sage, who came out in his teens. Angelique explains how she focused on her love for her children and released her original expectations of them. Her son Sage recalls his coming out story and reveals the challenges he and his peers face i...

How did the first Black female CEO of a Fortune 500 company manage to balance her skyrocketing career and her growing family? In this refreshingly candid and thought-provoking episode from the archives, Ursula Burns, former CEO of Xerox Corporation, tells Carol why this is the wrong question for young parents to ask, and explains how and why work-life balance issues should be reframed and analyzed. She shares the lessons and perspe...

For years Michelle Miller has been keeping you in the know as a national correspondent for CBS News and as a co-host of CBS Saturday Morning, and now you’ll get to hear from her about her own fascinating life story. Michelle returns to the podcast to talk with Carol about what she learned from the village that helped raise her after she was abandoned by her mother at birth, and how she came to write her memoir “Belonging: A Daughte...

Author Kala Allen Omeiza joins Carol to talk about neurodiversity advocacy and her journey to being diagnosed with autism at 24. Kala shares with Carol how race and disability intersect in her life as a Black autistic woman, and how she poured her life experiences into her young adult novel, "Afrotistic".   Kala felt out of place and socially uncomfortable as a young Black girl growing up in predominantly white communities.  She ta...

Harriette Cole joins Carol to talk about the positive and affirming ways that Black parents can share their morals and values with their children. Harriette, the former lifestyle editor and fashion director at Essence Magazine, is also an author, a nationally syndicated advice columnist, a multimedia producer, and host of the radio show DreamLeapers and podcast DreamLeapers Inspiration. Harriette was raised by loving parents who be...

In celebration of Black History Month, Carol brings back her captivating conversation with the former CEO of the pharmaceutical giant Merck, Kenneth Frazier, in which he shares his powerful story of being raised by his fiercely determined single dad.  Ken’s dad Otis Frazier, a widower raising three children on his own, firmly believed in the power of tough love. He looked beyond the limits of being a janitor raising a family in an ...

She’s a world famous prima ballerina and the first African American principal dancer with the American Ballet Theater. Misty Copeland has a long history of overcoming obstacles, breaking barriers, and inspiring her many fans. Now, in her first full-length public conversation about parenting since the birth of her son Jackson, Misty joins Carol to talk about her life as a new mom: how it’s been, how it’s going, and what she hopes li...

Carol joins forces with poet and author Amena Brown, host of the podcast HER with Amena Brown, to talk about their journeys as Black women in the world of podcasting. In this poignant, revealing, hilarious joint interview, they talk about the power of being raised by Black moms, how to parent artistic kids, the perils of performing, the importance of “play aunties” and the need for self-destructing journals. And that is just a tast...

Black children in America are in a reading crisis, and it’s getting worse.  In a 2022 national reading assessment, only 33% of all U.S. 4th and 8th graders scored at a competent reading level, and for Black students, that competency score dropped to 17%. These scores are lower than the last national reading assessment in 2019.   In the face of this crisis, how do we ensure our children can beat the odds and become good readers?  Ca...

Carol’s focus on college admissions continues with a favorite from the archives: her convo with Eric Furda and Jacques Steinberg, authors of The College Conversation. Eric, the former Dean of Admissions at the University of Pennsylvania, and Jacques Steinberg, an award-winning education journalist, share their expert advice on how your teen should be applying to college from start to finish, and how you can engage and offer support...

College admissions experts Timothy Fields and Shereem Herndon-Brown join Carol to discuss what Black families need to know about helping their teens succeed during the college application process. Timothy, a senior admissions officer at Emory University, and Shereem, a former high school college counselor who now runs a college counseling consulting firm, are authors of The Black Family's Guide to College Admissions, A Conversation...

College Board CEO and Ground Control Parenting fav David Coleman returns to the podcast to talk about learning from failure, the illusion of what it takes to be successful, and the toxic side of striving for perfection. David is a thoughtful, intriguing guest who seamlessly wraps life lessons around his expert insider knowledge of how high school kids  can turn their struggles into triumphs. He shares how children should be taught ...