(KRT) - DETROIT - Actor and comedian Bill Cosby called on African-Americans on Thursday to contribute $8 each to rebuild two historically black colleges in New Orleans heavily damaged by Hurricane Katrina in August.
Dillard and Xavier universities "have to be rebuilt better," Cosby said. "Because I want us to build and rebuild correctly, and call that ours."
He also said he would like two other historically black colleges, Spelman College in Atlanta and Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, to be able to boost their endowments to $500 million each through donations.
Cosby said that he wants to enable those colleges to offer scholarships comparable to those offered by major mainstream universities, though "I haven't set up a foundation. I haven't done anything. It's just my talk and my preparing."
Cosby is on a 15-city tour that has taken him to cities including Springfield, Mass., Baltimore, Cleveland and Atlanta.
On Thursday at an afternoon forum at Wayne County Community College's downtown Detroit campus, he also talked of the need to offer grandparents and foster parents support and educational opportunities.
He was last in Detroit in January, when he urged African-Americans to be more responsible for their children's futures. Some accused him of being unsympathetic to poor people in that speech, but others praised his message.
"We're bringing a different kind of word this time," Cosby said Thursday. "I think it all should address the issue of people who need help and where to get it."
Cosby is traveling with Dr. Hillary Wynn, a Milwaukee-based psychiatrist specializing in child and adolescent psychiatry.
On the tour, Wynn - who attended Thursday's forum - is promoting hope and self-motivation to those caring for children whose parents are unable to care for them.
"The issue is trying to stimulate and motivate the foster parents of those children," she said.
Cosby, who has a doctorate in education, also asked officials from Wayne County Community College and the Detroit Public Schools to talk about educational opportunities on Thursday.
He also spoke about foster parents often caring for emotionally damaged children.
"These aren't psychiatrists, these aren't psychologists," he said. "All they have is the love, and to want to make things right."
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Thursday, October 6th 2005 at 11:56PM
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