ROCHELLE RILEY: Cosby returns to his point
October 7, 2005
BY ROCHELLE RILEY
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
A year has passed since Bill Cosby embarked on a nationwide tour of self-financed town halls where he challenged black Americans -- no, urged them to challenge themselves -- to overcome their circumstances.
Today his message is the same: Black folks, particularly those with low incomes and extra hardships, must stop seeing themselves as victims and not let poverty and despair mold their lifestyles. The only way to change is for black people to communicate.
"That's the biggest thing we need to do -- talk to each other, seriously, about making corrections that we already know should have been made -- and then getting people to agree to join and make the corrections," he said in an interview this week.
Cosby drew more than 2,000 people to Wayne County Community College District last January to hear him question why a city that is 87% black continues to blame white people for its problems. His national mission was derailed a day later when a Canadian woman accused him of s*xual misconduct in a case that police dismissed. The charges, a lawsuit and subsequent allegations by other women raised questions about whether Cosby is the best spokesman for a movement to get millions of people to raise their personal standards.
"It was a blow," he said, "because something like that put me in a position of having to clear myself."
'We will overcome now'
After weeks of introspection and a public apology to his wife, Cosby hit the road again.
"Looking at myself, I still realize that what I'm saying is correct," he said. "And that I know that I am a good person. I know that I can be trusted. And I know that what I am doing right now is very, very important.
"This is not someone asking to raise funds for himself. This is someone saying, 'No, we will not overcome someday. We will overcome now.' "
If any city needs encouragement, it is Detroit, where complacency is our motto and acceptance of the status quo our mantra. Seventy percent of babies born in this city are born to single mothers, most of whom are poor. The city government and city schools are in serious debt, and two people, on average, were shot every day last year.
Just the beginning
Cosby's last Detroit visit had results. Last spring, more than 30 community groups formed a coalition called ARISE: Detroit, to lead a movement to connect people with each other.
But if nothing else, Cosby's conversations may help Detroiters take a harsher, more realistic look at what its residents must do for its children.
"The fact that you can be in a classroom and know at least four kids in that classroom who've got a father incarcerated or a mother on crack or who didn't eat breakfast that day ..." Cosby said. "These numbers need attention and people are waiting for somebody to come and drop some money down or something."
Rochelle will sign copies of her book, "Life Lessons: Essays on Parenthood, America, 9/11 and Detroit" ($14.95) at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Black Family Festival at Cobo Hall. To order a copy, call 800-245-5082 or visit
www.freep.com/bookstore Contact ROCHELLE RILEY at 313-223-4473 or riley@freepress.com.
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Friday, October 7th 2005 at 9:57AM
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