Cosby visits San Francisco School

[NinjaPoodle]

Cosby visits San Francisco

[NinjaPoodle]

Comedian's call to action -- 'love, education and care'
Cosby brings message of accountability to Bayview-Hunters Point
Heather Knight, Chronicle Staff Writer

Friday, December 10, 2004


Bill Cosby visited a San Francisco school Thursday to rail against what he considers the culture of victimization in low-income African American communities, telling parents they must invest in their children's education before they wind up teenage moms, jail inmates, drug dealers -- or dead.

Cosby's remarks -- made during a tour of a revamped elementary school in the poverty-stricken Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood -- came seven months after he sparked a firestorm with a speech imploring African American parents to take responsibility for the large percentage of their children who drop out before high school graduation.

Go to link for the rest of the story

[jojapeach]

Soror, thanks for this link...for real.

The great thing in the article is that we get to see that there are some people who actually understand that the criticism is based on observations on what's going on in many (not all) public schools and communities with a mostly black demographic. Not every African-American is disgusted or enraged that Dr. Cosby put our dirty laundry out for the world to see. There are black people out there that recognize that Dr. Cosby was "keeping it real" with his remarks, moreso than a lot of celebrities and public figures.

I could debate this all day because I'm concerned about our children's futures and what more we can do to improve it. I was really impressed by the schools and the woman who founded them. What a way to really take more responsibilty for our children and to make parents have more accountability.

[SeriousSigma22]

Sorhor Ninjapoodle,

First, I want to say thanks for sharing that article with the folks on the East Coast. Second, I want to say right on to Cosby and the founder of those schools. Children need more guidance and discipline and I support Cosby in his very radical statements to get African Americans across this country to wake up!

Serioussigma22

[bluethunder]

i tend to agree with soror jojapeach on this one... but then again, whenever you don't say what people agree with or necessarily want to hear, there is a good chance you'll be met with opposition or accused of not being tactful, knowing "how to talk to people"... you know the drill...

BUT... <and i know this is off topic> doesn't brother cosby look AMAZING to be three years shy of 70??? can i get some of those genes?

[SeriousSigma22]

Sorhor Bluethunder,

It's all in how you take of yourself!

Serioussigma22

And it's always good to have a lot of money to help one keep fit and looking young.

[TRSimon]

I agree that Dr. Cosby was just saying how he felt. I think there is a deterioration across the board, not with just black folks, in the behavioral standards parents set for their children. Then again, if you don't have good sense, how can you pass it on?

NE Ways... I think Dr. Cosby is lookin better these days, but to me his face seems a little older to me since he lost his son.

JMO, though. Carry on

[ladylike]

Originally posted by jojapeach
Not every African-American is disgusted or enraged that Dr. Cosby put our dirty laundry out for the world to see. There are black people out there that recognize that Dr. Cosby was "keeping it real" with his remarks, moreso than a lot of celebrities and public figures.

And that's (see bolded) what so funny, Jojapeach because some of our dirty laundry has been hanging on the clothesline for years! Cosby didn't say anything that was news to anybody...it was just the fact that Mr. Jello Puddin' Huxtable said it that had people up in arms.

[BlueReign]

Originally posted by TRSimon
Then again, if you don't have good sense, how can you pass it on?

I did not like the parent-bashing he did in his comments. Like I said before, what he said needed to be said but it was all in the way he said it. People can't help who they are and one ignorant generation gives birth to another. Our children need MORE MENTORS!! They are starved for positive role models and should not be criticized for not knowing any better but helped instead.

[SeriousSigma22]

Sorhor Bluereign,

Some of our African American parents are acting like everyone else in society. I can't get mad at Cosby because I see some of those behavior in good old Fairfax County Public School Systems. Some of my students are out-of-control and when their parent finally show up for a parent-teacher-student conference it become crystal clear why that teenager is that way.

Serioussigma22

Some people should've never procreated!

[TRSimon]

Originally posted by BlueReign
People can't help who they are and one ignorant generation gives birth to another. Our children need MORE MENTORS!! They are starved for positive role models and should not be criticized for not knowing any better but helped instead.

I have to say that I respectfully disagree with you there, Soror BlueReign. Everyone who is impoverished is not condemned to a life that reflects the most negative aspects of our culture, nor are they helpless to pursue the best for their children. My father's mother was a woman who was born in rural Louisiana into impoverished circumstances, a generation from slavery. I won't even start on her educational situation. Let's just say Jim Crow was a step up.

She was hardly what you would call a scholar, but she knew that she wanted better for her children, and as a result, virtually all of them went to college. They are some of the most intelligent people you will ever meet, and who was the guiding force behind them? Not the Greeks, or the non profits or the teachers or the government. It was that poor "ignorant" widow who decided that her children would tread those places in life and society where she could not.

It takes a village to raise a child, but a lot of parents are falling down (not just uneducated and impoverished parents, but parents overall), and you can have the best mentors around, but what is instilled in a child at home can make or break him or her. That's not something I think. That is something I know and experience every day.